Chapter 1

A filthy girl used to stand outside my bakery window, staring at the cakes with hungry eyes.

My heart went out to her. Every day, I'd set aside some leftover bread and give it to her for free.

One day, she sobbed and begged me, "It's my eighteenth birthday today. Could you please deliver a small cake to my house?"

But as soon as I arrived, her disabled father knocked me unconscious with a heavy club.

The girl smiled as she looked down at me. "If you stay here, I'll never run out of cake again."

"Don't think I didn't know. You only ever gave me the scraps no one else wanted."

I was subjected to inhuman torture and died in that basement, filled with hatred.

Meanwhile, she took over my bakery, sipping tea and living the cozy life I had built.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment she was crying, begging me to deliver that cake.

1

The cafe was filled with soft jazz, and I was slowly sipping my coffee.

"Ivy, I have a favor to ask…" The girl who had been lingering by the door finally gathered the courage to come in.

Looking at that face again―the timid eyes, the calculated shyness―I clenched my fists under the table.

"I'm busy!" I snapped, rejecting her outright.

I stood up and walked to another table, turning my back on her.

Mindy Ross, my assistant, looked at me in shock.

"Ivy, isn't that the girl you usually save the leftovers for?" Mindy asked, confused.

"What's wrong? Did you do something to upset the boss?" Mindy put down her tongs and pulled the girl inside with a smile.

The filthy girl walked up to me. Before she even spoke, the tears started rolling down her cheeks.

What was it this time?

I watched her cry, looking like the most wronged person in the world, and I felt a cold sneer forming in my chest.

In my past life, I was so busy I didn't hear the malice hidden in her quiet whispers.

She had acted just like this back then―shaking shoulders, soft whimpers.

She made it look like I was bullying her, drawing stares from the other customers.

I had been so worried that I dropped everything to comfort her, even stroking her greasy, unwashed hair.

She had collapsed into my arms. "Ivy, it's my birthday. Could you please bring a small cake to my place?"

"I just want to know what it feels like to have a normal birthday."

"Instead of always coming here like a beggar, waiting for your charity."

"I don't have money, but I want a real celebration for my eighteenth. Please, Ivy? I'm begging you."

Lily Vance sobbed as she spoke.

In that life, I felt a wave of pity for her. My misplaced compassion took over.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll close the shop early and bring it to you myself," I had promised.

I even let her pick out an expensive fondant cake from the catalog.

I ended up carrying that cake through the winding, sketchy alleys of the industrial district.

I finally found her house deep within a cluster of dilapidated trailers.

As soon as I stepped inside, I heard Lily's voice, sharp and alert.

"She's here!"

Then, a blunt force hit the back of my head, and everything went black.

When I woke up, my hands and feet were tied to a wooden bed with a stained mattress.

Lily was sitting nearby, using a small fork to eat the cake I brought, one delicate bite at a time.

She was trying so hard to act like a refined lady.

A man with a limp and dirt under his fingernails was standing over me.

His rough, filthy hands were already roaming over my chest.

He made a disgusting clicking sound with his tongue.

"Rich women really do have the softest skin!"

"What are you doing? Get off me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Lily, I was good to you! I gave you food every single day!"

"Untie me right now, or I'm calling the police!" I struggled, my wrists bleeding against the rough ropes.

"Save your breath, Ivy," Lily said, not even looking up from her cake.

"This place is surrounded by junkyards. No one can hear you scream."

"Besides, if you stay here, I won't have to beg for cake anymore."

"Don't think I didn't notice that you only gave me the scraps and the day-olds!"

Lily finished her sentence and walked out, locking the door behind her.

I screamed until my throat was raw, but Silas Vance just backhanded me until my face swelled up.

After that, my life became a living hell.

To keep me from running, they broke my legs and kept me on a short iron chain.

Every day, he'd dump leftovers into a bowl and kick it toward me like I was a dog.

Because of his limp, Silas had been looked down on his whole life, which made him a total psychopath.

He even used a red-hot brand to burn his name into my inner thigh.

Lily watched everything from the next room.

She didn't help. She just grinned. The more I was tortured, the wider her smile grew.

"I'll take care of the bakery from now on, Momma Ivy."

"You just stay here and focus on giving my dad a healthy baby boy!"