After my family went bankrupt, my mother's best friend brought me to the Xander mansion and took me in. This incident led me to be tangled with the Xander brother for twenty years.

As a result of their constant attention and affection, the people around us became so jealous of me. However, when I was ready to get married and start a family, they both turned me down.

The older brother told me, “My career comes first and I’m not interested in marriage."

The younger one shrugged, "I’m still young. I want to have fun for a few more years. Besides, this fleeting romance shouldn’t be taken seriously."

Yet, the next day, on my birthday party, the two of them proposed. Well, not to me though but to the maid's daughter, right in from of everyone.

What's more, just to make her happy, they even forced me, who had a sensitive stomach, to drink highly concentrated liquor. This made my stomach bleed. As I was rushed to the hospital, they covered her eyes while mocking me and ridiculing me, convinced that I was just pretending.

Their action was the straw that broke the camel's back and broke my heart. So, on the day I was released from the hospital, I called my mother and said resolutely, "I'm willing to marry the Lambert Family's heir."

——

As I stepped outside, the biting autumn wind that I had not gotten use to surround me. At that time my phone rang and it was from James Xander, the oldest of the Xander brothers.

His tone was unfriendly and ladened with accusation, "Leslie Turner! Where have you been hiding all this time? Do you think you can escape responsibility by leaving? Get back here and apologize to Lucy Collins!"

Then I heard what Bruce Xander, his younger brother, said to me in the background, "This was all because of you pretending to be sick. This act of yours caused Lucy to be upset. Don't you know she is delicate? She can't eat for days because of you!"

As I listened to them, I stole a glance at the mirror. There, I saw a girl who looked gaunt and thin. She was so frail that a light breeze might able to blow her away. The girl in the mirror was me.

I had been weak and prone to stomachache, and as a result, the two brothers had spent years worrying about me. I can still remember when I had a seizure in the middle of the night, James carried me up twenty flights of stairs. Meanwhile, Bruce searched the entire city frantically to find my favorite carrot cake to cheer me up. Since then, they have closely monitored everything I ate and drank, and watched over me with tireless care.

However, all of those had long been forgotten ever since Lucy entered our lives.

Without saying anything, I hung up the phone and called my mother, "Moher, I've thought it over. I'm willing to marry the Lambert Family's heir."

My mother did not say anything for a while then she asked, "This is a lifelong decision, are you sure about this?"

When my father passed away and our family business went bankrupt, my mother sent me to Mirage. She held up the crumbling remnants of our family, and after twenty long years, she managed to connect with the Lambert Family, finally giving the Turner Family a chance to rise again. Still, despite all that, she valued my happiness above everything else. Even though the old matriarch of the Lambert Family had chosen me to be her grandson’s future wife, my mom left the choice up to me.

Back then, I believed true love was worth pursuing and had hoped to choose between the Xander brothers. Now, I finally understood that, to them, I was merely a passing amusement. I should have left long ago.

When I opened my phone, wanting to book a plane ticket, I saw Lucy's Instagram Feed's post. It said, "True love needs no words. Only useless old women would scheme to climb up the social ladder.”

She made no attempt to hide the fact that she was flaunting two different diamond rings on her fingers while lounging in my room, and the clothes she was wearing was the tailored designer suit and crystal heels that the Xander brothers had commissioned as my birthday gift just six months ago.

Silently, I blocked her.

“Mom, I mean it. I want to have my own child soon." I told my mother.

During my hospital stay, the doctor told me that this latest incident had significantly weakened my health. If I had not gotten pregnant while I was still young, I might never have had a child of my own. My time was running out, I could not wait any longer.

"Okay, I'll listen to you," my mother said.

"Grandma Lambert had looked into your horoscopes. Next Sunday is a good day to get a license, as long as you come back, I will arrange everything for you," she told me.

Mom likely already understood my decision. She added only one last remark before hanging up, "Don't forget to say goodbye to Auntie Lambert properly"

I looked up at the dull, gray sky.

The doctor said it would take about a week to recover fully. I would use this week to bid farewell to everything and everyone.

I took a taxi to return to the Xander mansion.

However, the moment I stepped through the door, an unexpected blast of icy water soaked me wet.

"Oh, I'm sorry Leslie," Lucy said. She was holding a garden hose. "I was watering the flowers, so I didn't realize you were there."

Yet she still dozed with water until I was thoroughly wet. Only then did she lower the hose.

I tried to open my eyes. When I finally did, I found out that the lily of the valley that I had been meticulously taken care of for several years had been uprooted. On their place was a sprawling bed of vibrant roses. As the cold wind hit me, I felt a sharp discomfort in my recently operated-on body. As a result, I fell and almost fainted.

James and Bruce exchanged a look and sneered. It seemed they thought I was putting on an act again as soon as I returned.

"I thought you had become so tough and would never come back to this house," Bruce mocked.

“Her own mother didn’t want her anymore,” he continued, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Where else would she go but here?”

His words pierced deeply into my heart.

At that moment, the memory of the first time I arrived at the Xander mansion came into my mind. At that time, Bruce had held my hand and done everything he could to cheer me up by saying, “Don’t worry, Leslie. From now on, this is your home.”

James, his older brother, had prepared the largest and the finest room for me to make sure I felt welcome. Later, when the three of us moved into this villa for work, he meticulously decorated the master bedroom to my liking. He even announced to everyone that, both now and in the future, I would be the indisputable lady of this house.

However, all of these changed on the day Lucy arrived, under the pretense of helping out her mother, who worked for the Xander Family. Since then, every single day, this girl clung to the brothers and I constantly found my belongings “accidentally” broken by her.

At first, I tried to be understanding. After all, she was just helping out and seemed inexperienced. However, when she smashed a keepsake my father left me right in front of me, I could not stay silent and confronted her. That was when James pushed me aside with a deep frown on his face.

"Lucy's life has not been easy," he said. "You are just a spoiled princess. Why do you have to make things difficult for a person who's barely seen the world."

Bruce added, "She is younger than me, Leslie. Why can you, as an adult, show her a little more benevolence?"

As I held the pieces of my broken jade pendant, the feeling of loss and helplessness entered my heart for the first time.

Ever since that time, everything went into a different tune. I was no longer the most important person in their lives. Slowly but surely, the maid’s daughter took my place. She established herself as the new lady of the house and pushed me out.

Since it had come to this, there was nothing left for me to hold onto. I just wanted to pack my things and leave.

When I stepped into the house, I saw that all my belongings had been tossed haphazardly into the hallway.

James stood there, his hand holding possessively around Lucy's. His eyes looked down at me with cold disdain.

"Leslie, you should know your place. You're nothing more than a freeloader clinging to the Xander Family, so you have no right to look down on Lucy, let alone throw a tantrum at her," he said.

“From now on, you’ll stay in the maid’s quarters,” he continued. “Lucy will handle all company matters, and I’m transferring you to do miscellaneous tasks in the back office. Once you learn some humility, maybe we can talk.”

Bruce even tore apart the little teddy bear my mother had left me, just to amuse Lucy.

"Miss Leslie, if you throw another fit and upset Lucy again, I won't let you off so easily."

Miss Leslie and Leslie. It was just one simple word but held a whole different meaning. If I had heard those words in the past, I would’ve been heartbroken, and could not sleep because of the heartache.

However now with a plan to leave, I had no time to bicker with them. I simply replied, "You’re absolutely right. I’ll move out as soon as possible. Oh! Don't bother about transferring me to another department, I’m resigning.”

James sneered, "You're still insisting to stay as a leech, huh? Fine. I’ll overlook this just this once for my mother’s sake. However, I expect you to remember your place from now on.”

I walked past him without another word while murmuring softly, “There won’t be a next time.”

Although this place had given me so many cherish memories, it was never truly my home in the end.

I had thought packing my things would take a long time. However, I was mistaken. After I took a closer inspection, there was not much left.

Nearly all my close were chosen by James. Back then he had said, "Leslie is the most beautiful princess, of course, she has to dress up prettily every day."

Now, those clothes were soaked in filthy water, and they were exuding an unidentifiable stench.

Obviously, the image that I was the princess in his heart, had turned into this parasite with a princess's temper.

As I shifted the clothes aside, I saw photos scattered all over the floor.

Back in the day, Bruce loved taking pictures of me. He said he wanted to capture every moment of my life, and whenever we took photos together, he would compete with his older brother to stand next to me.

Now, in every one of those group photos, my face was crossed out with a red pen. I did not have the heart to look anymore. So, I threw everything straight into the trash.

While I was doing this, James so happened to walk down the stairs with Lucy and saw this scene.

There was a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. After all, I used to treasure everything that he gave me.

However, he quickly sneered, "You sure don't mind wasting Xander's family's money."

The James that I once knew could spend extravagantly just to make me happy. However, after Lucy was by his side, everything I did was wrong.

I had lost the right to be willful and because I didn’t have the energy to argue, I simply said, “I’ll pay you back.”

"The Xander Family didn't care about that amount of money. However, you had to remember, don't trouble Lucy again!” James warned.

Lucy pulled gently on James's sleeve with a pout on her face. "James … don't waste your time with unimportant people. Besides, I still want to go to the secret place to watch the stars. Come on."

Hearing this, I stopped in my tracks, her words catching me off guard.

The “secret place” she mentioned was something James had created just for me when I first came to the Xander Family.

Back then, Auntie Xander was busy with work, and she had given James, who was six years older than me, the responsibility of looking after me.

James tried to give the best of everything that he could. He told me that I was his “pure moonlight" so he designed an endless starry sky just for me.

That night, as he looked at me under the stars, his eyes filled with warmth. Then he said, "Leslie, remember. This sky is just for you, just like this love is only for you.”

We had spent twenty years building that starry sky together before turning it into a dreamlike haven. Since then, my heart leaned toward James.

However, every time I was about to make my choice, Bruce would make a scene and it made me question myself.

As for now ….

They had this new rose to admire and had long forgotten me, the dim moon.

Yet, it was fine because it did not matter anymore.

I took a deep breath and turned to leave. In the end, I did not want either of them anymore.

Suddenly, Lucy grabbed my wrist, and her long nail left scratch marks on my arm. She pleaded, "Why are you not willing to listen to me? Are you looking down on me?"

Feeling the pain shoot through my hand, I instinctively flung her hand off as hard as I could.

Lucy staggered backward and fell in a smooth motion. "James! Brother! Save me!"

James’s face filled with panic as he caught her and held her close.

Before I could react, his hand flew across my face.

Bruce stormed in while shouting at me, "Leslie, why are you always picking on Lucy? Don’t forget, if it weren't for the Xander Family taking you back then, you would be a homeless orphan and probably digging through garbage right now. Not only you don't show some gratitude, but you repay us with cruelty!"

A buzzing sound filled my ears.

This was the first time in my life that I had been hit. That instant, my entire world crumbled into pieces.

James's face froze slightly as he looked at me as if he just realized he had gone too far. "Are you alright, I …."

“I’m fine. I don’t blame you," I said as I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

I did not blame him because I took this slap as a repayment for everything that his family had given me all these years.

From this time forward, we were even. There was no debt to settle between us.

However, Bruce stopped and blocked my way, refusing to budge. "Stay here! You can't leave before you apologize to Lucy!"

His fierce expression was nothing like the brother who once followed me around, calling me "sister" in a soft voice. However, I knew what he was capable of.

Once, there was a boy who harassed me at school. So, Bruce retaliated against him secretly and left James to take care of the aftermath for him.

Both of them work of them worked so seamlessly that the boy’s entire family ended up moving away from Mirage.

I would never imagine that one day they would use that same cruelty against me.

As I looked at the smugness on Lucy's face, I swallowed down all the words inside of me. I had nothing to fear. Even without them forcing me out, I was already ready to leave.