Evelina tightened her grip, and the sharp edge of the black card dug painfully into her palm.
She slowly turned around. The wind swept her hair aside, exposing her pale face as her eyes met Sam's directly.
Sam froze for a moment. Her appearance had changed too much. So had the air around her. A trace of discomfort flashed through his eyes.
"Eve, everyone makes mistakes. What matters is learning from them. You've suffered enough these past four years, but Mom, Dad, and I have already forgiven you. You're still part of the Brooks family. That home will always have a place for you."
Evelina nearly laughed at the absurdity of it.
"You've forgiven me? Still part of the Brooks family? None of you visited me even once in those four years. So why pretend to be a caring family now?"
"Evelina!" Sam's expression darkened instantly. "Watch your tone when you speak to me. Is this how we taught you to behave? Where are your manners? What exactly happened to you?"
What happened to her?
Evelina's eyes slowly reddened, but she stubbornly forced the tears back.
A faint pink scar stretched across her otherwise pale neck. Under the sunlight, it looked rough and ugly.
She got that scar during her first year in prison. Someone had attacked her in the middle of the night with a sharpened toothbrush. If the wound had gone even a little deeper, she would've died then and there.
Back then, she hadn't understood why everyone hated her so much. She thought she deserved it for taking over sixteen years of Jolie Brooks' life and stealing the identity of the Brooks family's real daughter. The guilt had nearly crushed her.
She even believed she should pay for her biological mother's crime. According to the story everyone told her, the Brooks family's nanny had secretly switched the two babies at birth.
Then, when she was already being tortured to the point of breaking, Connor sent her the truth.
The evidence proved she had absolutely no blood relation to that nanny that she believed to be her biological mother. She had never been switched at birth. It was all a lie fabricated by Jolie to reclaim her place in the Brooks family.
And the most ridiculous part was that the Brooks family had known the truth from the very beginning.
Yet because of those lies, Evelina had been labeled the fake heiress and forced to endure endless hatred and humiliation from every direction.
The Brooks family forced Evelina to hand every one of her achievements over to Jolie. In the end, they even pushed her into prison to take the blame for Jolie's crimes. Inside that prison, she suffered through torment that nearly killed her.
The moment Evelina learned the truth, something inside her completely shattered.
She stopped enduring her inmates' abuse in silence. One by one, she retaliated against everyone who had hurt her with ruthless, merciless force. Only then did she finally realize where all the cruelty she endured in prison had really come from.
Jolie wanted her dead.
And the cruelest part was that Evelina had gone to prison for Jolie in the first place.
Sam frowned deeply at the coldness in her expression.
"When you get home, you should properly thank Jolie. You only got released early because she begged the Warren family on your behalf. And for the past four years, she's been taking care of Millie, after you put her in a coma. That's the only reason the Warren family finally let this matter go. You owe Jolie more than ever now."
Evelina let out a cold, furious laugh.
"Sam, you're unbelievably stupid. After four years, you still don't know who really hurt Millie? Jolie kept sending people after me in prison because she wanted me dead, so the truth stays buried. But forget that for now. Why don't you investigate what happened to every single one of those people afterward? And since you're seeing Jolie soon, tell her to wait for me. I'm going to settle everything."
After saying that, she walked straight toward the Porsche Cayenne Connor had left for her and got inside.
The driver respectfully closed the car door behind her. Before getting back into the driver's seat, he shot Sam a cold glance. The engine roared to life. With a sharp turn, the SUV sped away.
Dust from the tires swept into the air, partially blurring Sam's vision. He stood there watching the luxury Cayenne disappear into the distance, disbelief written all over his face.
Whose car was that?
And what exactly did Evelina mean by all those accusations?
Sam refused to believe a single word Evelina had said. Jolie was far too kindhearted. There was no way she would've sent people to hurt Evelina.
He drew in a slow breath.
"It's already been four years. I honestly thought prison would've changed her for the better. But she's still the same vicious person she used to be. Now she's even trying to frame Jolie. She's completely beyond saving."
Sam turned and walked back toward his car.
The sharp sound of his custom leather shoes echoed against the pavement as a cold fury settled over him.
"She already harmed Millie once. I won't let her hurt Jolie too. And if she still refuses to repent, I'll personally send her back to prison."
