Pure soul

LAURA (POV) "Where are you, you wretch? Why haven't you done the dishes? Why is this house still so dirty?" My aunt Rose Willson's furious voice tore through the house, and I began to shiver with fear. I was on my knees in the living room, scrubbing the floor, when she stormed in with a wooden rod in her hand. "Aunty, please," I said, shrinking back. "I'll do the dishes right now. I'll clean the whole house, I promise." She didn't listen. She never did. The rod came down across my back. "Ahhh!" The pain was white and blinding. "Please... stop... my face..." My cheeks were soaked with tears, and my voice cracked into screams. "Please, Aunty, please stop!" Blow after blow fell, until the room began to swim. The edges of everything darkened. My body went heavy, and I felt myself slipping away. "Rose, stop it! Don't beat her!" Through my half-closed eyes, I saw a figure standing in front of me. My uncle. Tony Willson. I was shocked. In all this time, he had never once come to my rescue. He was the one who slapped me and struck me whenever I failed to obey. Why would he save me now? "Don't beat her," he said coldly, and I saw him glance at me the way a man looks at something he's about to sell. "But she's useless!" Rose snapped, her chest heaving. "She can't even clean a house or wash a dish properly. I don't know why we keep this girl alive." She kicked at me again, and I curled into myself. "No, no, darling. Don't." Tony caught her wrist, and a smirk touched his lips. "This useless girl is going to make us billionaires." Rose blinked. "Billionaires? How?" "I've made a deal," he said slowly, savoring every word, "with the CEO of HS Enterprises. The No. 1 company in the world." My heart skipped. A deal? What could a man like that possibly want with someone like me? Rose's eyes lit with greed, and she looked at me like she had never truly seen me before. Then Tony turned his gaze on me, and the smirk didn't change. "Hey, you. Get up and go to your room." I pressed my palms into the cold floor and pushed myself upward. Every muscle burned. Every breath felt like glass in my lungs. I took one step, then another, gripping the banister as I climbed the stairs. I could barely walk. Behind me, I heard my aunt and uncle laughing. AUTHOR'S POV Laura entered her small room and closed the door softly behind her. Her legs gave out, and she slid down to the corner of the room, pulled her knees to her chest, and buried her face against them. The tears she had held back all day finally came. "Mom... Dad..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "Where are you? Why did you leave me in this cruel world? There's no one to take care of me. No one asks if I've eaten. No one sees my pain." She cried until there was nothing left. Her small body trembled with each sob, until even her tears ran dry. Exhausted, she lay down on the cold floor, and the darkness took her gently, as though even sleep was a kinder mother than the world had been. Author's Note: This is my first book. I hope you like this chapter. If you enjoyed it, please show your love in the comments. Thank you for reading, and I'm sorry for any mistakes.