The rain poured down mercilessly, as though the heavens themselves were mocking her pain.
Lora stood barefoot in the mud, her soaked dress clinging to her trembling body. Her hair stuck to her face, mixing with hot tears that refused to stop.
Behind her, the mansion glowed with warm golden light — a home she had never truly belonged to.
Sarah's voice cut through the night like a whip.
"Lora, Lora… you are so naïve. Everything here belongs to me — this house, this family, even Mr. Edward."
Sarah's cruel laughter echoed down the hallway.
"You? You're nothing but a charity case! A piece of dirt Father picked up from the streets. You should've been thrown away!"
Her words stabbed deeper than any knife.
Lora's lips trembled, but she refused to cry in front of them any longer.
Lora's voice broke as she shouted:
"I will leave! And I will never come back!"
The door slammed shut behind her, shutting out Sarah's mocking laughter.
Lora stood under the heavy rain until her body went numb. Then, step by step, she walked away from the house — from her past — from everything.
The streets were empty, the city cold and silent.
She cried until her voice was hoarse, until her tears ran dry.
And then… she smiled.
It was not a smile of joy, but of something darker.
Something sharper.
Slowly, she picked up her phone from the wet pavement. Her reflection stared back at her in the black screen — broken, but alive.
Lora whispered:
"This is the last time I cry because of them. The last time they humiliate me."
Lightning flashed across the sky, lighting up her tear-streaked face.
Lora's voice grew colder:
"Never again."
She clenched her phone, turned her back on the mansion, and walked into the darkness — into the unknown — into the beginning of her own story.