Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. They belong to Natsume and/or Marvelous Entertainment.

Chapter 1

Years have passed ever since you started. Despite that, I remained faithful, hopeful that you would somehow change. I obediently followed your every order; I sought to please you, but you were somehow never happy. I'd get punished for things that were wrong only in your eyes, yet I could never find a place for hatred. No thought occur to me. I was blinded from the truth; there is no shred of sympathy in you.

You never cared about me.

What a fool I was to have never realized that.

The little girl was defenseless against the man's relentless 'attacks'. Her cowering figure was spawned on the floor, vulnerable. She had her eyes shut, her amethyst eyes concealed along with the tears. Her honey-blonde hair was in knots. Her clothes -a blue shirt with white sleeves and blue jeans - were covered in her own blood. Glass shards were etched in her skin around her legs, the warm red liquid oozing out. Her face clearly showed she was in pain, using every ounce of her willpower to hold back the tears. She prayed that the beating would soon be over.

"You bitch!" Louis hollered, kicking Lillian's stomach. The blonde let out a yelp she curled into a defensive position. She brought her knees up to her face and wrapped her arms around her legs, to prevent her internal organs from getting injured. She was trembling. Louis grabbed her hair and jerked her upwards, Lillian resisting the urge to scream. "I told you to get money, and all you give me is thirty-dollars?!" He tightened his grip on her hair, Lillian's face scrunching at the pain. "I needed ninety, you ass! How many times have I told you to quit be lazy and make yourself useful?! GET OUT NOW!"

He dropped Lillian onto the hard floor, the girl on the brink of tears. Louis jerked the door open, grabbed Lillian by the cuff of her shirt, and threw her into the muddy grass. The drunken man slammed the door behind him and Lillian could hear another bottle shattering inside. She didn't have the energy left to move. Her entire body ached, her legs in particular. The glass shards were still embedded in her skin, although the bleeding had stopped. She had several scratches on her arms and a bruise on her stomach. There was a small cut across her forehead as well. Goddess, she'd commit suicide if it meant escaping this pain.

"Lillian!" She heard someone yell, though she couldn't tell from which direction it was coming from. Her senses were dull and her body was numb, she couldn't feel anything apart from the throbbing pain. "Lillian! What happened to you?! Goddess, Phillip! Hurry, get the first aid-kit!" A red figure appeared in her line of view. She could hear her brother's rushing footsteps and her mother's frantic breathing. Relieved that help was here, she finally calmed down, though the pain did not stop. She could barely move her limbs and her vision was getting blurry. The lasting thing she saw was her mother's face against a starry night sky before darkness shrouded her vision.

A few hours later

"You're actually siding with that poor excuse of a daughter?! Michelle, I have no quarrel with you, but if you're on that bitch's side-"

"Lillian is our daughter, Louis. OUR DAUGHTER. She's no more different than Phillip. Can't you at least acknowledge the amount of effort she exerts just to meet your 'standards'? Goddess, can't you see that Lillian still loves you despite how you treat her? I swear-"

"SHUT UP!"

Lillian woke to the sound of the bickering. Her head was still pounding and her body still ached. She was laid on her bed, noticing the bandages wrapped around her wounds. "I better thank Mom and Phillip later." Still quite shaken from the night before, Lillian struggled to get on her feet. After a few futile attempts, she finally regained her balance and was now making her way towards the door.

"I always thought you were different," She heard her Mom say just as she was about to turn the knob. "I thought I could trust you, that you wouldn't do such things, and despite the children's love, MY love, you still went and betray us like this. I'm sure Lillian and Phillip are just as fed up as I am."

Lillian froze. Was she indeed fed up? All she wanted was to please her father, nothing more. She didn't hate him, just scared, but she could never find a place in her heart to hate someone. But... What has he ever done to her? All he did was beat her up. It didn't matter why, he seemed to do it for the sake of doing it, even if she did got what he wanted. He never did it to Phillip, he never did it to Mom, just her. This realization caused something to snap inside Lillian, and she felt herself filling with anger. Why is it only now did she realize this? That question echoed in her mind. She was mad at herself -for not realizing this sooner, and at her father.

"What did you say?" She heard her father hiss. It sent chills running down her spine. She had a bad feeling about this. "You're fed up with me?!"

"After all these years... I should have known you'd never change."

Lillian felt all the blood drain from her face when she heard a bottle shattering, followed by a 'thud'.

"If you're sick of me, you should have just left. Bitch." A door slammed shut and silence claimed the house.

The next day

Lillian couldn't believe it, she was really gone. It happened so quickly. Seeing her mother's lifeless figure within the white coffin sent tears streaming down her face. She just couldn't accept the fact she was gone. She could never see her rusty-red hair, never hear her reassuring voice, never feel her gentle touch, she could never feel her love... It was too much for Lillian. A ten-year old just lost her Mom. That was just unfair. Lillian had never hated anyone -that was before, but now, she hated almost everything; she hated herself; she hated her father; she hated the world; she hated her life.

She looked around the room, it was empty aside from her and Phillip. Louis was busy at the casino as usual. She and Phillip couldn't believe he wouldn't at least attend the funeral of his wife. That just goes to prove how selfish that man was. Lillian would give anything -anything- to live somewhere else.

Lillian was silent all the while, she had never heard silence so loud that it hurt.

Lillian and Phillip had dropped out of school not long after Michelle's death. They couldn't possibly support themselves and pay the fees. Not to mention the 'needs' of their father. The two earned profit through busting; Lillian and Phillip were the vocalists of their school's band, their earned quite a lot. Of course, once Louis noticed this, he took every single penny they had earned, forcing the two to rely on their mother's farm for their needs; food, clothing etc.

A few years had passed, Lillian and Phillip now two young adolescents. Lillian wasn't as abused as she was before, but she'd get beaten occasionally when Louis was fuming at a loss or something, you know, gambling and stuff. She had got skilled in raising crops, whereas Phillip was skilled in raising livestock and poultry. They'd keep some of the money they earn for themselves, most of the cash going to their father. They were saving this up for something that may need in the future, which Lillian was determined to change; her future.

[Note to those who already have read this]: My friends said I should write about Lillian's past in the first few chapters. =w=They said it would look better, I hope they're right. So I completely re-wrote the chapter. :P

Please review if you haven't yet. ^w^