Her mother was sobbing, demanding to know why she would kill people, screaming that she was just like her father-an animal, a demon.


    Ste looked at her tear-streaked mother, her mind shing back to their meeting six months prior.


    After suffering endless abuse, Ste had escaped to the city where her mother lived.


    She saw her mother taking her little sister to school, carrying her backpack for her, gently reminding her to study hard and eat well.


    But when her mother turned and saw her, her eyes first showed shock, then annoyance as she asked, "What are you doing here?"


    "Mom..." Ste''s voice choked. She wanted to throw herself into her mother''s arms, to tell her about all the pain and suffering she had endured, but her mother had no patience for it.


    Her mother grabbed her hand urgently, roughly pulling her away.


    "Alright, you came all this way, you must be hungry. I''ll take you to get something to eat, then you need to go back right away."


    Her mother dragged her to a nearby diner.


    Ste sat at the table, watching her mother order. She had nned to tell her mother during the meal about the abuse, to ask if she coulde live with her.


    But after ordering, her mother just stuffed some money into her hand, said she had to get to work or she''d bete, and then rushed off.


    Ste finally realized that from the moment her parents divorced, she had not only lost her father, but she no longer had a mother either.


    In the end, Ste was sent back to her father''s house.


    Her father was furious about her escape attempt and whipped her brutally with a leather strap, calling her a cheap slut, just like her mother.


    Ste was beaten to within an inch of her life. No one took her to the hospital. No one even gave her any food.


    At that moment, she thought she was going to die. Death would have been a release.


    But somehow, she survived. She didn''t die.


    From that day on, she made a vow: everyone who had hurt her would suffer a terrible death.


    "Cut, cut, cut! Yvonne, that was excellent," Director Ward yelled,


    calling a halt to the scene. He for


    Yvonne to take a break while the crew prepared for the next shot.


    Because the film was a suspense thriller, the plot was full of clues and red herrings, and the truth behind Ste''s murders would not be revealed so quickly.


    fo


    Yvonne finished her morning scenes. Her assistant came over, draped a heavy coat


    over her shoulders, and apanied her to the dressing room to rest.


    The crew had a one-hour lunch break.


    After eating, Yvonne was resting on a lounge chair with her eyes closed.


    Her phone, sitting on the small table beside her, buzzed a few times. Yvonne reached for it and, seeing it was Bet calling, answered immediately.


    "Vonnie." Bet''s maic, gentle voice came through the phone. The way he said her name was so beautiful.


    "Hi," Yvonne replied, her lovely eyes already curving into crescent moons as she smiled. "Are you at the base? Not busy today?"


    "I''m at my parents'' ce," Bet said.


    He was standing in the Thompson family''s estate vi.


    The estate was vast, but there weren''t many servants, so it was usually quiet and empty.


    But today, the vi was anything but quiet. Emma and Frank were arguing in their room, their voices so loud that Bet frowned just listening to them.


    "She''s using death to threaten me. She''s not faking it this time, the cut is deep. The doctor said if she''d been brought in anyter it would''ve been toote. She''s my mother, Emma. She carried me for ten months. I can''t just stand by and watch her die... Emma, can''t you just try to understand?"