Chapter 3

The rain came down in sheets. Since Sarah refused to let me see Bethany, I decided to go back to my room.

"Stop her. Don't let her in," Sarah ordered.

The servant couldn't bear it and spoke up for me. "Mrs. Harper, Miss Harper is still not fully recovered. If she gets caught in the rain, she could get sick—"

"Who's in charge here, me or you?" Sarah shot him a cold glare.

She leaned against the doorframe, watching me icily. "Since you're too good to listen to me, why are you living under my roof?"

She pointed maliciously at the stack of drawings in my arms. "Tell me, if these get ruined in the rain, do you think Ms. Miller will still look at them?"

The rain was pouring down, fat drops pelting my face. The icy wind made the hair on my arms stand on end.

I stood under the eaves, calling my best friend, Gemma Potter, hoping she could bring an umbrella and come get me.

Just as the call connected, Sarah knocked the phone right out of my hand.

Then, suddenly, she shoved me. I didn't have time to dodge and crashed hard into the stone pillar by the door. My head was spinning.

I couldn't tell if it was just the aftereffects of my surgery or something else.

Sarah scoffed, "What's with the act? It's just a little rain—do you think you're so frail? If I'd known you were so good at acting, I would've sent you to drama school instead of art classes."

Sarah wouldn't stop berating me.

In my daze, I saw Gemma sprinting over, furiously cursing out my mom. Then everything went black.

*****

When I woke up again, I was in the hospital.

Gemma was right by my side. The second she saw my eyes open, she freaked out and bolted out of the room to find a doctor—totally forgetting she could just hit the call button right there in the room.

Once the doctor finished checking me over and left, Gemma started yelling her head off.

"The money that made your family rich? That was all from your lottery ticket. Now that they're living the good life, they turn around and make things hard for you?

"Seriously, Gemma, I have never seen parents as unbelievable as yours!" Gemma ranted.

"Gemma, how can you just stand there and let some outsider badmouth our parents? As soon as Mom heard you fainted, she rushed straight to the hospital," Ada said, her eyes red as she stood in the doorway.

Sarah was standing behind her, face stormy.

Sarah was the one who locked me out of the house and shoved me. I fainted right in front of her. There was no need to inform her that I had passed out.

I'd been stuck in this hospital bed for ages, and now they finally bother to show up. They certainly hadn't rushed.

I stayed silent, thinking Sarah would at least care about how I was doing—especially since she was the reason I ended up like this.

But no, the first thing out of her mouth was a demand.

"Since you won't let Ms. Miller take Ada on, you should just give up your guaranteed admission to university and repeat senior year with Ada," she said flatly.

She added, "Don't act like we're always making things hard for you. We're just trying to do what's best for you. Is that really so wrong?"

Ada's grades were terrible. If she took SATs this year, there was no way she'd get into a good university.

Meanwhile, back in my freshman year of high school, I'd won first prize in the International Art Competition, which earned me a guaranteed spot at a top university.

I had no doubt that if they could've transferred the spot, they would've forced me to give it up to Ada without a second thought.

"You and Ada are both my daughters. If you go off to university now, Ada will be heartbroken. Why don't you just wait a year and take the exam again?

"That way, you can both go to university together. You'll have each other, and your dad and I will feel better knowing you're not alone," Sarah said.

It was crystal clear what Sarah meant. Even if I aced the exam next year, I wouldn't be able to go to the school I wanted. Because Ada's grades were so bad, wherever she ended up, I'd be stuck going there too.

Gemma was about to storm over and argue, but I grabbed her arm, stopping her.

I couldn't let them know I was resisting. The moment they realized it, they'd come up with many ways to ruin me, just like they'd done in my previous life.

In that life, they had locked me up at home, beat me until I was crippled, and when I became too much of a burden, they locked me away in a psych ward. They'd do anything just to make Ada happy.

Even after I was sent to the psych ward, I was pumped full of drugs and shocked with electricity every single day. It was a living nightmare.

Meanwhile, they acted like the perfect, loving parents in public, putting on a show for everyone online. Everyone thought they were saints, and their business boomed because of it.

Ada took my artwork and, with their help hyping her up, became the next big thing in the art world. With her rich family and pretty face, people called her the goddess of the art world.

This time around, I was not going to let them have control over me again.

I'd never let myself be at their mercy again.

"Alright," I replied, keeping my tone steady.

Sarah looked genuinely pleased. "See? If you behave yourself, you'll still be part of the family. Just stop acting out and breaking your dad's and my heart."

With that, she left the room with Ada following right behind her, both of them looking totally pleased with themselves.

Not once did they bother to ask how I was doing.

As I watched them walk away, a cold smirk tugged at my lips.

Just because I said yes didn't mean I was actually going to follow through.