1 Humiliation

Elizabeth POV.

My name is Cathy and I am twenty-five years old.

Today has been the worst day of my life!

It was a night when a storm swept through the madness.

I spent a whole hour on my knees in front of the Bates family villa because of my seriously ill mother.

Paul came up to me with his umbrella and said loudly, "Miss Cathy, you'd better leave! What Monsieur has decided never changes."

The cold rain completely drenched my clothes and the cold made me shiver.

I hugged my shoulders, looked up at Gary, and stubbornly said, "Gary, you don't have to worry about me. I'm not leaving until I get the money today!"

I needed the money to save my mother's life, so I had to throw away my dignity and kneel here to plead with my father!

My persistence caused Gary to shake his head helplessly, after which he returned to the cottage with his umbrella.

At that moment, a blinding light penetrated the rainstorm from a distance and hit me directly in the face.

I subconsciously raised a hand to shield my eyes, followed by the sound of a wheel pressing through the rain coming from behind me.

Without warning, the icy rain hit me hard on my back like a tsunami.

"AHHHHH!!!" I couldn't help but shriek out.

It was cold wintertime.

Already kneeling in the rainstorm had left me shivering with cold, now it was more like falling into a cold cellar.

"Oh, my God! Sister Elizabeth, why are you kneeling here? I'm really sorry, it was so dark that I didn't see you here."

After a sharp braking sound, an exaggerated female voice suddenly sounded.

I tilted my head slightly to look behind me as Leslie, holding an umbrella, was walking away from the car.

She stepped on a pair of custom-made silver spiked heels with rows of fine diamonds set into the sides, looking extra sparkly under the rain.

Looking up the shoe, I met a pair of contemptuous eyes that held no hint of guilt.

Yes, she threw all the dirty rainwater from the floor on me without a hint of guilt.

This is Leslie, my hateful and hypocritical half-sister.

"I'm not your sister!" I warned her harshly.

The epithet stung my nerves straight away and I clenched my fists, jerking up from the floor and staring hard at her.

It was clear that my mother was my father's wife, but I was born a full month after Leslie.

This whole thing is ridiculous to think about!

Leslie approached me slowly with a proud smile that belonged to a victor.

In a voice-only we could hear, she said, "Do you think I'd want to call you my sister if Daddy didn't ask? Being a sister to someone like you makes me sick!"

"Leslie, what do you have to be proud of? Everything you and your mother have now, my mother and I didn't want!" I shot back without weakness.

After that, I added, "Your mother, was just a lover of my father's! Even now, living in the Bates family villa, she will always be a lover! You are nothing but a bastard daughter, what is there to be proud of?"

I poke Leslie straight in the face without mercy, it hurts me a little bit.

But Leslie didn't fight back this time, but suddenly dropped her umbrella and dropped to sit on the mud-covered ground, saying accusingly, "Ah! Elizabeth, I was only trying to help you to your feet, why did you push me?"

"Lyles, what the hell are you doing again ..."

" Elizabeth! How could you do this to your sister? It's so abominable!"

Before I could react, a slap was thrown hard at my face.

The tremendous impact left me defenseless and I fell straight to the ground, looking miserable and wretched like an abandoned, worn-out doll.

I looked at the tall man in front of me, the anger on his face dousing the only embers of hope I had in my heart.

This is my father, James Bates, the man in charge of the Bates family.

At this point, James' face was covered in anger, and grimly ordered Gary behind him, "Get Leslie up, don't let her catch a cold!"

And when he looked at me, his eyes became extremely disgusted and impatient, as if I was just a stray dog that happened to be passing by.

Leslie looked tender as she cried and grabbed Gary's arm and stood up.

James was even more distressed when he saw her like that and looked at me with other fierce eyes.

I didn't think Leslie could fool James with such poor acting, is James blind or is he just pretending to be blind?

"Dad, don't blame Elizabeth, she didn't mean it." Leslie persuaded hypocritically.

"Leslie, it makes me sick to see that hypocritical face of yours!" I plopped down on the floor and taunted her mercilessly.

" Elizabeth! How can you speak to your sister like that? You don't even look like a noble lady right now, you're a mean and vicious shrew!" James yelled down at me angrily.

"A noble lady? Haha, are you kidding me?"

I stared at James' angry face and gave a slow, cold, sarcasm-filled smile.

"A noble lady would work everywhere every day to make a living as I do? Would get down on her knees and beg her to save her mother's life? And would be falsely accused by your daughter? Beaten to the ground by you?"

"Once, indeed, you went to such lengths to raise me as a noble lady that I spent my entire childhood either performing in front of your friends or being scolded by you in the dance studio and the piano room."

"If that's what you want in a noble lady, it must not be me."

Looking at James in this state, I knew I must not be getting my mother's medical bills.

That's why I unreservedly said all the things I've been keeping inside all these years.

I was filled with resentment towards James, even though he was my real father.

I spent my childhood either practicing dance, playing the cello or the piano every day.

I was afraid every day that my father would scold me for not dancing or playing well enough, and I was even more afraid that my mother would be scolded by my father for me as well.

So, I've been practicing desperately every day to get everything perfect and flawless, but I'm not happy at all.

"I didn't expect you to be full of resentment towards me ... I spent so much energy and money to train you, and this is how you repay me?"

" Elizabeth, do you think you're old enough to stand up to me?"

"Now that you've grown up, you should figure out your own medical bills for your mother, don't get down on your knees and beg me!"

"Get out! Now get the hell out of here, I never want to see you again!"

James pointed a trembling hand at me and scolded me loudly in anger.

I know that he is the honorable Bates family in power and no one has ever dared to insult him like that. Nor would he, with his arrogant nature, ever allow such a thing to happen.

But today he was mercilessly abused, still from his youngest daughter.

So, his anger was more exuberant than at any moment.

But I'm not afraid of him now, like he said, I'm old enough to stand up to him.

"I'm telling you, I'm not the same little girl who lived through your daily insults!"

I braced my arms and stood up from the floor, giving him a cold look before taking one slow, determined step away from the place.

When I reached the entrance to the cottage area, I finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed right onto the rain-covered ground.

At that moment, the wall that had been built around my heart suddenly collapsed, and all the faith that had held me strong broke down.

The cold rain continued to wash over my head, face, body, and even every inch of my skin.

I hugged myself helplessly, trying to find a glimmer of warmth on such a cold and wretched night.

But no, there was nothing around me to give me warmth but darkness, rain, and silence.

I finally couldn't help but cry out in suppressed pain.

The rainstorm was getting heavier and I could no longer hear anything but the rain.

I felt as if I was the only one left in the whole world, and loneliness was wrapping itself tightly around me.

James won't pay his mother's medical bills, now what do I do?

My mother's condition could not be postponed any longer, and the best time to operate was within a week.

Eight hundred thousand dollars wasn't a small amount for the Bates family, but it didn't seem like much compared to the luxuries on Leslie.

But for me, it was my mother's life.

What can I do to save my mother?

Sitting in the rainstorm, I quickly ran through my head all the friends who could possibly help me.

Ultimately I only filtered down to one person who could help me, and that was my boyfriend, Jason Blount.

The Blount family is also well known in aristocratic circles, and it is said that they still have royal blood in their ancestry.

Although Jason is the son of a Bronte family, he is very opinionated and hardworking.

After graduating, he took the initiative to become independent from his family and started his own company, and is now at the helm of a publicly-traded company.

Jason and I went to college together and he started courting me while I was in college, but I lost faith in love because of my father and mother's broken marriage, so much so that I only said yes to his advances on graduation day.

He's a very hard-working and cheerful boy and I'm happy with him.

I was even thinking that it would be okay if we kept this up, even if we did have to walk into marriage.

After being with Jason, I always sought equality as much as possible, especially when it came to money, and I never asked him.

I barely spent any of his money except for the occasional date.

If I did ask him to borrow $800,000, I'm sure he'd lend it to me, but I'd also be sure to pay him back.

That's my idea of equality in a relationship.

Half an hour later, I arrived in front of an upscale apartment building.

Pressing the gate code and entering the elevator, I went straight to the floor where Jason was.

As I stood in the doorway of Jason's apartment, I tried to adjust myself, contemplating what I would have to do if I asked to borrow this money from him.

Finally, I took a deep breath, unlocked the combination lock on the door, and pushed it right open, and walked in.

Just as I opened the door, there were red heels and black leather shoes scattered messily in the entryway.

After that, men's blazers, ties, white shirts, and women's black dresses with sexy lace lingerie ...

Apparently, their owners couldn't wait to enter the room and start some intense intimacy at the door ...

Looking at what was in front of me, my breath instantly stopped and my mind went blank.

It was as if time began to stand still in this moment, and all I could hear was the sound of cold rain dripping down my face and onto the floor.

As my brain started to work again, I heard a woman's gasp and a man's low growl coming from the room.

Even if I hadn't slept with any men, I could hear what the sounds meant.

I slowly tighten my fists and take a heavy step, slowly making my way to the living room and heading in the direction of the bedroom.

A pair of character black stockings and a pair of black similar panties were discarded messily on the couch in the living room.

"Oh! Jason, you're amazing ... is just fantastic!"

At that moment, a woman's moan of excitement came from the bedroom.

"Is that so? I have something even better for you to see!"

Immediately afterward, a man's voice sounded exuberant.

As the two voices bore into my ears at the same time, my brain felt as if it had been struck by lightning, and the blood in my body froze.

The woman who was having sex with Jason turned out to be ...