When Goodbye Is the Only Choice

But I grew up in an orphanage and my desire for family affection seemed to have become an instinct.

I finally returned to my parents and I thought that as long as I was well behaved and studied hard, they would definitely like me.

After all, that was what the director's mother told me.

I tried my best to please my parents and not let them worry. 

I tried my best to keep the house clean, even though Martina laughed at me more than once, saying that this was a job only for servants.

But when I got first place in my grade in the exam, my parents only gave me a few words of praise in private.

I thought I was not good enough, so I joined a competition class and took part in various competitions.

Good news came one after another and my name was on the list.

During that period, my family frequently received calls from the admissions teachers.

However, my parents were not happy and the house was filled with a gloomy and depressing atmosphere.

Especially Martina, she burst into tears every time she saw me.

The looks my parents gave me became increasingly gloomy.

I did not understand it at that time, but then I understood that they felt my excellence made their precious daughter lose face.

So, my biological parents, for Martina's happiness, hired someone to kidnap me, ruining my college entrance examination and my life.

When I woke up again, my mother was wiping my hands and my father put away his phone.

My mother looked at me cautiously, her face full of heartache as she asked, “Lindsey, you're awake, are you feeling unwell?”

This is what I once longed for, but seeing it that moment made me feel suffocated.

“Is the college entrance examination over?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

There was a trace of guilt in my mother's eyes and my father comforted me, “Let's take care of your health first. Even if you don't take the college entrance examination, we can still give you a better future. Don't be sad.”

A better future?

“I begged him.”

My parents were stunned for a moment, then they realized who ‘him’ I was talking about.

I turned my head and looked at the pale ceiling of the hospital with empty eyes.

“I told him my parents were very rich, that they would definitely come to rescue me, so I begged him to let me go. But the more I pleaded, the more excited he became. 

“And the more excited he became, the more he wanted to hurt me.”

As I said this, I seemed to be back to that time again, with the smell of decay in my nose and torn cloth around me.

I could not stop shaking as I explained more, “I tried to run away, but he broke my leg. I did not dare to cry, so he used an iron rod as thick as his arm to….”

“Stop talking, stop talking!"

My mother did not dare to listen any more. She hugged me tightly and cried inconsolably.

My father's brows were furrowed and his face looked a little ugly.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

“No, it's not your fault. It's all my fault. I should have picked you up earlier that day, otherwise you would not have met that devil.”

If she had not mentioned it, I would have forgotten it.

The day before the college entrance examination, Martina did not go to school because of a cold. 

When I went out to school, my mother specifically told me that she would pick me up after school in person and asked me to wait for her at the intersection outside the school.

This was the first time my mother has shown her unique concern for me since I returned to this home.

I was filled with joy and anticipation, but what I waited for was the road to hell that they personally prepared for me.

Who was the devil here actually?

“Don't be afraid, Lindsey. It's all over. I promise you that we will use all the connections in the Mitchell Family to find that beast and make him pay the price!”

I closed my eyes, no longer watching this false show of love and let the tears fall.