Chapter 23 Doubt
Joshua was seething with rage, his entire body shaking, and his chest heaving violently.
Celeste was heartbroken, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. She clutched her chest with one hand and cried out, “Aurora, it’s not what you think. They love you, that’s why we have you here. Please, you have to believe us.”
Aurora, however, almost chuckled at her words, and indeed she did laugh, but there was no warmth in her smile, only sarcasm and sorrow.
She stood before them, a bandage wrapped around her head. Daisy noticed, but her own family members did not, offering not even a word of concern, only accusations.
Aurora’s eyes blazed with anger.
She pointed at her forehead, her voice rising sharply with rage. “Hasn’t it been ten minutes since I walked in? In those ten minutes, has anyone asked me about the injury on my forehead?
“Are you blind to it, or do you see it but simply don’t care?
“Mrs. Celeste Elvador, you’ve crippled me, and now you tell me you love me. Don’t you feel ashamed?”
Her voice echoed through the room, filled with endless
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questions. Each word was like a sharp blade, brutally stabbing into everyone present.
“You claim to love me, but where is your love?” Aurora’s tears finally flowed freely down her checks. Her body trembled slightly with excitement.
Celeste’s crying abruptly ceased. After Aurora’s reminder, she finally noticed the injury on Aurora’s forehead and the bloodstains on her clothes.
She wanted to step forward and hug Aurora out of pity, but the coldness and resistance in Aurora’s eyes stopped her in her
tracks.
“Aurora, what happened to your head?”
Bertha exclaimed in surprise. “Oh, Aurora, you’re hurt.”
A flicker of uneasiness passed through Barnett’s eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a disdainful expression.
He sneered, his laughter particularly grating. “No wonder you’ve been acting strangely since you came in. It turns out you were trying to feign injury to get our attention.”
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes filled with contempt. “Aurora, put away your little tricks. They’ll only make people dislike you more.”
Celeste’s eyes showed suspicion and a hint of disappointment. She frowned and asked, “Aurora, is it true? How could you scare
Chapter 23 Doubt
us by pretending to be injured?”
Joshua snorted and said, “Old habits die hard.”
Aurora never expected such a response.
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Her body instantly stiffened, as if doused with a bucket of cold water. Her heart seemed to plunge into an ice cave,
She had thought that no matter how cold this family was, they wouldn’t ignore her pain. But now, reality had slapped her hard
in the face.
They not only ignored it but also accused her of feigning injury to gain sympathy.
At this moment, Aurora’s exhaustion reached its peak.
She didn’t want to argue with them anymore because it was meaningless.
“Think whatever you want,” she said, straightening her back. Even though tears were brimming in her eyes, she wouldn’t let them fall. She didn’t want to show any weakness in front of these people.
With that, she quickly walked towards the storeroom.
“You stop right there!” Barnett stood up abruptly, his voice echoing loudly through the room, his face still etched with a look of undiminished disdain and anger.
Aurora paused, turning to face him with eyes as cold as ice, a stark contrast to her usual demeanor.
Barnett’s heart skipped a beat as he met her piercing gaze, his mind going completely blank, forgetting whatever he intended to say next.
Aurora held the gaze of the Elvador family for an extended period, sending shivers down their spines. Only then did she turn away and resume her forward march.
Bertha, trembling with fear, clung to Celeste’s arm. “Mom, Aurora’s look just now was terrifying.”
Celeste patted her arm soothingly, acknowledging the fright she too felt. There was an unmistakable sense of Aurora’s resolve, a determination that bordered on desperation.
“Aurora has changed since five years ago,” Celeste observed.
“Rude! Incredibly rude!” Joshua sneered. “She’s nothing like Bertha. If I had known she would turn out like this, I would have never welcomed her into our family.”
Celeste sighed. “You should also refrain from such harsh words. She’s a girl, after all. Saying such things will only embarrass. her.”
Joshua’s anger flared up instantly, his roar echoing through the dining room,
loud enough for Aurora, who had retreated to the storage room, to hear clearly.
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“I’m her father. Why should I care about sparing her feelings? It’s because I’ve been too lenient with her that she dares to act so presumptuously. We should have set some ground rules when she first joined our family,” he shouted.
“That’s enough.” Celeste replied firmly.
The dining room fell silent after the prolonged argument.
Aurora leaned against the door, slowly sliding to the floor.
The room was shrouded in darkness. She hugged herself tightly, burying her head between her knees, as tears finally cascaded down her cheeks. The long–suppressed pain and grief erupted like a dam breaking, unleashing a torrent of emotions.
She cried silently, her tears soaking her clothes, but they could not wash away the deep–seated pain in her heart.
When she first arrived in this family, her heart was filled with hope and anticipation, imagining that this would be her sanctuary, her haven. Instead, it had become a cold prison that had left her emotionally scarred.
All the suffering she had endured was a result of these so–called “family members” standing before her.
After an eternity that seemed to stretch on forever, her crying gradually subsided.
She felt around the room and lay down on the bed, staring blankly at the dark ceiling, with tears still streaming down her
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face.
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Torn between extreme exhaustion and pain, she finally drifted into a restless slumber.
However, peace did not find her in her sleep.
The terrifying memories of being beaten in prison returned like nightmares, her face was distorted in terror. She struggled and twisted on the bed, crying out loudly, “Help! Mom! Mom, save me…”
Her cries, filled with fear and despair, echoed through the room, as if she had been transported back to those dark, helpless days in hell.
Just as she was immersed in the abyss of her nightmares and unable to escape, a warm hand gently landed on her back, patting her rhythmically with a soothing voice, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I’m here… Mom is here…”
That voice, old but filled with concern, pierced through the darkness like a beacon of hope, trying to dispel the fear that had taken root in her heart.
In her slumber, Aurora instinctively drew closer to the warm source, her furrowed brow slowly relaxing and her cries gradually fading.
The storeroom door was slightly ajar, letting the hallway light seep in, revealing that it was not Celeste but Daisy who was gently tapping Aurora.
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7/7
Daisy sighed quietly, her face a picture of compassion mingled with helplessness.
As merely a servant without a voice, she could only strive to be as kind as possible to Aurora.
The following morning, Aurora awoke and remained lost in contemplation for some time.
Last night, she had dreamed of Celeste embracing her and comforting her with tender words.
Aurora ridiculed herself, believing she must be insane to entertain such impractical fantasies.
