Chapter 12: Elena Ward's Words Exploded Like a Bomb

Elena Ward's words exploded like a bomb, instantly stirring up the crowd. The villagers exchanged uneasy glances—no one had expected The Ward family to treat an orphaned girl so cruelly behind closed doors.

"Oh my God! This isn't raising a child, it's outright abuse!" Aunt Carter gasped, covering her mouth.

"Exactly! Elena isn't even Calvin Ward's own daughter. How heartless can they be?" Aunt Wang chimed in indignantly.

Tears streamed down Elena's face like broken pearls, her voice trembling. "The aunties are right. During holidays, I had to wait until they finished eating before I could soak cornmeal buns in leftover broth. Grandma said... said I didn't deserve better."

Her frail body shivered slightly, her threadbare clothes making her appear even more pitiful.

"Bullshit!" Aunt Lee stamped her foot angrily. "Calvin Ward, your family has seven able-bodied men! You sell pigs and grain every year, yet you'd deny this child even a bite of decent food?"

"Damn right!" Mrs. Zhao planted her hands on her hips. "If my family had nineteen dollars, we'd make dumplings for Elena every single meal!"

Sweat dripped from Calvin's forehead, soaking through his shirt. He glanced around furtively, the villagers' furious stares making him squirm.

"Elena..." He feigned remorse. "Uncle had no idea! Your grandma told me you—"

"No idea?" Elena cut him off with a bitter laugh. "Every time Grandma beat me, it was in front of the whole family. You had no idea? That I'd get beaten if a single steamed bun went missing? You had no idea?"

Her voice suddenly rose. "Uncle, please just give me the key. Let me live on my own—it's better than being beaten to death!"

Agnes Ward exploded at this. "How dare you defy me! I'm your grandmother—everything I do is for your own good! Want to leave? Over my dead body!"

Her wrinkled face twisted into something terrifying as she glared at Elena.

"Grandma..." Elena's voice shook. "Are you really going to drive me to my death?"

"Ungrateful brat!" Agnes spat. "Mark my words—if you dare leave, I'll kill myself right here! Let the whole village see how you drove your own grandmother to her grave!"

Calvin theatrically grabbed his mother's arm. "Mom, don't say such—"

"Get off me!" Agnes shoved him away. "After all these years raising her, this is how she repays me? A viper in my bosom!"

The crowd could no longer contain their outrage:

"This is outrageous!"

"They're going to kill that poor girl!"

"Calvin Ward, have you no shame?"

Elena stood at the center, her slight frame swaying unsteadily. She bit her lip until she tasted blood.

That key—she would get it today, no matter what.