Richard and Blake climbed out of their car, their faces grim with disapproval. "In the end, all you want is money, isn't it? Chloe is never as materialistic and greedy as you... I should never have acknowledged you as my daughter in the first place!"
Hearing his words, I couldn't help but laugh. "Your daughter? When did you ever acknowledge me as your daughter? How many people in this city even know I am? So I'm materialistic and Chloe isn't? Right. Maybe that's because she's never had to ask for anything in her life; everything is just handed to her on a silver platter! And me? My dear brother framed me for cheating on an exam."
At the mention of him, I glanced at Blake, a wave of nausea churning in my stomach.
When I first returned to this family, Blake was the only one who showed me any kindness. He’d help me with my homework, and I was naive enough to mistake it for genuine affection.
"I'm your brother; it's my duty to take care of you."
I thought he was being good to me, so I accepted all his help without a second thought.
Shortly after, Blake reported me for stealing the final exam answers. I was shamed in front of the entire student body and suspended.
I desperately tried to explain that I’d been framed, but my mother just slapped me across the face. "How can you be so shameless? Blake helped you with your studies, and you turn around and frame him? Besides, the answers were on his desk. If you didn't steal them, who did?"
I fell to the ground, staring at Blake in stunned silence. In that moment, it all became clear—Blake was already the star quarterback of the school's football team, the chosen heir to the family fortune.
If he truly cared about me, why would he let me live in that tiny attic? How could he stand by and watch me get hurt time and time again, only choosing to interact with me when no one else was around?
Later, Blake admitted everything. It was he who had deliberately led me to see those so-called "review materials," and his "help" even included secretly switching my ADHD medication so I couldn't concentrate, all to ensure my grades would never surpass Chloe's.
"To be honest, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted my sister to be happy... It's just that Chloe is my only sister!"
And just like that, at sixteen, my heart was viciously torn apart by the one family member I had allowed myself to trust.
Looking back, I had to laugh at my own naivety for clinging so stubbornly to a futile hope for their love.
Now, after everything, I finally understood that my own life was the only thing that truly mattered.
The love they offered was like sugar-coated poison, alluring yet deadly.
Snapping back to reality, I completely lost interest in continuing this pointless entanglement with them.
"You know what, you were all right about one thing. Me coming back here was a mistake... so just let me go, and everything will go back to the way it was."
Ignoring their reactions, I strode out the gate without another word.
The moment the gate closed behind me, I felt a chain that had been constricting my heart shatter. I hummed a tune, practically skipping to my new rented place.
It wasn't large, just a one-bedroom apartment, but it was several times bigger than the attic I had been trapped in.
After unpacking my things, I lay down on the bed, exhausted.
Just as I was about to drift off, the sudden ringing of my phone jolted me awake. I answered it immediately, and Nolan's irritated voice came from the other end. "What kind of stunt are you pulling this time, Sloane? Hasn't Chloe been good enough to you? Do you really have to threaten her by running away? What happened to the obedient, kind Sloane?"
"She's dead," I said, sitting up in bed, my voice calm. "You were the ones who abandoned me, weren't you? Besides, didn't you always want me to leave the Blackwood family? So who is this concerned act for?"
