My bastard brother grinned as he approached me. His body had grown taller and bigger, so I was afraid to see him getting closer. I stood up and backed step by step while my eyes darted to see if I could grab something as my weapon. Alas, there were only pillows, bolster, and dolls near me while other items were too far or near my brother.

“Haha, you can’t escape.” He suddenly jumped and landed just before me, and it took me by surprise.

I instinctively raised my hand to slap him, but he caught my hand easily. I couldn’t even get my hand free as he tightened his grip on my wrist.

“How many times I have waited for this.” He slapped me with the back of his hand, making me fall on the bed. He locked my wrists above me and his grin became wider as he saw my scared expression. “Now, who has the higher ground, Whore?”

“Rap—” I tried to shout, hoping Adrian could hear me, but he immediately choked my neck and his thumb was too pressed onto my vein. I coughed and pierced his wrists in the hope he could feel pain and release me, but my action only made his grip harder.

“You are always full of yourself and always misunderstand things. I don’t want to rape you. It disgusts me. I just want to beat you senseless and maybe wreck your face until your simp boyfriend can’t recognize you. I hate you. I am prepared to give up my inheritance just to ruin you, my dear sister.”

I couldn’t breathe and my eyes were blurry. However, I could still listen to him well, and somehow hearing the verbal ‘I hate you’ made my heart heavier. I wanted to change too. I wanted to become a woman that Adrian could proud of. I wanted to be free from my negative mind. Most importantly, I wanted to be free from his choke.

I pulled my legs to my abdomen and landed a kick on his lower half. He screamed from the bottom of his lung and fell beside me. I was finally free from his choke and it was an opportunity to attack him too, so I stood up and stomped his waist with all my might.

He screamed again and rolled off the bed and fell to the floor. I fell too, but luckily I was on the bed. I immediately stood up again while my brother still rolled on the floor. I jumped on him and after that, I stomped him until I felt relieved.

“Do you think you are stronger because you are a male? Who do you think give birth to males, huh? We, females, have better resilience of pain than males! You remember that!”

I stopped stomping him. He only lied on his stomach, and his body twitched of pain. I once again felt ashamed that I felt relieved after inflicting damage to others. I really needed to change.

I shook my head. There was a more important thing I needed to talk to him about. “I hate you too, Mario. You always annoyed me, but I guess I wronged you more in the past. I am sorry.”

He laughed, coughed, and laughed again when he heard that. He struggled to say, “Do you think I will forgive everything you have done to me? I won’t ever forgive you, Whore!”

I looked at the mirror on my desk. My neck became red because of him. “I don’t care. I said that because I want to change.”

“Change? For your simp boyfriend? I bet he only likes you because of your look. I can’t imagine people sincerely love you after knowing your true self, kehehe.”

If he wasn’t injured and I hadn’t determined to change myself, I would beat him again because he had insulted Adrian. “You don’t know anything about Adrian. He looked for me and accepted me when I was nothing and after knowing about my true self. Adrian is a better man than anyone in this mansion. I love him more than anything else in this world!”

Yeah, I loved Adrian more than anything else in this world, even me. I wanted to change because of him too.

He was quiet for a while before letting out a low sob. “F#ck you, Maria. You were always unfair and misunderstood me. I loved you. I just wanted us to have a normal sibling relationship. You made me hate you! Now, I—I… damn you!”

I was surprised by his confession. That bastard brother actually loved me in the past. However, I always knew it deep inside my heart. I just never cared and gave him attention.

“Once again, I am sorry, little brother. I was immature. I had my own problem and ego to care about you. Our relationship won’t get better, but now I sincerely want you to move on, become a better man, and find someone who sincerely loves you. That’s all I can say and do as a failure sister. I regretted my action.”

I looked at him one more time, sighed, and left my room. My mind had become clearer after beating my little brother, and I just realized I made Adrian worry again. I just wanted to meet him and gave him an affectional hug. I would whisper that I loved him the most and thanked him for accepting me.

I realized I technically was his ex-girlfriend too. I broke him up on that day. My heart raced and I felt my face hot. I was embarrassed. This time I would be the one to confess my feeling to him.

I went to the dining room because I thought Adrian would be here, but I only met my father’s wives. They chatted with each other as though they were close siblings. They had changed too. In the past, there was always tension between us.

The fourth wife found me standing motionlessly and called me, “Maria.”

Other wives finally noticed my presence and they stopped chatting. The room became quiet. I clenched my fist in determination and went to the chair on the opposite side of them.

No one talked until the fourth wife looked at my red neck and broke the ice between us. “Are you alright, Maria?”

“I just had an argument with Mario.”

The third wife clucked her mouth and averted her eyes, but she finally spoke to me, “Did Mario do something to you? If so, I apologize on his behalf.”

“That’s fine. I beat him senseless in my bedroom. It was his fault to choke my neck first. You want to call doctors for him, though. He can’t move his body.”

The third wife glared at me and stood from her chair. I stood up too. “Wait, don’t go.”

“Are you crazy? My son is injured!”

“Wait, please! It won’t take a long time.”

The third wife clenched her fist and punched the table. “Fine. What do you want?”

“I—I am just fascinated that you are all now close.”

“What are you talking about? We are always close. It is just you who never paid attention to us,” the fourth wife said.

“Is that so?”

“Is that all you want to say?” the third wife asked.

“No, I—” I looked at the third wife. “I want to change to become a better person.”

“Oh, is that so? I don’t care of what you become.” The third wife finally turned her back and rushed to see doctors.

I was annoyed a little. I wanted to change, but she never cared for me in the end. Not like I expected her to give me affection, though.

I looked at the fourth wife. My impression of her was she loved shiny and expensive things. However, I currently could understand that it was just her hobby and she really loved my father.

“I hurt your daughters in the past. I am sorry.”

She smiled. “It seems you have found a good boyfriend that you want to change for him. You don’t have to apologize to me, but please see my daughters and apologize to them. They are playing in their favorite place. You know where.”

I nodded and she added, “If you hurt them again, I will make sure you regret it.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

I finally looked at the first wife. Her body was stunned when I gazed upon her. She wore a dress that showed her big breasts, but because of that, I could see a scar above her cleavage.

“I hurt you too. I don’t want you to forgive me, but I just want to say I really regret it. I am sorry.”

She nodded weakly and her body trembled. She stood up and ran out of the room too.

“Ah, Big Sis!” the fourth wife called. She looked at me and nodded before chasing her.

They left me alone in the dining room. Somehow my shoulders felt lighter after saying those things. I stood up and left the room with a big smile. I looked for Adrian again.

I remembered he wanted to talk with my father, so I went to my father’s workroom on the second floor. However, I met him on the stair.

My blood boiled and my heart raced when I saw him. I felt my dark side uprising again. It was because I saw Adrian in a sorry state. There were bruises all over his body and his left eye swelled.