Chapter 3

Brandon had someone new now, so he was too busy to bother me. I almost burst out laughing.

If my heart didn't freak out every time I tried to turn him down, I wouldn't even bother playing along with his love games.

Late at night, I always dreamed about the old days between Stella and Brandon.

Stella's dad worked as the Hamilton family's butler. One day, when Brandon and Natalie were out, they ran into kidnappers. Stella's dad stepped in to protect them and ended up getting shot and killed.

Stella never had a mom, and after losing her dad, she was taken in by the Hamilton family, living as an outsider, always dependent on their charity.

In the beginning, Brandon treated her really well. He slowly chased away the shadows in her heart, becoming the light that she always looked up to.

But as he got older and learned how the world really worked, and saw all the mess out there, he grew tired of having her around, seeing her as a burden.

Kids were pure, but adults were messy. The past was out of reach now, and Stella was already gone.

But I was still here, alive and kicking, only to be yanked out of bed by Brandon in the dead of night, with just fifteen days left before I finally got to leave.

I crashed to the floor, instantly wide awake.

Brandon saw me groggy and shot me a furious glare. "Get up, now. Kayla's bleeding out. You need to give her a blood transfusion, right this second. She has to be saved."

Brandon and Kayla first met because Stella had a rare blood type. Stella once generously donated her blood to Kayla, and that's how their paths crossed.

From then on, the guy Stella was crazy about ended up falling for someone else.

Once Brandon's feelings changed, he started showing obvious favoritism. Stella became nothing but an eyesore to him.

Later, when Kayla married another man, Brandon dumped all the blame on Stella.

He began to cruelly hurt the girl who adored him, until she finally died.

I lay in the hospital bed, my mind foggy and numb from all the blood I'd lost.

Brandon's voice rang out beside me, clear as day. "Keep going. Why did you stop? Kayla's life is on the line."

The nurse shot back, clearly annoyed, "Can't you see she's passed out? We can't take any more blood."

Brandon didn't believe her for a second. He threatened, "She just looks a little pale, that's all. She's fine. Kayla's in there waiting for someone to save her."

The nurse didn't want to argue with him anymore, so Brandon brought in someone else to keep taking my blood until I finally lost consciousness.

After I woke up, I stared up at the ceiling, feeling a bitterness in my heart that I couldn't even put into words.

Thankfully, out of guilt and with Kayla needing his attention, Brandon didn't come back to bother me.

I stayed in bed all the way until two days before his birthday. My freedom was around the corner.

With Stella gone for three years, Brandon's birthday felt wrong to me. His birthday was Stella's death anniversary.

But when the day finally came, even though he didn't bother to tell me, I still went running over to his party like a fool.

I put on the same dress Brandon had gifted Stella three years ago and boarded the cruise ship, heading for one last grand celebration.

His friends sneered as soon as they saw me, "Stella, you look so shabby. It's Brandon's birthday. Are you here to make him look bad?"

"Hey, cut her some slack. She's just an orphan living off the Hamilton family. She has nothing except what they give her. Brandon's been busy with Ms. Lamb lately, so he didn't bother getting her a new dress. No wonder she's stuck wearing old hand-me-downs."

I watched them spinning their own stories, staying silent. As long as I didn't give a damn, they were nothing but clowns to me.

When I ignored them, they started causing trouble again.

"Hey, are you deaf or something? No wonder Brandon can't stand you. Look at you, all miserable, always sulking like you lost everyone you ever cared about. And you dare ignore me? Where'd you get the guts for that?"

I stayed calm and unbothered. It was their last chance to clown around at my expense, so I just let them have it.

But they weren't about to let me off that easily. They kept running their mouths, throwing more insults at me.

"Heard you still haven't hooked up with Brandon yet. How about you let us break you in first?"

With the way they were eyeing me, I seriously wanted to rip their eyes out.

Luckily, Brandon showed up just in time and shoved the guys away from me.