Rich Cat A Would Never Fall in Love with a Fake Heiress - Chapter 38.2

Being adopted seemed to be the highest honor. On the day each child was taken away, the teachers would dress them in the prettiest little dresses.

30 had heard countless times that once they went to the adoptive family’s home, they must behave well and seize the opportunity to stay.

Her ears were practically calloused from hearing it.

Her doubts about An Suna’s words began on the day a child was returned by her adoptive family.

30 was on duty that day, cleaning the railings by the building entrance when a van suddenly sped over. With a loud “bang,” the door swung open, and a small, thin figure was thrown out, landing right in front of her.

The door slammed shut just as abruptly, and the van sped off without a backward glance.

Startled, 30 glanced down at the girl and recognized her as a child from the year above, with a mole near her lips. The man who had taken her away a month earlier had adopted many children from this place before.

But now the girl was completely naked, covered in bruises, her eyes tightly shut.

Anyone could see she had been abused. A teacher, hearing the commotion, hurried over and instinctively exclaimed, “What a tragedy!”

But this was no place for those with tender hearts.

An Suna stormed down the steps, gritting her teeth as she grabbed the girl by the shoulders and shook her violently. “Weren’t you told to die in that house if you had to? How dare you offend my most important client?”

The girl’s head hung limp, still unconscious.

Whenever An Suna erupted like this, someone was bound to suffer.

30 took a step back, wanting to escape the scene.

But the children who had rushed over at the noise were terrified by the sight. A younger child timidly tugged at the teacher’s hand and asked, “Teacher, what does ‘die’ mean?”

An Suna overheard and shrieked hysterically, “It means being strangled a million times! No matter what happens in your adoptive homes, you are never to come back. If you do, I’ll beat you to death!”

30 took it all in.

So, it wasn’t true that adoptive families would treat them well. They could still be beaten, still be abandoned again.

The girl was carried off to the confinement room.

Driven by a need to understand, 30 deliberately smashed a vase late that night and screamed until she, too, was locked in the confinement room.

The dark room was cramped and oppressive, divided by wire mesh into narrow cells so small that even a five-year-old couldn’t kneel properly, only half-standing, half-leaning.

The air was thick with dust. 30, frightened, was shoved into one of the tiny cells.

The door slammed shut, plunging her into pitch-black darkness.

In the ensuing silence, a rhythmic, clattering sound gradually grew distinct, like someone choking, laughing hoarsely from the depths of their stomach.

30 spun toward the noise, holding her breath.

Still a child, she couldn’t contain her fear and demanded into the darkness, “Who’s there?”

The sound stopped abruptly, replaced by ragged, gasping breaths.

Then, a voice, choked with tears, cried out in the dark, “Teacher? Is the teacher here? It hurts so much… It hurts so much…”

30 fell silent as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Across from her, in another cramped cell, was the girl who had been returned.

She was clinging to the wire mesh door, struggling to support herself. The space was so tight she couldn’t even kneel; her knees pressed against the cold iron door.

30 moved closer to her own door. She had never heard a voice so full of despair.

“The teacher isn’t here,” she replied, clumsily attempting to offer some comfort to the person across from her. “But I broke the bottle around midnight. When it gets light soon, they’ll come to let us out for class.”

Hearing the word “class,” the girl opposite seemed to grow agitated.

“Class, yes, I need to go to class. Teacher An won’t allow me to skip.”

She brightened a little. “It’s better to have class here anyway. There’s food, and as long as I behave, I get beaten less. Please keep talking with me, I feel awful and scared.”

30 tightened her fingers slightly. “Did your adoptive family not give you food or water, and beat you too?”

There was a moment of silence from the other side. When the girl spoke again, her voice trembled, accompanied by the rattling of the wire mesh.

“No, they didn’t. There was a strange uncle there, he always kissed and hugged me. He was greasy and smelled bad.”

“I asked him why he didn’t practice good hygiene, and he hit me, refused to give me food, and made me take off my pants.”

Her voice faltered. “I asked him why, but he didn’t answer. He just kept hitting me. I fought back and must have hit a really painful spot because he cried out and fell down.”

30 was confused by the story, but she understood one thing clearly: you must never anger your adoptive parents.

Sure enough, the girl across from her shuddered. “A lot of people gathered around. I was thrown into the basement. They pried open my mouth with a knife and whipped me.”

Suddenly, 30 realized why the other girl’s speech was so slurred.

“I don’t have any teeth left. Luckily, the friends I made at the orphanery comforted me, saying they’d grow back.”

“Were there others there too?”

“Yeah, they were smarter and more obedient than me. Even though they got beaten, they could move around freely and sometimes brought me food.”

A sob came from the other side, followed by a voice full of grievance.

“If only I had listened to Teacher An and tried harder to be smarter and more obedient during class, maybe I could have stayed with the adoptive family like them.”

30 didn’t know what to say. She could only offer stiffly, “It wasn’t your fault.”

But the crying only grew louder. Unable to comfort her, 30, still a child herself, felt flustered and doubtful for the first time in her life, her mind in turmoil.

Before long, the girl across from her gradually quieted down and stopped trying to talk. She must have fallen asleep.

30 lay awake, lost in thought in the darkness.

After some time, An Suna opened the door to the detention room. A blinding light streamed in, and 30 instinctively shielded her eyes.

An Suna first unlocked 30’s cage.

“Learn your lesson.”

She spoke sternly.

30 nodded. Having spent the night half-standing, half-leaning in the cage, her legs gave way as soon as she tried to step out, and she collapsed to her knees.

An Suna ignored her and turned toward the cage on the opposite side, further inside.

By the light from the doorway, 30 could see the girl from last night. She still had her fingers hooked through the mesh, but her head hung low.

An Suna slapped her a few times.

“You couldn’t even stay with a wealthy adoptive family. Now you’ll go mine on a barren planet. Get up and get out of here.”

30 hadn’t expected An Suna to have no intention of keeping the girl. She thought the girl would look up crying and beg An Suna not to send her away.

But the girl didn’t move at all, not even her fingers, bruised purple-red from gripping the wire mesh.

An Suna hadn’t yet realized something was wrong. She grabbed the girl’s hair, forcing her to lift her head.

A deathly pale, lifeless face abruptly came into 30’s line of sight.

An Suna fell silent too. She extended a finger, pressed it under the girl’s nose, paused for a few seconds, then shuddered all over. She sat on the ground, kicking her legs wildly as she scrambled backward.

“Someone! There’s a dead person!”

She screamed.

Soon, chaotic footsteps approached, but no one noticed 30 hiding in the shadows.

This was her first time facing death. Her eyes were filled with shock and awe, but she wasn’t panicked.

She watched as several teachers hurried over, only to be sternly ordered by An Suna, who had already composed herself, not to make a scene.

Together, they pried open the wire mesh door, but the girl’s fingers were tightly clenched around the mesh. As they dragged the body out, it was clear that the wire mesh was the only thing she had been able to hold onto in her final moments. No matter how hard the teachers tried, they couldn’t loosen her grip.

In the end, they placed the girl’s small body back into the cubicle and cut through the connected wire mesh.

The cage was separated intact, becoming the girl’s tiny coffin.

30 watched as they covered the cage with a black cloth and carried it out of the detention room, forgetting to close the door.

She quietly followed them outside and saw them heading toward the back hill with shovels.

From that moment on, Thirty realized she couldn’t stay here for long. She couldn’t trust An Suna’s deceitful words, nor could she allow herself to be casually adopted as arranged.

But she was just one among many orphans. What could she do besides being at the mercy of others?

Helplessness and fear washed over her. The corpse’s dark, hollow eyes kept flashing before her. The corpse suddenly turned its head, revealing a blood-stained mouth and a distinct mole.

“You’re next, 30.”