Thomas had worked for the Phillips family for many years and had watched me grow up.
When he saw me, his eyes instantly filled with tears.
"Miss, how did you end up like this?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Although I was an orphan, I was adopted by the Phillips family and pampered for over a decade.
I had the best of everything.
But now, my face was sallow, my eyes were dull, and I was wearing ill-fitting old clothes. I was so thin that a gust of wind could blow me away.
My right leg was also crippled.
"Miss, what kind of suffering have you endured these past three years? Mr. Phillips shouldn't have been so heartless back then," Thomas said, choking up.
"You were such a good child... It's such a sin.
"It was just because you liked someone..."
Yes, it was just because I liked someone.
How could that be so unforgivable?
The car arrived at the Phillips residence.
Looking at the large villa in front of me, I felt an unreal sense of having escaped from hell.
I nervously smoothed out the wrinkled old clothes I was wearing and followed Thomas into the villa.
My adoptive parents were seated on the sofa. Their scrutinizing gaze made me uncontrollably nervous.
Somehow, my knees buckled, and I knelt on the ground.
The dull thud startled the servants of the Phillips family, who all looked toward me.
I bowed my head to the ground. "I know I was wrong. I won't have improper thoughts anymore. Please, don't send me away again."
Gianna nodded in satisfaction when she saw me like this.
"You've become much more obedient than before. As long as you behave from now on, you can still be Ms. Phillips."
At that moment, footsteps could be heard.
Dylan's tall figure appeared in the living room.
The moment I saw him, the nightmares I had experienced all flooded back into my mind.
Three years ago, at my 20th birthday party, my secret crush on my adoptive brother was exposed in front of everyone.
The once-envied lady of the Phillips family instantly became a shameless disgrace.
Dylan looked at me as if I were something filthy.
He said, "Chloe, I've always thought of you as a sister, but you had such filthy thoughts about me. You disgust me.
"You don't deserve to carry the Phillips surname anymore!"
He changed my name back to Chloe Morgan and had the bodyguards throw me back to the remote village where I was born.