Chapter One

Emily’s POV

Do you have days when you don't feel alive? Days when your demons cloud your mental space and you feel the walls of your house closing in on you? days where you just want to die and days where you curse the day you were born?

Those are the moments when life seems pointless. A waste of time. It's like a mantra that keeps repeating over and over again in your head until one day it's all you can think about, the only thing you want to do: Die. You can't do anything else, because what else is there for you to do? I hated my life, I hated everything that came with it.

There were days I stayed up crying, hoping and wishing for death but it never came. Sometimes I wondered if I was cursed if I had offended someone I wasn't supposed to in my past life and maybe this was my karma.

“Emily!” her loud voice called out followed by her laughter that sounded like a cackling of vultures circling above their prey.

She grabbed hold of my shoulders as she laughed loudly again. “What happened to your face?” Her eyes widened at the sight of me contorted into something close to rage. “Oh my, what happened?” It sounded like a normal question, a question that came from care but I knew better. Moreover, she reeked of alcohol and could barely stand by herself.

I wanted to yell “you did this to me” but I couldn’t risk being punished.

“You called Mother” I hated how the word mother sounded against my tongue, it felt like poison but she had forced me to call her that and I remember the first week I refused to and got loads of slap for it.

“What are you waiting for? help me to my room” She snarled in my face and her arm rested quickly across my shoulders. The sudden touch made my stomach churn and I had to stop myself from throwing up.

The smell of alcohol was overpowering and her weight was enough to bring me down but I staggered through with her, ignoring the sharp pain that ran through my back with every step.

We walked up two flights of stairs until we reached their bedroom and I placed her on her bed. She fell flat on her back and let out a long sigh. There was still alcohol on her breath. “I didn’t even do that badly” she mumbled in disbelief before closing her eyes.

I almost scoffed. What did she mean by that?

I was about to leave when her voice followed me.

“I want another bottle of wine and a glass of water. Now” My eyes flickered between her closed eyes and the door, debating whether or not I should get them. She opened her eyes again and I saw anger flash across them briefly before they settled down to tiredness. “Emily, now!” The look she gave me was one filled with hatred and disgust. I hated to admit it but I was afraid of her so I reluctantly returned upstairs and went straight to the kitchen. I grabbed the wine glass that sat on the table and filled it with water.

When I brought the drink to her bedroom door, she took it from me without hesitation and drank greedily, emptying the glass within minutes. I thought about telling her she needed to slow down but she already looked like she was falling asleep and I had no desire to wake her.

When I was about to return to my room, Avery bumped into me and I almost lost my balance due to the impact, wincing slightly.

“Oh my goodness, what happened to your face? you look so ugly” she giggled, grabbing onto my face and turning my head around while her fingers brushed against my skin making me wince in pain again.

I pulled away from her as soon as possible and said nothing. If I did, I'd be a goner but it didn't stop my wolf from snarling inside of me and screaming that I should take out her head right there and then, rip her throat apart, bite her head off so she'd stop talking. Instead, I clenched my jaw hard and stared ahead.

“You don't like it?" she asked and grinned wickedly. She stood up taller and looked me directly in the eye. "Well Emily, get your fucking face fixed! Father will be here soon with his friends and we don't want them seeing any of that” She strolled off with confident steps until I heard the door slam behind her.

I'm going to kill her’ I promised myself mentally but I couldn't find the will to move from my position.

When I returned to my room, I stood in front of the once-glorious vanity mirror that was now broken taking in my appearance.

My hair was messy and unbrushed, the edges sticking up in weird angles, I looked like a complete mess. The cuts in my lip were still fresh but my nose was crooked and my chin was covered in small scars, some deep and some barely visible. In addition to those , my cheekbones looked hollow.

My eyes seemed lifeless, void of any emotion. And worst of all, my face was puffy, reddened from crying or lack of sleep. All in all, a very pitiful-looking person who looked like shit.

Yesterday, Father had lost most of his money to gambling as usual and I was the perfect person to take it on, not Avery.

Me.

I know I wasn't his biological daughter but sometimes I wished things were different, a little bit different. Just so I could live an entirely different life, have more options, have a reason to fight to stay in this world. Not that he really wanted me, he didn't care that much about me- he didn't care at all. He cared about winning more than he cared about anything.

“Emily! get your ass over here!”

Avery screamed from downstairs, sounding annoyed. I sighed and trudged downstairs. She sat impatiently on her couch waiting for me to come down with the drinks in her hands.

The only thing I didn't do after cooking was serve the guest. Father was too bothered about his reputation among his friends and my ugly face wasn't that part of the plan.