But when Julian Harrison saw my face clearly, his pupils instantly dilated.
He staggered and lunged towards me.
I was already rigid with fear, so he just turned my head, revealing the red mole behind my ear.
After a long moment, he embraced me, tears streaming down his face.
“I’m so sorry, daughter, Dad scared you…“.
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My brain seemed to stop working at that moment.
I mumbled, repeating, “Dad?”
Julian Harrison was so agitated that old tears streamed down his face, his lips trembling as he embraced me again.
It was then that he noticed my extremely revealing outfit and frowned deeply.
He took off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders, his voice soft, as if afraid to scare me.
“My daughter, all these years… you’ve suffered.”
“I know you must have many questions right now, but Dad has some matters to handle. Would you please wait for me in the lounge?”
He hastily handed me a black credit card, gave a few instructions, and then left.
I had no choice but to walk in the direction he indicated, towards the lounge.
But Cassie appeared out of nowhere.
She waved her hand, and four dark–skinned bodyguards swarmed forward, seizing me.
I was brought before Cassie, who forcefully pinched my chin, scrutinizing me.
“You really made me search for you. Don’t think I can’t catch you just because you ran to the third deck.”
“Come on, today a client specifically requested you two sisters to entertain them together.”
The thought of Brooke’s screams I’d heard earlier sent a shiver down my spine.
I tried to explain that I wasn’t Brooke’s twin sister, that I might be the CEO’s daughter.
Cassie scoffed as if she’d heard the biggest joke.
“You’re the CEO’s daughter? I could say I’m the CEO’s wife, how come I haven’t heard you call me Mom?”
I tried to argue further, but she found me annoying. She had one of the bodyguards immediately take off his sock, roll it into a ball, and stuff it tightly into my mouth.
Waves of sour bile rose in my throat, making me feel nauseous but unable to vomit.
At the door of a certain guest cabin, Cassie roughly pushed me inside.
I fell heavily to the ground, my vision going black.
“Wuwuwu…”
Hearing the suppressed weeping, I finally raised my head and looked around.
Brooke was huddled naked in the corner of the sofa on the left.
Her body was almost entirely covered in bruises, purple and blue, looking as if she had endured inhumane torture.
On the right was my adoptive mother, Eleanor, her face flushed with shame, clutching the tattered remnants of her clothes.
And my adoptive father–or rather, his real name, Arthur–was being ridden like a seat by a dark–skinned man.
Their eyes, which had been somewhat numb, instantly lit up when they saw me.
“Skylar, you’re finally back! Please, you have to save us!”
“As long as you make these men happy, they’ll let us off the ship!”
Arthur roared in a low voice, his eyes bloodshot, but his body trembled uncontrollably as he spoke.
The man on top of him immediately became displeased, grumbling and slapping him.
Someone quickly translated: “You are a sofa now. Sofas cannot move!”
Arthur instantly pressed his lips tight with fear, curling his body even tighter.
Eleanor spat forcefully in my direction:
“If it weren’t for you, you jinx, tricking me and Arthur into drinking!”
“We wouldn’t have gotten drunk and been… oh, the misery! I shouldn’t have…”
The hatred in both their words towards me was almost tangible.
Yet, I was also the child they had raised for eighteen years.
Seeing me silent, Eleanor wailed and cried inconsolably, only to be slapped hard by an impatient Cassie, silencing her instantly.
The dark–skinned men in the cabin chattered amongst themselves.
Cassie’s gaze lingered on me, full of hidden meaning.
That look, treating me like an object rather than a human, made my breath catch.
Soon, I understood what those men meant.
The translator said that since all three of us–the mother and two daughters–were present, they wanted to try something different.
Brooke shook her head frantically, horrified. “No, no, I’ll really die!”
Only then did I notice a large, frightening pool of blood under her.
The dark–skinned men in the cabin leered at my body, walking towards me.
I struggled desperately, finally breaking free from Cassie’s grasp.
But the next moment, men nearly six feet tall simply grabbed me by the back of my neck.
