THE RISE OF VICIOUS LAURA FROM MISERY

Chapter 5: A Turning Point

The next day, I woke up in the hospital with my dad holding my hand. Tears streamed down my face as the fear from the previous night lingered. All I could do was apologize. "I'm sorry, Dad. It was my fault," I sobbed.

He held me close, his voice soothing. "It's okay, darling. It's okay. You're safe now."

In his embrace, I finally felt safe. I drifted off to sleep, the nightmare fading for a moment.

A few days later, I was discharged from the hospital and returned home. Everyone was there, and my father was furious with Linda and Elina. He punished them, but the punishment was light, in my opinion. They had to clean their rooms. For the first time, I hated them. I wanted them to receive a harsher punishment, maybe even a good s******g. Don't judge me, but this time they had gone too far.

But it wasn't over. Another incident occurred, one where I technically wasn't at fault. I slipped, and Elena happened to be in front of me. I tried to grab her to regain my balance, but she fell instead. She screamed, and when my mother arrived, she was, as always, enraged. Without asking any questions, I was thrown out of the house. They wouldn't let me back in, even though it was raining. They left me outside until the next morning, and I was ordered to apologize to Elina and do whatever she asked.

It was baffling. Why did my sisters hate me so much? I couldn't figure it out, and I still can't. Maybe the future will hold the answers.

My childhood hadn't been a sweet dream, and neither was my life. It was a nightmare I longed to wake up from.

I had lived for twenty-two years, and the relationship between my mother and my sisters had never improved. I was always the one at fault, the one who got punished, even when it wasn't my doing. I had no right to complain.

But something had shifted within me. I was determined to work hard, to rely on myself. If I had everything in my power, no one could bully me. I would move out of this house and live on my own. Only then could my future be brighter.

And then, maybe, I could search for my real mother. I would be confident enough to ask my father about her.

No one had ever explicitly told me that Katherine wasn't my biological mother. It was just a gut feeling. But if you were in my shoes, you'd feel the same way. Katherine didn't treat me the same way she treated Linda and Elena.

I was determined to be strong. I had endured mistreatment for twenty-two years; I couldn't give up now. Only one more year until graduation, and that would be the beginning of my new life.

Fight, Laura. You are strong. You will make it.