Broken Hands, Broken Home: My Family's Sentence

The call connected, but the voice that rang out wasn't Dad's.

Bruce clearly noticed too, and he instantly flew into a rage, wanting to cut off one of my ears as punishment.

The other person at the end of the line quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't be impulsive! I'm Zachary's superior, Peter Myers. This was the only way we could get to you!

"You kidnapped the wrong person. The whole team knows Zachary has only one daughter named Evonne. They're all on vacation abroad now.

"You can state whatever demands you have, but don't involve an innocent child!"

Bruce roughly dragged me over and forced me to kneel in front of the screen.

I was tied to a chair, and as he dragged me, my knees scraped hard against the ground.

Pain shot through my entire body. Still, it was nothing compared to the pain I felt in my heart.

Bruce coldly sneered. "Look closely at this face! This is Zachary's biological daughter! Call him now, or I'll kill her!"

Helpless, Peter had no choice but to call Dad.

However, the first voice that came through was Evonne's.

"Dad, it's too expensive to buy both dresses. Maybe we should just save the money for…

"Dad, you take the call first."

Then, Dad said, "Sir, is something wrong?"

Peter immediately asked him how many daughters he had.

Without hesitation, Dad replied, "We only have one daughter, Evonne. Why? Is something wrong?"

With that, Peter explained my situation.

Dad responded with a hint of regret, "What a foolish criminal. He didn't even realize he'd kidnapped the wrong person.

"Although I feel sympathy and guilt that an innocent child suffered misfortune because of me, my family and I are abroad right now. It's too late to return."

"And honestly, this child's parents are something else. How could they still have not shown up? How irresponsible!"

Peter asked again, "Just in case, could you come back? Maybe Bruce would release the child then."

When Evonne saw Dad hesitate, she pitifully cried out, "It's okay, Dad. My birthday isn't important. That girl is really pitiful. Every time I celebrate my birthday, something bad happens to someone.

"I'll never celebrate my birthday again."

Immediately, Dad said, "I won't go. I won't…"

After comforting Evonne, he directly refused Peter, saying, "Sorry, sir. After all these years of risking our lives, my wife and I just want to celebrate our only daughter's birthday."

Their only daughter, huh? But I was clearly their only biological daughter.

My parents never acknowledged me in public and never got me registered—just because I was trafficked as a child, grew up in the countryside, wasn't pretty or smart, and didn't fit in with the family.

My chest heaved violently and burned with pain. My organs spasmed, making me retch uncontrollably.

Peter was still loudly pleading for me through the call, but Bruce turned a deaf ear. He tore off my shoes and, with pliers in his hand, viciously said, "Remember, everything you're suffering through now is because of your parents!"

With that, he crushed my little toe.

The excruciating pain made me struggle violently. In the commotion, I kicked over the phone that was livestreaming, sending it crashing to the ground.

As it fell, I caught sight of a highlighted comment in the livestream chat.

"I'm Evonne's classmate. I swear I saw Evonne celebrating her birthday here. What's going on?"