Escape from Heartless Parents
Chapter 1
I locked eyes with my best friend, Sarah.
We didn’t beg our biological parents to take us home like we did last time.
Instead, we clung to each other, refusing to be separated.
Because last time I went back to the General’s house, I discovered there was already a foster daughter in my place.
She accused me of pushing her, causing her to miss a military exercise.
My parents and siblings called me vicious and broke my leg, shattering my dreams of being the top female soldier.
“Country bumpkins are so uncouth! Jealousy made you bully Lily!”
“Don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you’re the biological child. Lily is the one we truly love!”
They discharged me for “inappropriate conduct”, tossed me three dollars, and married me off to an old widower with a twenty-year-old son with special needs.
I was tortured to death.
Sarah went home with her scientist parents.
Her cousin, with a few well-placed words, convinced everyone Sarah was trying to steal state secrets.
“How could we have raised such a traitorous child? From now on, Jenny will be our daughter!”
Sarah, a chemistry prodigy, was injected with a paralytic drug and locked in a dark lab for the rest of her life.
Before starving to death, she watched her cousin steal her research, get a full ride to an Ivy League school, and win award after award.
…
1
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not real sisters. Where else would you go besides home?”
My biological father, John Miller, frowned as he saw Sarah and I clinging to each other.
He was a strict man, treating his children like soldiers under his command.
From my past life, I could read the annoyance in his eyes.
I stayed silent, but Sarah stepped forward and pointed at Lily Miller, the girl standing behind John, dressed in the latest fashion.
“General Miller, Ashley told me you only had two daughters and a son. Who is this young lady?”
John showed a bit of patience towards Sarah, an outsider.
“After Ashley went missing, her mother couldn’t sleep at night. We brought Lily in to comfort her.”
Sarah scoffed, her eyes full of sarcasm.
“To comfort her? Shouldn’t you have been trying to find Ashley?”
“Whose bright idea was it to find a replacement for her?”
Used to being in a position of authority, John was immediately irritated.
“This is our family matter! You’re a young girl, mind your own business!”
Lily, with tears in her eyes, tugged at his arm, acting as if she had been greatly wronged.
“Dad, this girl is right. I did take Ashley’s place.”
“I can leave the Miller family. I just want to visit you guys during holidays…”
John’s heart softened, and he looked at Sarah and me with even more displeasure.
“Who said you took your sister’s place? Don’t be silly. You’ll always be our daughter.”
A flicker of triumph flashed in Lily’s eyes.
I wasn’t surprised at all, just relieved.
It happened the same way in my past life. I was so eager for family love that I failed to see that the Millers would never give up Lily, whom they had cherished for so many years.
In their eyes, I, their daughter who had been missing for over a decade, wasn’t even worth as much as Lily’s little toe.
No matter how hard I tried to please them, it was all in vain.
Lily only needed to act cute to easily get everything I wanted.
“Are you mute? You’re just going to let an outsider bully your sister?”
John suddenly turned his attention to me.
He frowned as if I had committed some unforgivable crime.
But… an outsider?
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“General Miller, have you misunderstood something?”
“In my heart, Sarah is my true family, my sister.”
“Who is Lily to me?”
2
John never expected me to say such a thing.
He glanced at Sarah’s parents standing nearby, feeling his pride wounded, and his face darkened.
Lily added fuel to the fire.
“Ashley, I know you don’t want to see me again, but shouldn’t you respect Dad’s decision?”
“No matter what, he is your father!”
John looked at her with satisfaction.
See! How sensible, how considerate, this is what a Miller daughter should be like.
Looking at my indifferent expression, John felt even more disgusted.
Of course, I didn’t miss the disdain and disgust on his face.
If it were me in my past life, I would have been on pins and needles because of his attitude, trying my best to appease him, fearing he would kick me out of the Miller family if he was unhappy.
How ridiculous.
The Miller family was my own family, but I lived cautiously as if I were living under someone else’s roof.
It wasn’t even as comfortable and carefree as when Sarah and I lived together in the orphanage.
Why should I go back to such a family?
I was thinking about how to cut ties with the Millers when Sarah’s family started to act up.
Unlike John, Sarah’s father, David Carter, was a researcher who considered himself an intellectual and looked down on everyone.
“As our daughter, your current grades are terrible.”
“You didn’t even get into Harvard. You can’t compare to your cousin. You’re probably going to be a nobody.”
“Oh well, you’re our biological child after all. We can still support you.”
His condescending tone made Sarah clench her fists.
I remembered David saying similar things in my past life.
At that time, Sarah was so focused on going home that she didn’t care about his sarcasm.
She was overjoyed, thinking she could do experiments with her parents after returning home, but in the end, she met such a tragic fate.
I gently held her arm, standing firmly by her side.
“She didn’t get into Harvard because she ate something bad before the exam, and one of her scores was invalid.”
“If not for that, Harvard…”
David impatiently interrupted me.
“So what? Do you know what’s most important in experiments? Results!”
“Stop making excuses for her weakness. It just makes me think she’s really incompetent.”
I couldn’t stand him belittling Sarah, wanting to punch that smug face.
I couldn’t imagine how many times Sarah had heard such cold and disgusting words in her past life.
Why are there so many people in this world who don’t love their own children?
If Sarah hadn’t stopped me, I probably would have punched David.
She gave me a look telling me to calm down, her face still calm, as if the person speaking wasn’t her biological father, but a stranger.
“You think I’m incompetent. Likewise, I don’t think you’re qualified to be my father.”
“That works out perfectly. Neither of us needs to acknowledge the other.”
Hearing Sarah’s words, David sneered.
“I’m not qualified? Do you know who I am?”
Of course, we knew.
In my past life, both of Sarah’s parents participated in confidential research for the country and finally accepted awards along with Sarah’s cousin.
At that time, both I, with my broken leg married to a widower, and Sarah, paralyzed in the lab, saw their smug faces on TV.
Thinking of this, my fists clenched again.
“No matter who you are, you’re not worthy of being Sarah’s father, never!”
David’s face turned ugly after being repeatedly humiliated.
He turned to Sarah beside me.
“Are you sure you want to listen to this wild girl?”
Sarah shook her head.
Just as David was about to mock me, he heard her speak again.
“Ashley isn’t a wild girl. She’s my only sister. I won’t acknowledge you.”
“Fine, fine!”
David’s face turned red with anger, and he looked as if he wanted to tear us apart.
He pulled out a few food stamps from his pocket, tossed them casually on the ground, and left a harsh sentence.
“Okay, I hope you won’t regret this. Take these food stamps. From now on, you have nothing to do with our Carter family! Even if you kneel and beg us, we won’t let you into our house!”
Sarah and I treated his words like hot air.
But of course, we picked up the food stamps on the ground.
This was what the Carters owed Sarah, and we had every right to take it.
John, who had been ignored for a long time, flashed a look of contempt in his eyes, obviously looking down on our behavior.
He cleared his throat and drew my attention back.
“You sure like meddling in other people’s business. All right, apologize to your sister, and I’ll take you home.”
“Your room at home has already been cleaned. You should learn from your sister. She’s so young and already a top performer in the women’s corps.”
“She’ll be participating in a competition in a few days. I’ll take you to see the world.”
He made all the arrangements for me in a few words, but I just shook my head.
“If Sarah doesn’t go back, I won’t either.”
3
John choked, looking at Sarah appraisingly.
Sarah just stood there, letting him look her over.
Seeing that John seemed to be seriously considering taking both Sarah and me back, Lily’s face fell.
“Ashley, don’t our relatives matter to you?”
She asked a good question, instantly reminding John of my previous rebellious words.
His face turned cold, and he turned and left without mentioning taking me home again.
Lily was relieved and gave me a provocative smile before following him out.
Unfortunately, not only was I not angry, I was actually quite happy.
John was straightforward and valued family, unlike the Carters’ profit-driven style.
I originally thought it would take more effort to get rid of him, but Lily had done me a big favor.
Not going back was, of course, the best option.
Who would want to watch their relatives favor someone else?
I met Sarah’s gaze, and we smiled at each other, both bitter and relieved.
Before experiencing the events of our past lives, we both had high expectations for our relatives.
After all, unlike other children in the orphanage, we didn’t have any physical problems, weren’t abandoned, and our parents weren’t dead, leaving us helpless.
When we were young, Sarah and I would lie in the same bed, wishing upon the moon, hoping our parents would find us soon.
At that time, neither of us had ever imagined that even if we weren’t abandoned and had parents, we wouldn’t necessarily have a happy family.
The orphanage director didn’t expect that neither of us would leave with our biological fathers.
She was so angry she hit us with a stick.
“Are you two stupid? Weren’t you looking forward to going home? Those two families obviously have good conditions. Why, why…唉!”
She looked defeated, put down the stick, and sighed.
Sarah and my eyes reddened.
We were raised by Mom, the orphanage director.
She was only in her twenties when she came to the orphanage, and people said she was foolish for raising other people’s children at such a young age.
Now, she was over forty.
Her once jet-black hair had turned gray from years of hard work.
No one could have imagined that such a thin and frail woman would raise Sarah and me and send us to college.
She even gritted her teeth and sent the younger children in the orphanage to school one by one.
In about two years, she would die from overwork.
But in our past lives, Sarah and I were trapped in so-called blood ties and didn’t even get to see Mom for the last time.
Thinking of this, I rushed over and hugged her tightly.
“Mom, this is our home. We’re not leaving.”
The director was exasperated.
“How long can I take care of you two?”
But even as she said so, her eyes reddened.
“Forget it, let’s eat. I traded food stamps for some rice. We’ll have rice for lunch!”
“By the way, Ashley, your exercise is in a few days. You have to train hard.”
“And Sarah, you too. Go back to your lab after you eat!”
Sarah and I both laughed and quickly agreed.
We thought it would take a while to see the Millers again after the unpleasant encounter.
But unexpectedly, the day before my physical competition, Mom and Sarah were seeing me off to my dorm when we bumped into them.
Only John came to take me home that day.
However, Lily’s entire family came to see her off.
Lily stood at the door of the dorm arranged by the army, wearing a brand-new uniform, surrounded by her family.
My biological mother, brother, and sister, whom I hadn’t met in this life, were all present, holding Lily’s hand and giving her endless instructions.
“Lily, do your best in the competition tomorrow. Don’t get hurt.”
“Yes, Lily, your dad isn’t sending you here to win an award. Your safety is the most important.”
“That’s right, no matter what your results are, we’ll always love you.”
Lily saw me standing not far away, and a smug look flashed in her eyes.
“I know, Dad, Mom, brother, sister, you don’t have to worry about me.”
After saying that, she pretended to just notice me and spoke with a surprised expression.
“Hey, Ashley, why are you here too?”
The Millers followed her gaze and were stunned to see me standing not far away, my expression indifferent.
Although I didn’t want to admit it, I did resemble John, especially when I had a cold expression.
My biological mother, brother, and sister quickly realized my identity, their expressions complicated.
“This is…Ashley?”
My mother thought for a moment before remembering my name.
She smiled awkwardly, her tone distant.
“You’re in the women’s corps too? This is the first time I’ve seen you.”
I nodded slightly.
“I just got back from leave.”
The reason for the leave was to meet my biological family.
My mother probably thought of this, cleared her throat, and said, “Why didn’t you tell us you were also a member of the women’s corps?”
“But it’s good that you and Lily are together. Lily can look after you.”
“She’s been personally trained by John since she was a child. She’s very strong.”
Mom frowned upon hearing my mother’s words.
“Ashley is not bad either.”
Hearing this, my brother sneered.
“She can’t compare to Lily. Who are you? Why are you butting in when my mom is talking?”
I didn’t care that they belittled me. I knew the Millers were biased.
But they shouldn’t insult Mom.
My face darkened, and I grabbed my brother’s arm, pinning him against the wall.
“Apologize!”
