Chapter 1

To be honest, the people I called my parents weren't my biological parents. Instead, they were my uncle, Charles Brown, and his wife, Nancy Baker. My sister wasn't my biological sister, either. She was my cousin, Amy Brown.

I was an orphan.

An accident had killed my parents when I was 14. Other people would probably assume that such things only happened in the news or some TV drama.

However, this accident had actually happened in my life, and it had even taken place on my birthday.

My parents had been on a business trip out of the city, and they had taken the trouble to drive all the way back home to celebrate my birthday.

Halfway through their journey, a large truck transporting coal collided with a car, causing the truck to overturn.

My parents' car had just so happened to be driving past. The overturned truck had fallen toward my parents' car along with the mountain of coal it was carrying. In an instant, my parents' small car had been crushed and buried under the coal.

My dad had died on the spot. My mom had been gravely injured, and she had been sent to the hospital. She was almost gone by the time I had hurried over.

My grandparents had died early on, and my only close relatives were my other aunt, Elizabeth Sparks, and Uncle Charles. I was just a kid, so if none of my relatives were willing to take me in, I would have to be sent to the orphanage.

Elizabeth was a single mother, so she already had a lot on her plate. So, she wasn't willing to take me in.

In her final moments, my mom entrusted Charles with guardianship rights. Holding my hand, Charles had promised my mom that he would take good care of me. He had claimed that he would treat me even better than he would treat his own daughter.

When my mom heard that, she gazed longingly at me before taking her final breath.

Since then, my birthday had also become the day my parents died.

I had thought that this was the worst tragedy of my life, but sadly, something even worse was on the horizon.

After holding a simple funeral for my parents, Charles showed me the guardianship agreement my mom had signed before she passed away. Then, he said to me, "Julia, come live with me from now on. Nancy and I will protect you and treat you well forever."

Charles and Nancy told me that from then on, I could refer to them as my parents in public so that I would seem close to them.

Three days after my parents' passing, Charles' family moved into my house. They claimed that they were moving in to take care of me.

My house had a two-room layout. It wasn't huge, but it was situated in the city. It was also in a highly sought-after school district, so it was worth quite a lot.

As soon as Nancy walked in through the entrance, she began scrutinizing my house with a greedy look in her eyes. She said, "I never noticed how well-kept this house is. What a nice place! The housing market is doing well right now, so this house could fetch us a tidy sum of money."

Charles, who was sitting on the couch, pulled up a property listing app on his phone right away. He then started looking at the housing prices in our residential area. He suggested, "Why don't you sell this place, Julia? I'll chip in a little, and then we can all move into a bigger house. What do you think?"

Immediately after that, Nancy looked at me with a gleam in her eyes as well.

I felt myself shuddering from head to toe. I hadn't expected them to have ulterior motives like that when they took me in!

Also, my parents were just buried yesterday, but Charles and Nancy were already raring to go right now!

I dug my nails into my palms. A moment later, my eyes turned red as I started wailing. I said, "Uncle Charles, I miss Dad and Mom dearly. This house is the only thing they've left me. I don't want to leave this place."

Charles' expression shifted when he saw me covering my face and sobbing. He seemed to have realized that this matter should not be rushed. "It's not urgent, anyway. I just hope that you'll remember my suggestion and think about it carefully."

When Nancy heard what Charles said, she scoffed in annoyance. She muttered, "Ugh, crying again? She'll be the death of us all."

I sniffled as I wiped my tears on my sleeve. I lowered my head, hiding all the rage in my eyes.

I was still young, so I wasn't powerful enough to fight back. At that moment, faking weakness became my only weapon against them.

I watched as Charles and Nancy moved into the master bedroom that previously belonged to my parents. My room was also taken over by my cousin Amy, who was only several months younger than me.

When Charles was out that night, Nancy summoned me to the master bedroom. She was wearing my mom's silk pajamas as she sat on my mom's bed. She applied my mom's skincare products on her skin as she spoke nonchalantly.

"Julia, you'd want to be more considerate of your sister, right? She has to fit a piano in her room, so there really is no space for your bed anymore. Why don't you sleep in the living room from now on? You're quite small, so the couch should be big enough for you to sleep on."

My dad had given my mom those silk pajamas as a birthday gift, and they were also my mom's favorite sleepwear.

Also, my mom's skincare products were all high-end imported goods. If it were before, Nancy could never afford them at all.