Sera Frost, the Cannon-folder I

Cold sweat prickled Sera's skin like a thousand tiny needles. Her grip tightened on the vanity table, her knuckles turning white against the faded brown wood. The reflection staring back was both familiar and utterly alien – a beautiful stranger with haunted eyes that seemed to hold a universe of unspoken stories. Seraphina Frost, as everyone knew her, was a meticulously crafted facade, a mask hiding the truth of a life built on a foundation of suffering and shattered innocence.

But tonight, the carefully constructed walls were crumbling. Memories, long buried and dormant, stirred within her like restless ghosts. Strange fragments flickered to life – a life before the Larks, a life before the endless toil and suffocating silence. A life she couldn't quite grasp, yet felt undeniably hers. And then, the most shocking realization of all: she was living within a web novel, "Billion Dollar Union," a mere pawn in a grander narrative. The thousand words dedicated to her story felt like a cruel mockery, a vast understatement of the trials she'd endured. This was her truth, a story far more intricate and heartbreaking than the one anyone else knew. The memories of her current life clawed their way to the surface, demanding to be heard.

It all started with her mother, Maria Evergreen. Maria's life had been a tapestry woven from resilience and determination. Orphaned young, she worked her way out of poverty, her education her most prized possession. Landing a coveted job as Benjamin Lark's personal assistant at Lark Enterprises, Maria's intelligence and work ethic set her apart. Benjamin, then a rising star on his way to becoming CEO, found himself captivated.

Engaged to be married, Benjamin became infatuated with Maria and relentlessly pursued her. Maria, however, wasn't swayed by his advances, keenly aware of his impending wedding. When pressure mounted, Maria, a woman of unwavering morals and an iron spine, tendered her resignation. Refusing to be swayed by empty promises or threats, she chose integrity over a gilded cage. This, however, awakened a monstrous fury within Benjamin.

Seething with rejection, Benjamin's charm morphed into something sinister. Feigning remorse and regret, he spun a web of apologies and promises. He coaxed Maria out for lunch, a calculated move to disarm her with the warmth of shared bread and conversation. However, the meal was a cruel facade. A hidden drug in her drink stole her lucidity, leaving her vulnerable to a violation that would forever scar the fabric of their lives. This act, born of a twisted sense of entitlement, shattered not just Maria's dreams, but irrevocably altered the course of their lives. Maria fell pregnant. 

The discovery of pregnancy wasn't a joyous one, but a trap sprung by Benjamin's manipulation. He used the news to sever all of Maria's ties to the outside world, ensuring her complete dependence on him. Confined to a separate apartment, Maria became his captive mistress, a secret kept in the shadows while he played the part of the devoted husband-to-be, eventually marrying his intended, Clara Lark.

But the web of deceit wouldn't hold forever. Benjamin's frequent, clandestine visits couldn't escape the watchful eyes of Clara, also pregnant with his child. When the truth finally erupted, it was a storm of emotions. 

Clara's fury, a venomous cocktail of rage and misplaced blame, lashed out at Maria. She painted her as a conniving temptress, a siren who stole her husband's affections. Benjamin, ever the puppeteer, saw an opportunity in the wreckage of his own making. A deal was struck with his wife, a solution reeking of convenience that did little to hide his infidelity. Maria, the innocent party in this twisted play, became the scapegoat. Banished to the cold, unforgiving basement of the Lark's opulent mansion, she became a living ghost, forever confined in the shadows. It was a cruel fate that would forever shape the world of the young girl she carried.

Clara's cruelty towards Maria wasn't a sudden outburst, but a calculated torment honed to a sharp edge. It wasn't a storm that lashed indiscriminately, but a scalpel, precise and deliberate. It chipped away at Maria's spirit, day by day, a relentless erosion that stole the vibrancy from her eyes and the laughter from her lips. The agreement to move Maria wasn't born out of mercy, a notion as laughable as it was grotesque. It was an opportunity to tighten the screws, to isolate and control with an iron fist.

For four agonizing years, Sera was confined with her mother, forced to witness the slow dimming of her light. The vibrant woman who had once filled their tiny room with laughter and stories was reduced to a hollow shell, consumed by depression and the ravages of a neglected illness. By the tender age of five, Sera was an orphan, left alone with the chilling echo of Clara's calculated cruelty.

The first sliver of sunlight in Sera's life came at her mother's funeral, a somber day shrouded in a relentless downpour. A flicker of something that resembled remorse flickered across Benjamin's face as he finally added Sera to the Lark family registry. This act offered a semblance of freedom – the ability to come and go, and most importantly, access to education.

But freedom, in the twisted world Clara had constructed, was a double-edged sword. Yes, the relentless torment of her mother was gone, replaced by a suffocating surviellance. Clara, with a coldness that sent shivers down Sera's spine, transformed her into a servant. Sera's days revolved around catering to the whims of Luna, a spoiled child who viewed kindness as weakness. Yet, unfazed by this servitude, Sera found solace in the world of books. She devoured them with a hunger that surprised even herself, excelling in her studies despite the relentless drudgery of chores. Scholarships and part-time jobs, secured under the cloak of darkness, fueled her unwavering dream of escape. Freedom, a word that echoed in the quiet corners of her mind, became her North Star.

However, her academic brilliance had to be a carefully calibrated dance. While she consistently aced her classes, leaving teachers in awe of her potential, she never dared to surpass Luna. In fact, she often completed most of Luna's homework, a strategic move to maintain a fragile peace within the household.

Clara's disdain for her mother Maria and Sera herself, was a festering wound that refused to heal and seeped into Luna fostering a constant competition between the two girls. Whenever Sera displayed a genuine interest in a particular activity, Luna mirrored it, a shallow imitation fueled by Clara's subtle manipulations. Clothes were a constant reminder of her place in the family hierarchy - hand-me-downs, worn thin and carrying the ghosts of Luna's discarded trends. With the occasional slightly high-end finds thrown her way on special occasions when her presence was deemed necessary to uphold the family's facade. After all, they couldn't have the help, the invisible girl, sullying their reputation with her threadbare clothes and quiet dignity, could they?

Her greatest burden, however, wasn't the endless chores or the constant put-downs. It was the blossoming beauty that seemed to bloom defiantly against the harsh realities of her life. Her features, once hidden beneath the cloud of grief after her mother's passing, were now starting to take shape. Large, expressive eyes, a strong jawline softened by a delicate curve, and a full head of hair that, despite being neglected, held a natural shine – these were the very things that filled Clara with a venomous rage. Whispers of "succubus," the same label Clara had once spat at her mother, became a constant undercurrent in the household. The word seeped into Sera's bones, poisoning her perception of herself. Fear, a cold serpent, coiled around her heart.

Desperate to erase this unwanted beauty, a target on her back in this twisted game, Sera took refuge in self-neglect. Long, unkempt bangs became a curtain, shielding her eyes from the world and the unwanted attention it attracted. Oversized clothes, once a symbol of practicality, became her armor, a way to disappear into the background, to become a shadow in the house she was forced to call home. Yet, even these attempts at camouflage couldn't fully extinguish the embers of her beauty.

The trauma deepened into a chilling terror when James, her father's youngest brother, began preying on her. What started as a lingering touch, a brush of his hand against hers as he passed in the hallway, escalated into unwelcome intrusions into her room at night as he took pleasure in watching her sleep. His forced attentions, veiled threats, and relentless sexual harassment became a festering wound, a secret shame she was too terrified to share. 

Cornered and desperate, Sera clung to the prospect of leaving like a drowning sailor grasping at a life raft. Her coming graduation from high school coincided with her 18th birthday, a stark reminder of the legal independence she craved. It was to be a turning point - the start of adulthood, a concept both terrifying and exhilarating. Seeing this as her only window of escape, Sera meticulously crafted a plan.

Strategically, she applied to universities abroad, deliberately avoiding local ones to eliminate any competition with Luna. The airfare, the dorms, the very idea of a life beyond the Lark household seemed impossible, but she clung to the hope that flickered within her.

Then, the most fantastical thing happened: an offer of a scholarship from a prestigious university abroad arrived, a lifeline thrown across the vast ocean of her despair. Freedom, a concept that had only existed in whispered daydreams and stolen glances at travel brochures, was finally within reach. Each word on the page shimmered with the promise of a new beginning, a chance to build a life where the Larks' suffocating grip couldn't reach.