Chapter 2

2.

Back in my room, I told the butler to pack up everything related to Silas and throw it away. "Miss Veda," the butler hesitated, "your wedding is only a week away."

"You've never let anyone even touch these things before. Are you sure?" I glanced around the room.

Ever since I moved back to the Quinn estate, Silas had been the center of my world. I picked up the first gift he ever gave me―a pair of diamond-encrusted heels. My fingers trembled for a moment.

"Yes, throw it all out," I said firmly. "And cancel the wedding preparations for next week."

The door suddenly burst open, and Silas stood there, his eyes burning with rage. "Veda, don't you think you've gone too far?"

He grabbed me by the throat, his grip tight and suffocating. "You're forcing Rosalie to marry that psycho in Chicago, aren't you!"

"I told you the pool was an accident! Why can't you just let her be happy?" He looked at me with pure disgust.

"You really are just a low-class brat from the trailer parks. You have no heart." My eyes stung, not from sadness, but from the sheer irony.

"You're the one who found me in that trailer park, Silas! You're the one who helped Rosalie steal my life!" I choked out the words.

I started coughing violently as the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Silas knew exactly what I had suffered before coming home.

He was the one who rescued me from that hell. And now, he was using his words to tear my scars back open just to protect his precious Rosalie.

Silas seemed to snap out of his rage as he looked at me. He reached out awkwardly, trying to wipe the tears from my face.

"Veda, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry." I pulled away from his touch, refusing to look at him.

Silas stood there for a long time, looking lost. "Rosalie isn't family by blood, Veda. Your father loves you more than her, he'll do whatever you want."

"Get out!" I screamed, stepping forward and slapping him across the face. I pushed him out of the room and slammed the door.

He lingered in the hallway for a while before finally leaving. When I opened the door later, a bottle of expensive healing ointment was sitting on the floor.

I took a deep breath and told the butler to toss it in the trash. When I first came back from the slums, Silas used to apply that same ointment to my bruises.

He was only kind to me back then out of pity. He felt guilty because Rosalie had stolen my identity. I believed his lies in my first life, but I'm not that stupid anymore.