Chapter 3

Brittany hadn't even managed to get the rope around her neck before she sprawled on the ground, limbs flailing.

"Ah!"

She cried out in pain, and the whole family rushed to help her up.

Seeing the knot she'd tied and the stool beneath her feet, the entire family surrounded her, tense with worry.

"Brittany, what are you doing?!"

Brittany looked at me, standing there, tears streaming down her face, looking like a tragic heroine:

"Skylar, it's all my fault for usurping your identity for so many years, for making you suffer so much. I'll make amends with my life now!"

"Please, don't blame others. Will you promise to take good care of them in my place?"

Evelyn hugged her tightly, heartbroken. "Don't be silly, child. In our hearts, you're our own daughter, raised by us!"

Derek glared at us from the side. "Don't be stupid, this has nothing to do with you. Let's see who dares to blame you!"

Brittany cried rivers of tears, shrinking into Evelyn Sterling's arms, her eyes challenging me.

Definitely a manipulative green-tea wannabe! Trying to sow discord? No way!*

I immediately activated my sharp tongue.

"So, this is the adopted sister, Brittany? My bad, my bad, I thought some ill-mannered person was swinging from the chandelier indoors!"

"Speaking of which,Brittany,were you actually trying to hang yourself? But who hangs themselves from a crystal chandelier? And with a loose knot that would just slip open? What if you didn't succeed, and the chandelier fell down, hurting someone?"

Skylar picked herself up from the floor and chimed in, "Yeah, how dangerous! Luckily, I stepped in... I mean, kicked in."

Everyone looked up at the ceiling and saw that it was indeed as I had said.

Richard's face darkened.

"Nonsense! What if it had fallen on others?"

Seeing that both her pity play and her attempt to sow discord had failed, Brittany could only continue to cry at me:

"I'm sorry, Chloe, I only wanted to atone..."

"Brittany, you've got the wrong person. I'm your adopted sister. She's the sister you should be apologizing to."

I pushed Skylar forward. "Now, apologize again."

Derek, puffed up with anger, stood in front of Brittany and said,

"Dad! Brittany only did this because she wanted to atone. It was clearly Skylar and Chloe who intentionally made her fall! They have no manners!"

My anger flared instantly.

Damn it, you can insult me, but I won't stand for you insulting my bestie!

"Derek, I know you want to be Mr. Protector, but you can't just open your mouth and spew garbage, can you?"

"Why does Skylar have no manners? Isn't it because you lost her all those years ago? You, the culprit, dare to complain about her lack of manners?"

"Skylar's rightful place as a Sterling heiress was usurped by this thief, so how could she have 'manners'?"

"From your logic, is your brain directly connected to your mouth, or what? Honestly, your thoughts are so repulsive, even a dung beetle wouldn't touch them!"

"If you can't say anything smart, then just keep your mouth shut and stick to barking!"

After I unleashed a torrent of words, the whole room fell silent.

Only Skylar was holding my hand, tears in her eyes, full of gratitude.

"My girl, I love you!"

Derek's face turned ashen after he processed my words, his voice changed.

"You dare to insult me?!"

"So what if I insult you? I'm going to insult her too!"

I put my hands on my hips and pointed at Brittany.

"What are you, some vintage wine trying to act all precious? You're faker than a three-dollar bill! Even a trash can isn't as full of BS as you are!"

"Didn't you claim to be too sick to show your face? Your little hanging performance just now certainly didn't look like it!"

"Isn't your 'discomfort' just because Skylar's back, and you can no longer comfortably be the only little princess?"

Brittany, her secret exposed, wanted to argue, but I mercilessly cut her off.

"Faking illness, faking suicide, trying to sow discord? Did my bestie ever ask you to atone? We're all princesses here, why are you the only one with something wrong in your head?"

Brittany's face turned pale from my scolding, and she could only stammer, "You, you, you!"

I scoffed, cutting her off, "You what? If you stutter, go to a doctor. If your brain's acting up, maybe try reading a book or two!"

Seeing she couldn't out-argue me, Brittany started to act the part of the fragile, manipulative green-tea girl again.

"Skylar, I'm sorry, I'm just so stupid. I was afraid you'd hate me, that's why I did that."

"Chloe, you can scold me all you want, just don't take it out on Brother and Mom and Dad."

Here we go again, this manipulative phony never had any new tricks.

I couldn't be bothered to deal with her anymore. I turned to the gobsmacked Sterling couple and asked:

"I heard we'll be in the same class as Brittany from now on?"

They nodded quickly.

"That's great, then we can help Brittany more. Oh, by the way, where are our rooms?"

Evelyn Sterling quickly led us upstairs to see the rooms.