He took me away from home for a while, traveling with me to help me relax.
Later, on my birthday, Heidi threw a huge tantrum, refusing to let me celebrate.
My brother came to pick me up himself, he ordered a cake and even spent his own salary on a white dress for me.
He said, “Tomorrow’s your birthday. I’ll take you to Disneyland, so stop thinking about those things.”
Then he patted my head and smiled. “Your brother will always believe you and stay by your side.”
But everything stopped the next day.
That morning, I left work early, planning to surprise my brother, but I was stopped at the entrance of the alley by my recently released adoptive father.
It was a dark, damp alley, with peeling paint and the smell of mold everywhere.
He dragged me into a corner, shouting, “You little brat, you dared to call the police on me, let’s see if I don’t teach you a lesson!”
I struggled, but he kicked me to the ground.
He snatched the cake from my hands and crushed it under his feet, the cream mixing with dirt until it looked like a pool of filthy blood.
He beat me until my head spun, tearing my dress into shreds, and in that moment, it felt like I had fallen back into the same hell I once lived through.
When I woke up, clutching my wounds, I ran to find my brother. He was sitting outside a hospital room.
I rushed toward him, crying, “Brother, help me…”
Before I could finish, his hand came down hard across my face. It was the first time he had ever hit me.
He grabbed me and dragged me into the hospital room, forcing me to kneel beside Heidi’s bed.
Clenching his teeth, he shouted, “I didn’t think you could pretend this well! You even bribed that old man to hurt Heidi!”
Tears ran down my face as I cried and shook my head. “It wasn’t me… really, it wasn’t me…”
But he didn’t believe me. He only looked at me with disappointment and said coldly, “I didn’t think those people could raise you to become like this.”
“Now Heidi has lost her mind because of you! Sienna, you should carry that guilt for the rest of your life and spend it making it up to her.”
Mom stood nearby, watching me without any emotion. Even Atlas looked at me with cold eyes and said, “You’ve really disappointed me.”
After that, he stayed by Heidi’s side almost every day, saying it was his way of making up for me.
At that time, I thought my adoptive father had lied just to get back at me.