My mother was the the heroine of a tragic novel. When she died, the four men who’d been at her side found me alive inside her. That’s how I ended up with four fathers. One of them became a don—Don Julian Ashford, a man whose name makes men straighten their collars. One of them ran the muscle and the private army—General Marcus Ashford. One of a medical genius who could cheat death—Dr. Silas Ashford. The last was the chief enforcer, a martial arts master—Sir Cedric Ashford. They spoiled me like a princess. Every girl in the Millbrook city envied me. Until the year I turned eighteen. That was when they found her. Jade Sinclair came back—the daughter of their lost love. From that day, my four fathers became strangers. Jade said I insulted her; Don Father had my mouth sewn shut and starved me for three days. Jade said I poisoned her. Doctor Father threw me into the Pit—his underground chamber of venomous insects. The venomous insects chewed through my face and ate one of my eyes. When Jade claimed I hired men to assault her, Sir Father dragged me by the collar to the family camp—forced me into sexual servitude. Three years. I went from fighting to accepting. One night, my door was opened again. I started taking off my clothes like I always did. Then I heard someone say, “Ivy. Do you want to go back to your mother?” …….. I snapped my head up. There was no one in the room. At the same time, a voice appeared in my head again. It said it was my mother’s System. That she had left in a hurry years ago and never knew I survived. Now she knew, and she wants to bring me home. If this body dies, I can see my mother. Then *The System* said, “Ivy, your mother has been so worried since she learned you exist. Would you be willing—” I didn’t let it finish. I grabbed a blade and pressed it to my throat without hesitation. Yes. Finally. My mother is alive! And soon I was going to see her. I was so happy I forgot to be afraid of death. But before I could cut, something slammed into my hand. The pain made me drop the blade. A foot stomped on it. “Ivy Lane. are you trying to kill yourself?” The familiar voice made me look up. “Sir Father.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. As expected, the man frowned at the name. “Don’t call me that. I cut ties with you long time ago.”
He was Sir Cedric Ashford. When I was little, a rival boss kidnapped me. Cedric climbed the enemy’s family on his knees, and took three stab wounds, six holes through his body, just to bring me back unharmed. After I was rescued, I cried at the sight of his wounds. He patted my head and said the cuts meant nothing to him. He said when he saw me cry, he hurt with it. He used to love me the most. Nut that love disappeared four years ago, when General Father brought Jade back from the Mafia war. I always knew my four fathers shared a lost love. But I didn’t know it wasn’t my mother. It was Jade’s mother. They were said to be the four sons of one of Millbrook City’s most feared mafia kings. Because the Rival Mafia Family feared of the boys would one day rise to power, their enemies sent mercenaries and killers to hunt them down. My mother, still a child then, hid the four boys and sent them to masters to train. After learning their skills, and with my mother’s help, they rose up and succeeded. Don Julian became the new mafia boss in the Millbrook City and cleared their group name. People said my mother and Don Julian had been in love. But when she was about to marry him, Jade’s mother appeared. The moment she arrived, she drew the four men’s attention. After that, People also said my mother very jealous, she often hurt Jade’s mother; and later, my mother killed herself out of jealousy. After my mother’s death, Jade’s mother vanished. Only when Jade returned did the fathers learn that Jade’s mother had left because she felt guilty over my mother’s death. To be honest, I don’t believe those stories. My instinct tells me my mother was not the villain; Jade’s mother was. But the fathers don’t trust my instinct. They even think my mother and I are the same, fighting for their attention. So every time Jade and I clashed, they sided with her. Soon I went from the pampered little princess to a whore to a thousand men. Sir Cedric picked up the blade and glanced at the wound on my throat. Then his wrist turned. The blade came straight for me. I stumbled back two steps on reflex. The flash of steel passed. A new cut appeared on my neck. Sir Cedric sneered, “If you want to die that badly, what are you hiding from?” “You’re just like your mother—cheap, always hurting yourself to get attention.” “She was smarter than you, at least. She always did it in front of all four of us. You pick this kind of miserable place. You’ve really lost your mind.”
I am about to explain that I am not acting. But then I remember—no one ever believed my explanations before. I bow my head. “You’re right, Sir Cedric. May I ask why you bothered to come all the way here? Was it to watch me put on a show?” Cedric freezes for a moment. “Don’t flatter yourself. Today is Jade’s birthday. She said she’s willing to forgive you and make peace. I am here to take you to see her.” Three days ago, I heard that Don Julian would name Jade Princess of Mafia and there’d be a parade today. I’m a year older than her; that title is the one Don Julian gave me when I was ten. If this were before, if someone tried to take what was mine, I would have made a scene. No one would have had a good time. Now I just tell Sir Cedric without expression, “I don’t want to go.” Cedric pauses, then says, “That’s not up to you.” He grabbed me by the arm and hauled me out. He takes me back to his place to cleaned me up, dressed me, and then rushed me toward the toward the manor. Sitting in the carriage, Cedric talks nonstop in my ear. He tells me to kneel before Jade. Not to make her angry again. My heart aches. I watch the carriage go faster and faster. The thought of seeing my mother grows stronger and stronger in my mind. Without thinking, I lift the curtain and jump out. I haven’t hit the ground before someone gasps. I think at that speed I’ll surely die. But the pain I expect never comes. Instead, I fall into a warm embrace. Cedric catches me. We roll on the ground twice. His furious voice explodes above my head. “Ivy, are you insane?” I look at him. He’s bleeding—bright red across his face where my head struck him. I reach up to wipe it off. His face goes hard. “Can you stop playing these games? You want to see if I care? I’ll tell you—me saving you means nothing. I’d save a stranger the same way. If I’d known you were planning this, I wouldn’t have jumped. ” “From now on, if you want to die, go ahead. I won’t stop you.” My hand freezes in midair. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the moat not far away. I smile bitterly. “All right, Sir Cedric. Remember what you said.” Before he can react, I spring up and, without looking back, hurl myself into the water. He had nearly drowned as a child. Water was his one fear. He said those cruel things knowing he might not jump in after me. So when the freezing water rushed into my lungs, I felt nothing but relief. Finally—I am going to see my mother.
I don’t know how much time passes. Then the darkness fades. I sit up eagerly, ready to find my mother—but someone slaps me across the face. I fall to the ground. “Bitch!” Doctor Father’s voice snarls above me. His face is twisted with anger. “All we asked was for you to do some light work at the camp. And the moment you see your Sir Father, you put on this act? Do you know he almost drowned because of you?” Of all four fathers, Doctor Father and I were the closest. The others were too busy, so almost he raised me. He taught me to read, to write, to recognize herbs and practice medicine. He was always gentle. No matter how badly I messed up, he guided me patiently. He never once punished me. But the day Jade came back, he hit me for the first time. Jade had brushed against one of his venomous insects and claimed I’d planted it on her. He took a whip to my back. “This is my fault for not teaching you better—treating lives like a joke?,” he said. Later, when Jade said I poisoned her again, Doctor Father fed me a pill that attracted insects and threw me into the Pit. Tens of thousands of bugs crawled into my body. they ate through my flesh and took one of my eyes. He tried to save me afterward, but I still lost one eye. I don’t say anything for now. He thinks my silence means I agree. His anger rises. He raises his hand to hit me again. Sir Father stops him. “Silas, calm down. Today is Jade’s enfeoffment ceremony as Princess of Mafia. Ivy can’t handle it. She’s already tried to kill herself three times in front of me.” I glance at Sir Father. He has changed his clothes. His wounds are bandaged. But his face is pale. I remember what Doctor Father said: “he almost drowned because of you.” He saved me again. Sir Father can’t swim. He must have used every bit of strength to pull me out. Doctor Father snorts. “Cedric, you were fooled. She’s used this stunt before—just to get attention.” Sir Father hesitates. Then, as if relieved, he says, “So that’s it.” Doctor Father looks at me again. “Ivy, today is Jade’s birthday. Make a scene in front of us if you must, but don’t drag it up to the another fathers—you know how they are…” Before he can finish, i have already lunged toward the medical case behind him. I have lived with Doctor Father long enough to know exactly where he keeps the poisons. I open the case. Find the deadliest one and swallowed it before anyone could stop me. Doctor Father’s face goes white.
The poison is bitter. But I am happy. Doctor Father once told me this poison has no antidote. If I take it, I will die. Doctor Father only freezes for a few seconds. Then he shoves his fingers into my mouth. “You’re insane. Do you know what that is?” He wrenched my jaw open and shoved his fingers down my throat. His large hand patted my back forcefully. Black blood trickled out of my mouth. He watches. Waits. When the blood running from me fades from black to red, Doctor Father lets out a breath. “Ivy, it was just a title. Was it worth dying over?” Sir Father looks shaken too. Now he believes I really want to die. His voice trembles. “Ivy, don’t do anything stupid. Yesterday the four of us talked to Jade. She agreed to forgive you. After today, you can come back to the mansion. Julian will make you the anther Princess of Mafia. Just stop trying to die. We’ll go back to how things used to be. Okay?” Hearing that, tears spill from my eyes. They think I’m moved. Then I drop to my knees in front of them. “Doctor Father. Sir Father. Please. Just let me die.” Doctor Father explodes with rage. “Ivy, didn’t you hear what we said—” “I heard.” There is no point hiding it anymore. “But I don’t want to go back to the house. I want to find my mother.” I tell them everything I heard in my head today. Their expressions grow more and more complicated. Finally, Doctor Father pulls me to my feet. “Ivy, listen to me. Your mother is really dead.” He tells me my mother jumped into a lake. Don Father pulled her out. Doctor Father used every skill he had and still couldn’t save her. After she died, the four of them cut me out of her belly. Then they stayed by her body for seven days and seven nights. They watched her rot. Watched her disappear from this world. Doctor Father says what I heard might be a hallucination from shock. He suggests I stay with him if I won’t return to the house—if I behave, he won’t let anyone hurt me again. I am about to shake my head when the sound of hooves slams through the courtyard. I am about to shake my head when the sound of hooves slams through the courtyard. Moments later Don Father and General Father rush in. frantic. “Silas, Cedric—have you seen Jade? She’s missing!”
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