Chapter 2

Mr. Sinclair and Kevin got out of the car, and looked at me disapprovingly. "So money's all you want at the end of the day, isn't it? Clarisse has never been as materialistic and greedy as you… I shouldn't have ever acknowledged you as my daughter!"

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard what he had to say. "Your daughter? Since when did you acknowledge me as your daughter? How many people in this city know that I'm your daughter?

"I'm materialistic and greedy, while Clarisse isn't, huh? Well, maybe that's because she's never had to ask for a thing in her life when everything is handed to her on a silver platter! Meanwhile, my own brother accused me of stealing from him."

On the mention of him, I glanced over at Kevin, and I could feel my stomach churn in disgust.

Back when I first joined this family, Kevin was the only person who treated me well in any capacity. He'd worry about me when I fell, ask about my grades, and give me candy when no one was around.

"I'm an older brother, so I should take care of my little sister."

I thought that he treated me well, so I accepted a bracelet from him without much thought.

Soon after, Kevin called the police, saying that the bracelet he gave Clarisse disappeared, and they found the bracelet in mention after searching my room.

I tried my best to explain that it was a gift from Kevin, which got me a slap to the face from my mother. "How could you be this shameless? Kevin's never talked to you at all, so why would he give you anything? Besides, he had that bracelet custom-made for Clarisse in the first place!"

I was struck onto the floor, and I looked up dumbstruck at Kevin, and that was when I had a sudden epiphany—Kevin was already put in charge of matters at the company and was our parents' chosen successor.

If he really was so protective of me, how would he have let me stay in that tiny room? How could he have stood by and watched as I was hurt time after time, and only chose to interact with me while no one was looking?

Later on, Kevin told me all about what he did. He was the one who ordered for me to be shoved to the ground, and the pieces of candy he gave me were mixed with drugs that would make me feel lethargic, so that I would never get better grades than Clarisse.

"To be fair, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted my little sister happy… But it's a shame that Clarisse is my only little sister!"

And so, poor sixteen-year-old Aria was stabbed in the heart by the one family she thought loved her.

Thinking back, I couldn't help but ridicule my naivety in stubbornly holding onto the fruitless attempts for familial love.

Now, after all I had been through, I had come to the realization that nothing was more important than being alive.

Their love was like candy laced with poison, as tempting as it was deadly.

Shaking back to reality from my reverie, I completely lost any motivation to continue interacting with them at all.

"You know, there's something you all were right about. Me returning here was a mistake… So let me go, and everything will go back to normal."

Without caring for their response, I left the door without another word.

As the doors shut behind me, I felt a chain that had been strangling my heart shatter. With a hop and a skip, I hummed as I entered the new home I rented.

It wasn't a large place, with only one living room, one bedroom, and one toilet, but it was leagues bigger than the storeroom I was trapped in.

After I was done tidying up my things, I lay on the bed tiredly.

As I was about to doze off, I was shaken awake by a sudden ringing from my phone. I accepted the call immediately, and Jasper's annoyed voice came from the other side. "What are you acting up for this time, Aria? Hasn't Clarisse been nice enough to you? Why'd you have to threaten her by running away from home? Where did the obedient and nice Aria go?"

"She's dead." I sat up from the bed, and continued in a calm tone. "You were the ones who abandoned me, no? Besides, hadn't you always wished that I'd leave the Sinclairs? What's with the crocodile tears now?"