My mom held my hand as we stood outside the Anderson family estate villa.

Inside, the lights were bright. The party was lavish and loud.

In the middle of the hall, a girl about my age was being held in my dad's arms. My uncle was smiling as he placed a small diamond-studded crown on her head.

Sarah stood nearby with a camera, carefully documenting the moment. "Our little princess Fiona is eight years old today!"

Everyone was there to celebrate her birthday. Everyone adored her.

The warmth was inside. We had nothing.

My nose stung. I looked up at my mom and whimpered, "Mom, why doesn't Dad and Uncle celebrate my birthday? Is it because I'm a bad kid? Do they not like me?"

Tears filled my mom's eyes in an instant. She gently touched my head. "No, Lily. They're the ones who don't deserve to like us."

My uncle happened to turn his head. He spotted us.

His face darkened, and he walked over quickly. "What are you doing here? Standing at the door with a sour face—who are you trying to scare?"

My mom's expression was caught somewhere between a cry and a laugh. "So, Evan, you knew about all of this too?"

My uncle let out a cold snort and looked away. "Sarah spent eight years married to David in secret for your sake. And now, you want to ruin her daughter's birthday party?"

For once, my mom didn't grab his sleeve and scream, "I'm your sister! Why are you always on her side?"

She dropped her head. Her face was eerily calm.

My uncle's eyes flickered with surprise, but his voice stayed hard and cold. "I don't care if this is an act or if you've actually come to your senses. Just behave yourself."

My mom's thin shoulders sagged. A hollow smile slowly tugged at her lips. "I hear you. I'm not going to cause a scene."

My uncle shot us a cold glance and said firmly, "Come inside. Don't just stand at the door. It'll make people talk."

Inside, the heat was blasting, but I felt freezing cold.

My dad didn't come over. He stayed patiently with Fiona, finishing her birthday ceremony.

Only after it was over did he casually walk up to us. There was no guilt on his face.

"Since you already know the truth, I'm not going to hide it anymore. I've been exhausted by all this pretending. If it weren't for that ridiculous excuse you gave me, I would have left you years ago and been with Sarah."

I remember my mom telling me that eight years ago, she was the one who brought Sarah—a poor student she was sponsoring—into our home.

Ever since I was little, my mom would say to me, "Your aunt Sarah had such a hard childhood. We need to be good to her."

Sarah's parents favored boys over girls. Her body was covered in scars. There wasn't a single spot of unmarked skin.

My mom felt sorry for her. Sarah had no one. So my mom gave her everything—her heart, her home. She even made me call Sarah my godmother.

Back then, Sarah's eyes had glistened with tears. Her voice was sincere and emotional. "Claire, Lily—you two are my family."

But this woman, who called us her family, had stolen my dad. She had stolen everyone from us.

Sarah walked over, pretending to be warm and friendly. "Lily, come here. Come to Godmom."

Her hand closed around my wrist. Suddenly, her fingernails dug deep into my skin.

The pain was so sharp I couldn't help but scream. On pure instinct, I shoved her hard.

Sarah stumbled backward, shrieked, and fell to the ground. Her eyes went red in an instant. "Claire, I know I shouldn't have done this to you. But you can't control your feelings! How could you—how could you use Lily to get back at me?"

My mom saw the ugly red marks on my wrist. Furious, she raised her hand to hit Sarah.

But the next second, my uncle grabbed her arm. "Claire, how dare you!"

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and brought a slap down hard across my mom's face.

My mom stood frozen in place, completely stunned.

My uncle looked at his own hand with something like regret in his eyes, but when he spoke, it was still a scolding. "Claire, you started it!"

My dad had already lifted Sarah into his arms gently. His cold gaze locked onto my mom. "Why do you have to drag the kids into grown-up business? You're a rich girl who has everything. Why do you still have to compete with Sarah?"

My mom held her reddened cheek. Tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. "You win, Sarah. All these blind, heartless people—I don't want them anymore. I'm giving them to you."

My dad froze for a moment, then his face flooded with anger. "Claire! Why are you so stubborn? You're the one who did something wrong, and you still dare to talk like that?"

My mom didn't answer. She took my hand and turned to leave.

But my dad chased after us and grabbed her wrist hard. There was a vicious look in his eyes. "Did I say you could leave? You need to explain yourself!"

My uncle also looked completely shocked. Disappointment colored his voice. "No matter how angry you are, you can't say something like that! Claire, do you even have a heart?"

My mom's hand was painfully cold. I held onto her tightly, scared, wanting to comfort her.

But just then, Fiona—who everyone had forgotten about—suddenly let out a scream. "Lily, it's not my fault! Don't push me!"

She lunged at me. Caught off guard, I grabbed onto her, and we both tumbled toward the swimming pool.

The freezing water swallowed me whole. It rushed into my nose and throat, choking, suffocating.

I heard my mom's desperate, heartbroken scream. "Lily! Evan, David, save her—she can't swim!"

My dad and uncle jumped into the water in a panic and swam toward me as hard as they could.

Running on pure instinct, I weakly lifted my small, limp hand. "Dad... Uncle... help..."

I was so close. I could almost touch their hands.

Then Sarah's shrill cry split the air. "David! Help! Fiona's leg is cramping—I can't hold her!"

I watched with my own eyes as the two big hands reaching for me suddenly pulled back.

Without a moment of hesitation, they turned and swam quickly toward Fiona on the other side.

My air ran out. Everything went dark. I started sinking.

The last thing I saw was my mom—who couldn't swim—throwing herself into the water without a second thought. "Lily, don't be scared! Mommy's coming! Mommy's coming to save you!"

I don't know how much time passed. I coughed violently and opened my eyes.

My mom was soaking wet, holding me, crying with relief.

But my dad coldly grabbed her and tore her away from me.

"Claire, look at what you've turned Lily into." He looked down at us with icy eyes. "She's so jealous at such a young age that she'd push Fiona into the water and almost kill her."

The cold seeped all the way through me. I couldn't stop shaking. I tried to defend myself in a small voice. "I didn't push her..."

But my dad cut me off coldly, disappointment all over his face. "Still lying? I don't think you can raise Lily right. I'm giving her to Sarah, so you don't ruin her."

My mom's eyes went wide with terror. She lunged back like a madwoman and wrapped her body around me, protecting me with everything she had. "No! Don't take Lily away from me!"

I held onto her just as tightly, screaming through my sobs. "No! I didn't do anything wrong! I don't want to leave Mommy!"

My mom was desperate and frantic, kicking and biting my dad.

My dad hesitated for a moment. Something flickered in his eyes.

My mom's once-straight spine finally broke. Her red, swollen eyes locked onto his. "David, please don't take Lily away. I'm begging you. It's all my fault. I admit it. I'll give her everything. I'll take Lily and leave. We'll never get in your way again."

Anger rose in my dad's eyes. He pried her fingers off me one by one. "Leave? Where do you think you're taking Lily? Claire, without my permission, you're not going anywhere."

Sarah locked me in a room.

My clothes were still wet. I sniffled quietly, wrapped myself in a blanket, and fell into a deep sleep.

I don't know how much time passed before I suddenly felt myself being lifted into warm arms.

I opened my eyes groggily. My mom was holding me, dirty and disheveled. The countdown above her head had changed to 1.

She touched my burning body and gasped. "You're so hot! Lily, you have a fever!"

My mom didn't care about anything else anymore. She ran for the door with me in her arms.

But at the doorway, Sarah was waiting with several large men. They blocked our way.

My mom held me tighter and glared at her. "What are you trying to do?"

Sarah didn't look weak or gentle at all. She gave a smug smile. "Aren't you so proud of yourself? Weren't you always so high and mighty? Look at you now—what a mess."

My mom's eyes turned red. She screamed, "Get out of my way! If anything happens to Lily, I'll kill you!"

Sarah laughed softly. She raised her hand and slapped my mom across the face. "You still think you're better than me? Dream on. You think you're still that rich girl from before? Everything you had belongs to me now. Your brother and David both chose me."

She waved her hand. We were tied up and dragged to an abandoned half-built building on the outskirts of town.

Sarah had herself tied to a chair too. Her eyes sparkled with pride and defiance.

"Just watch. David will choose me again this time. As for Lily... I'm going to sell her to some village in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to make her suffer a thousand times more than I ever did. Ten thousand times more."

I lay in my mom's arms, terrified and helpless, tears streaming down my face.

My mom gritted her teeth. She picked up a rusty piece of metal and started sawing at the ropes.

My dad arrived quickly. He saw how dirty and broken we looked. Frowning, he started walking toward us.

But before he could say anything, Sarah's crying rang out first. "David, you're finally here! Claire suddenly showed up at the house with a bunch of people... She said you really love her and that you'd definitely choose her... I'm so scared... save me!"

My dad's face went dark. All that was left was cold fury. "Claire, you would do something this cruel just to win me back?"

My mom shook her head desperately, her voice hoarse. "She did this, not me! David, please believe me! Lily has a high fever—please save her!"

My dad stared at her coldly, nothing but distrust in his eyes. "A fever? That's just another one of your pity tricks. I don't want to see you anymore."

He untied Sarah, picked her up, and left without looking back.

The men exchanged glances. They came toward us with ugly intentions. One of them reached out and touched my mom's face. "Poor thing. Your husband doesn't want you anymore. How about we keep you company?"

My mom let out a desperate scream. She broke through the ropes with all her strength, her hands torn and bloody.

She grabbed a rusty iron bar and swung it wildly. "Get away from us! Go away!"

One of the men was hit. He crumpled to the ground in pain.

My mom held me and stumbled outside, trying to run. But she ran straight into my dad, who had turned back.

My dad froze. His face darkened even more. "I was worried, so I came back to save you. But of course, this was all just another one of your schemes."

Behind us, the kidnappers were still chasing. In front of us, my dad didn't believe her.

My mom let out a bitter laugh. She held me tight and backed up step by step to the edge of the stairway.

My dad sighed and reached out his hand to us. "It's dangerous back there. Come here. Go home and apologize to Sarah nicely."

My mom pulled away from his hand. She looked him straight in the eye. "No."

A cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out.

[Do you want to leave this world?]

"Yes."

My mom held me tightly. In my dad's horrified stare, she jumped.

He lunged forward like a madman, but his hands grabbed nothing but air.

My mom's voice was ice cold. "David, goodbye forever."

The next second, our bodies were wrapped in a soft glow and disappeared completely before his eyes.