Chapter 3

I was completely shocked.

I thought I was an orphan.

I'd met Chloe's parents before, and honestly, I couldn't stand them.

Three years ago, I was the organizer of a charity event at the orphanage, and that's when I met Chloe's parents.

Everyone else there was genuinely concerned about the orphans' well-being, but these two were only worried about whether the reporters had caught them making their donation.

And the envelope they handed over only had a single fifty-dollar bill inside.

How could I possibly be the child of two people so vile?

The most twisted part was Chloe's mom actually called her own husband "brother-in-law."

I was an orphan.

My parents passed away years ago.

Just then, the doctor pulled up my record, and he frowned. "Sophia signed up for heart donation three years ago. Where is she now? Is she playing some kind of sick joke on us?"

"That damn woman!" Lucas kicked a chair aside. "She must've known Chloe's heart was failing and has been hiding from us.

"I swear I'll tear her heart out with my own hands and give it to Chloe," he spat.

Lucas told the driver to take him somewhere, and on the way, the driver started badmouthing me nonstop.

He claimed that whenever I rode in the car, I always dragged him to some fancy place, and that I even wanted to hook up with a pretty boy for myself. Only, I backed off because I was scared Lucas would find out I was flat broke.

Lucas totally lost it, yelling and cursing up a storm.

He still hadn't realized that everyone around him had been bought off by Chloe.

And all of it was funded with Lucas's own money.

Lucas showed up at the cemetery, walked over to a headstone, snapped a picture, and sent it to me.

Did he seriously forget? My phone was still with Emily.

Then Lucas sent another message. [Tell Sophia, if she doesn't show up, I'll scatter her mother's ashes.]

He knew I'd always wanted to find my birth parents, but I just wanted to know why they left me behind.

Emily and Erin rushed to the cemetery together.

When Erin saw the photo on the headstone, she broke down in tears.

"Sherry, I failed to take care of your daughter. Can you forgive me?" she sobbed.

This time, Erin glared at Lucas and slapped him hard across the face.

"Since you managed to find this place, then you must know Chloe's mother is the one who destroyed Sophia's whole family. And still, you keep hurting Sophia, siding with a bunch of killers.

"Lucas, you'll get what you deserve," Erin spat out. Suddenly, she coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.

Emily frantically rushed Erin to the hospital.

I wanted to go after them, but as soon as I stepped forward, some unseen force dragged me right back.

I just heard Lucas snicker coldly and tell the driver, "Start digging."

Lucas had my mother's grave dug up and her ashes scattered everywhere. He snapped photos and kept bombarding my phone with messages.

Erin was all I had left in this messed-up world, and my heart ached so badly that it felt like I couldn't even breathe.

My tears fell.

I wanted to wring Lucas's neck, but every time I charged at him, some unseen force flung me across the room and dragged me right back to his side.

After being tossed around like that again and again, it felt like my soul was being torn to shreds.

Lucas angrily shoved the last bit of my mother's ashes into a bag and made his way to the hospital to confront Erin.