Every word she spoke.
Abner's spine went a little straighter.
He turned to look at Wendy, and in his eyes was a guilt I couldn't quite make out.
I stared at that wheelchair.
The fire, all those years ago. The one whose legs were crushed under a fallen beam wasn't Wendy.
It was me.
The building had been thick with rolling smoke. Wendy was curled in the safest corner, shaking.
I was the one who carried Abner out on my back.
By the time the rescue team arrived, I'd already lost consciousness completely.
But Wendy seized the moment, throwing herself over Abner's body, sobbing, “I finally got you out”.
When I woke up.
Abner already believed she was the one who'd saved his life.
I tried to explain.
Wendy dropped to her knees right in front of him, crying at me：“You already have two healthy legs, and now you want to steal this from me too?”
Abner looked at me then. His eyes were full of cold disappointment.
“Maud, I never imagined you were not only blind, but this rotten inside.”
Later, the damage settled in for good.
My shattered legs kept me bedridden for a full year of hellish rehab before I could stand again, and the nerve damage to my brain left me with severe prosopagnosia. I could never hold on to a single face again.
But I never said another word about that fire.
Looking at it now.
I stood up without so much as a glance at the steamer of crab roe buns.
“It's fine.”
My voice was flat. “Go ahead and eat. The sight of them makes me sick.”
Something shifted in Abner's face.
He grabbed my wrist, brow tight.
“Maud, it's your birthday. Don't start throwing a fit first thing in the morning.”
He lowered his voice.
“Wendy's suffered enough. She'll be in that wheelchair for the rest of her life. You're the older sister. Can't you be a little more generous?”
I pried his fingers off, one by one.
“Sure. I'll be generous.”
I walked straight into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Outside, Abner and Wendy fell into a brief, dead silence.
Then Wendy's muffled voice came through the door.
Wounded. Tearful.
“Abner, is she still jealous? Maybe you should just stop worrying about me……”
“Don't be silly.”
His voice dropped to something so tender it turned her stomach.
“As long as she hands over the heirloom today. Tomorrow I'll fly you to Switzerland.”
“Be good. One more day.”
He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.
“Maud, get dressed and come downstairs. I've set up a party for you at the Harding estate.”
I looked at the face in the mirror, pale from years of holding everything in.
I splashed cold water over it, hard.
The birthday banquet was in the grand hall of the Harding estate.
To my eyes, every face in the room was a blank sheet of paper with no features at all.
I couldn't tell who was coming up to greet me. All I could do was cling to Abner's arm.
He dipped his head close to my ear, his voice low and coaxing.
“Don't be scared. Stay with me.”
“After we cut the cake, take out the key to the Simmons family jade token and transfer it to my name in front of the elders.”
“That way the Harding family can legitimately inject capital and save your grandfather's company.”
Simmons Group was my grandfather's life's work.
That jade token was the sole key to the Simmons family's controlling shares.
I said nothing.
I let him lead me to the stage.
A massive seven-tiered cake was wheeled out.
Wendy rolled her wheelchair closer, a long cake knife in her hand.
“Happy birthday, Maud.”
She smiled sweetly and held the handle out to me.
