Chapter 5

Every person in the room seemed to be staring at me. Shock was written across their faces, but Nathaniel remained perfectly still. He stood before me in his immaculate suit, his expression cold and unreadable.

“How long are you going to keep this up?” he asked, his voice low and laced with sarcasm. “I’ve told you countless times, Adeline. Nothing you do is going to change how I feel about you.”

He leaned slightly closer, his eyes fixed on mine.

“I don’t have feelings for you. I never did.”

The words sent a chill through me.

The crowd quickly recovered, and whispers spread throughout the banquet hall.

“I knew she was pretending. How could Miss Prescott suddenly stop loving President Sterling?”

“Exactly. She tried to kill herself forty-nine times just to make him notice her. There’s no way she suddenly stopped caring.”

“Poor thing. She really has no shame.”

My hands curled tightly at my sides until my nails dug into my palms. I barely noticed the pain.

I wanted to tell them they were wrong. I wasn't pretending, and I wasn't trying to provoke Nathaniel. I genuinely didn't love him anymore.

Before I could say anything, my father stepped forward.

“Everyone, please excuse her behavior. Clearly, we failed as parents if she has become shameless enough to steal from her own sister.”

He gestured toward the security guards.

“Take her to the hotel’s cold storage. Leave her there overnight. Perhaps the cold will finally teach her to think about what she’s done.”

My entire body went rigid.

“I told you I didn't steal anything!”

Nobody listened.

Two guards grabbed my arms and dragged me away. I struggled desperately, but before I could break free, a sharp pain suddenly struck the back of my neck.

My legs gave way.

The hallway blurred around me, and the last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was Nathaniel standing in the distance.

He didn't move.

He didn't look worried.

There wasn't even a trace of concern on his face.

When I woke, I was freezing.

This wasn't the ordinary chill of winter. The cold had seeped through my skin and settled deep inside my bones. Frost coated my eyelashes, and every breath escaped in a cloud of white vapor. My limbs felt stiff, while my fingers had turned numb and purple.

The temperature had to be far below freezing.

I was wearing nothing but a thin slip dress, and the exposed skin on my arms and legs was already beginning to turn blue.

I couldn't die here.

I refused to.

My immigration papers would be ready soon. Once I had them, I could leave this place behind and start a new life somewhere far away.

I only needed to survive until then.

Forcing myself onto my hands and knees, I crawled toward the metal door. My fingers barely moved, but I still raised my hands and pounded against it.

“Please… somebody help me…”

My voice was weak and cracked.

No one answered.

Then I heard a familiar voice from outside.

“Stop knocking, sister.”

I froze.

Camille.

I could hear the smug smile in her voice.

“Everyone is celebrating my birthday right now. Do you honestly think anyone has time to worry about you?”

She laughed softly.

“Actually, I just thought of something. Isn't it funny?”

I swallowed painfully.

“Isn't today your birthday too?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“What a shame,” Camille replied. “Nobody remembered, did they? How unfortunate.”

Her laughter followed.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood.

“Look at us, Adeline. I'm surrounded by people in a luxurious banquet hall, while you're freezing to death in a storage room. So what if you're the Prescott family's biological heiress? And who cares if I came from an orphanage?”

Her voice became more spiteful.

“You're still beneath me.”

I closed my eyes, fighting the nausea rising in my throat.

Then her phone rang.

A moment later, I realized she had turned on the speaker.

“Camille, where are you?”

Nathaniel.

His deep voice came through the door, but unlike the cold tone he always used with me, there was warmth in it.

Camille immediately sounded weak.

“I’m feeling a little dizzy. I’m in the lounge.”

“Stay there. I’ll come to you.”

His voice softened.

“Wait for me, sweetheart.”

The call ended.

The storage room fell silent again.

I closed my eyes.

Then memories began to return.

I remembered the diary and its tear-stained pages, filled with the desperate thoughts of the woman I had once been.

I remembered watching Nathaniel care for Camille.

I remembered her birthday the previous year, when he had rented an entire revolving restaurant just because she wanted to see snow.

I remembered Camille's fever and how Nathaniel had stayed beside her throughout the night, even missing important company events to take care of her.

Most of all, I remembered his eyes.

They softened whenever he looked at Camille.

Whenever he looked at me, they turned cold.

I remembered hiding nearby while the two of them grew closer, desperately hoping Nathaniel might spare me even a little of the affection he gave her so freely.

I had been so pathetic.

Yet as I lay there in the freezing room, one thought became strangely clear.

I didn't love him anymore.

Maybe I hadn't loved him for a very long time.

A faint, bitter smile touched my lips before darkness swallowed me again.

**

When I woke up, I was lying in my bed at the villa.

Loud laughter and exaggerated cartoon noises were coming from downstairs. I slowly sat up, rubbed my eyes, and walked toward the bedroom door.

Camille was sitting comfortably on the living room floor, her legs crossed as she held a bag of snacks and laughed at the television.

When she noticed me, she grinned.

“Oh, you're finally awake. Did we disturb you? Sorry, sister. I suppose the cartoons got a little loud.”

She popped another chip into her mouth.

“My chest has been feeling uncomfortable these past few days, so Nathaniel thought it would be better if I stayed here for a while. The air in this villa is much nicer, anyway. You don't mind, do you?”

My gaze shifted toward the sofa.

Nathaniel sat there reading financial documents, his long fingers turning the pages one after another. His gold-rimmed glasses rested neatly on his face, and his attention remained fixed on the papers.

The television was blaring.

Camille was laughing, crunching chips, and making exaggerated noises along with the cartoon.

Nathaniel didn't react.

I suddenly remembered something from my diary.

There had once been a day when I sat beside Nathaniel eating an apple. The sound of me chewing irritated him so much that he ordered me to leave.

After that, I learned to stay completely silent whenever he was nearby, especially while he worked. Even the smallest noise seemed to bother him.

Yet Camille could make as much noise as she wanted.

She rattled the snack bag, laughed loudly, and reacted dramatically to everything happening on the screen.

Nathaniel didn't even look up.

The difference between being loved and being unwanted couldn't have been clearer.

I was about to speak when Nathaniel finally broke his silence.

“If that accident hadn't happened years ago, all of this would have belonged to you.”

His eyes remained on his documents.

“She’s the one who took your place. You don't owe her an explanation.”

I looked at him calmly.

“You're right. You don't need to explain yourself to me.”

Then I glanced at Camille.

“If you want to stay here, you're welcome to stay as long as you like.”

Nathaniel's fingers paused.

He turned another page before finally raising his eyes toward me.

His gaze lingered for a moment longer than usual, as though he was trying to figure out what had changed.

Perhaps he was finally realizing that I wasn't the same Adeline he remembered.

I wasn't begging him anymore.

I wasn't competing with Camille for his attention.

And I wasn't waiting for him to give me the smallest scrap of affection and pretending it was enough.

Something stirred quietly inside me, like a tiny spark returning after years of darkness.

I didn't belong to these people anymore.

And perhaps, finally, I was learning that I didn't need to care.