Chapter 2
The embassy arranged for my safe return.
As I stepped off the plane, Vivian's face dominated every giant electronic screen. Her image was plastered everywhere.
The words "Congratulations to the Goodwin Group heiress on her safe return" scrolled across the screens.
In the airport lounge, a few flight attendants were gossiping in hushed tones.
Their voices were quiet, but every word found its way to my ears.
"Is that the heiress of the Goodwin Group? I heard things got dangerous at the Yloria border, and Mr. Goodwin sent ten private jets and a squad of elite bodyguards to bring her back in the middle of the night."
"Yeah. The streets are covered with welcome banners, and Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin even commissioned a one-of-a-kind luxury jet for their daughter, equipped with state-of-the-art flight controls and a top-tier medical team."
My blood ran cold.
It finally hit me. My parents hadn't just sent a private jet to bring Vivian home.
They were making a huge public spectacle of her safe return, as if the whole world needed to know just how much they cherished their daughter.
With trembling hands, I unlocked my phone, only to be bombarded with headlines: Billionaire Couple Spares No Expense to Celebrate Their Only Daughter's Safe Return.
The comments section was flooded with envy.
[I wish I could be the Goodwin heiress. What a dream life.]
[Mr. Goodwin only has this one precious daughter. He treats her like she's the most precious thing in the world. I could never be that lucky.]
[Just look at all this fanfare. Comparing myself to her is just depressing.]
[If I had parents like that, I'd be grinning from ear to ear in my sleep.]
I numbly scrolled through my phone, and my chest was heavy as if a boulder was crushing me, making it impossible to breathe.
All these years, to the world, my parents only ever admitted to having one daughter: Vivian.
Emily and I were kept out of sight, hidden away like secrets they were ashamed of.
Back when my parents were struggling to get their business off the ground, it was Vivian's father who gave them their very first order. That was the lifeline that kept their hopes alive.
Ever since then, they've always felt deeply grateful to Vivian's family.
And when Vivian's parents passed away unexpectedly, my parents brought Vivian home to live with us.
When Vivian first moved in, we all really pitied her. When something good happened, she was always the first person we wanted to share it with.
But then, at a school event in elementary school, some kids started teasing Vivian about her outdated clothes.
Vivian ran home crying and told our parents that Emily and I had put the other kids up to picking on her.
Our parents totally lost it, tore into us without giving us a chance to explain. Nothing we said made a difference.
They were dead set on believing we'd bullied Vivian, and from then on, they kept our existence hidden from everyone.
Ever since then, under Vivian's constant scheming, our parents grew to despise us more and more, relentlessly finding new ways to keep us down.
I'd thought about leaving home with Emily, but she just wouldn't go.
She stubbornly believed our parents still loved us deep down, and that it was only because Vivian had misled them for the time being.
She was sure that if we worked hard and proved ourselves, they'd eventually see our worth and welcome us back into the family.
Then came the Camoria trip, and it ended up costing Emily her life.
Only then did I see just how naive Emily's hope for family really was.
I hated myself for not being stronger, for not dragging Emily out of that place with me. If I had, maybe she'd still be alive.
But now, it was all too late.
My parents knew their own daughters were caught in the chaos of a violent uprising, their lives hanging by a thread, yet they heartlessly canceled the lifesaving flight.
But for Vivian, who was never in any real danger, they sent out a whole fleet of planes just to bring her home.
If this was what family means, I'd rather not have it at all.