Chapter 2

My parents raised them as my potential future husbands. If Jason, Matthew, and Ethan had been unwilling, Mom and Dad would never have forced them.

As long as they'd said they didn't like me, Mom and Dad would have let them leave and even arranged a good path for their future. But they never opposed it—they only humiliated me.

People outside respected them, and it was clear they couldn't bear to give up that status.

Matthew lost his composure at my words. He snapped angrily, "That's easy to say. We're just dogs your dad raised for you—how could he ever let us leave? Once we're out of the Scout family, everyone will look down on us."

Jason shot Matthew a glance, and Matthew fell silent at once. Then Jason turned to me with a martyr-like expression. "You like me the most, right? I can marry you. Just don't make things hard for them later."

When the other two heard this, they gave Jason grateful looks. In their eyes, I might as well have been garbage. The more they acted like this, the more wronged I felt.

Just then, Luna Johnson, the housekeeper's daughter, walked up carrying a box. Unexpectedly, she slipped— the box flew out of her hands and toward me.

It wasn't until the box hit me that I realized—the three who were supposed to protect me had shielded Luna tightly instead.

Jason stared at me warily. "You reacted too slowly and didn't dodge the box. It's not Luna's fault." Then, as if worried I'd give Luna a hard time, he took her and left right away.

Seven years ago, Luna had just come to my house from a poor rural area. She'd given me what she thought was her most precious thing—a dirty doll. To welcome her, I'd given her my favorite limited-edition doll in return.

I was about to wash the dirty doll when Jason suddenly pushed me to the ground. He accused me angrily, "That's the only thing Luna has left from her mom! Why did you steal it?"

Luna seemed frightened by Jason's harsh tone, standing in the corner, trembling. The next second, she suddenly looked at me anxiously and cried, "No, it's not like that! Ms. Scout didn't steal my thing—I... I gave the doll to her myself. Don't fight over me."

Her eyes were red from crying. When she saw me staring at her, she finally knelt down in front of me, too scared to look up. This scene must have made the three boys feel sorry for her.

"Who would give away something from their mom?" Jason mocked. "Do you really think we're that easy to fool?"

"You're rich—you can buy anything," Matthew accused. "Why do you have to steal from Luna?"

Ethan shouted, "Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're rich—"

I was young back then, and I actually thought they had a point. I didn't realize at all that they'd misunderstood me.

So I immediately apologized to Luna. But she just looked at me wronged and said, "Ms. Scout, that's what my mom left me. Please give it back, okay? I'll buy you other toys..."

Then she pulled hard—and the dirty doll fell apart at once. Cotton stuffing was scattered all over both of us.

Jason, always eager to help, frowned and pulled Luna behind him. Then he said coldly to me, "Apologize to Luna right now. Otherwise, you'll never come near me again."

He used my feelings for him as a weapon to threaten me. Back then, I really liked him. If he'd stopped talking to me, my heart would have broken. So I had to hold back the pain of being wronged and apologize to Luna.

After that, whenever I was with Luna, Jason would warn me—saying he'd ignore me if I bullied her. But I never did anything to her.

"Eleanor, you've gone too far." Jason's shout pulled me back to the present.

My calf ached faintly. And as always, Luna put on an innocent act, while the other three looked at me like they wanted to kill me.

I stood up slowly and said coldly, "Even if I reacted slowly, I'm not stupid. She obviously meant to hit me with that box on purpose."