They said I stole a song. The scandal broke, and a dozen enraged fans dragged me into an abandoned factory and destroyed me.
When the rescue came, they found me with a bloody hole in my throat, my vocal cords cut, my limbs savaged and bent all wrong.
My celebrity parents, Arthur and Eleanor Sterling, pulled every string they possessed. They swore to hunt down and destroy the people who did this to me.
My CEO brother Julian was frantic, summoning the world’s top doctors to my side.
Outside the operating room, Eleanors voice held a thread of uncertain pity. “Plagiarism is one thing, but this feels… excessive.”
“She did this to herself!” Arthur scoffed. “We gave her everything for ten years, and she repaid us by constantly trying to dim Seraphina’s light. Now she steals her song?”
Julian’s voice was cold agreement. “She’s a Sterling by blood, yet she acts like a jealous impostor. It’s time she learned her place. Let Seraphina have her award. And Willow? Find some mongrel’s vocal cords. That’s all she deserves.
The pain hit me and then came the tears.
This was my family, the ones who’d vowed to make up for lost time. Now that same family was sacrificing me for their cherished impostor.
Seraphina stole my work my work. Yet they believed every lie she fed them.
This family, I didn’t want it anymore.
At the operating room door, the doctor looked pained as he advised,
“Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling, while Willow’s vocal cords are severely damaged, artificial replacement could still save her voice. The injuries to her hands and legs also need immediate attention or she’ll be permanently disabled.”
“Willow is a singer. Her career depends on her voice and hands. We need to schedule her surgeries now.”
Arthur cut him off. “Just delay it!”
Eleanor sounded hesitant. “Arthur, Willow has already received her punishment. She won’t be able to go to the awards ceremony the day after tomorrow. She’s our biological daughter, after all. Do we really want to see her become permanently disabled?”
Julian’s voice was full of disdain.
“Let her be crippled. A ruined voice means she can’t steal Seraphina’s spotlight. Shattered legs will keep her home. Useless fingers will stop her from copying songs. The Sterling family will feed her. What do we have to fear?”
“If she dared copy Seraphina, she should know the consequences. The Golden Music Award is Seraphina’s. She’s our diva. We need to break Willow completely, or she’ll never stop stealing Seraphina’s spotlight.”
“No artificial vocal cords. Just give her a dog’s vocal cords; anything that lets her speak will do!”
Eleanor sighed and quietly instructed the doctor.
“Just give her the strongest painkillers. As for her hand and leg injuries, just keep them from getting worse and make sure she’s not in pain. My daughter has always been afraid of pain…”
Hearing those words, I couldn’t stop trembling, and tears gushed out.
The vicious attack wasn’t random malice from strangers. It was a calculated move by my own family, designed to remove me, their own blood, from Seraphina’s path.
But they never even asked me, simply believing Seraphina’s side of the story.
A tearing pain spread from my heart throughout my entire body. I stared blankly at the ceiling.
Eleanor, who had just walked into the operating room, noticed my hands, still bleeding and trembling. Her eyes welled up with tears.
“Willow, it’s me, Mom! Are you in a lot of pain? Don’t be scared, we’re calling the doctor to save you right away!”
Julian, standing by, made a call, his voice cracking with sobs.
“You must find the best vocal cords for my sister. Her lifelong dream can’t be destroyed!”
“Willow, don’t worry. I’ll definitely catch those haters and make them experience what it’s like to have their hands and feet broken and their vocal cords ripped out!”
Arthur watched me, his eyes filled with guilt. “Willow, the world’s top medical team is already on their way. You have to hold on…”
“When you’re better, I’ll personally write a song and sing it with you, telling everyone that you are my most talented daughter!”
I watched their flawless performance numbly, painstakingly typing with my palm on my phone.
“I really didn’t copy Seraphina.”
Blood soaked the screen. Julian quickly took my phone away.
“Okay! We all believe you! Just focus on recovering for now!”
They nodded, but their eyes refused to meet mine.
They didn’t believe me at all, which was why they were so ruthless, letting me become this way.
Julian, who found me ten years ago, and Arthur and Eleanor, who hugged me, sobbing, saying they’d spend the rest of their lives making it up to me-
They were the ones who personally shattered my dreams and cast me into an inescapable hell.
All for the sake of Seraphina, the impostor daughter who had enjoyed all their love and affection.
Tears blurred my vision. I couldn’t tell who their real daughter and sister were anymore.
I could never measure up to Seraphina’s place in their hearts.
This family, there was no place in it for me, their biological daughter.
The doctor pushed the painkiller into my body. Looking at the horrific blood hole in my neck and my twisted limbs, he looked pained.
“Willow, the specialists might be a bit late. Please try to bear it for now.”
But no matter how strong the painkiller, it couldn’t stop the agony in my heart. I whimpered, biting my lip hard until my mouth filled with blood.
Arthur and Eleanor saw me like this, their eyes red with heartache.
Julian put his arm to my mouth. “Go on, Willow. If it hurts too much, bite me. Don’t hurt yourself.”
They looked like the most caring family in the world, but all I felt was bone-chilling cold.
When I slowly woke up again, it was already the next day.
Before the specialists Arthur arranged arrived, I heard Julian and Eleanor talking.
“Julian, Willow has already been punished. Do we still need to arrange for those reporters to come to the hospital today and expose her plagiarism? After all, we don’t have concrete evidence…”
Julian sighed, his tone resolute.
“What’s the harm in exposing her? She’s already lost her voice and her career is over. A little more scandal won’t hurt. This is how we secure the judges’ sympathy for Seraphina and guarantee her the Golden Music Award.”
“Seraphina was raised by us. She wouldn’t lie. Even without evidence, I’ll find a way to make people believe it.”
Arthur instructed Julian, “When the reporters come, don’t defend Willow. Let this be her lesson in humility.”
Julian solemnly agreed.
I lay on the hospital bed in despair, my tears long since dried up.
Ten years ago, Julian found me because of that video of me singing in the orphanage talent show.
They recognized me. After bringing me home, I worked much harder than Seraphina to get into the most prestigious music academy with her.
Later, I even created “Moon Under the Sea,” the song nominated for the Golden Music Award.
Yet Julian was convinced by Seraphina’s words and intended to give false testimony to ruin my reputation!
My heart was being twisted by a knife. If I had known this, I would never have come home with them back then.
“Bang!”
The hospital room door was violently pushed open, and a crowd of reporters armed with their cameras and microphones swarmed in.
I lay on the bed, unable to move, watching them openly slander me.
“Willow Sterling, we hear you’re suffering this retribution from haters because you plagiarized your sister’s work. Do you regret it now?”
“We hear they cut out your vocal cords and broke your hands and legs. Are you going to be mute and crippled now?”
The furious female reporter in the front row suddenly pulled back her microphone and laughed.
“Oh, I almost forgot you can’t speak now. Well, let everyone see then!”
She roughly pulled back the blanket covering me, exposing my mangled and twisted hands and feet for all to see.
“Now that your hands and feet are broken, you shouldn’t be able to plagiarize your sister’s songs anymore, right?”
“You never know. Maybe she’ll become a handicapped but persistent plagiarizing dog! Haven’t you heard of people typing with their tongue?”
A male reporter next to her sneered mockingly. Everyone crowded around me, snapping photos relentlessly, their contempt and ridicule like sharp knives piercing my heart.
I was utterly humiliated, but couldn’t utter a word in protest, my swollen eyes welling up with tears again.
“Willow Sterling, even now, you’re still playing the victim. Aren’t you going to apologize to your sister?”
Seeing me like this, the female reporter shoved her camera right into my face, starting a live broadcast.
“Renowned singer-songwriter Willow Sterling, left permanently injured by fans seeking revenge for stealing her sister Seraphina’s original song…”
Tears blurred my vision. I wanted to hide, but realized even moving was a luxury.
Flashbulbs popped continuously, capturing my humiliated and pathetic state for all to see.
“This is a private hospital! Who allowed you to trespass into a patient’s room?!”
Julian rushed in, roaring and trying to drive them away.
Eleanor quickly pulled the blanket back over me, and Arthur yelled at the reporters:
“Get out now, or I’ll sue you all! Scram!”
“Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling, as respected pillars of the music industry. Are you really choosing to cover up plagiarism?”
“Clearly, your biological daughter matters more than the one you raised, doesn’t she?”
The reporters wouldn’t let up. Then, a clear, sweet female voice spoke.
“Arthur and Eleanor are both respected pillars of the music industry. I wouldn’t be who I am today without their meticulous nurturing.”
“They’ve never played favorites. It’s just that my sister was always jealous of how good they were to me.”
Seraphina, dressed exquisitely and looking pure and noble, parted the crowd and walked gracefully towards us.
Her eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying for a long time.
“Willow, please don’t make one mistake after another. Arthur and Eleanor have already been implicated enough by you, isn’t that enough?”
“If you want the Golden Music Award, I’ll give it to you! If you want Arthur and Eleanor’s and Julian’s love, I’ll give you all of that too!”
“Please stop doing these foolish things, okay? I really can’t bear to see you like this…”
Tears streamed down her face as she dropped to her knees by my bedside.
My emotions became agitated, and I painfully typed a line with my palm:
“You’re lying! That song was clearly mine. I have proof!”
A hush fell over the room, then reporters began snapping photos, but they still didn’t believe my claim.
Julian pulled her up, his brows tightly furrowed.
“It’s not your fault, Seraphina. Don’t be like this.”
He turned, his gaze like steel, and looked at me.
“Willow, don’t try to argue anymore. I don’t want to see you go further down the wrong path.”
With that, he whispered a few words to Seraphina.
Seraphina’s face turned pale, and she bit her lower lip, shaking her head vigorously.
“No, Julian, you can’t. That would completely ruin Willow’s reputation…”
“It’s come to this, and if you don’t show the evidence, she’ll still be stubborn and refuse to let go!”
Julian grew agitated, his voice rising sharply.
Everyone understood Seraphina held undeniable proof of my plagiarism.
Arthur and Eleanor urged Seraphina to present the evidence immediately.
↓ ↓ Download the Novel Master app, Search 【 305431 】reads the whole book. ↓ ↓
NovelShort
