Joseph released me, and I gasped for air, desperately filling my lungs with it. I grabbed his suit tie and snarled, "I've warned you many times, don't push me."
Joseph looked at me, stunned.
"What's wrong? You can't bear to hit Amanda, so you come home and take it out on me?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them, laced with bitterness.
Joseph's expression grew tighter. He picked up a broom from the corner and began hitting me with it in a frenzy. I shielded my head as best I could.
"I didn't give you permission to play the piano. How dare you?" Joseph pulled me up and kept slapping me in the face.
I had anticipated this. Any sign of defiance would only make him hit harder. But that was fine, and the camera caught everything.
Exhausted, Joseph put down the broken broom and gripped my chin, glaring at me. His voice was venomous. "Don't think you can defy me. Remember Sophia, she lives alone."
His words sent a shudder through me. The threat to Sophia, my only family, hit me like a thunderclap.
