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3:02 PM
<
With that, they left without looking back. I watched their retreating figures, feeling the blood draining away beneath me.
My body grew colder.
My child…
I’m sorry, Mom. I shouldn’t have. Maybe I was destined to be a lonely star.
In my original world, I was an orphan.
Ill and without money for treatment, I waited quietly for death.
Then the system found me.
It said that if I completed the predetermined plot tasks of the novel, the family in the novel would become my real family.
Then, I would be the happiest person.
I believed it and became the youngest daughter of the Gideon family, Mabel.
At first, I was happy. My parents were loving, my brother cherished me, and Ezra and I were fond of each other.
Until Mom died.
Dad quickly brought back a woman, and with her, he only cared about her child–Nora.
I hated them for making Dad forget Mom and my brother and me.
Back then, my brother and I were united against them.
Ezra promised he would love me forever.
But promises were fleeting.
I had been bound by family ties for too long, and at this moment.
I suddenly didn’t want them anymore.
As darkness overtook my consciousness, a cold familiar voice sounded:
[Child successfully miscarried. Congratulations, Host, on achieving two–thirds of the pain point task.]
I was in the operating room for a day and night.
After a week in the hospital, Ezra and my brother finally remembered me.
Because the stepmother’s birthday was approaching, she wanted the family to reunite, so I was “brought” home.
In the luxurious living room, Nora’s sweet and coquettish voice could be heard from time to time.
A servant brought a birthday cake to the table, and Nora coyly said she made it herself and even hurt her hand, so they shouldn’t dislike it.
Ezra grabbed her hand angrily, scolding her for hurting herself again.
His expression was stern, yet he couldn’t hide the tenderness in his voice.
Nora playfully stuck out her tongue.
My brother looked at her with a face full of affection.
Dad and stepmother smiled with kindness.
D
3:02 PM
<
My vision suddenly blurred, making it difficult to see.
I reached up to touch my face, only to find my fingertips wet.
“Sister finally came back.”
“Today is Mom’s birthday. You won’t blame us for not waiting to eat with you, will you?”
Nora saw me and smiled brightly, though her eyes shone with obvious provocation and ridicule.
Everyone in the room turned to look at me.
“Are you mute? Why don’t you speak when you come in?”
Seeing me, Dad’s smile faded.
Seeing me standing at the door motionless, my brother also impatiently scolded, “What are you standing there for? Don’t you see everyone waiting for you? When will you change your spoiled princess attitude?”
I blinked, holding back tears, clutching my aching stomach, and limped over with my injured leg.
Ezra saw my movements and frowned, “You’re hurt?”
It might have been my imagination, but there was a trace of concern in his voice.
My brother glanced at me and then sneered, “She’s pretending again. Ever since Nora came, she’s always like this.”
Hearing this, the concern in Ezra’s eyes disappeared, replaced by the familiar disdain.
“How long do you plan to keep this act up? How many times have I told you, Nora is just a young girl. She lost her dad, came with her mom to your house, and has been living cautiously. It’s normal for her to rely more on me and Gideon. You have everything. Why can’t you give her a
little?”
I gave a bitter smile.
I have everything?
Since Nora and her mother arrived, Dad became colder towards me, and my brother grew to dislike me more.
Even Ezra, who used to be devoted to me, gradually sided with Nora.
“Ezra, she lost her dad, but I lost my mom.”
“Later she got a dad, and I lost my dad.”
“Slap!”
As soon as I finished speaking, the next second, Dad slapped me across the face.
He glared at me:
“Your old man isn’t dead yet!”
But whether alive or dead, is there a difference?
I held my cheek, silently weeping:
“I lost my brother, my fiancé.”
“And my child.”
Ezra looked at me, and there seemed to be some reluctance in his eyes. Suddenly, Nora choked on her sobs.
3:02 PM
<
“Sister, I’m sorry. Then I’ll just go die!”
“Nora!”
Ezra and my brother immediately rushed to embrace her. I watched the smugness in her eyes, watching their anxious faces.
“Mabel, you never change.”
“Falling from only the second floor, do you really need to play the victim in front of us?”
I stared at him blankly, feeling the pain creeping in.
Before, I would’ve cried and begged him to believe me.
But now, I didn’t want to explain anymore.
I closed my eyes, looking at my brother with one last bit of hope.
“My leg is broken.”
“The doctor said I can never dance again.”
My brother didn’t even look at me, indulgently watching Nora:
“That’s just as well. Nora won’t have to hide under the covers crying about you winning dance awards anymore.”
