To help his adopted sister, Rosalind Sterling, get taller, my brother Ashton Sterling forced me, Seraphina Sterling, to give her my legs for grafting. He found a preacher, a man calling himself a True God, who hacked my legs off with an axe while I was still conscious. Worried his precious Rosalind might feel guilty, Ashton then ordered someone to shove dog legs into the bleeding stumps, claiming they were specially made, lifelike prosthetics for me. The agony was unbearable. My wounds weren’t treated, weren’t even cleaned, left to fester along with the filth from my loss of bodily control, the stench sickening. But Ashton forbade the caregivers from helping me. “Still got the energy to scream? Means it doesn’t hurt enough. No medicine for her for a few days. Let her learn her lesson.” Near death, I used my last ounce of strength to drag myself off the bed, crawling towards the door, wanting only to beg Ashton for a shred of dignity in my final moments. But he kicked me away with cold eyes. “Disgusting. Don’t scare Rosalind.” Later, when he heard wild dogs had dragged my body away, Ashton scoured the mountains and knelt in every church, desperate just to find my bones, to bring me home.
When my adoptive mother, Lucinda Fairfax, returned home carrying my ravaged remains, bones gnawed clean by wild animals, Ashton was in the middle of ordering men to destroy our home, Lucinda’s and mine. The inside was already smashed to pieces. The stray cats I’d taken in were terrified, fur on end, hiding in corners. Lucinda rushed inside, shielding the cats like a mother hen protecting her chicks, pointing a trembling finger at Ashton as she cursed him, “These little ones were the last thing Seraphina cared about! They’re all she had left! “You monster! You already killed her! Isn’t that enough?” Ashton sneered, “Tsk, still playing the dedicated cat lover? Fake death, huh? Even if she were really dead, I wouldn’t donate a penny to this broken place. “The legs she gave up were too skinny anyway. Tell her to crawl back out here and saw off another section for Rosalind, or else I’ll kill these pests!” Lucinda swayed on her feet. She clutched the bag in her arms tighter, whispering, “She’s gone. She’s already dead! “She’s right here, in this bag! If you don’t believe me, take it and get it tested! Just please, leave these kittens alone! Seraphina won’t rest in peace if you hurt them!” For a fleeting second, Ashton seemed moved, but then he violently swatted the bag away. “Trying to trick me with a bag of pork?” Lucinda’s eyes were red as she scrambled to protect my remains, but Ashton stepped forward, grinding the bloody fragments under his heel. He grabbed Lucinda by the hair. “Old hag, hand her over, now!” Tears streamed down Lucinda’s face from the pain. One of the cats darted forward anxiously, only to be kicked away hard by Ashton. That was the first cat I ever rescued. She was fifteen years old. I wanted to pick her up, to soothe her, but my spectral form passed right through her again and again. Just then, Ashton shoved Lucinda away. Lucinda was in too much pain to cry out, but she still struggled to crawl over, gathering my scattered remains back into the bag. “Seraphina… Seraphina… I’m so sorry…” Seeing this, Ashton let out a cold laugh. “Still acting? I bet Seraphina learned how to ruthlessly bully Rosalind from an old hag like you! “If she’s dead, I’ll set off fireworks all night to celebrate one less menace in the world!” Just as he finished speaking, his subordinate, Cole Banks, walked in and reported, “Mr. Sterling, we haven’t found any trace of Ms. Seraphina Sterling!” “Ha, very well.” Ashton laughed, choked with anger, “Let’s see how long she can hide!” With that, he dragged Lucinda to the pigsty entrance and ordered his men to dump a bucket of pig feed over her. “Seraphina’s remains, huh? Still pretty fresh. What, couldn’t you even bother to make your scam look realistic? “So precious, are they? Let’s give the pigs a treat!” He then emptied the contents of the bag into the pigpen and tossed Lucinda aside. “If Seraphina doesn’t crawl out by sunset tomorrow, I’ll turn this place into a cat graveyard!” As he left, he spat into the pigpen. His followers did the same, one after another. One man even urinated directly onto the remains. Lucinda, despite being at her absolute limit, shielded my ravaged body with her own, letting the urine soak her completely. The cats meowed incessantly. A few, passing near where my spirit stood, let out mournful cries.
That night, Lucinda packed her bags ahead of time. She didn’t dare gamble with the cats’ lives. But just as she was about to load the cats for escape, their terrified screams echoed from the yard. Lucinda rushed out frantically, only to find Ashton standing there with an electric shock baton, watching her with vicious eyes. “Where do you think you’re going?” Lucinda weakly opened and closed her mouth. “What will it take… for you to leave us alone?” “Hand over Seraphina.” At his words, Lucinda’s eyes reddened again. She looked close to breaking. “Seraphina is dead! “You killed her!” Ashton stared coldly at Lucinda, then scoffed, “Old hag, I’ve already exposed your act. Stop pretending! “She played the cat lover, slept with rich old men for money… If she died, wasn’t it all for nothing?” I stared blankly at Ashton, my ghostly heart aching. Lucinda couldn’t hold back anymore and screamed at him, “Seraphina is your sister, the one you lost for ten years! How dare you speak such nonsense about your own sister? “Do you have any idea what she gave up for these cats? She’d rather starve herself…” Ashton interrupted Lucinda with a vicious slap, “I only have one sister, and her name is Rosalind.” Beside him, Rosalind heard this and clung to Ashton’s arm coquettishly. “Oh, Ashton, Seraphina would be so sad to hear you say that. It’s my fault for taking her place… I should go apologize to her. I’ve learned all my manners now…” Ashton pulled her back protectively. He gently wiped the corner of her eye, his own eyes full of concern. “Rosalind, you’re too kind. If it weren’t for Seraphina, you never would have suffered so much out in the countryside.” “Seraphina only wanted what was best for me, too.” Rosalind covered her mouth with a delicate cough, spitting blood into her palm. Seeing the blood, Ashton panicked. “What’s wrong?” Rosalind refused to speak. He immediately dialed a doctor, frantic. After hearing the diagnosis, that I had supposedly poisoned Rosalind, he exploded with rage, “That bitch! “I was actually considering giving that bitch a shred of dignity! But she refuses to learn! Fine, then they can all just die!” He stormed towards his car, ignoring Lucinda’s desperate attempts to block him, and slammed his foot on the accelerator, aiming straight for the cats huddled together. Most of the cats were old or disabled. Lucinda threw herself in front of them multiple times, only to be hit by the car, spitting blood, collapsing, unable to get up. All she could do was watch the cats shriek in terror. I threw my spectral self in front of the car, but I couldn’t save them. “Ashton! Please! Don’t hurt them! Don’t…” Suddenly, Cole ran out, waving frantically at Ashton. “Mr. Sterling! I just unlocked the old hag’s phone! I found Ms. Seraphina Sterling’s death certificate! It looks like… she really is dead!” Ashton’s eyes widened, and his foot eased off the gas. He looked utterly disbelieving, but just then, a new notification pinged on his phone. It was a bank transfer confirmation with five hundred thousand dollars received. The sender was me. But how could a dead person transfer money? At this, Ashton’s disbelief instantly curdled back into white-hot fury. “Dare to mess with me? “Seraphina! Well played! “You guys! Get the bulldozers! Bury this entire place! I’m turning it into a graveyard right now!” At his command, the machines roared to life, tearing down our home. “No! Don’t do this…” I sank to my knees, begging him, pleading with him not to hurt Lucinda and the cats. But Lucinda and my beloved furballs were buried beneath the dirt and rubble. I collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. I murmured, “I’m sorry. “It’s all my fault you suffered.”
I had no choice but to follow Ashton. Back in the car, Ashton carefully covered Rosalind with a blanket. Noticing bloodstains on the hem of her skirt, he saw that the wounds on her legs were oozing pus. “Seraphina’s legs are as cheap and nasty as she is! She must have pulled some trick! Why else would they work fine for her but cause you so much suffering!” Rosalind consoled Ashton dutifully, “Ashton, it’s just my bad luck. Don’t blame…” Before she could finish, she fainted. Ashton panicked, running several red lights to rush her to the True God preacher’s place, which seemed more like a strange church than a clinic. After examining her, the preacher looked gravely at Ashton. “Ms. Rosalind Sterling’s issue is simple. Limbs work best when they share the same origin. Her legs were replaced, but her hands weren’t. They don’t match. This causes a conflict. “It won’t affect her lifespan, but the wounds will frequently become inflamed. Of course, the best solution would be to replace her hands as well.” Ashton frowned. “Why didn’t you mention this before…” Rosalind tugged at his sleeve weakly. “Seraphina just lost her legs… even with prosthetics, losing her hands too would drastically impact her life. “I can endure it. I have more than enough love already. Seraphina has repaid any debt she owed me. It’s okay if I die a little sooner.” Ashton gently took Rosalind’s hand, rubbing it tenderly, his heart aching for her. “I will provide whatever you want. “Seraphina is nothing but an ungrateful viper! She’s a menace to society anyway. Just making her give up her hands… she owes you far more than that. Even her life wouldn’t be enough to repay you. Consider it her way of earning some good karma.” But I didn’t owe her anything. I was the true heiress of the Sterling family, but I was switched at birth in the hospital. Ashton found me when I was twelve, claiming to be my long-lost brother. He promised to make up for those twelve lost years, promised to make me a happy princess. At first, he did just that. Back then, when Rosalind secretly arranged for others to bully me, Ashton investigated thoroughly and immediately sent Rosalind back to her biological parents. Because her own family favored sons over daughters, Rosalind endured three years of abuse there. Ashton felt guilty. His way of easing his guilt was to sacrifice me. Just then, Ashton’s voice broke through my thoughts. “By the way, Rosalind’s heart hasn’t been feeling well lately. Master, can Seraphina’s heart be transplanted to Rosalind as well? “Don’t worry. I’m Seraphina’s legal guardian. As long as I sign the consent, she won’t dare refuse.”
Half an hour later, Ashton drove towards the hospital. At the parking gate, two security guards changing shifts were chatting. “Heard we need to beef up patrols now, especially on the wards with patients who don’t have family visiting.” “That girl who had the accident…” “Don’t even mention it. The human body with dog legs… nearly scared me to death!” “Those dog legs were jammed right into her thigh stumps, wired tightly together with steel wire! The bone inside the flesh was practically sticking out! Gave me nightmares for days!” “Heard her family’s loaded, but they wouldn’t even cough up the five hundred thousand for proper treatment. By the time they finally scraped it together, the girl was already gone.” Ashton’s hands clenched on the steering wheel. He stared at the guards, his voice tight with fear. “The girl you’re talking about… her name wasn’t… Seraphina, was it?” One guard glanced at him. “Don’t know her name. But the ones who picked up her body were two huge, thuggish-looking guys. Probably her brothers or something.” Ashton let out a breath of relief. Just then, his phone pinged. A message from Rosalind with a link to my supposed Twitter account. The post had countless likes. It showed someone who looked vaguely like me, partying hard at a nightclub. Rosalind’s voice message followed. “Ashton, I’m so envious of Seraphina. Will I ever be able to dance freely like her? Will I ever be truly happy?” “Slut!” Ashton spat the word, completely missing that the face in the video only bore a slight resemblance to mine. “That damn bitch Seraphina! I’ve been looking everywhere for her. She faked her death to mess with me, and now she dares to provoke me! “Go grab her cheap mother. I’m making them pay today!” Before he could finish, one of his subordinates rushed in. “Mr. Sterling, bad news! Ms. Rosalind Sterling’s legs are bleeding heavily again! She’s refusing treatment, and… she slit her wrists!” Ashton sprinted into the hospital room in terror. “Rosalind! What happened? Don’t scare me…” “I’m fine… I just… I just feel like I can never be as happy as Seraphina…” Rosalind stood up, showing a weak, apologetic smile, blood seeping through the bandages on her wrists. “Maybe it’s better if I just die.” With that, she collapsed onto the floor. Ashton watched in horror as she was rushed into the emergency room. He sank to his knees, his eyes wide with disbelief. “She dares provoke Rosalind! “She deserves to die!” He looked up at Cole, who stood nearby. “She wants to play games? Fine. I’ll play. “Dig up every piece of dirt on Seraphina. Leak it all online. I want her infamous across the entire internet!” But Cole couldn’t find any dirt on me. Instead, he carefully edited photos of Ashton abusing the cats, removing context, and posted them on the official Sterling Group website. Ashton even made a video. “Bullying her sister, terrorizing classmates, shamelessly sleeping with businessmen, abusing animals… a person like this does not deserve to be part of the Sterling family! “If anyone sees her, please contact me immediately! Generous reward offered! “Let’s make sure this trash gets what she deserves!” The internet exploded in outrage. “FindTheEvilSeraphina” started trending everywhere. Just as Ashton was reveling in his apparent victory, a major online influencer tagged him. The video showed Lucinda kneeling in front of the Sterling Group building. Behind her, a banner read: [Exposing the inhumane Sterling family, who forced Seraphina to death.] Bound to Ashton, I followed him as he went, my spectral form arriving alongside him at the Sterling Group building.
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