Three Years Stolen — Basement Prison

As the only daughter of the Bennett family, three years ago I went abroad to expand the overseas market for the Bennett Group.

After I left, my parents brought Sophie Miller, the daughter of my uncle from a small town, to live in our estate.

Three years later, when I finally completed my task and returned home, I pushed open the door only to see Sophie wearing my clothes and hosting a party as if she were the mistress of the house.

The moment she saw me, Sophie frowned.

“Where did this poor relative come from? So rude—showing up this late?”

“Forget it, since you’re here, go to the kitchen and help the staff serve drinks. Let me show you what real high society looks like.”

“Oh, and look all you want, but don’t touch anything. If you break something, even selling you wouldn’t cover the cost.”

I ignored her and was about to step inside when I noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist.

Catching my gaze, she lifted her hand and shook the bracelet with pride.

“Never seen anything like this, have you? My mom gave it to me. Consider it a little gift for your peasant eyes.”

I grabbed her wrist and tore the bracelet off.

“My things—and you think you deserve to wear them?”

…

This time it was Sophie’s turn to freeze.

“Who the hell are you?” she screamed.

“How dare you snatch my stuff! Do you know who I am? I’m the eldest daughter of the Miller family!”

She lunged at me like a madwoman, trying to take the bracelet back, but I dodged her.

Sophie missed and fell hard to the ground.

The surrounding guests, seeing this, stifled laughter, which only made Sophie more furious.

“Security! Where the hell are the guards? Catch this bitch and beat her up!”

“Sophie, why is it so noisy? What’s going on?”

Her shrieking drew attention upstairs.

The sound of familiar footsteps followed, and soon my parents slowly descended from the second floor.

The moment they saw me, their expressions froze.

“Sophia?” My mother’s scarf slipped from her hands as she looked at me, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

“You’re back?”

Hearing the name “Sophia,” Sophie’s body jolted violently.

The arrogance on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a pitiful expression. Forcing out tears, she looked at me with reddened eyes.

“Aunt, Uncle… is she really… Sophia?”

She turned toward me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Sister, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed so much over the years.”

She rubbed her reddened wrist while crying in grievance.

“I thought a stranger had broken in. You scared me so badly, sister. I just tried on the bracelet you left on the table, but you said I wasn’t worthy and even grabbed it off me. I was terrified.”

“What? When did I ever grab you?”

I was stunned by her twisted lies and quickly tried to defend myself.

But before I could explain further, my mother suddenly rushed forward—only to embrace Sophie.

“Sophie, don’t cry! Just a misunderstanding!”

I was stunned.

After three years apart, my biological mother didn’t give me a single hug. Instead, she bypassed me and held Sophie in her arms.

Sophie continued her fake sobbing in my mother’s embrace.

After comforting her for a long while and treating me as if I were a stranger, my mother finally turned with a reproachful look.

“Sophia, look at you. After a few years abroad, you’ve forgotten all your manners.”

“Sophie is your sister. She didn’t even recognize you, and you dared to lay hands on her?”

Before I could say anything, my father, who had been silent until now, spoke sternly with a darkened face.

“Your sister is timid. What if you scared her badly?”

“On your very first day back, you’re already bullying her? Apologize to your sister right now.”

I looked at my biological parents—whom I hadn’t seen in three years—and they felt almost unrecognizable to me.

“I won’t apologize. I didn’t bully her.”

My voice was firm. Seeing me refuse, my father grew furious.

“How dare you talk back the moment you return?”

“Enough, enough, it’s just a misunderstanding.”

My mother stepped in between us like a peacemaker.

I thought for a moment she was about to defend me, but instead, she reached for the silver bracelet in my hand, trying to take it away.

I clenched my fist tightly.

“This is mine.” My voice came out hoarse.

Her expression instantly darkened.

“Sophia, you were never such a petty child before. Sophie is a guest, and also your sister. Can’t you let her have a little? Do you have to cause chaos in this house to feel satisfied?”

Seeing that I didn’t yield, she completely lost patience.

“If you’re going to be this unreasonable, then you don’t deserve to wear this bracelet.”

She grabbed my wrist and pried open my fingers one by one, forcing the bracelet out of my hand.

The same bracelet she had given me at my comingofage ceremony now sat on Sophie’s wrist.

“Good girl, it looks perfect on Sophie,” my mother said with doting affection.

And as if that weren’t enough, she added,

“Your sister is just teasing you. From now on, whatever you see at home can be yours too. An older sister should always give way to her younger one.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Sophie’s voice was syrupy sweet.

Mom?

I looked at my mother, waiting for some kind of explanation.

But she ignored me completely, turning instead to kiss Sophie on the head.

“My sweet daughter.”

I was assigned to the guest room—because my old bedroom now belonged to Sophie.

“You’ll just have to make do here tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll free up another room for you.”

“What about my room?” I asked.

My mother’s tone was impatient.

“Your sister has gotten used to living there. As her elder, can’t you be more understanding?”

The plain white walls of the guest room reflected back my numb expression.

I didn’t sleep a single minute that night.

The next morning, I opened my door and went straight to my old bedroom—now Sophie’s room.

The door wasn’t locked. I pushed it open.

There she was, sitting at my vanity, using my expensive skincare products, with the pearl necklace my mother had once given me draped around her neck.

She didn’t look the least bit surprised. In fact, it was as if she had been waiting for me, a provocative smile tugging at her lips.

“Is there something you need, sister?”

“What do you really want?” My voice was flat, betraying no emotion.

“What do I want?” She lazily capped the serum bottle in her hand.

“Don’t you understand?”

She turned toward me, feigning confusion.

“After all this time, you still don’t see what I’m after?”

“I want everything you have—your room, your clothes, your parents, even your identity.”

She rose to her feet and stepped closer, chin tilted upward though she was half a head shorter, as if she were looking down on me.

“Really, you should be thanking me. While you were away all these years, I was the one keeping Uncle and Aunt happy. By now, they already see me as their real daughter.”

She paused, licking her lips.

“And you? A daughter who’s always abroad, who never cares about her family? To them, you’ve long since stopped being their child.”

Uncaring? Unfilial?

Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but find it laughable.

I had spent those three years abroad expanding the Bennett Group.

To say I was neglectful or unfilial—that was the cruelest slander imaginable.

Seeing that I didn’t react, Sophie grew irritated. Just as she was about to say something to provoke me further, her gaze suddenly flicked to the vase on the vanity.

She abruptly stood, grabbed the vase, and smashed it against her own forehead.

Bang!

With her scream, blood immediately began to stream down from the wound.

The incident happened so suddenly that I had no time to react. Instinctively, I reached out to support her.

Unexpectedly, she clutched my hand and flung herself to the ground, dragging me down with her.

Then, using every ounce of strength, she screamed:

“Help! Sister, why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? You were trying to hit me with the vase!”

“I was wrong, sister, don’t hit me! I’ll leave, I’ll leave right now!”

Hearing her shrieks, my parents rushed in immediately.

What they saw was this: the vase shattered on the floor, Sophie lying there with blood streaming from her forehead, and me on top of her—my hands positioned as if I were trying to strangle her.

Meanwhile, Sophie clutched my hands, feigning desperate resistance.

“Sophie!” My mother’s horrified scream tore through the room.

She shoved me violently aside and threw herself down beside Sophie.

“My daughter, my precious girl, are you alright? Don’t scare your mom!”

My father shook with rage, his eyes bloodshot as though he wanted to devour me alive.

“You’re insane! How dare you lay hands on her?”

He roared, ripping off his belt without hesitation.

Without giving me a chance to explain, he swung it down hard.

Snap!

The belt lashed across my arm, the searing pain splitting my skin into a red welt.

“I’ll beat you to death, you wretched child!”

Snap!

Another strike across my back.

The pain drove me stumbling forward, nearly collapsing to my knees.

I clenched my teeth, enduring in silence.

I knew—explaining now was useless. They wouldn’t believe me. They didn’t want to believe me.

All they trusted was Sophie.

My silence seemed only to enrage him further.

“How could the Bennett family produce such a vicious creature—someone who would even harm her own sister?”

He brought the belt down again and again, each strike raising bloody welts across my body.

My mother clutched Sophie protectively, shouting through the chaos:

“Harder, darling! Teach her a real lesson! If you don’t beat some sense into her, who knows what she’ll do next!”

“Look at Sophie—she’s bleeding so much! If she dies, I won’t live either!”

Fueled by her cries, my father’s strikes grew even heavier.

My body was battered, my lips bleeding from how tightly I’d bitten them, but still I refused to fall.

Nestled in my mother’s arms, Sophie weakly murmured:

“Please, stop… I know my sister didn’t mean it.”

Her pitiful plea only stoked my father’s fury further.

He hurled the belt aside and pointed his finger at me, cursing:

“Look at Sophie—hurt like this, yet she’s still pleading for you. And you? You heartless beast, do you even have a shred of conscience left?”

Panting heavily, his chest heaved with rage.

“She can’t stay in this house any longer. She’ll be the death of Sophie.”

As if making a grave decision, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hello? Mr. Dawson?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“About the marriage we discussed—my daughter’s marriage. I agree.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll have her married off.”

My phone and laptop were confiscated, and I was locked in the cold, pitchblack basement—just as icy as my heart.

They weren’t entirely devoid of humanity; they summoned the family doctor to treat my wounds.

He had watched me grow up.

“Miss… you—”

He wanted to say something but didn’t dare. After hastily tending to my injuries, he left.

As soon as he was gone, my parents entered with Sophie trailing behind them.

There wasn’t a trace of pity on their faces.

“Until you learn obedience, everything you own will be managed by Sophie,” my father ordered coldly.

My mother tossed a box in front of me.

“Your passport, ID, bank cards—everything. Hand them over.”

Sophie stood behind them. They couldn’t see it, but I could—the triumphant smile tugging at her lips.

I didn’t resist.

I knew resistance would only invite harsher cruelty.

One by one, I placed every document and card into the box.

Sophie gleefully snatched it up, opened my wallet, and pulled out all the cash, stuffing it into her own pocket right before my eyes.

“Thanks, sister.” Her voice dripped with mock sweetness.

“Good.” My mother nodded with satisfaction, then suddenly seemed to recall something. She pulled out a folder from her bag and tossed it at me.

“Oh, right. One more thing.”

I glanced down. It was a marriage contract.

The groom’s name was Robert Dawson.

A man in his fifties who had clawed his way to wealth through shady dealings—known throughout elite circles for his twisted abuse of women. His two previous wives, one had gone insane, the other had died.

“Sign it.” My mother threw a pen in front of me.

My heart turned to ice.

“Why?”

My voice cracked.

“Why?”

She chuckled as if I had told the funniest joke.

“Mr. Dawson’s projects will pave the way for Sophie’s future company. You marrying him is your final contribution to this family, to your sister. You should feel honored.”

For Sophie, I was to sacrifice my entire life.

So this was my biological mother.

“I won’t sign.”

Each word ground out between my teeth.

Her face instantly darkened.

At that moment, the old butler, Mark Thompson, walked past carrying a tea tray.

Mark!

He had known me since I was a child. Surely, he would help me.

I cast him a desperate look for help.

But my father caught it, sneering.

“Mark, I heard your grandson is applying to one of the top schools owned by our group.”

Mark’s body trembled. The color drained from his face.

“Sir, Madam—I saw nothing.”

His hands shook so badly he almost dropped the tray.

“I’ll be going now.” He turned and fled.

My last hope shattered.

“Sister, why are you so stubborn?” Sophie mocked, walking over gleefully. “Uncle and Aunt are doing this for your own good.”

She picked up a crystal trophy from the table—the one I had received three years ago when I secured my first multimilliondollar investment. The inscription read Presented to Sophia Bennett.

“This is beautiful,” she mused, turning it in her hands.

“Such a shame—you’ll be married off soon.”

Crash—

The crystal trophy slipped from Sophie’s hand and shattered on the ground.

“Oh no, sorry, sister, my hand slipped.”

She laughed, cruel yet innocent.

“But it doesn’t matter. You won’t be needing it anymore.”

Her actions completely ignited my fury.

I leapt to my feet and tore the contract in half.

“I will not sign it!”

I shouted at my parents.

“Even if you beat me to death today, I will never sign!”

“Courting death!”

My father, enraged beyond reason, ripped off his belt again and swung it at me with no restraint this time.

The belt cracked through the air before slashing into me.

The wounds that had just been treated split open again, leaving raw flesh exposed and bleeding.

I curled up on the floor, my consciousness blurring from the pain.

“Stop!”

My mother suddenly spoke.

For a fleeting moment, I thought she had grown a conscience.

But then—

“Don’t beat her too much. If she’s broken, how will we deliver her to the Dawson family tomorrow?”

My heart turned completely to ash.

“I’ll handle it.”

From the doctor’s medical kit, she pulled out a syringe.

“This is a sedative. Beating you isn’t working—it’ll make you more obedient.”

Terror gripped me as I realized my own mother intended to drug me.

I struggled desperately, but after the savage beating, my body had no strength left.

My father and Sophie pinned me down from either side.

I felt the cold sting of the needle pierce my skin.

Before darkness swallowed me whole, I caught one last sight: Sophie clutching my hand, pressing it onto the contract, leaving my fingerprint as a seal.

…

When I woke again, it was already midnight.

I had been moved to a bedroom. My entire body ached as though it had been torn apart.

From outside came the sound of laughter—my parents and Sophie. Along with it, the acrid smell of burning paper.

Dragging myself to the door, I peered through the crack.

They were huddled around a brazier, feeding the flames with every last one of my business plans and the legal documents from my overseas company—burning them sheet by sheet.

Three years of blood and sweat, my carefully prepared safety net—destroyed before my eyes.

They were determined to erase me completely.

I couldn’t even muster the strength to scream stop.

Sensing movement, my mother strode toward the door.

It swung open roughly. She looked down on me as if I were nothing but trash waiting to be disposed of.

“The wedding dress will arrive tomorrow morning.”

“This is your final contribution to this family.”

“After the wedding, the Bennett family will have only one daughter.”

“She will be the Bennett family’s only daughter—Sophie Miller.”

She turned and left, as if even one more glance at me was revolting.

The door locked behind her.

Moments later, Sophie’s voice floated through the wood, sickly sweet.

“Thank you for making this possible, sister. From tomorrow on—your parents, your room, everything that was yours… it’ll all be mine.”

At dawn the next day, the door burst open.

Several burly maids entered, holding a bloodred wedding gown in their arms.

I sneered. Clearly, they had chosen ones strong enough to subdue me.

“Miss, it’s time. Put the dress on and come with us.”

“Don’t waste words. Just force it on her. She’s no young lady anymore.”

“Miss Sophie gave orders—whoever can subdue her the fastest will be rewarded. Let’s go!”

One of the maids—easily over two hundred pounds—lunged forward to pin me down.

From the hair I had pinned up, I yanked out the hairpin I’d spent all night sharpening, and with a fierce thrust, I drove it into the back of her hand.

“Aaahhh!”

The maid’s shriek pierced the air as blood gushed out.

Seizing the chaos, I scrambled to my feet, shoved another aside, and bolted for the floortoceiling window.

I had only one thought—I have to escape!

I grabbed a nearby chair and hurled it against the glass with all my strength.

Crash!

The window shattered instantly.

Below was the lawn. If I jumped, I still had a slim chance of survival.

I was just about to leap when another maid tackled me from behind.

“She’s trying to run! Somebody come!”

At her cry, a swarm of security guards stormed in, pinning me brutally against the shards of glass.

The jagged pieces dug into my face, my hands, every inch of exposed skin.

“Trying to run?!”

My father stormed into the room, his face ashen with fury as he took in the wreckage.

“You really are beyond redemption!”

Pointing at me, he barked at the guards:

“Bind her! Even if you have to carry her, drag her to the wedding stage! I will watch her marry with my own eyes today!”

I had no strength left to resist. My hands and feet were tied with rope, and tape sealed my mouth.

As I was dragged out of the estate, I caught sight of Sophie.

She was dressed like a true princess, my mother clinging affectionately to her arm.

They were radiant, ready to attend my wedding.

My mother frowned slightly at the sight of me being dragged along and ordered the guards:

“Hurry up! Don’t keep Mr. Dawson waiting.”

Then, with a cold sneer:

“Sophie, come on. Don’t look at her anymore—you’ll dirty your eyes. After today, our family will finally have peace.”

I was tossed into the back seat of a car. After a rough, jolting ride, we arrived amid the sound of blaring music and celebration.

I knew—this was my grave.

A burly man hauled me into a dressing room, where several people smeared grotesque makeup on my face until I looked like something out of a horror film.

They said this was Mr. Dawson’s special request.

Two men then barged in, shouting, and dragged me out—half carrying me—onto the wedding stage.

Glancing out, I saw the hall packed with the city’s elite.

They looked at me with surprise, contempt, and worst of all—amused indifference.

Those who had once partnered with me stared in disbelief.

“How could Miss Bennett… end up like this?”

“Shh, quiet! The Bennett family declared they have only one daughter now—Sophie Miller.”

“What Sophie Miller? Wasn’t she just their niece? I thought her name was Sophie Miller… when did that change?”

“I heard marrying Sophia off was just to clear the way for Sophie. What a shame.”

“Such a waste—Miss Bennett was a business genius. And now, to be handed to that bald creep… what a tragedy.”

Robert Dawson.

My socalled “husband.”

The greasy, balding man stood beside me in a neatly tailored suit, looking me over as though I were nothing more than a plaything about to be delivered into his hands.

My heart turned stone cold.

“And now, the bride and groom will exchange rings—”

But at that very moment—

All the giant screens around the wedding hall suddenly went black.

The next second, they flickered back to life.

On the screens appeared a scene I knew too well—our family’s study.

And in it, my parents.