The remainder of my existence?

I had merely been sheltered by the C family for a duration of twelve years.

The exact instant I turned eighteen to attend university, I had vacated their residence, and from that milestone onward, I had never once requested a single cent of financial support from their household.

Why?

Why did those twelve years have to be weaponized to purchase the absolute enslavement of my entire life?

I experienced a total emotional implosion, screaming hysterically at the top of my lungs:

"I never once begged any of you to adopt me! It was your family who actively drove out to the welfare institute and escorted me back to the C family mansion!"

"Why are you demanding that I atone for sins? On what earthly authority are you forcing me to atone?!"

"The individual who abducted Chloe was your family's own domestic nanny! Your entire family refuses to atone for your own failures, yet you demand that I shoulder the burden of atonement entirely alone? By what right?!"

"Chloe dropping out of school at fourteen was entirely because she was stupid, lazy, and utterly incapable of absorbing knowledge! Her entangling herself with a street thug at fifteen was a direct byproduct of her own defective brain! Her giving birth to a child at sixteen was the natural consequence of her pursuing her own fleeting pleasures! And her getting into a physical brawl at seventeen and having a kidney harvested was entirely due to her own absolute lack of common sense!"

"Every single one of those catastrophes has absolutely zero connection to me!"

"Even if Chloe had never been abducted, even if she had grown up in absolute safety and luxury within the borders of your C family residence, how can you possibly be certain she would have turned out to be a decent, law-abiding individual? How do you know her trajectory wouldn't have concluded in the exact same ruin?!"

Slap!

The sole response to my blistering outburst was a heavy, devastating slap delivered squarely across my cheek by Christian.

I clutched my burning face, staring blankly at the brutal, merciless, and feral expression anchoring his features.

"Clara, if you continue to let your mouth run wild with such unhinged nonsense, or if you ever possess the absolute audacity to utter the word 'divorce' to me again, I won't mind utilizing the justification of psychological instability to have you forcibly committed into a mental institution permanently."

26

"Clara, your complexion looks absolutely dreadful. What on earth is wrong?"

Sera's deeply concerned voice shattered the memory.

I violently yanked my consciousness back from the suffocating depths of my memories, lightly massaging my temples.

"It's nothing. My sleep quality has just been rather poor over the past few days."

"You didn't stay up late binge-watching dramas again, did you?"

"No, of course not."

Sera seemed to recall something, turning around to rummage through her backpack.

"Would you like me to give you some soothing medication to help settle your nerves? I believe I have some tucked inside my bag. With the massive examinations looming, I've been entirely incapable of falling asleep lately myself."

"There's really no need for that. Aren't you supposed to be heading over to the C family residence for dinner tonight? Hurry along now, don't be late."

"Are you absolutely certain you don't want it?"

"I'm absolutely certain."

"Alright then, I'll head out first."

"Yeah."

27

Friday evening.

While out for a leisurely stroll, I happened to pass by a prominent supermarket situated a short distance from our luxury estate, and it struck me that I hadn't replenished my personal daily necessities in quite some time.

Consequently, I glided inside to select a handful of items.

Yet upon arriving at the checkout counter to settle the balance, I discovered to my dismay that I had mistakenly grabbed the wrong smartphone when exiting the house.

The device resting in my palm was a secondary backup phone I rarely ever utilized.

This backup device wasn't linked to any of my bank cards, and my digital wallet contained a meager balance of barely a few dozen dollars.

I could only abandon the purchase.

"My apologies, I completely forgot to bring my payment methods. I'll have to leave these for now."

I offered a polite, apologetic smile to the cashier.

I hadn't walked a significant distance away from the supermarket exit when a figure smoothly caught up from behind, thrusting a shopping bag directly into my path.

I swept a brief glance over the bag.

It contained the exact selection of items I had spent ages meticulously picking out moments ago, only to leave unpaid.

"I have no need for this. I didn't settle the balance for these items, so they do not belong to me," I stated with absolute neutrality.

Christian arched an eyebrow, a smooth smirk curling onto the edge of his lips.

"Do you honestly believe these are items I could ever find a personal use for?"

It suddenly flashed through my mind that among the items I had selected earlier were several packs of tampons.

Freezing for a split second, I tightly gripped the handles of the bag.

"I will reimburse you the funds tomorrow."

"How about we simply exchange contact details on WeChat instead? You can simply transfer the amount to me whenever you find a spare moment."

Christian pulled out his smartphone, displaying his personal QR code on the screen, his voice laced with an undeniable note of cheerfulness.

Without a shred of hesitation, I immediately placed a call to Sera's number.

She accepted the call almost instantaneously.

"Sera, do me a favor and transfer two hundred dollars to your brother's account this instant."

"Transfer funds to my brother? What for?"

"Just execute the transfer first, I'll explain the details to you later tonight."

Barely a minute elapsed before the sharp chime of a digital notification echoed from Christian's smartphone.

He looked as though he had been utterly defeated, training a thoroughly helpless, exasperated gaze upon me.

"Clara, after all these years, you haven't shifted in the slightest. In what earthly way have I ever managed to offend you so profoundly?"

I was well aware that this man possessed an incredibly fragile, towering pride, and his usual demeanor was typically quite aloof and arrogant, so I chose to deliver a perfectly blunt, direct declaration:

"You haven't offended me in the slightest. It's simply that your face is entirely too hideous, and I harbor an absolute lack of desire to lay eyes on your presence. Could you kindly remove yourself from my vicinity?"

Ever since his elementary school days, Christian had navigated his life constantly swathed in a mountain of love letters delivered by infatuated girls.

His aesthetic appeal had never once experienced a decline.

At this exact moment, being abruptly blindsided by my declaration that he was hideous caused his expression to darken dramatically.

He coldly spat out a single final phrase:

"Utterly ungrateful."

And subsequently spun on his heel to storm away into the evening.

The exact instant my footsteps crossed back into the residence, my phone rang with an incoming call from Sera.

"What on earth just happened? Did you cross paths with my brother? He refused to accept the digital funds, and after I exchanged a couple of brief sentences with him, he slammed the phone down. He sounded absolutely furious."

"Strangely enough, he called me back a moment later, demanding that I forward your personal WeChat contact details to his device. I haven't executed the request yet; I figured I should explicitly seek your input first."

I massaged the bridge of my nose, my tone clipped and final:

"Do not forward it."

"Alright, I understand."

Staring at the collection of supermarket items I had just carried back into the room, a wave of pure irritation washed over my chest.

What a lunatic.

Who on earth requested that he settle the balance?

Utterly bizarre.

28

I was beginning to harbor a strong suspicion that my life was currently enduring a catastrophic astrological misalignment.

Otherwise, how could I possibly be crossing paths with individuals I desired to avoid one after another?

"Oh my, if it isn't Clara! It's been several years since we last crossed paths, yet how on earth have you managed to degenerate into such a pathetic state?"

"What kind of garbage vehicle are you even operating? Don't tell me the mighty J family is teetering on the absolute brink of corporate bankruptcy?"

Right in front of the main entrance of Emerald Hills.

Before I could even find the spare capacity to mourn the damage dealt to my brand-new vehicle from the collision.

A voice dripping with pure, mocking derision pierced straight into my ears.

Tracing the source of the sound.

A young woman was smoothly stepping down from the driver's seat of a vibrant red sports car.

Cascading wavy hair, bold crimson lips, and a pair of massive designer sunglasses completely masking her features.

Her feet were wedged into a pair of towering stilettos measuring easily over a dozen centimeters.