Chapter 4

After my own mother called me cheap in front of my classmates, I covered my face and fled.

Back home, my mind was in chaos. What benefits had my parents received to cruelly sell their own daughter?

If I really was a groomed companion, who had reserved me?

Was it one of Dad's two friends, or some corporate CEO?

Lost in thought, my head gradually grew heavy. I realized something was wrong—there was something in the water Dad had given me earlier!

When I woke again, I found myself on a theater stage with all the Morrison family relatives sitting below.

Mom held a white dress, smiling as she walked toward me.

"Claudia, I was too impulsive at school yesterday. I apologize. If you'll forgive me, put on this white dress and dance for everyone, okay?"

I clutched my sleeve, looking up at the bright spotlight overhead, extremely uncomfortable.

The relatives below looked at me like I was an exquisite commodity.

"Claudia, your mother worked so hard raising you all these years. Just dance for everyone so we can see the results. Don't embarrass your mother in front of all these people."

"That's right. Claudia is the Morrison family heir. Your sister was sacrificed to achieve what you are today. Be generous about it, don't be difficult."

Mom moved a high-definition camera in front of me, her smile eerily strange.

The camera's red light blinked in the dim seating area, particularly glaring.

I felt like I was being dissected for everyone's viewing pleasure, every inch of skin, every movement exposed with nowhere to hide.

Under dozens of watching eyes, I panicked and tried to flee.

"No, I won't dance. I want to leave."

Mom reached out. Years of malnutrition made me easy prey—she caught me effortlessly.

"Claudia, this camera is for recording your competition video. Why are you so resistant to it?"

"Listen to Mom. Come back and put on this white dress."

Mom's smile grew even warmer. To outsiders, she looked like a devoted mother planning for her daughter's future.

My scalp prickled with fear.

"No, you're lying. The video is clearly being recorded for that person. I won't let you manipulate me!"

The moment I finished speaking, Mom's smile vanished and her expression turned cold.

"Claudia, I'm warning you—Take care of yourself. If you don't dance today, you'll never leave this place!"

She clapped her hands. Immediately, two rows of bodyguards rushed out from backstage, ready to drag me away and lock me up.

I had no choice. Humiliated, I put on the custom-made tight white dress.

Since childhood, my pants had never shown my ankles.

But now this dress was so short it nearly exposed the lace on my safety shorts.

I bit my teeth and struggled to stand on tiptoe, dancing before the camera.

Mom harshly stopped the music. "Smile! Why do you look like a corpse!"

The video finally finished. The relatives applauded half-heartedly with occasional compliments.

But most of their comments were about my lotus-white legs.

I fled the scene in shame and cried hard in my bedroom.

My phone vibrated. The anonymous user had sent another message.

"Girl, you're turning eighteen this year, right? Your birthday is the delivery date. To cover their tracks, something will definitely happen. Be careful."

I stumbled out of bed and grabbed the calendar from my desk.

A certain date was circled in red pen.

My eighteenth birthday was tomorrow!