Chapter 2Dancing for Tuition, Humiliated by a Fake Heiress

I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that the "hospital" he spoke of would be the basement of the Sterling family mansion.

Mr. Sterling, without a word, had his men strip me completely naked, hang me from the rafters, and spray me with a high-pressure hose for an entire hour.

Before I could even catch my breath, I saw people bringing in an operating table, and the gleaming leg spreaders made my alarm bells ring wildly.

The burly men, without a word, pressed me onto the operating table, my legs firmly secured in the spreaders.

A sharp-eyed female doctor, Dr. Holloway, emerged from the shadows. She looked at me with disdain.

“The real heiress, getting a body-check on her first day home.”

“Tch, if you ask me, you’re just not as good as Miss Tiffany, who was raised in the Sterling family since childhood.”

They completely ignored my struggles and curses, shoving the cold, hard instrument inside me.

I gasped, sucking in a sharp breath of pain.

The doctor, however, gave me a contemptuous look, raising an eyebrow in mockery.

“What are you faking? You’re already suffering from cervical erosion, and you’re still trying to act innocent?”

Tiffany, who had just stepped into the basement, let out an exaggerated shriek.

“Mom! Did you hear that? Cervical erosion!”

She tugged Eleanor and Mr. Sterling far away, pulling out a mask to cover her nose and mouth.

“Dr. Holloway! You should be careful too! Be careful not to catch a dirty disease!”

Dr. Holloway, hearing Tiffany’s voice, immediately put on a gentle, fawning smile.

“Yes, yes, Miss. Thank you for your concern.”

Then, completely disregarding my grimaces of pain, she roughly finished the examination, throwing a bath towel at me.

“Done. Cover yourself. There’s no one here for you to seduce!”

Cold, humiliation, and agony washed over me all at once.

I shakily grabbed the flimsy towel, wrapped myself, and curled into a ball.

I heard Mr. Sterling ask from a distance,

“Dr. Holloway, how do we treat this condition?”

I wanted to tell them that I’d merely gotten an inflammation from using cheap sanitary pads, and some anti-inflammatories would fix it.

But my jaw was chattering so violently, I couldn’t form a single coherent word.

“Ultimately, it’s just viruses and bacteria. If you don’t provide them nutrients, they naturally won’t have space to survive.”

My heart sank. This doctor was a quack, plain and simple. Who didn't know basic biology?

I tried to stand up to expose her, but I was brutally restrained, dragged into a damp, dark storage room, and locked inside.

I overheard their conversation outside.

“No food, no water, but she must be disinfected three times a day.”

My body violently flinched, remembering the icy, stiff feeling of being blasted by the high-pressure hose earlier.

I forced myself up, banging on the door and screaming, but no one paid any attention.

They all seemed eager to leave the place, as if I truly carried some infectious virus.

For the next three days, they really believed the fake doctor, denying me food and water, only subjecting me to repeated hosing and disinfection.

Soon, I was lying in the storage room like a dying dog, barely clinging to life.

Tiffany stood before me, arms crossed, a smug smile on her face, enjoying my pathetic state.

“Tch, I thought you were so tough. Dared to slap me the first time we met? Now aren’t you perfectly subdued by me?”

Suddenly, the scent of food wafted into my nostrils.

I laboriously lifted my head, seeing Tiffany holding a tray.

“Hahahaha, you really look like a stray dog on the street!”

“Want some?”

She walked up to me, looking down her nose.

“Kowtow to me three times, and I’ll give it to you.”

I was sprawled on the ground, too weak to lift my head. Before me were Tiffany’s pale ankles.

So I struggled, pushing myself forward,

And in Tiffany’s expectant gaze, I opened my mouth and bit down hard on her ankle.

A sharp scream pierced through the entire mansion.

I heard hurried footsteps, followed by Chad’s furious roar.

“Let go of my sister!”

Then, a brutal kick landed on my shoulder blade.

I cried out in pain, releasing my bite, and curled up on the ground.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eleanor tenderly cupping Tiffany’s ankle, then shooting me a glance filled with accusation and resentment.

“Mom, I was worried Piper might be suffering. I came to bring her dinner, but she suddenly bit me for no reason. Mom, it hurts so much, will I get infected?”

The whole family gathered around the slightly red, swollen tooth marks on Tiffany’s ankle.

Not a single soul cared about me, emaciated and trembling, on the side.

Before they found me, I’d been surviving on one meal a day for two months straight.

Now, after three days of starvation, I was even seeing stars.

They called an ambulance, and Tiffany was taken away.

As Eleanor was leaving, she heard me cough twice.

She turned back to look at me, a hint of awkwardness in her gaze.

“Go upstairs and find some clothes to wear yourself. I’ll tell the housekeeper to make you a meal.”

“Oh, right, don’t wander around, in case you spread your virus to Tiffany.”

With that, she left the basement without another backward glance.

I couldn’t tell if I was more heartbroken or more utterly speechless.

Either way, leaving was now a certainty.