Nina Walsh clutched her stomach where Blondie had kicked her. She looked at him fearfully and asked in a small voice, "I-I did everything you said... Can I go now?"

Hearing this, Blondie couldn’t help but let out a mocking smile. ’This Nina Walsh is really as stupid as she is nasty,’ he thought, ’to actually believe I’d let her go. What a load of crap.’

’Go? Dream on!’

’After all, no woman who entered The Crestview Hotel has ever walked out in one piece.’

Blondie sneered inwardly, but on the surface, he decided to keep Nina Walsh calm for now. After all, he wasn’t sure if Melody Summers would take the bait, and Nina might still be useful.

So he gave a cold snort and replied, "Whether or not I let you go... that depends on if your good sister shows up. You can leave when she does."

Seeing the disappointment in Nina Walsh’s eyes, Blondie waved a dismissive hand. "Alright, you just stay here and behave. Don’t go running around. And I’m telling you, there’s a leopard kept outside. If you dare to run out, you’d better watch out, or it’ll tear you to shreds and swallow you whole!"

As if to confirm Blondie’s words, the low growl of a large cat could be faintly heard from outside, making Nina Walsh jump in fright.

After Blondie left, Nina, afraid the leopard would break in and eat her, endured the pain in her stomach and rushed over to shut the door securely.

Her legs then gave out, and she slid down with her back against the door, sitting alone in the small room in a daze.

This small room was an improvement over the one Nina had been in earlier. At least it had two beds and a cabinet.

Her legs still weak, she crawled to the side of the bed and struggled to climb onto it. The pain in her stomach forced her to curl up. She lay on her side in a fetal position. As she recalled the events of the past year, tears began to fall without her realizing.

During the heatwave last year, her birth mother, Mindy Walsh, had passed away unexpectedly.

Caleb Summers said it was from a pre-existing condition triggered by the high temperatures. He sent Mindy Walsh to the crematorium and had her hastily cremated and interred.

After her mother’s death, before Nina Walsh could even recover from the devastating grief, her father, Caleb Summers, had already done two things with lightning speed.

The first was to take Nina Walsh to have her name changed from Nina Walsh to Nina Summers.

Ignoring Nina’s protests and displeasure, Caleb Summers told her very sternly that from then on, she would be called Nina Summers, and the matter was not up for discussion.

The second was to bring home a woman named Zoe Kane.

Caleb Summers told Nina Summers that from now on, Zoe Kane would be her new mother.

The news of Zoe Kane’s arrival was like a bolt from the blue, catching Nina Summers completely off guard. She was so shocked and heartbroken she could hardly breathe.

Mindy Walsh had only just passed away. Nina couldn’t understand how her father could bring another woman home before her mother was even cold in her grave!

How could her mother rest in peace?!

What’s more, this woman, Zoe Kane, was only seven years older than Nina! Nina didn’t even know how she was supposed to address her.

Drowning in the pain of her mother’s death, Nina had a frantic fight with Caleb Summers. She relentlessly questioned him, asking why he could move into someone else’s arms so quickly. Was all his previous love for her mother just an act?

Nina tearfully told Caleb Summers that she would never accept Zoe Kane.

Nina even threatened Caleb that if he dared to marry Zoe Kane, she would disown him as her father.

But Caleb Summers, who had always doted on Nina and given her anything she wanted, ignored her objections this time and resolutely went and got a marriage license with Zoe Kane.

Faced with Nina’s tantrums, Caleb was patient at first and tried to reason with her.

He told Nina that he would always love her as his daughter and that he was marrying Zoe Kane so Zoe could take Mindy Walsh’s place in taking good care of her.

Nina immediately retorted that she didn’t need to be taken care of. She told Caleb to divorce Zoe Kane at once and make her move out.

Seeing Nina constantly acting out, Caleb gradually lost his patience with her.

Finally, Caleb told Nina with a stern expression that she had to accept Zoe Kane.

He even told her that Zoe Kane would absolutely not be leaving, that she was now the mistress of the house, and that Nina had to respect Zoe just as she had respected Mindy Walsh.

Nina was utterly shocked to hear this. She even ran away from home twice in protest, but Caleb didn’t care at all.

It was so hot outside, and Nina had little money on her. Each time she ran away, she had to slink back home in disgrace.

Having lost the affection of her parents, Nina went from being the little Princess of the family to the person with the least say in the house.

For many nights, listening to the loving laughter of Caleb and Zoe outside her door, Nina could only sit in her room and cry alone.

’I haven’t just lost Mom, I’ve lost Dad, too... I’m a child with no home.’

As for that Zoe Kane...

When she first married into the family, she had been reasonably patient with Nina. She would hold Nina’s hand and tell Caleb that she would treat Nina like her own daughter.

At the time, Nina had just sneered, slapped her hand away, and called her a hypocrite.

Zoe didn’t get angry. Instead, she went out of her way to cook a variety of delicious food for Nina, using their less-than-abundant supplies to make her three meals a day.

After a while, Nina was somewhat moved.

Just as she was about to let go of her prejudice and accept that Zoe had become a member of the family, the situation changed again.

Zoe Kane gave birth to Caleb Summers’s son.

Caleb was overjoyed and named his son Chester Summers.

From then on, Zoe’s attitude toward Nina changed.

She began ordering Nina around, making her do the laundry, mop the floors, and even warm milk and wash diapers for Chester.

When Nina refused, Zoe would secretly make things difficult for her.

Caleb didn’t come home for lunch, so when Zoe cooked, she would only make white rice for herself.

As for Nina’s lunch... she would just mash a pitiful amount of rice and sand vine cakes into a paste for Nina to eat.

Nina couldn’t stand it and complained to Caleb, hoping he would stand up for her.

But Caleb just reprimanded her for being immature, saying she didn’t appreciate her parents’ hardships. He also said that now that they had a baby brother in the family, they needed to be frugal, and she should try to conserve more.

With Caleb backing her up, Zoe became even more brazen, eventually not even giving Nina lunch.

Starving by evening, a famished Nina would devour her food, and Zoe would make sarcastic, passive-aggressive remarks to Caleb about how much she ate.

Every time Nina wanted to argue back, Caleb would just look at her with disappointment and say she was spoiled.

Nina couldn’t bear her father’s disappointed gaze, so she could only hold back her tears and swallow her grievances.

Nina endured this for several months, until a few days ago, when a colleague from Caleb’s workplace came to visit.

The colleague joked with Caleb, asking if naming his son Chester meant the family business finally had an heir. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Nina was listening secretly from the doorway. She heard Caleb reply to his colleague, "Yes."

Caleb also said that Chester was his only son, and he sighed that after struggling for so many years, he finally had an heir.

Nina felt as if she’d been struck by lightning.

’I never thought Dad felt this way.’

’Then in Dad’s heart, what am I?’

’Was Dad’s doting love for me all these years just an act?’

Nina immediately broke down, bursting out from her hiding spot to have a huge fight with Caleb.

But Caleb felt Nina had made him lose face in front of his colleague. He raised his hand, slapped her hard across the face, and told her to get back to her room.

Nina’s face stung with a fiery pain, but the pain in her heart was even worse.

The next day, she left a note saying she was running away from home.

But she never expected that just as she walked out of her residential complex, she would be kidnapped and brought to The Crestview Hotel...

At this thought, Nina pulled the blanket over her head and couldn’t help but burst into tears.

She hadn’t cried this hard even when she was abducted by her kidnappers.

She whispered through her sobs, "Mom... please save me. Everyone is bullying me now..."

*

At that moment, under the cover of night, Melody Summers drove up near The Crestview Hotel.