“You’re a piggy or what, eating so fast,” Shawn said gently as he stroked my head.

Back then, I wasn’t crying because I was hungry.

Rather, it was because he had been caught by the orphanage director stealing ham sandwiches, and the director beat him mercilessly with a wooden stick.

He clutched the ham sandwiches tightly to his chest, and when he handed them to me, his whole body was covered in bruises.

There were several bloody scratches on his gaunt face, yet his eyes shone brightly as he smiled and urged me to eat quickly.

“You’re hopeless, aren’t you? I’ll have to earn a fortune someday just to support you,” Shawn said with little thought and much carefreeness.

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my cheeks as I lowered my head further.

It was the first time anyone had ever been so kind to me.

I was really moved.

Therefore, back then, I lent him my rabbit’s foot luck. He could then steal ham sandwiches without getting caught by the director.

From then on, everything was smooth sailing for him. Even the director began to treat him kindly.

As for me, I never went hungry again. Whenever Shawn got something good, he would always think of me first.

A sharp pain in my stomach yanked me back to reality.

I was thrown into a van, and Shawn vanished from my sight.

When I awoke, I found myself inside a cramped space.

Shivers ran down my spine as a thought struck me.

My body went numb, as if someone had plugged live wires directly into me.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

I suffered from claustrophobia, something that Shawn knew.

My heart clenched as tears welled up in my nearly dry eyes and my pulse quickened.

A deep sense of unease washed over me. I kept screaming for help, but gradually, I felt my breathing grow labored.

A small speaker inside the space crackled.

“This is what you deserve, Snow Crawford. If it weren’t for you, Summer wouldn’t have died.”

I couldn’t hear what Shawn said afterward as my consciousness began to fade.

I was the one who saved Summer Manning.

You were the one who killed her.

Why was I the one suffering?

…

“Hey, dummy. Did you not hear what I said?”

A haughty female voice rang in my ear.

My mind thundered. The claustrophobic terror hadn’t yet faded when Shawn’s expressionless face came into view.

I thought this was the afterlife.

A wave of intense grievance surged within me. I swung my arm in a full arc and slapped Shawn hard across the face.

He stared wide-eyed at me, clearly not having processed what had happened.

After letting out a startled cry, Summer, who had spoken earlier, rushed forward and shoved me to the ground.

“Are you crazy? You don’t even respond when I talk to you, and now you hit Shawn? Have you gone mad?”

Summer gently touched Shawn’s swollen cheek with concern.

“Shawn, I told you so. Your little sister here is problematic, but you wouldn’t believe me. Now she’s even hitting you.”

Perhaps still unsatisfied, she glared at me with fury and lunged for another kick, which I dodged.

“You dare dodge?”

Seconds later, Summer’s screams filled the air. Like a rabid tigress, I pounced on her, grabbed her hair, and yanked it viciously.

Strands of hair floated to the ground. My eyes were brimming with tears of hurt and rage, yet my hands grew more brutal with each tug.

It was you, damned woman. You made my life a living hell.

It was all you. All of it, you.

By the time Shawn reacted, I had already beaten Summer down onto the ground.

Only then did some emotions return to his face.

He shoved me aside angrily and carefully lifted Summer into his arms.

I saw clearly. Both his hands were trembling.

I frowned. Only then did I notice the stinging pain in my hand.

It finally dawned on me that I had been reborn, returning to the time when Summer and Shawn were secretly flirting with each other.

Looking at the two of them, I slowly curved my lips into a smile. My fingernails dug into my palm until my flesh tore and blood seeped out, yet I felt nothing at all.

…

Summer, an heiress, was struck in broad daylight by me, an adopted daughter of the Crawfords.

The school didn’t dare suppress the incident. Both families were summoned.

“Mom, it was her,” Summer said as she clutched an ice pack and pointed at me with eyes full of hatred.

“She hit Shawn and me. Someone with such rotten character shouldn’t be allowed to stay in this school.”

Eleni Manning was dressed in a business suit. I remembered her as a career woman, decisive and ruthless through and through. She was also a shareholder of the school.

Seeing her daughter covered in bruises with torn patches of scalp where hair had been ripped by me, her expression was terrifyingly calm.

Shawn stepped forward and bowed sincerely to Eleni.

“Mrs. Manning, I’ve failed to keep my sister in check and caused your daughter harm.”

He then turned to me, pressing down on my neck and forcing me to apologize to Summer.

I resisted, refusing to give him what he wanted.

In my previous life, the first time I caught them sneaking around under the tree, I merely went up with a harsh tone.

Summer, however, retaliated with brutal force, sending me to the hospital. The school responded with nothing more than a fruit basket and a bouquet before quietly sweeping everything under the rug.

I seethed with anger, but Shawn pinned me down and said, “Don’t provoke Summer again. She’s a rich young lady, and we can’t afford to cross her. It's better to save trouble.”

Trusting Shawn wholeheartedly back then, I held back after hearing his words.

Until I stumbled upon them meeting secretly again.

Summer asked Shawn if he felt bad about his sister being beaten. His heavy breathing turned icy as he said, “Why bring her up? She’s nothing but a tag-along lapdog.”

That night, my tears wouldn’t stop.

Summer’s revenge grew increasingly vicious. After lending my luck to Shawn, my own fortune went down the drain.

I kept bumping into Summer at every corner. When I returned home trembling after being bullied, Shawn would look at me in disgust.

“How many times have I told you? Why do you keep provoking Summie?

“You deserve it, getting hurt like this.”

Shawn was a changed person after meeting Summer. He was no longer the big brother I trusted, the one who’d sneak me ham sandwiches.

Seeing that I refused to apologize, Shawn grew furious and tightened his grip.

“Apologize.”

Shawn's mother, Miranda Crawford, who had been silent, couldn’t stand it and finally stepped in to reason with him.

I flicked Shawn’s hand off my neck and even wiped the spot where he had touched me with a tissue, as if disgusted.

Shawn’s expression darkened.

I sneered coldly, “I made a mistake, but isn’t she at fault too? Why should I be the only one apologizing?

“I saw Shawn pinned against a tree by a girl and thought he was being bullied. Who knew both of them were…”

I stopped mid-sentence.

Everyone’s expression shifted.

Summer tried to stop me from continuing. “Snow Crawford, what nonsense are you spouting?”

I told the rest of the story anyway.

“I didn’t know they were making out. I thought my brother was being bullied, and I wanted to step in to help. Little did I know I had ruined their moment. Summer rushed over and hit me, pushed me to the ground, and hurled insults at me. If you don’t believe me, check the surveillance footage.”