Chapter 3

I looked at Melody's smug face, but I couldn't even bring myself to be angry.

What was the point of arguing anymore?

It had been three years. If Xavier had trusted me even for a second, he would have checked the hospital payment records.

Or he would have looked into why I was being hunted by loan sharks right after he left.

But he never did.

He only believed what he saw.

He only believed that I took his rival's check, slapped him, and told him to get lost.

"Melody."

I supported myself against the wall and stood up, my head spinning.

"He's yours. Keep him."

My calmness made Melody's face twitch.

Just as she was about to snap, footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Melody, are you done?"

Xavier pushed the door open and walked in.

Melody's eyes instantly welled with tears, and she deliberately threw herself toward the glass coffee table nearby.

"Ah!"

Her wrist scraped against the sharp edge of the table, leaving a bright red scratch.

"Eva, why did you push me? I just wanted to make sure you got the invitation..."

Xavier rushed over instantly, shielding Melody in his arms.

He glared at me, his eyes filled with pure rage.

"Eva, do you have a death wish?"

Despite the sharp ringing in my ears, I found the situation utterly ridiculous.

"I didn't push her."

Xavier didn't hesitate to strike my face.

The force of his slap sent me crashing to the floor, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

My fragile brain nerves throbbed in excruciating pain, and my vision began to turn black.

"That was to teach you some manners."

Xavier looked at me as if I were a piece of trash.

"You threw me away like a dog when I was sick just for some cash, and now you're jealous enough to hurt your own sister."

"Eva, you're not just pathetic. You're evil."

My left ear began to ring violently, too.

The world instantly fell into dead silence.

I saw his lips moving, but I couldn't hear a single word he was saying.

As it turned out, complete silence wasn't scary.

It was actually quite peaceful.

Melody sobbed in his arms, and he gently picked her up, looking at her with deep worry.

Before leaving, he threw a credit card onto my body.

"There's fifty thousand dollars in there. Consider this the final payoff to end whatever we had."

"Get out of New York and never show your face in front of Melody again. Otherwise, I have a thousand ways to make your life a living hell."

Money.

It was always about money.

I wiped the blood from my lip and slowly picked up the card.

The contempt in Xavier's eyes deepened as he carried Melody out of the room.

The next day, I went back to the Sinclair estate.

I only wanted to pack a few of my old clothes before checking myself into a quiet hospice care facility in the suburbs to spend my remaining days.

As soon as I walked in, I heard Mrs. Sinclair talking on the phone in the living room, her voice dripping with flattery and joy.

"Yes, yes, Melody and Xavier are getting engaged the day after tomorrow. You must come!"

When she hung up and saw me, her smile instantly vanished.

"What are you doing back here, you curse? Haven't you embarrassed us enough?"

Mrs. Sinclair snatched my bag and dumped everything onto the floor.

A few faded old shirts fell out, along with an unlabeled bottle of painkillers.

She poked my forehead aggressively with her finger and spat out insults.

"You disgraced this family for a few dirty bucks back then!"

"Now that Xavier is incredibly rich, you shamelessly crawl back to be his mistress!"

"How did I give birth to a shameless whore like you!"

"Why can't you be more like your sister and behave yourself!"

I numbly knelt down to pick up my clothes.

Indeed, why couldn't I be Melody?

Why was it that despite being daughters of the same household, she was pampered like a princess while I was born only to provide bone marrow for her?

Just as I reached for my pill bottle, Mrs. Sinclair's high heel stomped heavily onto the back of my hand.