I stumbled and knocked over the dining table behind me. The cups and plates shattered all over the floor. The sharp fragments cut through my calf.

Looking up amidst the mess, I was met with a hall full of guests, either sneering or sympathetic gazes.

“Gaundetia Winifred, what are you mad at again?”

My dad had a grey face. On the other side, my mom hid behind the crowd. She didn’t dare to look at me. While Charlotte was protected by Benedict in his arms. She showed me a winning smile.

Benedict looked at me with a strong disgust that could not be dissolved. My eyes felt burned. So, I turned around and left.

When I turned around, I stepped on glass shards, but I still had to straighten my back so that no one could see my embarrassment. I found my best friend, Evelyn Bellamy.

I stayed at her house for a few days. Hearing me say everything, Evelyn was so angry that she stomped her feet.

“Even if Benedict is a block of thousand-year-old ice, you don’t have to marry that useless person from the Roussel Family!”

“You have paid so much for Charlotte. She didn't even have a word of thanks to you. What kind of Christian is that? She is just...”

She was suddenly silenced. At the door of the gallery, Benedict was carefully escorting Charlotte as they walked in. Charlotte was wearing a goose-coat dress, as pure as a daisy.

“This painting is so pretty!”

She suddenly pointed at the painting in front of us. “Benedict, you bought it for me, right?”

Evelyn immediately blocked in front. “We'll take a look first.”

Charlotte's eyes instantly turned red. Benedict had a cold face.

“Let Charlotte have it.”

“On what grounds?” Evelyn was so angry that she was trembling.

I grabbed her hand and said, “Let's go, Evelyn. I don't really like it either.”

For the entire afternoon, Charlotte followed us like a shadow. In the end, all the paintings in the gallery were bought by Benedict.

Just as we were about to leave, the crystal lamp suddenly fell. A child happened to be standing under the lamp.

In the nick of time, I rushed over and pushed the stunned child away. The moment the sharp pain hit, I saw Benedict's hesitant steps.

“Benedict.” Charlotte suddenly held her forehead delicately. “I'm so scared! I'm dizzy.”

Benedict helped Charlotte. They turned away without hesitation.

When I woke up again, Evelyn cursed with red eyes. “Benedict, this beast!”

I opened my cell phone with a pale face. In my circle of friends, Benedict was accompanying Charlotte to enjoy the flowers.

“Stop crying, Evelyn.”

I said softly, “Have you forgotten? The person I want to marry is Dominic Roussel.”

She cried even harder. In order not to let my mom worry, I lied to her and said that I went on a trip. But in fact, I was alone in the hospital for three days.

On the day I was discharged from the hospital, Benedict actually took the initiative to contact me. He asked to meet at the most expensive revolving restaurant in the city centre. He pushed over an exquisite gift box with a light blue scarf inside.

“I will fulfil the engagement, as long as you no longer target Charlotte.”

I laughed at myself. “No need, it was originally my sister's wedding.”

“That day Charlotte was not feeling well,” he explained in an unprecedented way.

Before the words fell, Charlotte appeared with high heels. She held the latest model of the season's bag on her shoulder. The silk scarf, however, was just a matching item that was given to her when she bought the bag.

“Gaudentia.” She affectionately took Benedict's hand. “I purposely asked Benedict to pick out a gift for you. Do you like it?”

That bag of hers was the same colour as the silk scarf, which made my eyes hurt. I forced a smile. I pinched my nails deep into my palms.

When I got home, I saw my mom limping down the stairs with her hands.

“Mom!”

I rushed over to help her, but I felt a bruise on her wrist. “Did Charlotte push you again?”

I couldn't stop my voice from shaking. Over the years, Charlotte had always called my mom a mistress and even made a move. Even though my mom had clearly married after her biological mom died.

“Bang-” The door was suddenly pushed open.

Charlotte stepped in on her high heels. She casually threw her bag on the sofa.

“Charlotte, why did you push my mom?” I couldn't help but open my mouth.

“Who made her a mistress?”

She raised her hand and slapped my mom in the face. My brain exploded. By the time I reacted, my slap had already been thrown in Charlotte's face.

“I'll say it again to you that my mom is not a mistress! My mom only entered the door three years after your mom died!”

I was shaking all over. My mom pulled me back in a panic.

She said, “Don't argue. Please, don't argue, we're all family.”

Charlotte sneered, “Stinker bitch! Whose family is with you?”

She slapped again with her backhand. My mom staggered and hit the wall. The bright red palm prints immediately surfaced on her face.

I completely broke down, but my raised hand was interrupted by a loud shout in the air.

“Gaundetia, what are you doing?”

I looked up. Benedict stood in the doorway. He was still holding the shawl that Charlotte had dropped in his hand.

Charlotte instantly changed her face. She jumped into his arms, sobbing.

“Benedict, my sister, she's going to beat me.”

I looked at his arm around Charlotte’s hand, tightly. I also looked at the dislike of me in his eyes. I suddenly felt incomparably ridiculous.

When they left, I clearly heard Charlotte whisper in his ear, “Look, their mom and daughter are all the same.”

On the opening day of the resort that Benedict gave to Charlotte, my dad coldly ordered me to attend.

“You were so out of sorts at the banquet that day. Go play a song today.”

His tone was undeniable to me. “Don't embarrass the Winifred Family.”

I sat in front of the piano. My fingers mechanically dance on the keys. In the afterglow, Charlotte's eyes glanced my way from time to time.

As soon as the last note fell, there was a loud ‘bang’ sound. The piano cover smashed down without warning. In an instant, my heart-wrenching pain came from my ten fingers.

“Ah--”

I hurt so much that my eyes went black. I instinctively looked toward Benedict, who was not far away.

Charlotte, however, took his arm. “Don't worry about her. She's been like this since she was a kid. She can also yell at the sight of a bug.”

She shook Benedict's arm coquettishly, “Let's go and see the fountain.”

Before I passed out from the pain, I only saw their departing backs. When I woke up again, my mom was sitting by the hospital bed with red and swollen eyes.

“Gaudentia, the Roussel Family sent the best hand surgeon.”

She trembled as she stroked my bandaged hand. “I think maybe the Roussel Family isn't as scary as the legendary one.”

I asked softly, “What about my dad and my sister?”

My mom lowered her head. “Your dad accompanied Charlotte to buy a yacht. He said it was to celebrate the opening of the resort.”

I didn't say anything, but the tears couldn't stop falling down. Other than my mom, it seemed like no one in this world really cared about me. Maybe if I left, it would be the best choice.

The day I went to Benedict's villa to pack things, I raised my hand and rang the doorbell. But no one answered. I habitually entered the original password and found that it was unable to open.

I called Benedict's phone, but still had no response, as usual. Just as I was about to put down the phone, an update suddenly popped up in my circle of friends.

I saw a profile picture that hadn't been updated for three years, showing a photo of a beach. In the corner of the photo, someone in a yellow skirt with a swan pattern stared into my eyes.

I stared at the screen until my vision blurred. I tried to enter Charlotte's birthday tremblingly. And with a “click” sound, the door opened.

The phone's ringtone rang suddenly in the empty villa.

“Is there anything wrong?” Benedict's voice came from the receiver with the usual coldness.

“I came to pick up some things.”

My voice was calm, “No one's home.”

“Yes, of course.” He paused. “I’m accompanying Charlotte to look at the stores at the resort.”

There was a hint of impatience in his tone. “I'll do what I say about the engagement.”

After saying that, he hung up the phone. A string of rosary beads rolled down from the drawer. A crisp sound rolled out on the ground.

I squatted down and looked at this “gift” he casually threw to me. I suddenly burst into tears of laughter.

I deleted all of the photos and contact information about him from my cell phone for a long time. I then went straight to the airport.

“Do you want a window seat?” The staff asked in front of the check-in counter.

I answered softly, “No need. There's nothing good to see here.”

Benedict, I would never see you again in the future!