Lori was right. My mother passed away a long time ago.

My dad was a teacher, while my mom ran her own beauty company.

When I was in high school, my mom went on a business trip out of town and got into a car accident. She was in surgery for a full day and night, but in the end, she became a vegetative state.

At that time, my dad was busy with work at school, and I was preparing for my college entrance exams. I spent my days running between the hospital and school until my body finally gave out from exhaustion.

My mother’s condition devastated my father, but when he saw me growing weaker by the day, he was even more heartbroken.

One day, my dad came to me and said he wanted to hire a caregiver for my mom. Otherwise, if my college entrance exams were delayed, he wouldn’t be able to face my mother even in the afterlife.

But I hesitated.

Many caregivers were irresponsible, taking advantage of the family’s absence to mistreat patients. I couldn’t bring myself to entrust my mother to a stranger.

However, my dad told me he had an old classmate who had studied nursing and was currently looking for a job.

“She can give it a try,” he said. “At least we know her background, so you won’t have to worry.”

Seeing my father’s exhausted face, I finally agreed. Sure enough, his old classmate was indeed professional and took great care of my mother.

Every time I came home, I would see my mother clean and well cared for, which gave me great comfort.

She was cared for like this for about two years before she passed away.

It was only after her passing that I learned she had left me the old Western-style house that my grandmother had originally given her.

Friends advised me to sell it, but I refused.

That house held memories of three generations. It was something I wanted to keep as a remembrance. But as the years dragged on, the house began to deteriorate more quickly.

My dad said it was because no one was living in it. He suggested that we move there so he could help take care of the place.

I agreed.

Later, when my dad remarried. He moved in with my stepmother and her son. And my stepmother was none other than Carol, the caregiver who had looked after my mother.

After marrying my dad, Carol had always treated me well.

Sometimes, when I had conflicts with her son, Gordon, she would always take my side and scold him.

But after Lori’s outburst today, I suddenly realized something. Had my dad and Carol never told her that this house belonged to me?

No wonder she reacted so sarcastically when she heard I was planning to stay.

I pulled my dad aside and asked, “Does Lori not know about the ownership of this house?”

Just as my dad was about to respond, Carol quickly interrupted with a flattering smile. “Your dad wanted to tell her, but I stopped him. Jacelyn, if you want to blame someone, blame me. I told Lori that this house belongs to Gordon.”

She sighed and continued, “You know how hard it was for your brother to find a girlfriend. Her family insisted that without a house, there was no marriage. Your dad and I had already been through a devastating divorce, and on top of that, we spent everything to put Gordon through university. How could we possibly afford to buy him a house? We had no other choice but to do this.”

Honestly, I could understand why Carol did this.

Children from blended families did have it tough. Some mothers even chose to leave their marriages with nothing, just to ensure they remained a part of their child’s life.

Besides, after my dad remarried, Carol had always treated me well.

So, I spoke to her gently, trying to reason with her. “Carol, I understand your difficulties, but the truth will come out sooner or later. I really think it’s best if you tell Lori as soon as possible. If you’re worried that Gordon and Lori won’t have a place to live, it just so happens that I put a down payment on a small apartment last year. I originally planned to use it as an investment, but they can stay there for now.”

Hearing this, my dad’s eyes welled up with tears. “Jacelyn, all these years, I’ve always felt guilty toward you. I never expected you to still think of your brother’s needs. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this properly and make sure you don’t suffer any losses.”

I nodded and said, “Dad, even though you have a new family now, we’ll always be family.”

I originally came home intending to tell my dad about winning the lottery and letting the family enjoy an easy life with me.

But for some reason, after everything that happened, I started to hesitate.

Maybe it’s best not to reveal my wealth just yet. It was better to wait and see how things unfold.

Over the next few days, every time Lori saw me, she either gave me a cold look or made sarcastic remarks.

"Some people are really shameless, staying in someone else's house, eating for free every day, and refusing to leave no matter what. They think they're so likable, but they don’t realize that everyone actually despises them."

I had to listen to comments like these every single day.

Normally, with my temper, I would have snapped back long ago. But I remembered what my dad said that he would handle the situation so I forced myself to swallow my anger.

I trusted my dad. I also trusted Carol.

But I still underestimated Lori’s ability to stir up trouble.

That night, I had a gathering with some old classmates I hadn’t seen in a long time and ended up coming home quite late.

To avoid disturbing my family, I didn’t turn on the lights and quietly took my newly bought toiletries into the bathroom.

My bedroom was the master bedroom on the second floor, complete with a private balcony and an en-suite bathroom. However, the bathroom light had been broken for a while and hadn't been fixed.

As soon as I opened the bathroom door, under the faint moonlight, I suddenly saw a bare body, followed by a sharp scream.

I quickly stepped back and immediately turned on the room's light.

Under the bright light, I saw Lori wrapped in a towel, shivering as she walked out of the bathroom.

I looked at her in shock. "Loei, what are you doing in my bathroom?"

She glared at me. "Do you not have eyes? Obviously, I was taking a shower."

I was a bit confused. "Doesn't your room have its own bathroom? Why did you come to mine to shower?"

Lori snorted coldly. "This is my home. I can shower wherever I want. Do I need your permission?"

At that moment, Carol also arrived. She shot a glance at Lori before smiling and trying to soothe me. "Jacelyn, I forgot to tell you. Lori moved into your room. This afternoon, while you were out, she complained that her room didn’t get enough sunlight. The doctor said pregnant women need plenty of sunshine for the baby’s development."

It was only then that I noticed everything in my bedroom was gone.

In its place were unfamiliar furnishings.

This bedroom indeed had great natural lighting. Every morning, I would wake up bathed in sunlight. It was the happiest part of my day.

It was understandable to take care of my pregnant sister-in-law, but the fact that she took over my room without my permission genuinely made me uncomfortable.

Seeing me frown and remain silent, Carol sighed. "Jacelyn, we were wrong not to ask for your permission first. But Lori is in a special condition, and we had no other choice but to act first and inform you later. I hope you can understand."

I could understand that pregnancy made her emotionally sensitive, but did she really not even have time to give me a heads-up?

And why did she choose to move in now, right after I had been staying here for a few days? Not earlier, not later, just when I returned? Was she deliberately disregarding me as her sister-in-law?

Just then, my dad arrived. Seeing Lori, his face was full of anger. "So what if you're pregnant? Does that give you the right to take over Jacelyn’s room? Move out immediately!"

Seeing Carol's awkward expression, I quickly waved my hand. "No need, Dad. I'll just sleep in another room. Our house has plenty of rooms. Or, I can sleep in Lori's old room."

My dad sighed. "Jacelyn, I'm sorry for this."

I waved my hand again. "We're all family, no need to be so formal."

At this moment, Carol hesitated and said, "Lori's old room is filled with baby supplies. It's not suitable for anyone to stay there for now."

The corner of my mouth twitched. "Then where exactly am I supposed to sleep?"

Carol pointed to the small maid’s room in the farthest corner of the second floor. "I've already moved your things into that room."

This maid’s room was barely bigger than a bathroom, with tiny windows that let in almost no light, let alone good sunlight.

Noticing my dissatisfaction, Lori started making sarcastic remarks again. "If you don’t like the lighting in this room, why don’t you move up to the attic? It’s quiet, gets plenty of sunlight, and I’m sure you’ll love it."

I was speechless. "Lori, if the attic is so great, why don’t you move up there yourself?"

Seeing the situation, Carol quickly tried to smooth things over. "Jacelyn, it’s so hot right now. How could we let Lori stay in the attic? There’s not even an air conditioner up there."

I chuckled. "Exactly. The attic is so hot, who would even think of letting someone live there?"

Realizing she had misspoken, Carol fell silent and said no more.

My dad also shot her a fierce glare before coming over to comfort me, saying that it was just a temporary arrangement for me to stay in the maid’s room for a few days.

This time, I endured it again.

After all, harmony in the family brings prosperity.

But I never expected that what happened next would completely shatter my worldview.

That night, after eating too much fruit, I couldn’t help but wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Since there was no bathroom in the maid’s room, I had to go to the shared bathroom in the house.

As I passed by my dad’s bedroom, I suddenly heard Carol’s voice coming from inside. "When are you finally going to kick that money-draining burden out? Lori said if Jacelyn doesn’t leave soon, she’s going to divorce Gordon!"

My dad took a deep breath. "Calm down, just give me a little more time."

Carol grew anxious."How can I not be anxious? Lori keeps threatening to abort the baby. I’m scared to death! And what about the medicine you gave Jacelyn? Is it not working? She’s been taking it for so many days. Why isn’t she dead yet?"

I was stunned. What medicine? Carol actually wanted to poison me?

No wonder, ever since I came back home, even though I had been resting well, my body kept feeling worse.

I was constantly dizzy and nauseous, and I even had unexplained nosebleeds.

I had thought it was just my body struggling to adjust after being away for so long, but it turned out the real reason was much more horrifying. It was my own family trying to kill me.

At that moment, my dad lowered his voice and said,

"How could it not work? Did you forget how Hillary died? Wasn’t it the same medicine that you used to poison her?"

Hillary was my mother’s name.

Hearing my dad’s words, my body began to tremble uncontrollably.

No wonder my mother died so suddenly, it turned out that she was poisoned by Carol.

Did my dad know about this all along?

Could it be that my mom was deliberately murdered by him and Carol?

I didn’t dare to think any further. The sheer horror of this revelation was beyond anything I could comprehend.

Through the sliver of light coming from the door, I saw Carol looking a bit uneasy as she sought my dad’s opinion.

"If it really doesn’t work, should we add more to the dose? We can’t just keep dragging this out."

Then she sneered and added, "Honestly, we should just have someone run her over, just like we did with Hillary back then. That would save us all this trouble."

My dad nodded in agreement. "That might be the only way. But don’t worry too much. This old house will belong to our son sooner or later. Whether it happens sooner or later doesn’t really matter."

My blood ran cold.

They were planning to kill me. Just like they had killed my mother.

"Besides, we can’t rush this. If she suddenly dies without reason, it’ll raise suspicion."

***

Hearing my dad and Carol’s conversation, my mind went completely blank.

My relatives had always warned me. "Once you have a stepmother, you’ll have a stepfather too."

But I always thought I was lucky. Carol, my stepmother, seemed to treat me well, so I never rejected her. I even treated her like my own mother, showing her the same respect and filial piety.

But I never imagined that she was the one behind my mother’s death.

And my dad, the man who had shared a bed with my mom for so many years, had actually been part of the plot to kill her. It was chilling.

No wonder I had always found it strange how close my dad was to Gordon, even though they had no blood relation.

Now I understood. Gordon was actually my dad’s illegitimate son.

And my mom was the ultimate fool. She had built everything from the ground up, only for someone else to take it all away.

She even lost her life in the end.

I need to find a way to avenge my mother.

Lost in my thoughts, I returned to my room in a daze.

The next morning, I got up with dark circles under my eyes.

Only Lori and I were left in the house.

I planned to go to a big hospital for a check-up first and then start my revenge plan.

But unexpectedly, when I went downstairs, Lori greeted me with a bright smile, inviting me to have breakfast.

Feeling a bit suspicious, I asked, “Lori, if you have something to say, just say it directly."

Lori smiled and said, "Jacelyn, I know you're unemployed right now, and it's not suitable to ask you to move out. But you also know that supporting such a big family comes with a lot of expenses. We can't rely solely on your brother forever, right?"

"How about this? You can continue living here, but you’ll need to pay 3 thousand dollars a month for rent and living expenses. Consider it as helping to ease the family's burden. What do you think?"

"After all, you've been eating and living here for free as an outsider for so long. Charging you some money seems only fair, doesn't it?"

I had to admit, Lori’s calculation was quite precise.

I let out a cold laugh. "You're right, it's only fair. But, Lori, do you not know? This old townhouse actually belongs to me."

She was stunned upon hearing this. Staring at me in disbelief, she asked, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could this house possibly be yours?"