The fake daughter claimed I stole her jewelry, and anger snapped through my brother.

Not only did he pull me straight into court, but he even brought in the top lawyer to stand for her.

Sentenced for three years, I was marked as a thief.

Before I entered prison, the lawyer quietly warned him, “Just frighten her for a moment. If she truly ends up in prison, your sister’s whole life will collapse!”

My brother’s expression stayed calm. “Taking someone’s things isn’t small. She must learn her lesson.”

“As for what comes later, I’ll take responsibility for her.”

Three years later, when I stepped out of prison, he reached his reddened eyes toward me and said, “Now you understand you were wrong, right? Come on, come home with me.”

However, I only moved back with a blank face, slipping away from his hand.

I had already taken in another brother in my heart.

He said he trusted me.

——

Realizing I avoided him, my brother shot me a surprised look. But his hand didn’t pull back; instead, it reached toward me again, fast and firm.

“Evie, why are you avoiding me? Did anyone give you trouble in there?”

When he spoke, his throat sounded rough, as if his voice had been scraped dry.

I tried several times to pull my hand free, but his hold didn’t loosen, so I could only answer in a quiet tone, “No.”

He breathed out softly, tightening his hold a little more.

“That’s good. I saw people online say that the place isn’t meant for humans. As long as no one bullied you, then that’s good…”

Looking at his relief and the redness in his eyes, I could only smile bitterly at myself.

Brother, wasn’t the one who pushed every step to send me inside…was you?

What good was your concern then?

He smiled, almost trying too hard, tugging me toward the car. “Didn’t you always love noise and big crowds? I arranged a welcome-back dinner for you.”

“Come on, let’s go home.”

I turned and looked at the prison. Inside, I had come to see another brother, whose name was Louie Knight.

Since he had been jailed after being set up for economic charges, he still had one month left before getting out.

We already had an agreement: one month later, I would go pick him up when he walked out, and then live with him.

Thinking about the things my father left behind at home before he passed, I eventually sat in my brother’s car.

On the way, he reached over and rubbed my short buzz-cut, half reminding and half warning, “Evie, you can’t steal things anymore. This is your lesson.”

I tightened my fingers.

During the past three years, I had asked the guards countless times to pass words to him, saying I never took Rosie’s things, that she set me up.

However, he never accepted it. So this time, I didn’t try to explain again.

I only nodded as if agreeing with him. “Okay.”

Smiling in contentment, he brought me back.

As soon as the door opened, with a loud pop, colorful strips shot into the air.

Rosie Mitchell, whom I hadn’t seen in three years, held a party popper and smiled with arched eyes. “Evie, welcome home!”

She behaved in a way that showed how much she missed me longingly.

In contrast to the past, she didn’t resemble the harsh, jealous girl who had framed me for theft.

I walked past her shoulder without acknowledging her.

Her smile paused for a moment, and she looked toward my brother with an uneasy expression. “Why isn’t Evie saying anything to me? Is she still upset with me?”

Jude Mitchell gently patted her head and said, “Evie just came out. She might not be used to everything yet. It’s not your fault.”

I had already stepped into the bedroom and opened the drawer under the bed.

After seeing Dad’s old photos and the ring still lying there, I finally breathed out slowly.

Jude stood by the door and softly asked, “Evie, want to come out and eat? You’ve gotten so thin. I can see your ribs.”

I slid the drawer shut and walked out with him.

While we were eating, Rosie casually asked.

“Evie, how was life in there? I heard it gets really messy. Is that right?”

“Not messy. You can read books and newspapers every day, and after eating, you return to the dorm.”

“That sounds pretty nice, not as hard as I pictured.”

While she spoke, a small look of letdown passed through Rosie’s eyes.

Jude placed a peeled shrimp on my plate and chuckled. “Now that you’re back, don’t mention anything from inside. Treat it as something you went through and leave it behind.”

Rosie’s eyes turned dull for a moment, and she stayed quiet.

After a short pause, as if something came to mind, she hurried into the bedroom and brought out a small fancy box, handing it to me.

“Evie, this is a gift I got ready for you. Congrats on getting out of prison!”

I didn’t take it and kept eating in silence.

She didn’t seem bothered, still smiling while she lifted the lid.

A pearl necklace rested inside, simple and classy. Right when I glanced at it, my eyes narrowed, and a sudden coldness swept over me.

Rosie pushed the necklace toward me.

Her expression slowly turned into something disgusting, her smile turning strange and cold.

“What’s wrong, Evie? Isn’t this the necklace you liked the most? You liked it so much you even took it.”

“Now that I’m handing it to you, aren’t you glad?”

That pearl necklace had been a gift Jude bought for Rosie.

It had also been the item that sent me to prison for three years, the thing behind everything.

After Dad lost his life on the battlefield, Mom took the funeral compensation and ran off, leaving only me and my brother to rely on each other.

He quit high school and wandered through all kinds of rough paths before finally starting a business and building his own company.

After he made money, he adopted Rosie, who also lost her father, and brought her home.

At the start, I refused, but Jude convinced me, “Rosie had it as hard as we did. At least you still have me, but she has no one.”

“Evie, be open-minded. It’s only adding another pair of utensils.”

But even though he said that, my brother treated her even better than he treated me.

From the beginning, it felt like he had wanted to raise a new little sister, giving her everything he had never given me.

Jewelry, accessories, bags, anything Rosie asked for, she received.

In only two years, he spent more than ten million.

That was money he earned with his own hardship, countless nights drinking for work, throwing up until the room spun, yet still pushing himself to drink again.

Since I worried about his money, I repeatedly told him not to buy too much, but Rosie took that to heart.

She hid her jewelry under my pillow and then cried to my brother, saying I stole it.

Out of anger, Jude forced me to kneel in the rain and admit what I’d done wrong.

“How could the Mitchell family have a daughter like you? Dad was a soldier, and I’ve lived honestly without doing anything wrong.”

“Of all the people to learn from, you learn from that mother who ran off with the money?”

“Did I not give you enough to eat or wear? Is that why you steal?”

Even while burning with fever, I cried and told him I hadn’t taken anything, but he still wouldn’t believe me.

By the next day, he had already found a top lawyer and took me to court.

He was my real brother, yet in the courtroom he stood on Rosie’s side and spoke for her.

At the final judgment, I received three years and was branded a thief.

Before I was sent away, relatives, friends, and even the lawyer urged him not to push things so far, saying that I was a girl and three years in prison would destroy my life.

But my brother refused to back down, even cutting ties with everyone just to make sure I went in.

“Evie won’t be ruined. I work to support her. Even if she is ruined, I can look after her for the rest of her life.”

“But she stole, she has to learn a lesson!”

During those three years, he showed up every month, asking if I understood my mistake.

But I never met him; I only asked the guards to send out one message. “I didn’t steal the money.”

Every time he walked away, the prison guard would breathe out and say, “Your brother doesn’t believe you.”

Disappointment kept coming, and I didn’t know when it slowly turned into hopelessness.

I felt like the whole world had left me behind; I once had a brother who cared about me, but now even he was gone.

When I saw that pearl necklace again, my mind completely collapsed.

I turned the box over in panic.

With the necklace breaking apart, the pearls dropped to the floor and scattered in a trail of clattering rolls.

Rosie stood frozen in surprise, unsure of what to do.

Jude’s face darkened immediately. “Rosie is giving you a gift out of kindness. She doesn’t even blame you anymore. What are you doing?”

I shook in the chair, my face as pale as paper.

He dragged me up roughly. “You think just because you’re out, you can throw tantrums? Hurry and pick up the pearls and say sorry to Rosie!”

Say sorry?

How could I ever say sorry?

I pushed my brother hard, ran out the door, and rushed into the freezing wind.

With the wind biting cold, I felt grief and shame tighten painfully in my chest.

I didn’t want to stay home.

If not for taking back my father’s things, I never would’ve returned with him.

I didn’t want to be blamed ever again.

I didn’t want to bear even a small wrong ever again.

My brother soon ran after me and caught my wrist.

He frowned deeply and scolded, “Where are you going? You spent three years in prison and still didn’t fix your attitude?”

I couldn’t hold back anymore.

I pulled my hand loose, my eyes turning red.

“Is she giving me that necklace out of kindness or spite? Jude, can you really not see it?”

“I’m your real sister. You already sent me in once, what more do you want from me?”

“It was for your own good!”

His voice turned cold. “Since you dared to steal, you must accept punishment. Otherwise, how will you ever change that bad habit?”

“Should I pretend nothing happened and let you keep going down the wrong path?”

Hearing him, I felt a deep, painful emptiness open inside my chest.

All my life, when had I ever taken anything?

Why would I take Rosie’s necklace? For what reason?

Why couldn’t he think it through?

Why couldn’t he trust me?

With tears streaming, the hurt and hopelessness from those three years came rushing back..

I let go of explaining, once more.

Looking at my short prison haircut, my brother lowered his voice as if giving up.

“Evie, everything I did was for you. You spent three years inside, but I’ve set up a future for you.”

“My company will be yours someday. I only wanted to give you a small punishment, nothing that would truly hurt you.”

“Come home with me. Don’t run around anymore.”

He took my hand and brought me back. I went with him like a machine, empty, saying nothing.

At the door’s opening, Rosie saw him come in with me, and a quick look of surprise crossed her eyes.

Even with all that, it seemed she never thought my brother would bring me home. But I only felt worn out.

I hid in the bedroom and didn’t come out again.

Late at night, Rosie rushed into my room. I opened my eyes on instinct, but she assumed I was asleep.

She moved her hand under my pillow and pushed something beneath it.

I kept quiet. I left it there.

She was so eager, I had barely come back, and she was already using the same trick again.

I wanted to see whether my brother would choose to trust me this time.

The next morning, just as expected, she cried while accusing me again, saying I had taken her necklace.

“Evie, if you want it, you can just tell me. I gave you the necklace yesterday; you were the one who didn’t want it.”

“Or do you just enjoy taking things?”

My brother’s face went dark, and he set his jaw as he looked at me.