Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Little Wretch

Vera Xavier was unaware of Shane Caldwell’s decision. Once she was a safe distance away, she put the stone into her schoolbag. She figured if she brought it straight home, Rona Langdon would just throw it out.

Her trip to Cobble Street made her a little late. Rona Langdon was washing rice for dinner and started yelling the moment she saw her. “Running wild again, were you? You’re an hour later than usual!”

Vera Xavier ignored her and went to her room, schoolbag still on her back. After shutting the door, she took the stone out of the bag.

She scanned the room. It was tiny, with nowhere to put the stone. She ended up hiding it under her bed, planning to take it out and find someone to cut it open before school started up again after summer break. Then she could trade it for cash.

She had just finished hiding the stone when she heard Rona Langdon screeching, “Vera Xavier, get down here and make dinner!”

Vera Xavier knew that if she didn’t go down, Rona Langdon would just keep screaming, eventually devolving into a stream of curses. So, she went downstairs to the kitchen.

The moment she came down, Rona Langdon laid into her. “You live in my house, eat my food, and spend my money day in and day out, and you’re still lazy as sin! From now on, you’re doing all the chores around here!”

Vera Xavier said nothing, simply picking up the leafy greens from the floor and starting to trim them.

Rona Langdon grabbed a bag of melon seeds and sat in the small courtyard just outside the kitchen, cracking them between her teeth as she continued her tirade. “Getting bold now, are we? Buying your own clothes! Don’t think you can walk all over me just because your dad takes your side! Let me tell you something, Vera Xavier, you’re in the Preston Family home now. Drop all those bad habits you picked up from the Xavier Family!”

“In this family, I’m the one who calls the shots. If you dare cause any trouble, I’ll break your legs!”

“A girl like you wants to stay in school? You’d better get that idea out of your head right now. And let me make one thing crystal clear: it doesn’t matter if you get into a university or not. Even if you do, I won’t let you go. You can drop out and get a job to earn money for me!”

Vera Xavier cooked in silence, treating Rona Langdon’s tirade as nothing but hot air. She knew with perfect clarity that she wouldn’t be able to go upstairs to read until Zachary Preston came home.

Rona was doing this on purpose, taking the chance to torment her while Zachary wasn’t home. In her past life, Vera had endured years of this grinding abuse. Rona was an expert at relentlessly attacking her from every possible angle, crushing her self-esteem and destroying her confidence.

’Reborn into this life, I won’t let myself live like this for much longer.’

Once Rona Langdon had vented her anger and felt satisfied, she came into the kitchen to play supervisor. The moment she walked in, she started screeching, “You’re using that much oil to stir-fry some greens? You wasteful little brat!”

As she spoke, she raised her hand to slap Vera Xavier across the face. But Vera knew her stepmother’s moves all too well. She was ready and dodged to the side. Rona, having put too much force into the slap and caught off-balance, smacked her palm right on the wok. The iron pan and the oil inside it tumbled to the floor. Scalding hot oil splashed all over Rona’s slipper-clad feet, and she howled in pain.

Rona ripped off her slipper, ready to beat Vera with it. But Vera wasn’t about to let her land a hit. She started screaming, “Mom, I’ll listen to you! Please don’t pour hot oil on me!”

Rona Langdon beat Vera often enough, but in the past, Vera never dared to make a scene or even cry.

As she fled, she deliberately messed up her own hair, then pinched angry red marks onto her arms and neck.

Then, she “accidentally” knocked over a bottle of Rona’s new ketchup. It splattered all over her. She scooped up a handful and smeared it on her face, instantly making herself look like she was covered in blood.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep