Holly was staring curiously at the dead body surrounded by the crowd. “Poor thing,” she said with sorrow.

Everyone around her praised how kind she was after hearing that.

I was the only person who knew how vicious and shameless she truly was underneath her obedient facade.

If it was not for her, I would not have ended up in a dead-end and had no other choice but to kill myself. However, it was too late now. My father had abandoned me for her.

Both of them had indirectly caused my death.

After the director called the cops, he said worriedly, “Our filming progress will be affected by this. But it’s truly a sad situation. Even though I can’t see the deceased girl’s face clearly, I can tell that she was young. What a shame.”

Alba took a few steps back. His eyes were cold and callous. He said indifferently, “The children nowadays are too fragile. They kill themselves over any little challenge. Serves them right!”

Did I deserve that? I laughed as tears rolled down my face. I could not even stand anymore. I curled up into a ball from pain.

Was I not dead? My illness could not hurt me anymore, so why was I still experiencing such pain?

Maybe it was because words could kill too.

Holly said with a smile, “Alba, don’t worry. I’m not like her. But… When I saw this poor girl, it made me think of Paige Powell. She hasn’t texted me back in a few days. I’m a little worried about her.”

Holly was still trying her best to make me look bad in my father’s eyes.

Alba sneered. He said indifferently, “She’s quite stubborn and doesn’t listen to me. She’s exactly like her mother. Forget about her.”

His smile turned even colder when he mentioned my mother.

“But… it’s too dangerous for her to always roam around alone as a girl. What if she runs into some trouble? That’d be bad.” Holly looked a little bit hesitant.

However, I could tell that even though her words were full of concern for me, her eyes were vicious. She really hoped I would get into trouble and die.

Alba sighed and patted her head. “Holly, you’re too kind. That’s why she always bullies you. I don’t care about a daughter like that. I’d be relieved if she got into trouble and died.”

His words pained me even more. Alba would not be upset about my death at all.

Even if he found out that I was the dead girl lying in front of him, he would be indifferent about it.

I was not a planned child for Alba.

He was the heir to Powell Corporation, but he did not want to inherit the business. Instead, he went into the entertainment industry.

As an outstanding person, he succeeded anywhere he went. Hence, very soon, he became popular in the entertainment industry and a well-known actor.

My mother, Sunny, was also an actress, but hardly known.

They met at a banquet dinner. Someone spiked Alba’s drink, and he accidentally slept with Sunny.

She got pregnant with me after that night.

Alba thought that Sunny was the one who drugged him, so he began to hate my mother. He despised using any tricks in the industry.

However, it was not Sunny’s fault. She was adhering to her company’s request to attend a banquet dinner when she lost her virginity. Then, Alba blacklisted her from the industry.

She was forced to leave the career that she loved, and she fell into depression. Due to that, she did not realize that she was pregnant with me. When she found out, it was already too late to do anything about it.

She could not bear to abort me, but her life became more difficult after giving birth to me.

So she looked for Alba and told him about my existence.

Due to that, Alba became even more convinced that Sunny was the one who plotted the whole thing and drugged him.

That was why even though he had accepted me and raised me, he did not regard me as his daughter.

My birth was a mistake. My father did not love my mother, so he did not like me either.

But when I was very young, he used to hug me gently. Maybe he felt fatherly love after seeing me, or maybe it was due to some other reason.

However, that stopped after Holly was born.

Holly was the daughter of his best friend. He brought her back and raised her as his own.

He treated her better than me, his biological daughter.

Actually, I could have lived longer, but I needed a lot of money.

I suddenly started to have nosebleeds. When I could not stop the bleeding, I went for a check-up at the hospital. The doctor told me that I was too late, and I was already seriously sick.

It was then that I realized the reason why I was having poor health for the past two years. I kept having various pains all over my body.

Due to unpleasant childhood memories, I did not visit a doctor for the longest time. Hence, it was too late when I finally did it.

When I was younger, Alba always liked Holly more than me, so I kept trying to copy what Holly did.

I was very happy whenever I got even a small fraction of his attention.

Holly noticed my changes.

In her eyes, I was a lousy copycat and a laughing stock. However, she pretended to not know that. Instead, she taught me a horrible lesson.

When I saw Alba taking care of Holly when she was sick, I pretended to be sick as well.

That day, it was the first time Alba treated me so gently ever since Holly joined our family. He carefully carried me to the hospital and took my temperature by putting his palm against my forehead to feel its warmth.

However, I was afraid that the thermometer would expose my lie. So when Alba was not looking, I tried to put the thermometer into a warm glass of water.

Holly suddenly appeared behind me and grabbed my hand that was holding the thermometer. She said smugly to Alba, “Shame on Paige! She’s pretending to be sick to copy me!

“Paige, this is not a good habit. As your elder sister, I can’t let you lie!”

I did not know how to put up a front when I was younger, so I froze.

Alba could tell that I was lying, so he looked at me with anger.

“Dad, it’s not like that…” I sobbed as I tried to explain myself. The next moment, I could not breathe.

It was because I saw how cold Alba’s eyes were while looking at me.

“What a disappointment you are, Paige.

“You’re as cunning as your mother. You’re lying to me at such a young age?

“Tell me, how much money do you want from me?”

I felt my blood run cold.

“No… I just want you to see me and hug me more. I’m not plotting against you!”

I cried. I could not prove myself, so I felt really wronged.

Alba stared at me in disappointment for a while before he said in a low voice, “Initially, I thought you’re not like her. Now, it’s clear that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

He turned around and walked away with Holly in his arms.

I was left alone in the hospital and cried all night.

From that day onwards, I was terrified of hospitals. They were places that reminded me of that horrible memory.

It was also from that day onwards that Alba started to distance himself from me.

I was obedient and good at my studies. I tried my best to get good grades, but he felt that I was just pretending.

When I was having a high fever and was unwilling to go to the hospital, he thought that I was feigning being sick to get his sympathy.

Regardless of what I did, I was wrong.