The General's Replacement Doctor Wife

Chapter One

“Witch! Look at her weird eyes!”

The shouts rang across the rain-swept yard of St. Therese Orphanage. Fourteen-year-old Olivia quickened her steps and pretended not to hear a word.

“Freak with the devil's eyes!” Asher, the oldest boy, yelled from behind her. He was sixteen and mean as an ogre; teasing her was his favorite pastime.

Olivia kept her head down, watching her worn-out shoes make tracks in the mud. Just make it to the building. Just make it inside. She repeated the words in her head like a mantra. But she wasn't fast enough, and they caught up with her.

A hard shove sent her face-first into a dirty puddle. Water and mud filled her nose and mouth. The children laughed. Not a single one of them offered help.

“Show us your witch eyes!” Sarah screamed. She used to be Olivia's roommate until she told Sister Anne that she was scared Olivia would curse her in her sleep, so she was transferred to another room.

Olivia lifted her face from the ground, but Asher pushed her back down with his foot. Her back hurt like hell, but she couldn't move an inch under the pressure.

She cursed her eyes for how they looked. Her eyes had two different colors, one blue and one green. It made her stand out, made the other children single her out and torment her endlessly.

“Maybe if we wash her face enough, we can cure her!” Sarah suggested.

Hands grabbed Olivia's head and dunked her face deeper into the dirty puddle. They held her under until her lungs burned. Just when she thought she would die, they yanked her head back up. 

Olivia coughed while gasping for air.

“Again!” someone shouted. But before they could push her back down, a sharp voice cut through the chaos.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”

The hands holding Olivia disappeared instantly. She heard feet scrambling away, leaving her alone in the mud.

“She fell, Sister Anne!” Asher was the one who spoke. “We were just trying to help her up,” he added, and every kid present agreed with him.

Olivia stayed on her hands and knees, water dripping from her hair and face. She didn't have to look up to see the disdain in Sister Anne's eyes. She could feel it piercing her skin.

“Is this true, Olivia?”

Her fingers dug into the mud. What was the point of telling her now? Sister Anne never believed her anyway. “Yes, Sister,” she whispered. “I fell.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Get up! We have the Hilton family visiting us today! They're our most generous benefactors, and I expect you to be presentable when they arrive.”

Olivia felt a rush of shame. She slowly pushed herself off the ground. Everything hurts. Her back where Asher had pinned her, her chest from fighting for air, and her heart from being singled out and tormented endlessly.

Sister Anne's footsteps fade away. She heard Asher and Sarah laughing at her before they followed suit.

Rain began to pour from the sky. Olivia looked up. At least no one could tell she was crying.

~✧✦✧~

In the small room she shared with four other kids, Olivia peeled off her mud-soaked dress. Her reflection in the small mirror showed angry red marks on her back where Asher had pinned her down. They would turn into bruises by morning.