11
“Celine, are you okay?”
05:52
They rushed to her side, their voices filled with
concern.
“Sob…” Celine, ever the victim, cried weakly and clutched at them. “Sister, why are you doing this to me… I’m so scared…”
Their faces darkened as they turned to glare at me.
“Rory Rhodes, you’ve completely lost your mind!” Alex gritted out.
I laughed coldly and staggered to my feet. The blood running down my forehead made them hesitate for a second. I wiped it away
casually and looked at Celine.
She flinched under my gaze and shrank back behind them, looking terrified. They immediately formed a protective wall around her,
as if ready to tear me apart if I took another step.
“I’m telling you, if you want a fight, I will give you one.
“And Celine, if you ever try to frame me again, I swear I will drag you down to hell with me!”
I spat the words out, and as Celine cowered, I turned and walked out of the room.
“Rory Rhodes, take a good look at yourself! And you wonder why we side with Celine?”
“If you bother Celine again, we will make you pay!” Caleb’s voice roared from behind me.
I just laughed and kept walking.
When I got home, my parents already knew what had happened. They had already accepted the narrative that I had hurt Celine. They looked at me with disappointment and blame, then coddled their injured, adopted daughter.
The only person who asked about the gash on my forehead was the housekeeper.
I slept off the dizziness and felt a bit better the next day. At home, Celine didn’t dare to provoke me directly. But her act of coweri- ng in fear every time she saw me only made my parents and brother dote on her more. Caleb and the boys would visit her, take her out, and always shoot me cold, warning looks, as if I was a wild animal they had to keep in check. They would pointedly give Celine nice things in front of me, their faces full of scorn.
They seemed to think that ignoring me, excluding me, and disliking me was some kind of punishment.
$05.57
Chapter 2
05 52
I laughed to myself. I was more than happy with the peace and quiet. I focused on my studies, on doing things I wanted to do.
Before I knew it, I had finished my final high school exams.
༦ ༤ ཥཾ ༤ ཆ
Right after graduation, Celine got sick. My parents, brother, and the boys were heartbroken. She told them that her real parents had promised to take her to Iceland to see the aurora borealis after she graduated. But now that they were gone, her dream could nev-
er come true.
My parents were moved to tears. As soon as Celine recovered, they started booking flights to take her to see the Northern Lights. My parents, Alex, Caleb, Julian, and Leo were all going.
