Chapter 8 - Mother

*Chapter Warning: Trigger warning, includes a bit of child abuse and strong language*

"I heard you woke up," a loud authoritative voice opened the huge brown door to her room, startling all three people in the room. The harmonious picture instantly froze. The kid who was sitting on the edge of the bed, waving his legs in the air back and forth in happiness, instantly hid behind his sister.

Anna, who was sitting on the ground by the bed, laughing, immediately stood up from the ground and greeted the Duchess. Emmeline's mother had finally arrived. Audrey Lazarus was the no. 1 beauty and third princess of the adjacent Kingdom, Kingdom of Krozia. For the political reasons, she had been married to Emmeline's dad, Harold Whittemore.

As soon as Audrey had stepped into the house, she had assumed the role of mistress of the house despite Harold Whittemore's widowed mother being alive. She was a cunning lady with both beauty and brains. She had much more influence in even politics than her husband, the famous Duke Harold Whittemore. But she did everything behind the scenes.

As expected, Kim Su Won could not take her eyes off of the face. It was not because she was taken aback by the unbelievable beauty of the lady. It was because the face largely matched the face of Kim Su Won's mother in her original world, albeit a bit prettier and with plenty of make-up. She could not believe her eyes, one of the two humans she hated and loved the most in her life, she was present before her.

It had been some time since Kim Su Won had gone back to her home since she was working away from her hometown. She used to talk to her family every day on video call, but she had not met them in person for a long time now. It was so weird to be seeing her mother here, in western attire, strutting in big heels.

Audrey Lazarus had brown hair, just like her original mother. Her eyes were jet black, which when angry, would be very ominous, just like right now. This lady's lips were a bit thinner than her mother and nose was exactly the same, perfect size on the face. It was hard to control her bubbling emotions right now. She wanted to go and hug her mom but her soul remembered he exact dread of the aura of her mother that was emanating from this lady in front of her. Having the same face as her own mom was no help at all.

Since she had already heard the loud voice, her whole being trembled. Her face became red, as if she was ready to be scolded harshly. She could not even meet Audrey's eyes, as if she knew she was in the wrong.

Audrey liked the reaction, her loud voice became even louder and colder. "I thought I had told you I would not tolerate a crude behavior from you, and yet you go and jump into the lake? If you were so keen on dying, why are you not dead already?"

Kim Su Won heard the words with eyes tightly shut. Even the voice was same as her own mom, it was all a familiar scenery for her. her head was hung low, she could not even dare to get out of the bed and stand up.

"You wench, what is the use of educating you, where are your manners?" Audrey stepped forward and grabbed the chin of the twelve years old girl.

Kim Su Won had no choice but to open her eyes. Her eyes were already full of tears, she had no idea why. She had heard worse from her mother but it felt like this body also remembered this mother's cruelty.

Audrey frowned ferociously. "Why are you not answering or coming out of bed? Has the one week coma damaged your brain or something?"

Kim Su Won hurriedly stepped out the bed and stood on the floor. It had completely slipped out of her mind that her body was weak. She had only had that one meal Anna had brought, which probably her stomach had not processed just yet. Right now, her mind was only on how to escape from this lady.

She still kept her head low without being able to utter a word. What else could she do? She did not remember the incident of her falling in the lake. And her past experience told her it was best to not do anything in this situation.

However, her experience failed her when she heard a crisp loud sound of a slap echoing in the room.. What came next was something she had never imagined.