I was born mute, and because of this, I was hated, pitied and discarded. Hated by my sibling, pitied by my biological mother and discarded by my own father.
But I think, my mother was more pitiful. My parents had a love marriage; my father loved my mother dearly.
But after I was born, my father changed completely. He thought, mother had cheated on him because I was born mute.
He didn't even care to look at me again and stopped giving any attention to my mother. Not only that, but he also indulged in a second marriage.
My mother was broke, but her attention to me never wavered. She took care of me, the person who was the sole reason for her miserable life.
But she never blamed me, rather always loved me and pitied me.
Without any proper attention from father, the servants started stealing our money and cut down our food supply to below the bare minimum.
We would be given one-time meals per day, and my mother used to feed that to me too. So that I would grow up healthy and strong.
Our clothes and jewels were getting stolen too, but thankfully, some servants helped us. They couldn't directly kick out those servants, as it was in my stepmother's hands, but they gave us food and clothing with their money.
One of the kind maids knew someone who was deaf. She used to take me to him daily, and from him I learnt sign language and got my education from him too.
With time mother's health started to deteriorate. Father still paid no attention, as letting mother live was a charity to him.
And soon the day came when it was her last day. I sat on the stool beside her bed, and as I cupped her hand in my hands, I asked her a question that I had had in my head for ages.
"Why did you never say that you didn't cheat on him?" I paused, "Maybe, the misunderstanding would have cleared up." I asked her with sign language.
I immediately regretted my decision. All these years, I had this question in my mind, but I never asked, so why today?
Mother didn't have much time left, so I should have let her go happily.
But what my mother said gave me a lifelong lesson.
"I didn't explain because he didn't want an explanation. In his mind, he had decided that I cheated on him, so explaining would have had no effect, and remember, someone who loves you will always try to clear the misunderstanding."
Her hands trembled, "Rather than demeaning myself by explaining I chose dignity. Always remember, everyone will try to demean you, but you should always hold your head high with dignity. Choose death but do not lose your dignity."
This was her last sentence to me before she shut her eyes. With the remaining 2 or 3 maids in the annexe, we did mom's funeral rites.
Surprisingly, the father who never showed his face all these years did show up at mother's funeral, along with my stepsister and stepmother. I guess, his heart isn't black yet.
2 days after mother died, I was forced to shift into the main villa. I knew going there would mean endless torment. But as a child, I had no say in this.
And as I had guessed, my life became a living hell. I was bullied by the servants and my sister, and my stepmother abused me.
She used to take out all her father's anger on me, by beating me with a stick, pouring hot water on my body or confining me in my room.
And as a mute, I couldn't do anything but cry and remember Mom. I used to beg God to send me to my mom, but he never listened.
My education was stopped. I was forbidden to go outside or do anything. While my sister was living a lavish life, with new clothes every day, jewels adorning her body from head to toe, flowers covering her head and makeup sharpening her features, I was barely living on the food that some kind maids brought for me secretly.
Even with all these torments, I never begged them, I always held my head high with dignity, and I could see it always irritated them.
Just like this I grew up.
Naturally, I had no debutante party. When I reached the marriageable age, 19 years, no marriage proposals came for me. But as soon as my sister, Layla, hit the marriageable age, marriage proposals flooded in.
And in all these marriage proposals came that one marriage proposal that could never be rejected. The Grand Duke Shahr's marriage proposal.
The hero who led the empire to victory in the war 5 years ago. Before the war, he was a simple baron. After this war, he was quickly promoted to the Grand Duke position.
There is another reason too. He was called the Great Hound, by the enemy empire. To scare off any future threats, the emperor quickly promoted him to the Grand Duke position.
As soon as he became the Grand Duke, he wiped out all those people who opposed the emperor's proposal to make him the Grand Duke, and after this incident, he was known as the Murderous Duke.
My father, stepmother and Layla all freaked out after seeing the marriage proposal. They didn't want to send Layla to the crazy duke.
So they came up with an idea through the loophole in the marriage proposal. In the proposal, they didn't mention which daughter they want to marry; they simply stated they want to marry the count's daughter.
My father and stepmother came up with the idea to marry me off instead of Layla.
Honestly, I was happy after hearing this. I felt my prayers had been heard; if I am killed by the duke, I can finally be free from these sufferings.
Wedding preparations started, and in just one month, I was married off to the most ruthless man in the empire.