Chapter 1 You Have To Pay The Price Of What You Did

“Charles… I didn’t do it on purpose. Charles, you have to believe me.” Inside the mansion, Sophia White knelt on the ground. Her face was even paler than the white porcelain bottle on the table. The lights were not on. She could not see the expression of the man on the sofa. She could only see the faint light of the cigarette between his fingers diminishing. She felt like she was waiting for him to announce her death sentence. It was making her extremely uneasy. She lowered her head and stared blankly at her fingers. They were still covered with Leah Jones’ blood. Some time had passed, and it was completely dry now. However, her bloodied fingers were evidence of her crime. He finally stood up after a very long time. His tall and lean figure fast approached her. “Sophia, you have to pay the price for what you did. They’re able to save Leah’s legs, but she will never be able to dance again. You… How can you still be healthy and active?” His tone was grim. Her heart raced when she heard his words. With the pale moonlight, she could vaguely see the man inspecting a golf club in his hand. “I told you, as long as you’re obedient, I’ll marry you. But why did you go and provoke Leah? Why do you want to cause trouble for yourself? Hmm?” The minute the man stopped talking, the golf club struck down and landed directly on her tibia. “Ah!” He had used all his might to hit her. She was in excruciating pain. “Charles… I didn’t…” She could feel the pain spreading from her left leg. She was scared. She could only back away slightly. However, her broken leg could only dangle on her side stiffly. It looked lifeless. The man threw the bent golf club away and watched as she struggled at death's door. “Sophia, you’re compensating Leah with this leg. I’ll spare you your life, but remember, this is not the end.” She hugged herself while trembling furiously. In front of her was overlapping darkness. Before she closed her eyes, she could see him picking up the phone and making a call. “Tell the Whites that Sophia attempted murder. Let them decide if they want to protect her or White Industries.” Sophia smiled lightly. She was so tired. She thought, ‘Will everyone be happy if I just die right here?’ Two years later. It was the coldest day of the year. B City finally had its first snow. On the outskirts of the east side of town, the door of the detention center was wide open. A thin woman walked out from inside. Perhaps it was because of her legs, but she did not walk very fast. The snow was falling down slowly. The woman lifted her head. If one ignored the fading but deep scars on her face, she still looked young and pretty. With the weather like that, the bus would not operate as usual. The bus would usually come once every hour, but now, it would only come every two to three hours. She was unlucky. A bus had just left five minutes before she walked out of the detention center’s door. As such, she needed to wait for about two to three hours on the side of the road. She touched the chiffon shirt on her body and frowned. The crescent-shaped scar on her eyebrow became wrinkled as well. It was spring when she first went into the detention center. She did not expect it to be winter when she got out. She stood under the bus stop and looked at the detention center that had locked her up for two years with a blank expression on her face. There were eight words written on the white walls. ‘Turn over a new leaf and behave yourself.’ Suddenly, she could not help but laugh. She had stared at that sentence countless times over the past two years. However, would she even have the chance to turn over a new leaf after coming out from this place? She started thinking in the cold until the bus drove over in the snow and broke her train of thoughts. She rubbed her painful leg and got onto the bus. She only had an old cell phone and the few bucks the correctional officer gave her out of kindness. She inserted the money and went to the back of the bus in an orderly fashion. This was the only bus that drove from the city center to the detention center, so Sophia was the only passenger on the bus. During the journey, she leaned against the window as if she could not get enough of the scenery. The city had changed so much in just two years.