My brothers spent less and less time with me. However, Sophia’s name came up more and more often in their conversations.

Little by little, all their love and attention shifted to her.

They bought her a small apartment near the company and took turns visiting her every day.

No matter how busy Damon was, the moment Sophia called, he would drop everything to go to her.

Matt flew overseas just to pick out a sapphire to be set in a crown for her birthday.

Chris booked out an entire amusement park to fulfill her childhood dream of being a princess.

My brothers said, “Sophia’s had such a hard life. We want her to experience what it’s like to be a princess.”

However, when Damon got a call from Sophia, I had just collapsed at the villa.

The butler was trying to tell him about my condition, but he didn’t even react. Instead, he snapped impatiently.

“If she’s not feeling well, take her to the hospital! I’m not a doctor. What do you want me to do? Sophia’s scared because of a nightmare. I’m going to be with her.”

He used to drop everything if I so much as had a headache.

When Matt was preparing Sophia’s birthday gift, he forgot that the day before hers was my birthday.

I called him, only for him to say, “You’ve always had big birthday parties. Skipping one year won’t matter. Sophia’s never had a birthday party. We want to make this one special for her.”

Though he had once told me, “Ava is our princess. Every birthday celebration is a tribute to her growing up.”

Chris once promised he’d rent an amusement park for my eighteenth birthday. However, after our parents passed, that promise was never fulfilled.

Yet, he’d done it for someone else.

The first time my brothers brought Sophia to the villa, I was lying weakly in bed, suffering the aftereffects of saving them. The maid was helping me take my medicine.

Sophia looked at me strangely and said to my brothers, “Rich girls really live differently. Like princesses, just lying there with people waiting on them. When I was sick, I still had to work to support myself.”

There was a flash of embarrassment on my brothers’ faces. After she left, they dismissed most of the housekeepers and caretakers, even the nutritionist who managed my health.

“Sophia’s right, Ava. You’re too spoiled. You’re not even seriously ill. You lie around all day and let people serve you.”

“Exactly. You’re grown up now. You need to start taking care of yourself and stop relying on others so much. Learn from Sophia. Look at how independent and capable she is.”

So, I was forced to clean my room, do household chores, and even cook clumsily on my own.

My soft hands blistered from the hot oil, but not one of them showed me any sympathy.

Chris frowned in disgust.

“Sophia was already cooking by the time she was six. You’re twenty-three and you’ve never stepped into a kitchen.”

Matt gave me a scornful look. “No wonder Sophia says you’re spoiled. We really did coddle you too much.”

Their attitudes grew colder by the day. They even forced me to be independent, like Sophia.

However, ever since that surgery, my body’s been incredibly weak. I couldn’t handle heavy labor.

I worked myself to the point of coughing blood, yet Damon would just cover his nose in disgust and say, “Where’d you even get that blood? You’re going all out just to fake illness, aren’t you? Is it because we’re close to Sophia? You hate her that much that you’ll compete over everything?”

Matt didn’t even look at me, busy texting Sophia.

“No wonder she said you’re manipulative. If she hadn’t exposed you, we’d still be fooled by your act.”

Chris outright locked me in my room.

“Stop pretending. Why can’t you be more like Sophia? If you were half as good as her, we wouldn’t hate you this much. Reflect on yourself. Don’t come out until you’ve figured it out!”

But, without part of my liver, I can’t overexert myself. Without a kidney, I have to eat carefully. Living with a mechanical heart, I’ll be sickly for life. I’d never be like Sophia!

I had tried so hard just to stay alive. Damon, Matt, Chris, can’t you stop hating me?

My soul followed my three brothers to the hospital where Sophia was staying.

She was in the most luxurious VIP ward, attended by a full professional medical team. Even the roses on her bedside table had been flown in from Bulgravia that morning.

Damon went to discuss the surgery with the doctor, while Matt and Chris stayed by Sophia’s side to soothe her nerves.

During the operation, all three waited anxiously outside the OR until the surgery was complete.

Afterward, Damon carefully helped her sip some water. She blinked innocently and asked, “Damon, where’s Ava? I haven’t seen her at all. Even when I was sick, she didn’t come and visit me. Does she still not like me?”

Damon gently wiped the water from her lips, his expression darkening when he heard my name.

“She’s probably still sulking. Her attitude’s gotten worse lately, always hiding and pulling these disappearing acts! Don’t worry about her. You just focus on recovering.”

Matt and Chris chimed in as well.

“Exactly. We know of her little tricks. Sophia, your only job right now is to get better. Don’t waste your energy worrying about someone unimportant.”

I floated there in the air, silently listening to them belittle me. The pain in my chest was unbearable.

So this is what I had become in their eyes—someone insignificant. Now that they had a new little sister to dote on, I was easily discarded.

Even when they brought Sophia home from the hospital, none of them thought to call me.

This time, they didn’t take her back to the apartment near the company. They returned to the villa and moved her into my room.

Damon even rehired my old team of nutritionists and brought back the personal maids, all to serve Sophia around the clock.

Sophia looked around at the room full of luxury items that once belonged to me, now all hers, and smiled with satisfaction.

Then she turned to my brothers, a fragile expression on her face.

“Where’s Ava? Didn’t you guys say I could try her cooking one day?”

Prompted by her words, Damon finally picked up his phone to call me.

However, no matter how many times he dialed, no one picked up.

Damon smashed his phone on the table and cursed under his breath.

“She’s been spoiled rotten. Won’t even answer my calls or come home. Is she running away?

“I’d like to see how long she can keep this up. If she’s so tough, no need to come back!”

“Chris, go change the lock code. Let’s see how long she can survive out there without anything!”

Chris nodded and quickly changed the villa’s door code to Sophia’s birthday.

Sophia feigned concern.

“Isn’t that a bit much? I’m just staying here temporarily. Ava is the rightful owner of this home.”

Matt didn’t even think before replying.

“You’re going to be living here from now on. Even if Ava comes back, the villa has plenty of rooms. She can pick another one.”

At that moment, the housekeeper, Maisie, finally couldn’t stay silent.

“Sirs, Ms. Blythe’s never been away from home this long. What if something happened to her? She’s a good girl. She doesn’t just disappear like this.”

She hesitated for a long time before gathering the courage to add, “Ms. Blythe’s always thinking about you.

“She said Mr. Damon gets cold easily, Mr. Matt has chronic back pain, and Mr. Chris can’t sleep well. So she knitted a scarf for Mr. Damon, sewed a pillow for Mr. Matt, and made a music box for Mr. Chris.”

Maisie took out the gifts and placed them gently on the table, wiping her eyes.

“She spent so long preparing them. She was going to give them to you on her birthday, but none of you came home that day.”

Looking at the gifts I had prepared so carefully, tears streamed down my face again.

It had taken me two whole months to make those gifts. Because of my body’s condition, I had to rest for a long time after every thirty minutes of work.

Even so, I still fell ill twice during that period.

The last time, my three brothers had brought Sophia along and saw me during one of those episodes.

After that, everyone who took care of me was dismissed, and I was forced to take on heavy chores. I never took those gifts out again.

Hearing what Maisie said, my three brothers fell into a long silence.

Damon cleared his throat and spoke with difficulty.

“Ava used to be such a good girl. It was only after Mom and Dad passed that she started lying. I failed to raise her right. But if she comes back this time and is willing to admit her mistakes, she’s still my little sister.”

Matt and Chris looked a bit down as well.

“No matter if Ava ran away from home on purpose or not, for Mom and Dad’s sake, we’ll forgive her.”

Noticing the tense atmosphere, Sophia quickly clutched her side where her kidney was and cried out.

“My kidney feels really uncomfortable. Is it because Ava’s kidney had problems? I just found a bunch of nightclub membership cards in her room. Could she have been out partying every night? Maybe her kidneys weren’t in good shape…”

She pulled out a few black cards, and my brothers’ faces instantly turned grim.

Chris said with disgust, “Some people just can’t be taught. Damon, stop blaming yourself. Let’s just pretend we never had this sister!”

“From now on, no one is allowed to mention her again. Even if she wants to come back, I won’t let her through that door!” Damon said angrily.

The three of them anxiously gathered around Sophia and rushed her to the hospital.

Maisie wanted to speak up again, but Damon cut her off coldly.

“You’re fired. Pack your things and get out. We don’t want to see you here when we return!”

They left in such a hurry that they bumped into the table. The scarf and pillow fell to the floor, but not one of them looked down. They stepped right over them.

The music box, still playing a soft melody, shattered on the floor the moment Damon picked Sophia up.

After they were gone, Maisie quietly kneeled down. Tears streamed down her face as she gathered the trampled gifts into her arms.

I ran after them, crying and yelling, “Please, don’t fire Maisie! She’s taken care of us since we were born. This house is her home, too. If you drive her out, where will she go?”

However, no one could hear me.

They brought Sophia into a hospital room. Matt and Chris tended to her carefully, while Damon went downstairs to find a doctor and ask about post-operation complications.

As he passed by the nurses’ station, he overheard several nurses deep in a heated discussion.

“Oh god, how terrifying! That’s the Blythes’ private hospital. How could something like this happen?”

“Yeah! The police have the place cordoned off. I wonder if it was a murder. She died so horribly!”

“Who knows? I heard the body was completely mangled. There was a huge hole cut open right where the kidney was.”

At the words “the Blythes’ private hospital,” Damon stopped in his tracks. His face turned pale instantly.

He spun around, grabbed one of the nurses by the arm, and demanded coldly.

“What did you just say? What happened at the Blythes’ private hospital?”