Chapter 2

1.

"Where did she go? She's not in class during school hours!"

My parents kicked the dormitory door open, clearly agitated.

The room was empty. The bed with my name tag was covered in thick layers of dust, making them cough uncontrollably.

They quickly pulled Seraphina behind them for protection.

"Don't step inside. Don't let this disaster's filth infect you."

The commotion was so loud that the dorm supervisor came upstairs, hands on her hips, and demanded to know what was going on.

"You're at the wrong place, aren't you? Only an orphan with no parents lives in this room."

My mother curled her lip and let out a cold, sharp huff.

"You little liar. She must be out gallivanting with some man, not even bothering to come back to the dorm."

My father agreed, "What a disgrace to the family. If Seraphina wasn't sick, I wouldn't even have come to look for her! I'm humiliated."

The supervisor stood there in a daze, silent for a long time before speaking.

"She wasn't gallivanting. She arrived with terminal stomach cancer. She couldn't afford treatment and passed away three years ago."

They froze for a moment, then burst into mocking laughter.

"Don't joke. She was healthy as a horse. How could she have terminal cancer?"

"How much did Elara pay you to lie to us?"

With that, my father shoved a few bills into the supervisor's hand.

His eyes were filled with impatience.

"I don't care where she's hiding. Just tell her this: if she doesn't appear within three days, we're cutting her off. She won't get a single penny more!"

The supervisor rubbed the fresh, crisp banknotes and looked up, scanning my parents' expensive clothes and luxury watches.

"Such wealthy relatives. It's a shame you didn't show up three years ago."

She shook her head with pity. "That poor girl never used any support money. There wasn't a cent in her account."

"She couldn't even afford the cheapest painkillers! In her final moments, she was screaming for her mother and father, dying in agony."