When we got the call from the police, Evan’s face was filled with disbelief.

“What are you talking about? Stop joking around,” he said, his eyes reddening as he clutched the officer’s sleeve. “Harriet can’t be dead! She can’t be!”

The officer gently pressed him into a chair and sighed. “I understand this is hard to accept, but we’ve apprehended the thug responsible. We’ll do our best to get justice for your wife.”

My sister Harriet had been violated by some thug the previous night.

After he had satisfied his twisted desires, Harriet, unable to bear the disgrace, ended her life in a hotel room.

The next day, when the hotel’s cleaning staff came in, they found her lying in a pool of blood, her wrists slashed. Terrified, they called the police.

Evan cried so hard that his voice gave out. On his finger was the ring they had saved up for months to buy, a ring they had worn for less than a month. It seemed unbearably bright now.

I wiped away my tears and helped him to his feet. “Evan, let’s go see Harriet.”

He was so overwhelmed with grief that he collapsed as soon as he stood up, falling into unconsciousness.

…

On the day of her burial, our parents didn’t show up.

To them, Harriet was a failure, a worthless daughter who couldn’t even make something of herself.

Evan spent all his savings to buy her a burial plot in the city center.

That day, it rained heavily. Evan sat alone by the tombstone, drinking bottle after bottle until he vomited blood.

The rain fell harder, and he shivered uncontrollably.

When he finally sobered up a bit, he saw that I was still standing there. He took off his coat and draped it over my shoulders.

“Erin, Harriet’s death wasn’t just some simple accident,” he said with a voice filled with anger. “Why was it that her agent called her, and yet she ended up at that hotel? Why is it that the blame is only being placed on those thugs, without anyone looking deeper into what really happened?

“Someone orchestrated this. I’m going to make them pay.”

It wasn’t long before Evan dropped out of school.

His professor was furious, berating him mercilessly, and in a fit of anger, even threw a book at his head.

Blood streamed down Evan’s face, but his expression didn’t change.

“Evan, from now on, you’re no longer my student. Get out!”

As he left the school, he looked back at the gates one last time, and I could see the reluctance in his eyes. I tugged at his sleeve.

“Evan, you can keep studying. I’ll work to support you. You can use your education to bring down those who wronged us. Please?”

He knelt down and patted my head.

“Erin, I have my own plans. If your parents won’t send you to college, I will. Just focus on studying for another year, and then get into this university, okay?”

I nodded firmly, staring at the university in front of me. I swore I would fulfill the dreams he couldn’t.

After that, I ran away from home.

My parents had planned to marry me off to the son of a wealthy rural family in exchange for a substantial sum of money.

When they realized I was leaving, they cursed at me, telling me never to come back.

I moved into the small home my sister and Evan had built together.

What was once a warm and loving space now felt cold and empty.

I threw myself into my studies, while Evan came home later and later, sometimes drunk, sometimes bruised from fights.

Evan was a proud man, so I never asked what he was doing.

I just knew he was finding his own way to get revenge.

The verdict came quickly: the scum who violated my sister was sentenced to seven years in prison for rape.

Evan was far from satisfied with the outcome. He glared at the man, as if he wanted to tear him apart.

But that lowlife didn’t show a shred of fear. In fact, he even flashed a smug smile at Evan.

As he was being led away, the scum leaned in close to Evan and whispered something.

Whatever it was, it made Evan’s fists clench tight. He lashed out, punching the man square in the face before being restrained by the guards.

The scum just laughed, spitting out the words, “You pathetic worm.”

You pathetic worm.

Those words drained all the fight out of Evan.

His tears flowed freely as he alternated between laughing and crying.

When he finally stopped, he wiped his eyes, took my hand, and led me out of the courtroom.

After that day, Evan grew even more silent. But the money he gave me for living expenses increased steadily.

A year later, when I got accepted into his university, I saw him smile for the first time since Harriet’s death.

On the day I moved in, he drove me to my dorm in a rented car.

As we carried my luggage, I began to overhear whispers around us.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy who played the third lead in that hit show?”

“I think it is! He’s even more handsome in person than on TV!”

“It’s definitely him. His name’s Evan Coleman, right? How could anyone forget that face?”

I was confused, but as more people gathered around, it became clear they were talking about Evan.

From their conversations, I learned that Evan had entered the entertainment industry and played a supporting role in a popular drama.

I had been so focused on my studies over the past year that I hadn’t followed any entertainment news. This revelation caught me by surprise.

Evan was soon surrounded by fans. He signed autographs politely, flashing a warm smile.

“Please take care of my sister,” he said, pressing his hands together in a gesture of gratitude.

After he left, my new roommates bombarded me with questions about him, but I dodged them all.

Then, one of them asked casually, “So, is it true about Evan and Lydia Gibson, the rising star?”

My hand froze mid-motion.

Lydia – the name that appeared on my sister’s phone the night she died.