Chapter 3

Linda wandered around the room.

She pulled open the bottom drawer of the bedside table.

There was a hidden compartment that the cleaning staff had missed.

Linda pulled out a box.

Inside was a diamond necklace.

It was the coming-of-age gift Mom had left me—the last thing she'd put around my neck with her own hands before she lost consciousness.

To raise money for surgery, I'd pawned it.

The day before my operation, I'd begged the pawn shop owner and bought it back, hiding it here.

Linda's eyes lit up.

She pulled out the necklace and held it against her neck.

"Mr. Bennett, look at this."

Marcus was reading the newspaper. He glanced over.

"That's from Aria's mother. I think it's worth quite a bit."

Linda bit her lip and put down the necklace.

"Then I should give it back to Aria. I'm going to my high school reunion tonight, and everyone else has jewelry to wear except me... but it's fine. I'm not afraid of looking poor."

Marcus put down the paper.

"Wear it."

"Aria's not here anyway. It'll just collect dust."

I lunged forward, trying to knock over the box.

It was useless.

Linda put on the necklace, admiring herself in the mirror from every angle.

"Thank you, Mr. Bennett! I knew you were the best to me!"

The head nurse pushed open the door with medicine.

She immediately spotted the necklace around Linda's neck.

The medicine tray clattered to the floor.

The head nurse rushed over and grabbed Linda's wrist:

"Take it off! That was left to Aria by her mother. How dare you wear it?!"

Linda scrambled behind Marcus.

"Mr. Bennett, she's hurting me..."

Marcus stood up and pushed the head nurse away.

"What do you think you're doing? This is my family's business!"

The head nurse's eyes turned red. She pointed at Marcus:

"Marcus, are you even human? That's Aria's most precious possession! Yesterday you threw her out in a blizzard, and today you're giving her mother's belongings to a stranger?"

Marcus's face darkened. He straightened his cuffs.

"I'm her father. I have the right to handle anything in this household."

"Besides, it's just a necklace. What's wrong with lending it to Linda for a couple days? If Aria can't even be that generous, she doesn't deserve to be my daughter!"

The head nurse trembled with rage:

"Fine. Marcus, you're going to regret this."

The head nurse slammed the door on her way out.

Marcus turned to comfort Linda:

"Don't listen to her. Wear it out tonight. When you're done, bring it back."

Linda broke into a smile and pulled out her phone to take a selfie.

She posted it on Instagram.

Photo: the diamond necklace around her neck.

Caption: "New Year's gift from Mr. Bennett, love you~ Some people just have bad luck and can't hold onto things."

This post wasn't hidden from my old classmates.

Ten minutes later, my college roommate commented:

"That's Aria's mother's heirloom! Are you a thief? Where's Aria? Let her come out and tear your face off!"

Linda deleted the comment and blocked my college roommate.

She showed Marcus:

"Mr. Bennett, Aria's friend is cursing at me online, calling me a thief."

Marcus glanced at the screenshot and gripped his phone tightly.

"Birds of a feather. What kind of ill-mannered friends is Aria making?"

He picked up his phone and called the bank.

"Freeze the secondary card under Aria Bennett's name. Yes, freeze it immediately."

"If she doesn't learn her lesson, she won't understand who runs this household."

That card held thirty thousand dollars I'd saved from working.

It was also the money I would have used to buy anti-rejection medication if I hadn't died.

Now, the money was gone.

And so was I.

Perfect.