CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: NEGLECTED CHILD✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧I stared at Poppy after she said that. She can’t read? It all made sense now. It was clear why she seemed confused earlier when I called her. It explained why she struggled with using the cell phone. Someone who knows how to read can follow and explore a gadget by reading the prompts. But Poppy, she had no idea what was written there.This also seemed to be why she got lost earlier. She couldn’t read the signs indicating which floor she was on, even though there were visible signages above. But why? Why couldn’t she read? Had her parents not educated her?The thought tightened my chest. I felt a strong urge to confront Chloe right then about her sister’s situation—why they had allowed her to grow up without learning to read at seventeen. Another troubling question was whether she knew how to write as well.“Poppy.” I took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Can you write?”She wiped her tears before shaking her head. “N-No, I can’t.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: BLUEBERRY COOKIES✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧THE next day. Sunday, I visited Chloe's house again. I brought a flower bouquet for her and a batch of blueberry cookies that my mom baked, intended for Poppy. There were quite a lot, so everyone would get a taste.I hadn't planned on coming over today since I was just with Chloe yesterday. But after what I learned from Poppy, I felt I needed to visit more often to understand the real situation she’s facing in their home.When I arrived, Chloe was the one who greeted me at the front door. She smiled immediately upon seeing the flowers I was holding. The truth is, we had a chat last night after they got home, following Mr. Herald picking them up from my place. She noticed I had been unusually quiet while we were eating at the restaurant, after I found out about Poppy's situation. She asked me what was wrong. I played it off, saying I was just a bit annoyed because she took so long shopping yesterday. She seemed to believe me, and t
CHAPTER NINETEEN: TUTOR✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧SATURDAY, 7:30 A.M. — My mom, dad, Summer, and I made our way to Chloe’s mansion. I had decided to bring my mom along because we had agreed that she would be the one to ask Mr. and Mrs. Herald if we could borrow Poppy for a while. I wanted to be considerate of my fiancée’s feelings. The last thing I wanted was to hurt Chloe, especially now that she seemed to be growing suspicious of me after my visits last week.Originally, I had planned to visit them only three times, but after I gave Poppy some money, those visits became a daily thing. Without fail, I went there every day. Each time, I’d bring something for Chloe, but I’d also always have something for Poppy. And whenever I was there, I’d ask about Poppy, so it wasn’t surprising that even her parents had started to notice.Oh, and by the way, they still don’t know that Poppy has a cell phone now. The other night, around eleven, Poppy called me. I panicked a bit, thinking something had happe
✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧I had no idea how long I had dozed off on Summer's bed. It was Poppy's voice that woke me up—I could hear her reciting the alphabet from A to Z. Summer was no longer beside her; she was sitting alone at the study table. Love and Hope were also no longer beside me.I couldn’t find my phone in my pocket, so I just raised my wrist to check the time on my watch. It was already 1:22 P.M. 'Why didn’t they wake me up?'“Faith?” I turned my gaze to Poppy when she called me. She was looking at me with a slight smile. “I already know A to Z,” she said proudly, her smile growing even wider.I smiled back and got up from the bed to approach her. I stood beside her chair and looked at what she had written. The first page was filled with "Aa," the second with "Bb," and the next with "Cc." She had written up to "Jj." Her handwriting wasn’t perfect, but it was still readable.“I told Summer I’d write all the way to Z, but she said I might get too tired, so I could finish the rest t
✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧“What is it?” Summer asked hastily, her gaze still fixed on Hope. Even I was getting annoyed, feeling impatient with how he was dragging out his story. It was as if he was doing it on purpose.Hope leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his spread knees. His hands were clasped together under his chin, fingers intertwined. He paused for a moment, then turned to look at me with a thoughtful expression.“Faith, what would you do if you found out that Chloe shouldn’t have been your fiancée?” he asked, causing my brow to furrow.“What do you mean?” I asked, my eyes still locked on his—everyone’s attention was on him, while he kept his gaze on me.“Do you know why your engagement was moved up?” he continued. “It’s because Mr. and Mrs. Herald wanted Chloe to be your wife. But if you remember what Don Adolfo, our greatgrandfather, told us, he said that when we turned twenty-five, we would meet the match he chose for us. Do you know why? Because Sugarpop won’t turn e
✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧"It's okay, Poppy. We won't force you to share—""Daddy used to love me so much," Poppy whispered, causing Mommy to fall silent. Poppy lowered her gaze, fiddling with her fingers. "When I was little... he was always with me. We would always eat together. Whenever I was sick, he would be restless. When I was sad because I missed Mommy, he’d do anything to make me happy. B-But… ever since Mommy Jody brought Chloe to the mansion…" Poppy's voice hitched, "—he stopped paying attention to me. He was always angry with me. He’d always scold me even when I hadn’t… d-done anything wrong. And… from that point on, he stopped calling me his daughter. It was always Chloe. He didn’t want me to eat with them anymore, so I always ate last when they were done. And the food I got… it wasn’t like theirs. Theirs… it was always delicious. Mine… was just canned food. D-Dad got mad at me if I touched anything in the kitchen or fridge. And… w-when they would go out with Chloe and Mommy Jody
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: POPPY’s POV꧁ POPPY ꧂The Next Day.Sunday came, and even though I had stayed up quite late the night before due to all the studying, I still woke up early. After Summer and I finished studying, I continued my lessons using the learning apps that Faith had installed on my phone when I returned to the guestroom that Aunt Keycee had prepared for me. Fortunately, Faith had taught me how to use those apps, which is what kept me up so late.Even so, despite the lack of sleep, I managed to wake up early because my body is used to it. I'm accustomed to short and sometimes very light sleep. I don't know why, but ever since an incident that happened when I was five, I haven’t been able to sleep soundly, even now that I'm seventeen.Oh, by the way, I only recently found out that I was seventeen. When Faith asked me my age at the dining table in the mansion when we were all gathered together, I was caught off guard and didn’t immediately know how to answer. The last birthda
✧FAITH ZEICAN LEE✧I was deeply engrossed in my work when the door to my office suddenly swung open, revealing Summer and Poppy. Startled, I quickly stood up from my chair, completely unprepared for their unexpected visit.“Surprise!” Summer exclaimed, her hand raised in the air with excitement. Poppy stood quietly beside her, a faint smile on her lips as she looked at me.“What are you two doing here? Shouldn't you be at home studying?" I asked, moving around my desk to guide them to the couch inside my office. They followed and sat down."We got permission from Mom and Dad to go out. We needed to buy some learning materials, so we had a little date at the street market," Summer explained, while Poppy glanced around my office with curious eyes. "Then I asked if she wanted to see where you work before heading back. She said yes, so here we are." She paused, then added quickly, "But don't worry, we know you're busy, so we won't stay long—oh, wait, my phone's ringing." She pulled her ph