Within the imposing mansion, shadows concealed layers of secrets. Ethan, the hidden son, bore the weight of a stolen childhood, trapped in a life where he existed as a stranger in his own home.
By day, he was a diligent college student, by night, a...
"Brat!! Where the hell are you?" The 20-year-old boy, Ethan, jumped to his feet, startled by the thunderous voice echoed from downstairs.
The moment that voice reached his ears, a shiver of dread spread down his spine. He knew that whatever was happening, it wouldn't end well.
Barefoot and worried, he sprinted down the grand staircase, his heart racing faster than his feet.
As he reached the bottom, his wide, emerald-green eyes met the furious gaze of a woman in her fifties. Her hair was a cascade of chestnut waves, framing a face etched with years of disdain. Victoria, his stepmother, stood there, anger simmering in her icy blue eyes.
Ethan couldn't help the nervousness that gripped his entire body, turning his legs to jelly. He cleared his throat, trying to sound confident, "What happened, madam?"
"What happened?!" Victoria barked back, her voice laced with venom. "I told you to pick up my new dress from the shop. Where is it?"
Ethan's mind raced. " Dress? Whatdress? " he thought, confused. She had never mentioned anything about picking up a dress. Panic welled up inside him. If he told the truth, she would be even angrier. So, he mumbled, "Sorry, madam. I must have forgotten."
Before he could react, Victoria's hand struck like a thunderclap, and the slap landed on Ethan's face with brutal force. It was so hard that it sent him sprawling to the floor. His fragile, malnourished body couldn't even withstand a slap, and the pain seared through his cheek.
Pain and humiliation mingled as Ethan cursed himself, though silently. He wished his father, Arnold Miller, were there. Arnold was a wealthy tycoon, a man of power and authority, but also a distant father.
Yet, in his rare moments of warmth, he had been a loving father to Ethan when his mother, Elena Arnold, was alive.
Elena had been the epitome of grace and kindness. Her death, years ago, was a tragedy that had cast a long shadow over their lives.
Ethan had been just eleven years old then, young and naive, and he had hoped that a new mother might heal the void left by Elena's passing.
However, Victoria, the woman who had stepped into their lives, was a stark contrast to his dreams. She was a woman of poise and beauty, but her heart seemed colder than the marble floors of the grand mansion they lived in.
From the moment she entered their lives, the world that Ethan had cherished, his dear home, turned into a living hell.
Victoria's demeanor toward Ethan was nothing short of disdain. She treated him as if he were an unwanted guest in his own home.
Two step-siblings, James and Lily, came as part of the package, the children of Victoria from her first marriage. They were just a year younger than Ethan, and though they shared the same roof, their connection was never more than distant acquaintances.
James, with his tousled blond hair and perpetual look of indifference, had never made an effort to connect with Ethan. Lily, on the other hand, with her angelic face, often looked at Ethan with a mix of pity and sympathy, but she rarely ventured beyond that.
As Ethan lay on the cold, unforgiving marble floor, his mind was a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts. He realized long ago that the mansion where he was born and raised was no longer the home he remembered.
The pain of his mother's absence had slowly been replaced by the pain of his stepmother's presence.
The punishment room, which he had heard about in whispers from the servants, had become an all-too-familiar place for him. He had lost count of the times he had been dragged there, each visit etching new scars on his body and soul.
Tears welled up in his eyes, the same emerald-green eyes that were a mirror image of his mother's. The anguish and frustration he felt now were a testament to how far he had come from the boy he once was.
Victoria's beauty had not faded with time, but her heart had, and the mansion that was once a sanctuary had transformed into a prison. Arnold, who had once been Ethan's anchor of hope, now seemed lost in his new wife's world.
To be continued...
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This is how Ethan in my description suppose to looks like ,I created these pictures with the help of AI
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