On the day Derick and I agreed to get our marriage certificate, my sister was pushed from the 99th floor and left in a vegetative state.

The perpetrator was Derick’s half-sister, Sienna.

The police investigation surveillance footage showed my sister, beaten to the point of incontinence by Sienna and her men, kneeling down and begging for mercy.

“You’re already grown up, yet you’re still wetting your pants like a brat!”

Sienna laughed as she pressed closer and pushed her down the stairs.

The sight of the crowd reveling in anger made me tremble all over. Derick, his face gloomy, hugged me tightly by the shoulders.

“She’s outrageous! The entire legal department is backing you up. This time, Sienna must learn her lesson!”

I thought Derick had finally given up his unscrupulous doting on his stepsister.

But on the day I filed the lawsuit, Sienna dropped out of school.

[My brother is sending me to Linkon to be a royal princess. Please don’t get mad!] These words stung my eyes.

I held my phone, trembling as I questioned him.

“Elizabeth, Sienna cried and admitted her mistake and she also wrote a letter of repentance. Let’s forget about that. Your sister is still alive and I’ll take care of her from now on.”

It turned out that no one couldn’t withstand Sienna’s tears.

——

Derick shoved the letter of repentance into my hands, his expression calm.

“Elizabeth, this is Sienna’s handwritten letter of repentance. She’s still young. If she carries this stain on her, her life will be ruined. When her mother died, I promised to take good care of her. I can’t break my promise.”

There wasn’t a single word of comfort in those sentences. They were all just excuses.

Looking at the scribbled letter of repentance, tears fell without warning.

My sister fell from the 99th floor. If it weren’t for the shelter, she would have been a pile of blood.

Watching the video, Derick’s eyes were clearly red with anger. But as soon as Sienna started crying, he forgot what he’d promised me.

I took a deep breath, held up the thin piece of paper and forced myself to look up and meet his gaze.

“A piece of paper? You think you’re going to buy my sister’s life?”

Seeing me sobbing, Derick frowned and reluctantly came forward to hug me.

I shook my head and backed away, my hands reaching out to press against his chest.

“Derick, even if she runs to the ends of the earth, I’ll sue her!!”

Derick’s face darkened instantly, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.

“Elizabeth, it was just a shoving accident between children. Why are you holding on to it? I told you I’ll support your entire family and I’ll give your parents 4 million dollars in compensation. Just sign the letter of apology, okay? Even if your sister died of old age, she wouldn’t earn that much. Your family won’t lose out.”

“We won’t lose out?”

The irony of those words pierced my eardrums and I could barely see Derick’s face. “Derick, that’s my sister, my real sister! Not something you can buy off with a bunch of numbers! Ask yourself, was that just childish play? That was bullying! That was murder!”

I tore the letter of apology and confession into pieces right in front of Derick.

Derick stared at the scattered papers, his brow furrowed.

With a snap of his fingers, his special assistant placed the phone in front of me.

“Elizabeth, sign it or remove the tube? I give you the choice.”

The video showed my sister’s hospital room. A black-clad bodyguard stood by the bed, his hand pointed at the oxygen tube.

I screamed in fear. Derick pressed my neck hard, forcing me to watch the video and make a decision.

“Elizabeth, you know, no one in Stellis will fight this lawsuit for you.”

That threat made my heart tremble. I looked at Derick, tears streaming down my face. The Robbins Family’s position in Stellis was truly enough to leave me with no recourse.

He was determined to protect Sienna, so there was no chance of me winning.

At that moment, I hated myself and the powerless with all my heart.

“Be good, sign the papers. We’ll get the marriage certificate in two days. I’ll definitely give you the most magnificent wedding.”

The wedding… Yes, we were going to get married. But now it seemed impossible.

Derick and I had been together for eight years. I had been with him through the Robbins Family since graduating from college.

He was the illegitimate heir to the Robbins Family and not the most outstanding, but he was the most ruthless.

In those eight years, he used me to do a lot of terrible things.

But he also gave me the most love.

He fought his way through the other heirs and gave me a grand proposal on the day he ascended to the throne.

The whole of Stellis envied me for having his undivided love, calling me the domineering CEO’s precious gem.

But then, his Sienna returned. At that moment, his love began to shift.

“Derick, I don’t want to marry you anymore.”

Derick’s hand trembled and he loosened it.

I was able to breathe, but the deep pain in my heart made it hard to breathe.

“Elizabeth, stop being so angry. It’s not just about this. She’ll be your sister from now on. There’s no need to make things so awkward.”

I knew Derick had grown up in a world of intrigue and had long since disregarded human life.

But I thought I was different, that my family was different. In the end, it turned out that only Sienna was different.

“I only have one sister, her name is Winona,” I interrupted Derick, my words sharp.

When Sienna returned, her mother had just passed away and she was depressed all day.

Back then, Derick wasn’t available, so I took his place, accompanying her and taking care of her in every way.

Even if she was always trying to sow discord, I didn’t think it was a big deal. Later, she clung to Derick at every turn.

Even when she was sleeping, she’d come to our room clutching a stuffed animal and demand to share our space.

She was afraid of thunder, rain, ghosts, or the dark—no matter how lame her excuses were, Derick accepted them all.

It wasn’t until Derick proposed that her bipolar diagnosis finally brought him to his knees.

She went on a rampage, causing trouble like crazy. A single phone call would have Derick rushing over to clean up the mess, even if it meant dropping a contract worth millions of dollars.

Later, whenever Derick and I were alone, her tricks would repeat: jumping off a building, burning charcoal, drowning, slitting her wrists—one trick after another.

While Derick might scold her, he’d already taken action.

I’d also been upset, but Derick could calm me down with just a few words. “Elizabeth, her mother just passed away, so it’s inevitable she’ll feel insecure. Elizabeth, she’s just sick. We can heal her by giving her enough love.”

Until she led the bullying of my sister, personally pushing her down the stairs, to prevent Derick and me from getting our marriage certificate.

I thought Derick would come to his senses and curb his unbridled doting on her. But he didn’t.

At that moment, I realized that in his heart, no one could compare to Sienna.

I watched my sister, once so lively and adorable in the video, now lying quietly on the hospital bed like a porcelain doll.

Yesterday, she had smiled and said she’d accompany me to get the marriage certificate and take photos of Derick and me.

One day, it felt like a lifetime ago.

“I’ll sign it.”

Being alive was better than being dead.

Derick’s lips curled slightly as he reached out to take the letter of apology from his assistant and placed it before me.

“Elizabeth, I know you love me best and most. I promise you, I’ll punish her severely this time!”

I had heard this kind of thing countless times, but I had never seen any punishment. Not even a harsh word.

I sneered a few times, lowered my head and signed the letter of apology.

“On our wedding day, have her come back to be your bridesmaid.” Derick put the letter of apology away, smiled and hugged me.

“No, thanks.” I pushed Derick away and turned to walk out.

From behind, Derick looked at the signature on the letter of apology, his fingertips feeling slightly cold.

That night, I saw Sienna, who had just landed at a foreign airport and had to make a layover to return home.

The video of Derick picking her up at the airport went viral online.

In Sienna’s Instagram post, she was sitting behind 9,999 white roses, her face as bright as a flower.

[Who doesn’t want to be a treasure in their brother’s hands? @MySuperBrother.] Even if it was a blur, I’d still recognize Derick’s back as the one meeting her at the airport.

I sat on the windowsill of my room, finally making up my mind and typing out my resignation letter on my computer.

The next day, as usual, I went to the hospital to see Winona.

As soon as I entered, I saw Sienna sitting at the head of Winona’s bed, swinging her legs.

“I heard someone said you were going to sue me for this living dead? Why aren’t you suing? Oh, I heard your family took 4 million dollars! Tsk, your sister’s life is only worth 4 million dollars?”

The sarcastic remarks fell to the floor, but I ignored them.

“Get out! No one wants you here.”

Sienna grinned disapprovingly and jumped off the bed.

“If my brother hadn’t asked me to atone for my sins, do you think I’d want to come to this unlucky place? She peed her pants when she fell. Did you wipe it clean?”

Sienna circled the head of the bed, her words full of provocation.

I ignored her and bent down to straighten my sister’s clothes. “What’s that?”

Following the sound, I saw her hand resting on the power supply.

“Don’t move!”

Sienna rose and fell and the instrument next to her ear beeped.

Winona’s vital signs remained flat.

I immediately reconnected the oxygen line, rang the bell and anxiously waited for the doctor to arrive.

“Oh my! What’s wrong with her? Is she dead? I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know…”

Sienna covered her mouth hypocritically, but she was actually chuckling.

My clenched fist loosened and I slapped Sienna in the face.

The next second, a huge force from behind pulled me away and Derick’s voice echoed above me.

“Elizabeth, I asked Sienna to come here to apologize. How could you hit her?”

I turned and pointed at the straight line.

“Derick, open your eyes and see if this is an apology?”

Derick stared at the screen, his pupils suddenly dilated.

Just as I was about to say something, the doctor rushed in. After a thorough examination, they bowed their heads with dejected expressions and apologized to me.

“The patient’s breathing, heartbeat and pulse stopped at 10:50 AM. She has been confirmed dead…” The voice in my ear sounded like the Grim Reaper’s pronouncement.

I slumped to the ground, my face ashen, unable even to cry.

“Elizabeth, please don’t do this… Sienna really went too far this time. I will…”

Derick crouched down, hugged me tightly and whispered soothingly.

I didn’t struggle or cry. I simply said calmly, “Get out. Everyone, get out!”

Derick spoke many words, but I didn’t hear a word.

The images of the funeral, the marriage certificate and the wedding swirled in my mind. Finally, my vision went black and I completely lost consciousness.