Chapter 11
Elise's POV
After school, I didn't go back to Liam's apartment.
He was there, with another woman. Going back would only humiliate myself further.
I took the bus to my aunt and uncle's place.
This was my "home" in name only. After my parents died, I was placed in their care. Though Liam paid my tuition and most of my living expenses, officially I still lived at this address.
The bus stopped in the old district, and I walked down a narrow alley for ten minutes until I reached the worn-down apartment building. The stairwell had a broken light, walls plastered with small advertisements, and the air carried a damp, moldy smell. I climbed to the third floor, pulled out my key, and opened the door.
The living room was empty.
Unwashed dishes and snack wrappers were piled on the coffee table, the television blaring a variety show at high volume.
No one was home.
I set my backpack on the sofa, went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water, and leaned against the counter, drinking slowly.
About half an hour later, I heard keys turning in the lock.
Uncle Benjamin and Aunt Margaret pushed through the door, carrying seven or eight shopping bags between them.
"Elise is back?" Margaret glanced at me, her tone neither warm nor cold—just the casual acknowledgment of an extra mouth to feed.
Benjamin dropped the shopping bags onto the coffee table with a dull thud, then settled onto the sofa, crossed his legs, and lit a cigarette.
"We bought quite a bit today," Margaret said, pulling items from the bags. "Your clothes cost six hundred. My dress was on sale—four hundred and twenty."
She pulled out a receipt from the supermarket, scanned it, and handed it to me.
"And household items. You need to pay for those. Three hundred and eighty total."
I took the receipt and glanced at the numbers.
Nearly fifteen hundred—a substantial expense.
I said nothing, just pulled out my phone from my pocket, scanned the payment code on the coffee table, and transferred the money.
Benjamin exhaled a stream of smoke, watching me.
"How's that guy Liam treating you lately?" he asked.
"Fine," I said.
"Got enough money?"
"Yes."
"Good." Benjamin tapped ash from his cigarette. "You know where your comfortable life comes from. Without us taking you in, you wouldn't even have a place to live."
"I know," I said.
"Good that you know." Benjamin stood up and walked over to me.
He was a head taller than me, the smell of cigarettes mixing with the stale, cloying scent of his cologne, washing over me. He reached out and pinched my chin.
"You seem less obedient lately," he said, his fingers sliding from my chin to the side of my neck, the pressure neither light nor heavy. "Don't think that just because this Liam guy backs you up, you can disrespect us."
I turned my head to dodge his hand and stepped back.
"Uncle, I haven't."
"Good." He didn't follow, just stood there, flicking ash, a smile on his lips that made me uncomfortable.
"You can stay in this city because we handled the adoption paperwork for you. You know those documents—they're just as easy to revoke."
He flicked more ash onto the coffee table.
"One phone call from me, and your student status becomes worthless. You wouldn't even be able to stay at that art university. You believe me?"
My spine stiffened slightly.
But my expression didn't change.
"I believe you," I said. "I'll be obedient."
"That's more like it." Benjamin smiled with satisfaction, his gaze lingering on me for two more seconds. He gripped my shoulder hard, then turned and walked back to the sofa.
I stood frozen in place.
I knew that look all too well.
Since I was sixteen, he'd been looking at me that way.
And those seemingly accidental touches.
I lowered my eyes, picked up my backpack, and turned toward the stairs.
"I'm going to my room."
I didn't look back to see Uncle's reaction, didn't care what Aunt was saying.
I walked into the bedroom, closed the door, locked it.
I leaned against the door, exhaling a long breath.
My palms were covered in sweat.
Not from fear.
From disgust.
That feeling of being watched with sticky eyes by an elder, of his fingers touching my skin—the disgust had followed me from age sixteen until now.
I thought I'd gotten used to it.
But I hadn't.
Not once.
I walked to the bed and sat down, burying my face in my hands.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I ignored it.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Elise, it's me."
Anna's voice.
I didn't move.
"Elise, open the door."
I took a deep breath and went to open it.
Anna stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, her expression something I'd never seen before—not her usual calculated flattery, not her disdainful mockery of me.
Anger.
Pure, undisguised anger.
"How dare you?" She rushed in, slammed the door behind her, and stood in front of me, eyes red.
"What?"
"Professor Miller!" Anna practically shouted. "Do you know he resigned today? The whole school is talking about it!"
"I know," I said.
"You know?" Anna laughed coldly. "What else do you know? Do you know why he resigned?"
I looked at her, said nothing.
But a bad feeling was already churning in my gut.
"Did you do something?"
Anna stepped closer, staring at me.
"Did you... seduce him?"
My pupils contracted slightly.
"Don't deny it!" Anna's voice rose higher. "You've been all over your own uncle, so—"
"What?" I interrupted her. "What did you say?"
"Stop pretending!" Anna's eyes were red-rimmed, not from hurt but from rage pushed to its limit. "You think I don't know what you do every night? You get Dad drunk, you touch him, you think no one sees?"
My brain buzzed.
"You're sick," I said, my voice turning cold. "I never—"
"Then explain this," Anna cut me off. "Why does Dad buy you things and give you money every time he's alone with you? Why can you do whatever you want in this house and no one stops you?"
She stared at me, enunciating each word.
"Because you control him with your body."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Anna, you're insane."
"I'm insane?" Anna laughed, her eyes glinting with malice. "Elise, you're the one who's insane. Who do you think you are? An orphan with dead parents, selling your body to survive. First you seduced Uncle, then Liam, then Professor Miller—"
She paused, as if organizing her words.
"Everyone at school knows about Professor Miller. Someone said his house was broken into. Someone saw you go to his house last night."
My blood ran cold.
"How do you know I went to Miller's house last night?" I asked.
Anna froze for a moment.
But she quickly recovered that malicious expression.
"How do I know? I'm the one who told Professor Miller you run a tattoo shop!" she said.
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it felt like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.
"It was you?"
I looked at her.
Anna lifted her chin, a hint of smugness in her eyes.
"You've never kept a low profile around me. That broken-down tattoo shop of yours, those sketchy friends—you think I don't know?"
"I sent Professor Miller an anonymous email with photos attached. I wanted to see if the school would expel you once they found out what you were doing off-campus."
She paused.
"But instead of getting expelled, Professor Miller resigned. What did you do to him?"
I stood there, motionless.
All the pieces came together in that moment.
The anonymous email. The photos. What Professor Miller had said to me in his office.
The source of it all was Anna.
My cousin.
I looked at this seventeen-year-old girl before me—perfect makeup, dyed hair, fashionable clothes, all bought with money I'd traded my dignity and emotions for.
My blood relative. My family.
She had personally pushed me toward Professor Miller.
And Professor Miller had nearly destroyed everything I had.
"Anna," I said.
My voice was so soft I could barely hear it myself.
"Do you know what you've done?"
"What have I done?" Anna didn't back down. "I just told the school the truth. You're the one running a tattoo shop, who else is to blame?"
"That tattoo shop," I said, "is how I pay my tuition."
"Pay your tuition?" Anna scoffed. "Stop using that as an excuse. You're just a whore who survives by seducing men. First Benjamin, then Liam, then Professor Miller—"
"Enough."
I said it.
Not loudly.
But Anna fell silent.
She looked at me and realized my expression had changed.
Not anger.
Something colder.
"Anna." I said her name again. "Remember what you said today."