Kayla stood there, staring at the photo on the wall and it finally clicked; this room wasn’t hers anymore.

Stephanie's voice broke the silence. "You must be used to smaller spaces from your time in prison, right? I thought you might struggle with a bigger room, so I moved here. Hope that’s okay with you," she said, smiling sweetly.

Ever since Stephanie had joined the family, she had always had her eye on Kayla’s room. However, back then, Kayla had been the one in charge and even their father never dared to say no to her.

"Just go ahead and sleep, Kayla won’t mind," Lionel added with a smile, stepping in. He hadn’t smiled at her once since she got out of prison, so it felt strange now, like a jab to her chest.

She didn’t even bother to respond, just gave him a quick glance and felt a sharp ache in her heart. It was clear no one here was happy to have her back—not even Lionel.

Later, after getting some sleep, Kayla woke up, but it wasn’t the same. The bed at home felt too soft after years on a hard mattress and her back ached.

She headed downstairs and found the food already half-cold on the table.

"Kayla, that’s just leftovers. It's probably better than whatever they fed you in prison, though. You can eat it," Stephanie said, snuggling into Ferris’s side, her smile all sweetness.

Kayla looked at the half-eaten food, the mess on the table and then met Lionel’s eyes. For a split second, their gazes locked before he quickly looked away.

It stung. He had learned how to turn a blind eye to her.

Suddenly, she lost all appetite and walked out into the backyard, heading straight for the tree her mother had planted before she passed.

Kayla stood frozen, staring at the barren backyard. The tree her mother had planted was gone and all that remained was a wasteland.

She slowly walked toward the stump, her eyes catching something that made her stomach drop—white bones carelessly tossed aside. Her hand shook as she picked one up. It took a moment for her to process what she was holding.

It was a dog’s bone. Skippy. Her beloved dog had starved to death here.

Her breath hitched and tears filled her eyes as she clutched the bone. "Skippy... I’m so sorry."

Before she could collect herself, she heard footsteps approaching. It was Stephanie, looking at her with a smirk. "It’s just a dog. What’s the big deal? It ruined my flowers, so it got what it deserved."

Kayla’s lip curled in disgust. Apparently, flowers were more valuable than a life.

She gently laid the bones back in place and turned to head upstairs.

Lionel was waiting at the top of the stairs, his gaze fixed on her. He followed her as she walked into her room, catching her just as she pulled out her phone.

"Hello, police? I—" she started, but Lionel grabbed the phone from her hand.

"What do you think you’re doing?" he snapped.

Kayla met his eyes, her voice thick with emotion. "She killed my dog."

Lionel paused, his expression unreadable, before he hung up the phone. "It’s just a dog, Kayla. She’s your sister. Are you seriously calling the cops on her? Stop making a scene. You’re embarrassing yourself."

Kayla stared at him, her heart sinking. For the first time, the man she had loved felt like a stranger.

Embarrassing? When he had nothing, she had never once judged him for it.

"Did you know about this all along?" Kayla asked, her voice sharp.

Lionel tossed the phone on the bed, his tone softening. "Stephanie didn’t mean it. She’s young, she didn’t understand. It’s over now."

‘Over?’ Kayla’s heart pounded. ‘Skippy was my family for five years!’ She stared at him, her anger and pain rising in her chest like a tidal wave.

"Whose side are you on, Lionel? You knew I was wronged, but you didn’t even care to hear me out. Is everything for her?" Her voice cracked as he turned and walked out, leaving her alone with the mess of emotions swirling in her mind.

She sank back into the past, her memories crashing into her like a storm.

Back in college, Kayla was something of a legend. Smart, beautiful—everyone thought she was untouchable. She could’ve had anyone, but she wasn’t interested in the rich, entitled boys trying to impress her.

She had bigger dreams. Even with offers to study abroad, she stayed. Kayla had promised her mother she would join her company and she did. She created something that made waves in her industry.

People said someone like her would never settle down, but then she posted her engagement photos. She had it all—except, apparently, someone who truly had her back.

And then there was Lionel. He wasn’t just the guy who saved her life after that car crash.

He was the guy who pulled her from the wreckage, just before the car exploded. After that, they really got to know each other.

Turned out, they had more in common than she realized—he had been a student at her school too.

Lionel was always there, showing up every morning with breakfast for Kayla, no matter how cold or stale it was.

He knew exactly what she liked and made sure to be by her side, day and night. Slowly, they fell for each other and decided to build a life together. But five years later, he wasn’t the same person anymore.

On the morning of her mother’s death anniversary, the rain drizzled outside the mansion.

“Who bought this white lily? It’s bad luck!” Stephanie sneered, tossing it aside.

Kayla walked downstairs, expressionless, giving it a quick glance. “It’s mine.”

Ferris appeared from the side, frowning. “What? Are you hoping I’ll die or something?”

Kayla shrugged. “You forgot today’s my mom’s death anniversary.” She didn’t feel like saying more and turned to head back to her room.

Just as she was about to leave, Stephanie was already packed and ready. “I’ll go with you to see your mom. Can I come?”

Kayla shot her a quick look. “No need.”

Lionel, though, ignored Kayla’s words and took the bag from Stephanie’s hand. “Let’s go then. We’ll go together,” he said, not caring at all about Kayla’s refusal.

It wasn’t surprising to her—he knew how much today meant to her, but still treated it like it was no big deal.

The drive wasn’t long, just half an hour.

When they got to the cemetery, Kayla immediately noticed her mother’s grave. It was covered in dust, with weeds growing all around it.

Compared to the others, it looked abandoned, like no one had been here while she was away.

Before Kayla could say anything, Stephanie started crying. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t take care of Kayla. She ended up in jail and we haven’t visited you in five years. You always taught us to be good people and even though Kayla’s made mistakes, we won’t forget her. Don’t worry.”

Stephanie kept going on about her mistakes and Kayla, pissed off, yanked a bunch of weeds from the grave and tossed them at her feet.

Her eyes went icy, glaring right at Stephanie. “This is my mom, not yours! Stop pretending to be the perfect daughter. You haven’t been here in five years. You don’t even know how I ended up in prison!”

Stephanie’s face flickered with panic and she grabbed Lionel’s sleeve without thinking. Lionel stepped in front of her, but Kayla couldn’t believe it—there he was, standing in her way.

“Kayla, how can you talk to your sister like that? She’s just speaking the truth! You broke the law, that’s on you, not her!” Lionel said, his voice firm.

Kayla just sneered, her eyes still locked on the tombstone. “Is that so?”

She had known for a while now that her family didn’t have her back. The first thing she did after getting out of prison was track down the person in charge of the security footage.

Since Lionel wouldn’t help her, she would do it herself. She’d learned the hard way that trusting anyone but herself wasn’t an option.

She had spent a lot of money to get the contact details of the fired employees—money her mom had secretly saved for her, money most people would never see in a lifetime.

She was going to meet them and this was the first time she would step out since being released.

She dressed quickly, determined to get things done on her own. But just as she was about to leave, Lionel stopped her. “Kayla, where are you going?”

Kayla slowed down, trying to hide what she was up to. “Just going out to pick up a few things.”

"I'll drive you," Lionel offered.

"No need," Kayla replied flatly.

He hesitated, then grabbed a jacket from the couch and handed it to her. "It’s cold outside. Put this on."

Kayla paused, looking at him, trying to make sense of his actions. But she couldn’t figure it out. "I’m fine," she said, but Lionel didn’t let it go, pulling the jacket over her shoulders.

She didn’t argue, too worn out to care anymore.

As she drove, Kayla replayed the earlier scene in her mind. Nothing could change what had happened, but it didn’t stop the anger from bubbling up.

She had finally gotten her hands on the surveillance footage, she’d seen Stephanie steal the account books with her own eyes.

Kayla gripped her fists. Five years of waiting and now she wanted revenge. She wanted Stephanie to feel what she had felt—pain, loss, betrayal. She wasn’t going to let this go.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. Stephanie was sitting at a table, sipping tea like she had all the time in the world.

But it was the man sitting across from her that made Kayla's heart drop—he was from the rival company, the one who had tried to steal her mother’s tech.

Kayla watched as Stephanie handed him a stack of documents. It all clicked. They were planning to take everything, the company, the money, everything her mother had left behind.

She never thought Stephanie would go this far.

Later, when she got back home, Stephanie was there waiting. "Where are you off to this time?" she asked, her voice too sweet. "Looking for a job?"

She smiled a little too knowingly. "I heard from Lionel you're job hunting. I’m the financial director now. You can just work for me. No need to go out and look elsewhere."