Piece By Piece (Complete)

5. Perfect

A/N: Just a warning - there is some brief description of physical and verbal abuse in this chapter. Nothing too graphic, but I wanted to let people know. Also, I do not condone or agree with anything that comes out of Sang's mother's mouth. She's awful.

Sang

My nightmares were worse that night. I was scared to death that I'd trusted the wrong people - the wrong men - but I kept forcing myself to remember Sean's eyes, the hard line of his mouth when he'd seen my bruises, the tic working in his jaw when he'd heard Abby was only ten. Abby. Her smile as she held onto the other man's hand, complete trust in her eyes, it had to mean something, right? Sean and his partner had saved all three of the girls, paying a sum I could only imagine. The girls would be safe. They were safe, and it was enough for now.

"Sang!" her voice cut through me as I was cleaning the kitchen. The lunch staff had left, leaving me to do all the work. It was how she kept things so tidy, she liked to say. She entrusted all cleaning with her finest acquirement: her daughter. I hated that she shared the same blood as me.

She suddenly appeared in the doorway, her face a scowl. Something had upset her. "When will you be done in here?"

"Soon," I replied vaguely, stilling my hand on the floor. If I didn't look like I was giving her my undivided attention she might hit me again.

"Soon," she mocked, walking over the tiles I'd just scrubbed, only increasing the time I would be in here. "You didn't throw yourself at any of the buyers yesterday, did you?" She asked me this every month, somehow convinced I wanted to be one of her little pets. I kept my eyes down and shook my head. "Are you certain?" her questions set off a small alarm within me. Had Sean mentioned me? I immediately regretted not telling him why he couldn't help me. Maybe then he wouldn't have been so curious. I bit my lip, tensing. I was a fool.

"Yes," I breathed, sitting back on my knees now, hoping she was just fishing.

She stood above me, and I could feel her eyes, the irritation my presence alone caused her. "The young ones were adopted," she finally said matter-of-factly. "Seems as if your advice was for nothing."

"I'm not sure what you mean Mis—"

"Shut up," she hissed, kicking away the bucket I'd been using, soapy water sloshing over the tiles. "Don't think I didn't know that you were telling them how to act, the behavior that would make the buyers disinterested," she ranted. She'd known? "But now they've found a family, Sang. They have someone who loves them." She didn't know what family or love was. That was apparent when she'd sold her first pet, Marie. Her other daughter. My sister.

That had been nearly three years ago, when Marie was fifteen. I had no idea where she was now. If she was even alive.

"How does it feel?" she continued. "All those disobedience lessons that you forced me to—" I stopped listening. It was easier this way, to tune her out, pretend she wasn't saying anything when she got like this. Sought out someone to bully.

Her hand striking my cheek wasn't the worst thing she'd ever done, and even though it was a dull pain compared to the burns, I felt tears gather behind my eyes anyway. It still hurt inside, I couldn't help admitting to myself. It hurt to know that I was alone. That I'd only ever be alone.

She struck me again, and my teeth cut into my lip, blood rushing into my mouth. Her eyes brightened at the sight, raising her palm once more before the doorbell chimed throughout the house. She caught herself, tugging down the jacket of her pantsuit absently as she continued to glower at me. "As soon as you're done in here, you are to remain in your room until further notice."