Loving the Stalker Under my Bed

Chapter 16 – My Stepmother’s Love

Chapter 16 – My Stepmother’s Love

* * *

My mother’s memento. Few clothes; as simple as possible. All my money - which has been converted to cash. A few valuables that I was able to hide from Pam.

She has been a greedy sister since we were young, and everything that she has will never be enough.

Being able to keep this much is already the best of my hiding skills. If not for the gap that I sculpted in my bed, then there is no way that I would be able to stash this fund.

I couldn’t bring much due to mobility, so just having this much should do. No – I should do everything to make these last until I find a new job.

Thud.

“The Madam is calling you. Go straight to the master’s bedroom and be quick on your feet.”

I might be young, but I’m supposed to be respected in this place. It should’ve been a well-established fact about being the eldest child of this family, but this housekeeper was obviously not willing to abide by that unwritten rule.

After all, she only sees me as vermin, adding to the number of people that she needs to serve.

I could only smirk after remembering the first time she entered our house. She was as obedient as a sheep at that time, yet everything changed when she figured that I held no significant power in this place.

Our world changed for the worst starting that day.

“I’m coming.”

Michelle, the maid, did not waste her time after hearing my answer. She immediately went off as if that was the best thing that she could do in her life.

I hid my treasure in different places before I walked out of my room.

There is no way that my things could be safe before Michelle’s sharp eyes. That woman has swift hands, fast enough to grab anything of value, especially those that belong to me.

I can’t even let my guard down, even in my own house.

* * *

“What took you so long?”

A disgusting smell of alcohol combined with a strong perfume. A woman in her lingerie, not minding the disgusted look of her stepdaughter due to her obscenity, scanned my body from head to toe.

Nancy Hertel, a beauty in her forties, is my stepmother.

Pam got her looks from her mother. She could have been perfect if not for the undisputed truth that she inherited her brain as well. It is a well-known fact that Pam and Nancy are both lacking in the intelligence department.

However, luck is still on their side since my foolish father fell in love with a woman who only had only her body to offer.

“I’m sorry, mother. I was organizing my things when Michelle relayed your order.”

I kept my head down as a spoke to Nancy. Calling me while there is a glass of liquor in her hand only means one thing – the mother she-devil is in a bad mood.

I can’t remember anything that could trigger her bad mood, meaning that this nonsense was started once again by her lovely daughter. I wonder what Pam did to make her mother drink this much.

“Pathetic reasons. It might be great to learn those things from your mother.”

That triggered my ire, but I wasn’t able to do anything. Raising my voice against Nancy is the same as asking for some beating.

This woman has a hobby of using a whip whenever she punishes me. Nancy started that sadistic tendency when Michelle gifted her a cheap whip. It was a peculiar gift, but my stepmother was overjoyed by its use.

After all, my stepmother finally received the best weapon that she could use to hear my shriek.

I can still remember the horror when I first tasted that whip. The skin-tearing pain and the blood that will flow afterward. The memory made me shiver as the scar of my wounds visited my memory.

“I’m sorry, Mother.”

There is nothing to apologize for, but it has always been my job to quell her anger whenever we reach this kind of scenario. Apologizing and letting her do what she wanted is the best way to stop this craziness as soon as possible.

Talking back and raising my arm is the same as saying that I wanted more of her beatings.

Crashed.

“Then die! Just die if you are sorry. Don’t you know how pathetic I felt whenever I saw your face? You never fail to remind me that I’m just the second wife, a woman who was once a mistress of your father…”

I kept my head bowing down. The glass that Nancy threw grazed my cheeks, but complaining and getting mad are the options that will never be given to me.

Persistence and patience.

I control my breathing as my senses are heightened to a certain degree. Things won’t end with that broken glass. I saw the table after I entered the room and it was full of things that she could use to play a shooting game with me.

“…Being compared and shunned. You don’t have a clue how low those people think of me. And now, now of all people, my daughter…”

A smirk was drawn on my face when she narrated her misery. Why is it my fault that she chose to be a mistress instead of finding a single man?

I can’t believe that I was being blamed for the sin that she committed with her own free will. My mother and I were supposed to be the victims here. Her babbling does not make sense to the person who suffered the most in this house.

“…She is being compared to a nobody like you! What audacity? This is all your fault. How could your grades be better than hers? You should’ve lived your life like your mother. A sorry woman who cannot even please her own man.”

Fear vanished instantly in my own body. Heat scattered all over my organs as anger clouded my virtues.

Sullying my mother’s name is the same as saying that I should stop acting the same obedient Ada that she loves to berate. My kind mother’s memory is just so precious that I would rather be beaten than accept it all.

And so, I straightened my hunched body and looked at my stepmother. There was not a single hint of animosity on my face when I flashed her the best smile that I had.

However, both of us knew how angered I was in our situation.

“Of course, your brainless daughter will be berated and compared to the legitimate child of this family. A b***h who came from a w***e. Aren’t you lovely with that kind of description?...”

It was faint, but I definitely heard a cracking sound coming from Nancy’s location. Those seething veins in her neck only meant that I hit the nerves that she hated the most.

Being reminded of the ugly truth of her life sure did her a number.

“… You are mad with just that? Have you forgotten how you spread your legs while knowing that my father is a married man? Sure nice to be a pretty woman. You go on and on, parading your look, hoping to fish a rich man even if he is legally taken.”

Crash.

A vase flew and almost hit my knee after I completed my taunts. I know what will happen next to our little bonding moment, but never will I regret taking her anger to protect my mother’s name.

This thief has no right to say a thing about the woman that she stole from.

“How dare you! You ingrate! After all the effort that I put into making you the person you are today, how dare you say those words to me?”

Before I knew it, Nancy was already holding her whip as she closed the distance between us. My instinct told me to apologize, but my pride as a daughter strengthened my trembling knees.

Wounds will heal, but my regret of not defending my mother will never go away.

Accepting her wrath is the best thing that I could offer while smiling like a lunatic. This is it. There is no greater glory than taking this suffering after I strike back with my words.

And as my skin tasted the sweetness of Nancy’s whip, a change of plan was decided in my brain.

The hell with my graduation.

Tonight, I will start a new life away from them all.