The Rules He Taught Me Chapter 1

"She's selling herself."

My adoptive sister, Seraphina Hayes, publicly ripped open my clothes, revealing my body covered in hickeys.

"I saw her with my own eyes, on her knees, serving men in a nightclub."

My adoptive brother, Julian Sterling, choked me, roaring, "You disgraceful slut!"

Three days later, he personally escorted me into a correctional center.

The moment the iron gate slammed shut, he pinched my chin and said, "Remember, even if you're completely ruined, I'll make you clean again."

A year later, Julian came to pick me up.

With red-rimmed eyes, he opened his arms wide: "Cassie, come home with me."

I smiled and told him:

"I've been doing great in there, I've learned so many rules!"

Oh yes, especially the rules of "serving" men…

Julian nodded with satisfaction, intending to pull me into his embrace.

I took a step back. He immediately frowned:

"Cassie, why are you avoiding me? Were you mistreated in there?"

He forcefully pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly.

"It's okay now, it's all over. I will take you home right away."

His scent felt foreign and disgusted me.

Then, he stroked my back to comfort me, but through the thin uniform, his hand brushed against a scar.

His hand suddenly froze on my back, his voice filled with shock and uncertainty.

"What is this?"

My body stiffened at his touch.

I recalled the image of several female instructors pressing me onto the cold concrete floor, savagely whipping my back with a spiked cane.

Their curses still echoed in my ears, "That's what you get for being disobedient. That's what you get for talking back. That's what you get for refusing to sing the repentance song."

The raw, bloody pain seemed to seep out from the depths of that scar once more.

I pulled myself out of that dark memory, and in his arms, I suddenly let out a soft laugh.

"Julian, this is a 'medal' the instructors left me. Pretty, isn't it?"

Julian's body completely stiffened. I could feel the muscles in the back of his neck instantly tense.

"Besides, the instructors' bodies were much better than yours. Their abs were hard, not soft like yours, Julian."

"Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

He pushed me away abruptly, his eyes bloodshot, grabbing my shoulders and roaring.

Faced with his roar, my shoulders involuntarily tensed.

That was the conditioned reflex left from every time the bell rang before an electroshock at the correctional center.

But after just a second, I immediately lifted my head and gave him a bright, yet eerie smile.

That smile choked back all his ready anger, leaving only shock and disbelief in his eyes.

He tried to use his old commanding tone to suppress me, to regain control.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

I blinked innocently, the smile fading from my face, my tone returning to its former obedience and meekness.

"Wait for me, I'll go pack my things first."

Finally, I carried a few worn-out clothes and got into the car with Julian.

In the car, he began to warn me again:

"When we get home, you need to be obedient, okay?"

"Okay."

I agreed with my mouth, but in my heart, I thought, Axel always said, true rules are always made by oneself.