Selling Women for Fame, Hitting the Face Hard

“I’m busy,” Sophia replied.

Abigail snapped, “I don’t care if you’re busy or even paralyzed! You better crawl back home right now!”

Sophia’s eyes darkened with bitterness.

So this was what family was supposed to be like?

They never asked if she was doing well. They never cared about what happened between her and Joseph.

All they cared about was losing their wealth.

Money, jewelry, expensive clothes—were they more important than she was?

In Abigail’s eyes, Sophia was worth less than a pile of designer clothes.

But she couldn’t avoid them. They were still her family.

Running away wouldn’t solve anything.

“I’m coming back now,” she said.

Sophia’s home was a three-story old house with a yard in the suburbs of River City.

She pushed open the rusty iron gate and saw a pile of unorganized luggage in the yard.

“You still know how to come back?!” Abigail snapped angrily.

Sophia stepped into the living room, where her entire family sat in chairs.

Her mother, Abigail, had delicate makeup on her face, but her eyes glared at Sophia like she wanted to tear her apart.

Sophia swept her gaze across the room.

Her father, Henry, sat in a corner, his shoulders hunched, too afraid to speak.

Her brother, Thomas, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth, looked at her coldly.

Her youngest brother, Gu Ping, sat there looking lost.

Ava, the eldest sister, finally spoke. “Dad, go upstairs and rest first. Sophia is back. Mom and I will talk to her.”

“Hmph, talk about what?” Elizabeth sneered, glancing at Sophia. “Sophia should kneel down and beg Master Garcia for mercy. If we wait too long, our family will have nothing left!”

Sophia stayed calm.

The whole family was here, clearly waiting to deal with her.

“Elizabeth, shut up,” she said indifferently. “You haven’t even married into the Martinez Family yet. You have no right to interfere in our family’s matters.”

Elizabeth’s face stiffened. A flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes.

She hadn’t expected the usually gentle and obedient Sophia to be so tough today.

Ava exchanged glances with Henry. With a helpless sigh, Henry took Gu Ping upstairs.

Now, only Sophia, Abigail, Ava, and Elizabeth remained in the living room.

Abigail glared at Sophia, her voice filled with hatred. “You ungrateful wretch! If I had known you would cause me to lose everything, I would have strangled you when you were a baby!”

Sophia’s heart twisted painfully at those words.

This was her own mother.

How ironic.

“If you had strangled me back then, you wouldn’t be in this mess now,” she said mockingly.

“How dare you talk back to me?!” Abigail’s face darkened with rage. “You’re just a lowly assistant, making a few thousand dollars a month! You can’t even compare to what you’d earn if you just—”

“What did you just say?” Sophia’s expression turned cold.

Her own mother was humiliating her like this?

“I said what I said. Are you deaf?” Abigail sneered. “The Garcia Family didn’t care about your background and gave you the chance to become a rich lady. What right do you have to upset Master Garcia?”

“Do you even understand how much our family benefited from you being engaged to Joseph? When you married into the Mu Family, your brother and sister got million-dollar salaries! Your younger brother was admitted directly into university! Your father and I lived in a villa with servants!”

Sophia clenched her fists.

So that was all she was to them?

A tool to exchange for wealth and status?

Her pent-up pain and anger erupted.

“You, as a mother, only want to sell your daughter to gain the luxury you crave. But have you ever thought—why should I let you sell me?!” Sophia’s voice trembled with fury. “What have you ever given me? After nine years of free education, I paid for all my schooling myself!

“When I started working, you tried to take every penny from me! Have you ever asked if my job was hard? Have you ever cared if I was happy? In your eyes, money is everything, as if I can’t live without it!”

She was furious.

And heartbroken.

But she stood tall, holding onto the last shred of her dignity, glaring at Abigail.

Abigail slammed her fist on the table. “Yes! I can’t live without money! I don’t care how you work! I only care how much you can bring home for me!”

Sophia let out a cold laugh.

“So, you want to sell me, let all of you enjoy wealth and status while I suffer humiliation alone?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “What makes you think I’d ever be willing to live as your puppet for the rest of my life?”

Abigail glared at Sophia with gritted teeth and said angrily, "As your mother, it's my right to sell you off for the prosperity of our family. That's what a daughter should do!"

"If that's what a daughter should do, then we have more than one daughter in this family. Why not let our older sister marry into the Garcia Family?" Sophia sneered. "She's single, and the Garcia Family’s high status is perfect for her."

"Do you think I want to give you an advantage?" Abigail glared at Sophia, gritting her teeth. "If it weren't for you crippling your sister's leg when you were young, why would it be your turn?"

"My sister's leg wasn't my fault at all. It was her..." Sophia immediately retorted.

"Sophia..." Ava's face changed, and she quickly grabbed Sophia, awkwardly saying, "Sophia, don't argue with Mom. Let's deal with the Garcia Family first."

Normally, when Sophia saw Ava trying to persuade her, she would just endure it because they were family.

But today, she wouldn't. And she wouldn't in the future.