Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 548 - 549: Toxic

Her head began to ache slightly.

’This background...’

’It’s worse than I expected.’

After reading through the reports carefully, she could only let out a faint sigh.

Lily’s biological parents were even worse.

They were the founders of a small declining company, but their household was poisoned by an old-fashioned obsession.

They valued boys far more than girls.

Because Lily was born a daughter, she was treated as worthless from the very beginning.

Whenever her parents found the slightest excuse, they would beat her mercilessly.

Bruises and scars had once been part of her daily life.

At one point, when the family fell deeper into financial trouble, they had even tried to sell her without hesitation.

Aurora frowned slightly while reading.

’So she never really had a home...’

When Lily was finally adopted into the wealthy family, things did not become better.

In fact, they became even more twisted.

The entire family treated her like a servant rather than a daughter.

She cleaned the house. She endured insults. She silently accepted humiliation.

There was only one person who showed her any affection.

Shay.

But even that affection was strange and distorted.

Although Shay seemed to care for Lily, she would only show that warmth in private.

In public, she treated Lily exactly the same way the others did.

Cold. Humiliating. Cruel.

Aurora leaned back slightly in her chair.

Her brows knitted together in confusion.

’What kind of relationship is this?’

From everything she could see, the bond between Lily and Shay was not healthy at all.

It felt toxic.

A strange mixture of manipulation, obsession, and twisted affection.

Aurora could not understand it.

’With all of this happening... why is Lily still protecting Shay so fiercely?’

Meanwhile, Lily had already returned to the mansion.

The moment she stepped into the grand hallway, something suddenly flew toward her.

A glass bowl crashed against the floor beside her leg, shattering into sharp fragments.

The loud sound echoed across the silent hall.

For a moment, Lily’s body stiffened with fear.

But when she looked up and saw who had thrown it, her expression softened instantly.

A small smile appeared on her face.

"Shay..." she murmured.

She hurried toward the woman sitting on the sofa.

Shay didn’t even bother to look up properly.

Instead, she lazily raised a single finger.

The meaning was clear.

Lily immediately stopped walking.

She stood quietly in place, waiting.

Shay slowly lifted her eyes and stared at Lily.

"Did you succeed?" she asked coldly.

Lily hesitated before slowly shaking her head.

Surprisingly, Shat did not look angry.

Nor did she look disappointed.

Her expression remained completely calm.

She casually picked up the ashtray from the table beside her.

Then, without warning... She threw it directly at Lily.

Lily did not move.

Even though she easily could have dodged the attack, she remained standing.

The ashtray struck her forehead.

A dull thud echoed through the room.

Blood slowly began to trickle down from the wound.

Only then did Shay finally show a trace of emotion.

She gestured slightly with her hand.

"Come here."

Lily obediently walked toward her.

When she stood directly in front of Shay, she lowered her head.

Shay’s voice suddenly softened.

"If you had done better," she murmured gently, "I wouldn’t have needed to use such harsh methods."

Lily nodded immediately. "It’s my fault," she replied quietly.

Seeing her obedient response, Shay’s expression became satisfied.

She pulled Lily closer.

Then suddenly, Shay leaned forward and kissed her deeply.

The kiss was intense and possessive.

When they finally pulled apart, Shay studied Lily’s face carefully.

"What about Aurora?" she asked. "Did you find any weakness?"

Lily instinctively shook her head.

Then she suddenly remembered what had happened earlier.

Aurora’s slap.

Without hesitation, Lily tilted her head slightly and revealed the red marks on her cheek.

"I didn’t find any weakness," she admitted softly. "But... she beat me."

The moment Shay saw the clear slap mark on Lily’s face, her expression darkened.

A cold fury appeared in her eyes.

"How dare she..." Shane whispered.

Her voice trembled with suppressed anger.

"How dare Aurora slap someone who belongs to me?"

Her fingers slowly tightened.

A dangerous smile formed on her lips.

"Fine. Once everything follows the proper plotline... I will make sure Aurora learns a very painful lesson."

Lily’s eyes shimmered with a fragile light, as though her heart had been gently touched simply because Shay had taken her aside.

Only Lily truly knew what Shay meant to her.

When the entire world had treated her like trash, when every day felt like drowning in a dark ocean, when the suffocating thought of ending her own life had once crept into her mind, it had been Shay who unknowingly gave her a reason to continue breathing.

’If it wasn’t for her... I probably wouldn’t even be here right now.’

Even though Shay could be cruel, even though she was often toxic toward her, Lily embraced every bit of it with a strange devotion.

To anyone else it would look twisted, painful, humiliating, but to Lily those moments of pain brought a sharp clarity. They reminded her that she could still feel something.

The sting of a slap. The dull ache in her temple. The burning warmth spreading across her skin.

Those sensations made her feel alive.

’At least when she hurts me... she acknowledges me.’

It made her feel as if she mattered, even if only as someone to punish. And for Lily, that was enough.

Because of that, she never resisted when Shay beat her.

Sometimes she even leaned into the pain, secretly enjoying the strange warmth it left behind.

Other times she endured it silently, lowering her head and taking everything without complaint, believing that her obedience would please Shay.

Meanwhile, Shay watched Lily with a faint smile curling on her lips. Her gaze lingered on Lily’s face for a moment before she spoke in a soft yet teasing tone.

"You really are good at accepting punishment."

Her eyes gleamed with amusement as she tilted her head slightly.

"If that’s the case... then you definitely deserve a reward."

With those words, Shay reached forward and held Lily’s hand.

The moment their fingers intertwined, Lily’s breath hitched slightly.

She instinctively tightened her grip on Shay’s hand.

A moment later, both of them appeared inside Shay’s bedroom.

Once they stepped inside, Shay turned around and gently closed the door behind them.

Click.

This time, the smile on Shay’s face was different.

It wasn’t the usual malicious smirk filled with schemes and hidden calculations. Instead, it carried an unexpected softness. Her eyes rested quietly on Lily for a moment, thoughtful and calm.

It was obvious that although Shay often treated Lily like a pawn... somewhere deep inside, Lily held a small but undeniable place in her heart.

Meanwhile, far away from them, Abbey was carefully weaving a plan that could destroy the entire Brown family.

And the reason behind her actions was simple. Hatred.

When Abbey was young, danger had followed her like a shadow.

Assassination attempts had happened more times than she could count. There were nights when masked men broke into her room.

There were days when she was dragged away and kidnapped, her wrists bound tightly with rough ropes that scraped her skin raw.

And every single time, the Brown family arrived too late.

Always too late.

The young Abbey had often stared at the ceiling in silence, her chest tight with confusion.

’Do they even love me...?’

For eighteen long years, she had tried desperately to earn their warmth.

She smiled when they wanted her to smile. She obeyed every instruction without question. She tried to become the perfect daughter.

But no matter what she did, their eyes remained cold.

None of them truly accepted her.

Even her own brother often sided with an outsider, someone who had grown up poor and insignificant, instead of supporting her.

At first, Abbey couldn’t understand it. She couldn’t understand why her own family members constantly ignored her, why they looked down on her with quiet disdain, why they barely acknowledged her presence inside the house.

Yet in public, they would suddenly act like a loving family.

They would smile. They would praise her. They would proudly introduce her as their beloved daughter.

The hypocrisy made her stomach twist.

But everything changed on the day she turned eighteen.

That was when she discovered the truth.

And the moment she learned it, a dark hatred rooted itself inside her heart.

The truth was painfully simple. The Brown family had always known that Abbey wasn’t their real daughter.

They presented her as one, only for one reason. She was a shield. A living shield.

By raising Abbey as their daughter, they ensured that any assassination attempt would target her instead of their real child.

Every attack, every kidnapping, every danger that had haunted her childhood had never been an accident.

It had all been intentional. They had deliberately placed her in harm’s way.

At the same time, they still maintained her luxurious lifestyle.