Chapter 2

2.

"Summer," my father said, his voice sounding fake and tired. "It's my fault you've been treated this way. Your sister has always been fragile. You're the younger one, so can't you just be more understanding?"

He paused before adding, "I'll make it up to you later."

I kept my eyes down to hide my disgust.

Make it up to me? What a cheap promise.

In my last life, I believed him. I let Scarlett have everything because I thought I owed her. I ended up dying for it.

"Dad, I'm tired. If that's all, I'm going to my room." My voice was flat and empty.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he just waved me away. "Go ahead."

When I opened my bedroom door, I saw Scarlett sitting inside.

She was playing with the ceramic doll my mother and I had made together.

That doll wasn't fancy. It was actually a bit crooked, but it was the last thing my mother left me.

Scarlett had a look of pure contempt on her face.

"Oh, you're here. Look at this piece of junk. It's just like your deadbeat mother―totally low-class."

She let out a nasty laugh. "Summer, your mom was just a pathetic mistress. You have trash in your blood. You and your mom never deserved to set foot in this house."

Her words cut deep.

Samuel was the real piece of garbage. He married into the Sterling family just for power.

But then he tricked my innocent mother with sweet words. He made her the laughingstock of the city.

She died of a broken heart. I was labeled the "daughter of a homewrecker" and the family's dirty secret.

In my last life, I remembered her dying wish: "Summer, you have to endure. Be kind to your sister. I'm so sorry..."

I endured. I stayed quiet. And what did I get? I got destroyed.

Thinking about the secret I discovered recently, I felt like laughing.

I didn't explode. Instead, I walked toward her slowly.

I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Sister, what do you think would happen if the news broke tomorrow?"

"What if everyone found out that the precious Scarlett Sutton isn't even a Sutton by blood?"

I felt her body go stiff instantly.

I pulled back and watched the color drain from her face.

She looked at me in disbelief. "How... how do you know that?"

I snatched the ceramic doll back from her hands.

I held it close and tilted my head. My voice was ice. "Don't ever come into my room again. And don't mess with me, or I'll tell the whole world your secret."

Scarlett glared at me, then stumbled out of the room.

I carefully placed the doll on my desk. My fingers wouldn't stop shaking.