Every time I gave Victoria a wolf essence transfusion, I needed several days of rest to recover my strength. This time was no exception. But the house was eerily empty—everyone was at the hospital keeping Victoria company, and nobody remembered to leave me even a warm meal.

I walked out of my room with an empty cup, hoping to find some bread to stave off my hunger, when a hard cardboard box suddenly came flying at my face. My wolf soul was still in hibernation and I couldn't dodge it. The box smashed into my forehead, instantly drawing blood.

"Ember! What the hell are you doing? Why aren't you checking the messages we sent you!" Mother stood in the living room with her hands on her hips, Victoria trailing behind her—wrapped in a thick shawl, her face rosy, without a trace of frailty.

Victoria immediately rushed over, reaching out as if to help wipe the blood from my forehead, but deliberately scraped her nails across the wound, making me flinch back in pain. Her eyes instantly reddened as she turned to Mother: "Mom, please don't be angry. Sister probably didn't see the message. She was so exhausted after donating wolf essence yesterday, maybe she fell asleep..."

"Fell asleep?" Mother got even angrier, pointing at my nose: "Look at the group chat! We sent messages at six this morning telling you to make Victoria's favorite chocolate cake to welcome her home! You couldn't even be bothered to reply—are you deliberately going against us?"

I pulled out my phone only to find the screen was black—I'd definitely plugged it in to charge last night, but now it wouldn't turn on. I didn't need to think twice to know Victoria had unplugged my charger while I was sleeping and hidden my phone under the couch. She wanted our parents to think I was deliberately ignoring them.

"I didn't see the message, my phone died," I said, rubbing my throbbing forehead, my voice somewhat hoarse.

"Died?" Finn walked in from outside holding my phone, the screen lit up—obviously Victoria had just given it to him. "This has battery, doesn't it? Ember, could you stop making excuses? Victoria's discharge is such a big deal, couldn't you pay a little attention?"

Victoria tugged on Finn's sleeve, saying softly: "Brother, don't scold sister. I don't really want cake anyway. Sister likes to paint, maybe she painted too late last night and forgot to check her messages..."

"Paint?" Finn laughed coldly, his gaze sweeping over my bedroom door—where I'd left last night's unfinished painting of a forest with deer herds. But now the canvas was slashed to pieces, paint splattered everywhere. "What good are those trashy paintings? Last time Victoria told me you painted a forest without her in it, and said you 'didn't want to stay with a burden.' Is this how you act like a big sister?"

I was stunned—that painting was meant to be a gift for Grayson, because he'd once said he wanted to take me to see a real forest. Last night I'd clearly put the painting away in my drawer, but now it was destroyed. No need to guess—Victoria again.

"I never said that! She's lying!" I finally couldn't help raising my voice.

Mother immediately charged over, pointing at my forehead: "How dare you talk back? Victoria's so well-behaved, would she lie to us? Look at yourself—all you do is hole up in your room, either painting or spacing out, you don't care about your sister at all! How did we end up with such a thoughtless child?"

Just then, Grayson walked in. Seeing the wound on my forehead, he immediately frowned and hurried over as if to touch it, but Victoria caught his hand.

"Uncle, don't worry, sister just bumped into something accidentally." Victoria looked up at him with complete dependence in her eyes. "I just told sister I wanted her to walk with me in the garden, but she didn't seem very willing... Did I disturb her?"

Grayson's movement paused, and when he turned to look at me, his voice carried helplessness: "Ember, Victoria just got out of the hospital and wants you to walk with her. Just go with her, okay? She's fragile and needs someone to look after her."

I looked at the trust in Grayson's eyes and felt a chill in my heart. He clearly saw the wound on my forehead, saw how pale I was, but still believed Victoria's words. Memories from my previous life flooded back—I was always being framed by Victoria like this, but Grayson would always say "She's still young, you should be patient with her."

"I'm not going." I stepped back, avoiding Grayson's hand. "I don't feel well, I want to rest."

"What's wrong with you?" Mother immediately retorted. "Victoria's much more fragile than you, and she's not complaining about feeling unwell! Ember, I'm telling you, today you're going to the garden with Victoria whether you like it or not, or you're not eating dinner!"

Victoria secretly glanced at me, a barely noticeable smile tugging at her lips. She knew that as long as she played the victim, everyone would side with her.

Looking at this family in front of me, I suddenly felt utterly ridiculous. They'd rather believe a "frail sister" who lied constantly than trust me, the daughter they used as their "wolf essence bank." Even though Grayson had moments of caring about me, he was always blinded by Victoria's pretense.

"Fine, I'll go." I took a deep breath and turned back to my room to get a jacket. At the doorway, I heard Grayson quietly ask Victoria: "Did you bump into her just now? That wound on her forehead looks really painful."

Victoria's eyes immediately reddened, her voice choked with tears: "Uncle, I didn't! I was just trying to help sister pick up her cup, she accidentally bumped into me and fell... It's all my fault, if only I hadn't touched the cup."

I froze mid-step, the last bit of hope in my heart crumbling. So he had suspected something, but Victoria's tears would always matter more than my grievances.

In my jacket pocket was a copy of the forest purchase contract I'd secretly made yesterday. The paperwork would be done in two days, and then I could finally escape this suffocating family.

As for Grayson... if he could never wake up, then I didn't want this misguided "love" either.

In my previous life, Victoria had used this exact excuse to postpone our mating ceremony year after year.

As long as she didn't give her approval, Grayson would never mark me—he was tied down hand and foot by Victoria's tears.

Thinking of this, I smiled mockingly at myself, unconsciously rubbing the old scar in my palm, a mark from when I was clawed by a rogue wolf while protecting my paintings.

"Sure, whatever works."

What wouldn't be fine? After all, Grayson and I were never going to actually complete a mating ceremony anyway.

I put down my chopsticks and said, "I'm done eating." As I turned to go upstairs, I caught Victoria sneaking a glance at Grayson out of the corner of my eye, a triumphant smile tugging at her lips—she'd won again, using "frailty" to steal away what should have been my ceremony.

Watching my somewhat resolute figure, Grayson paused with his knife and fork in hand.

For the first time he felt something was different about me: the old me would have asked with tears in my eyes "Why do we have to postpone again?" but now I was so calm it was like I was talking about someone else's business.

He wanted to call out to me, but Victoria suddenly clutched her chest and started coughing: "Uncle, I feel a little dizzy..."

His attention was immediately pulled away as he reached out to touch Victoria's forehead, completely missing my footsteps stopping at the stair landing.

In the following days, with the mating ceremony postponed indefinitely, Grayson indeed had plenty of time to accompany Victoria on scenic trips to various places.

The night before departure, Victoria knocked on my door holding a thick coat: "Sister, Uncle, Mom, Dad and I are going to the snowy mountains. You just donated wolf essence and you're weak, so don't come and suffer in the cold."

As she spoke, her nails deliberately scraped across my wrist—where needle marks from the last essence donation still remained. I looked at the barely concealed smugness in her eyes and suddenly remembered she'd said the same thing in my previous life, then turned around and complained to the family that "sister said the snowy mountains were boring and wouldn't come with me."

Sure enough, when they left the next day, Mother looked at me with feigned concern: "Ember, you're not feeling well, so rest properly at home. When you're better, we'll all go together."

And once again, I was left behind at home.

To "share" the joy of their travels with me, Victoria sent me photos from every place they visited. In the pictures she stood atop snowy peaks wearing custom down jackets Grayson had bought her, surrounded by family taking photos; at the beach, she held a giant stuffed animal Finn had given her, with fireworks Mom and Dad had prepared for her in the background.

"Ember, it's such a shame you didn't come! Uncle Grayson built me a huge snowman, even taller than you!"

"Mom and Dad said the hot springs here are good for my wolf soul, they're going to buy me a villa with hot springs so we can come often!"

"Oh, and sister, Uncle bought me a glowing necklace. Didn't you once say you wanted one? But Uncle said this style suits me better~"

Every sentence was like a needle piercing my heart. I deleted each photo one by one, then turned off my phone and started packing my luggage—just a few more days until the forest paperwork was complete, and I'd be completely free.

Just then, I suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass from downstairs. My movements froze as scenes from my previous life flashed through my mind: around this same time, a rogue wolf had broken into the house, stolen Mother's jewelry, and torn all my paintings to shreds. Back then I'd called for help, but no one answered—they were watching fireworks on the snowy mountain with Victoria.

Immediately, alarm bells went off in my head.

I quickly stuffed my paintings into a hidden compartment under the bed, contacted the Alpha Council enforcers, then grabbed a silver dagger and quietly hid behind the door.

The rogue wolf indeed climbed in through the window, heading straight for Mother's jewelry box. I held my breath, waiting for him to turn around before suddenly pouncing, but he shoved me aside—my wolf soul was still hibernating, no match for him at all.

His claws slashed my arm, making me break out in cold sweat, but I bit down hard on his wrist to keep him away from the bed.

Fortunately the enforcers arrived just in time to subdue the rogue wolf. But I also fell down the stairs, my forehead hitting the steps, leaving my face covered in blood.

When the whole family and Grayson rushed back, they only saw the enforcers leaving while I sat disheveled in the wreckage, the wound on my arm still bleeding.

Father and Mother were stunned, their voices stammering, "You... you caught him all by yourself? Why didn't you call us?"

Victoria immediately threw herself into Mother's arms, sobbing: "Mom, it's all my fault! I was just video chatting with Uncle and the others, saying sister would definitely be safe at home. If I'd known, I wouldn't have played with you all for so long..." As she spoke, she secretly signaled Mother with her eyes—see, it was all Ember's fault for being stubborn, it has nothing to do with us.

Mother's brow furrowed as expected, her tone full of reproach: "Exactly! Why didn't you wait for us to come back for something so dangerous?"

Even the usually cold Finn showed complex emotions. "Why are you trying to be a hero? Last time Victoria said you were even afraid of a wolf pup, how come today you dared fight a rogue wolf?"—he remembered Victoria's previous claim that "sister's timid but always likes to act brave."

I was exhausted beyond words, the hand clutching the dagger still trembling. Grayson suddenly crouched down, reaching out to touch my forehead, but I dodged away. His fingertips froze in midair, his eyes full of panic: "How are you, Ember? Are you hurt anywhere? I'll take you to the hospital!"

"You're so foolish! Why didn't you contact us?" His voice carried a trace of barely noticeable self-blame—just now Victoria had kept saying "sister's definitely sleeping, don't disturb her," so he really hadn't called me.

I looked at him weakly and asked, "What good would contacting you do? Would you have actually rushed back for me?"

Everyone's expressions changed. Victoria immediately said: "Sister, how can you say that? We rushed back as soon as we heard! Uncle even sped on the way here!" She deliberately mentioned Grayson's "urgency" while completely omitting that they'd stopped to buy her souvenirs on the way.

I smiled mockingly. In my previous life, because I believed they would come back, I had called each of them one by one, only to be tortured half to death by the rogue wolf.

Seeing my unusually calm demeanor, Grayson's frown deepened.

He suddenly noticed the edge of a picture frame peeking out from under my bed and was about to ask about it when Finn pointed at the suitcase on the floor and shouted: "You've packed so much stuff—where the hell are you planning to go?!"

Grayson spun around abruptly, his gaze equally tense.

"Ember, what's going on? You're leaving home?"

My heart jolted. In my rush to catch the rogue wolf, I'd forgotten to hide my suitcase. I gripped the wound in my sleeve tighter and forced a calm smile. "Seeing you all travel made me want to get away too, so I packed my stuff ahead of time. That way I can pick a destination and leave right away."

Victoria immediately walked over, clinging to Grayson's arm coquettishly: "Uncle, sister probably just wants to clear her head, don't worry. But sister, if you leave and I suddenly need wolf essence, what am I gonna do?" She deliberately brought up "wolf essence," reminding everyone of the purpose of my existence.

Father and Mother's faces immediately darkened. "Get away? What for! Didn't I tell you to stay by Victoria's side forever!"

"Exactly! What if Victoria feels sick in the middle of the night and you're not here? If something happens, who's gonna take responsibility? Have you forgotten why we had you!"

Grayson looked at my pale face, suddenly feeling uneasy. He remembered when he'd bought the engagement gift a few days ago, I'd casually mentioned "wanting to find a place with forests to paint." Was I actually serious? But Victoria tugged on his hand again: "Uncle, sister's probably just throwing a tantrum. When she comes to her senses, she'll come back. If you push her, she'll definitely get angrier."

He hesitated—on one side was the resolve in Ember's eyes, on the other was Victoria's "understanding," and ultimately he chose to believe the latter: "Ember, if you wanna go somewhere, that's fine, but give us a heads up. It's too dangerous alone."

I laughed silently to myself. He still didn't get it—where I was going was a forest they'd never be able to find.

A few days later was mine and Victoria's birthday. Though we were three years apart, our birthdays happened to fall on the same day, but there was always only one cake in the house—Victoria's favorite strawberry cake, with candles matching only her age.

In my previous life I'd naively asked Mother "why aren't there candles for me," but Mother said "two cakes would be wasteful, you can blow them out together with Victoria." Now I realized it wasn't about waste—they simply didn't want my birthday to steal any of Victoria's spotlight.

At the birthday party, pink balloons filled the living room. Victoria stood in the center wearing a princess dress Grayson had bought her, unwrapping gift after gift. "Thanks for the bracelet, Mom!" "Thanks for the stuffed animal, Brother!" "Uncle, this gemstone necklace is gorgeous!"

Everyone crowded around her while nobody noticed me standing in the corner, clutching a birthday card I'd drawn myself—something I never got to give in my previous life, and now there was even less point.

"Hey Uncle, why do you have two boxes for your gift?"

Victoria picked up two similarly wrapped boxes, looking at Grayson with confusion.

Everyone's curious gazes followed, and Grayson somewhat awkwardly handed one box to me.

"This one's for you."

I took the box, my fingertips recognizing the familiar weight—in my previous life he'd given me the same box, containing a freebie that came with Victoria's necklace. Sure enough, opening it revealed a cheap bracelet, while Victoria held a necklace studded with rubies.

Finn couldn't help laughing: "Oh, so it's a freebie. Pretty fitting for Ember."

Mother chimed in: "Yeah, Ember doesn't usually wear jewelry anyway. Giving her something too nice would just be a waste."

Victoria pretended to be shocked, covering her mouth: "Oh! So this was a freebie? Uncle, why didn't you say so earlier? I thought you'd gotten sister something really nice!" As she spoke, she secretly raised her eyebrows at me, her eyes full of smugness.

I said nothing, just quietly threw the bracelet in the trash when no one was looking.

After the party ended, Victoria suddenly said: "I just got my license and want to drive everyone home today. Is that okay?"

Father and Mother immediately agreed: "Sure! Our Victoria's so capable!"

Finn also smiled: "I'll ride shotgun and keep an eye on things for you."

They all forgot I was still standing by the garage door. Before driving, Victoria deliberately glanced at me, then said to Finn: "Brother, sister's standing behind me. I'm worried about hitting her when I back up. Could you ask her to move aside?"

Finn waved his hand: "Ember, move it! Don't block Victoria's driving!"

I was about to step forward when I saw Victoria's lips curve into a sinister smile. The next second, accompanied by the screech of brakes, the car slammed into me hard, knocking me to the ground.

As my consciousness faded, I heard Victoria's fake crying: "Sister! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I hit the wrong pedal!" Then came Mother's screaming: "Ember!"

So she'd never intended to let me live from the very beginning.