Chapter 2

Lily POV

The night grew darker. The villa was so quiet that the only sound was the ticking of the clock.

I sat on the living room sofa, staring at the suitcase that had temporarily been placed in a guest room downstairs.

I hadn’t eaten all day. The exhaustion from the long flight, combined with the violent emotional upheaval, had left my stomach cramping in waves.

I took a deep breath and stood. My legs felt weak as I made my way toward the kitchen. Even though this house had become completely unrecognizable, I still needed food to keep my body functioning.

The motion-sensor lights came on as I entered the kitchen. I opened the door of the enormous side-by-side refrigerator.

The instant it opened, a strong, sour, rotten stench hit me in the face.

It was the smell of severely spoiled food, mixed with the cold, trapped air inside the refrigerator. It rushed straight into my head.

My stomach churned. I immediately covered my mouth and nose.

Then I saw it.

In the exact center of the refrigerator sat a large cake box.

Inside was a cake that had completely collapsed. Gray-green mold covered the cream. The strawberries had turned black and were leaking juice. A strange sour odor rose from it.

“Lily, are you hungry?”

The voice behind me made my whole body stiffen.

Nora stood barefoot in the kitchen doorway, still wearing my silk pajamas. Her eyes were red, and she nervously twisted the hem of her shirt.

But her gaze was fixed on the cake inside the refrigerator.

“That cake…is spoiled.” I forced down my nausea and reached for the box. “I’m throwing it away.”

“Don’t!”

Nora suddenly screamed and rushed over, shielding the box with her body.

Tears spilled instantly from her eyes, dripping onto the counter.

“Lily, I made that birthday cake especially for you!”

I froze.

A birthday cake? My birthday had been half a month ago.

“You weren’t home on your birthday. I got up before dawn to bake it and whip the cream. It took me three hours. I thought you must miss homemade cake while you were abroad, so…I kept it for you.”

She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Her voice was full of unbearable grief.

“I know you look down on me. You think I took your room. You think I stole Ethan and Julian’s attention. You definitely don’t want to eat this cake. You must think anything I make is dirty…”

“What are you talking about?” I found the whole thing absurd. A cake that had been sitting in the refrigerator for half a month was practically poison.

“What’s going on? Why are you making so much noise in the middle of the night?”

Ethan came hurrying downstairs in his pajamas, his brows drawn tightly together. Julian had stayed in the guest room that night, and he came out when he heard the commotion.

“Ethan…”

The moment Nora saw him, she rushed over as if he were her savior. Pointing at the cake, she cried so hard she nearly collapsed.

“I made Lily a birthday cake and she said it was dirty! She said eating it would make her sick! I only wanted to celebrate her birthday again. I didn’t know she hated me this much…”

Ethan stood in the kitchen doorway and stared at the cake for a long moment.

He must have smelled the stench too. But in the end, his eyes fell on the back of Nora’s hand.

There was an old scar there—the burn she’d gotten from a baking tray.

His expression slowly changed. His frown became something I couldn’t identify.

He looked at Nora, then at me. His lips pressed into a thin line, as if he had made a decision.

Ethan strode forward, walked past me, and took the foul-smelling cake out of the refrigerator. He placed it heavily on the table.

“Lily, are you done?” His voice was harsh. “Nora got up before dawn half a month ago to make that cake for you! She burned her hand doing it! And you? You’re not only ungrateful—you’re standing here calling it dirty?”

“Are you insane?” I stared at him in disbelief and pointed at the cake. “Look at it! Do you see what’s growing on it? That’s mold! It’s rotten, and you want me to eat it?”

“It’s Nora’s gesture of love! Even if it’s spoiled, you still have to eat it! You have to apologize to Nora for being arrogant and heartless!”

Ethan picked up a spoon.

“I’m not eating it!” I backed away, fear and disbelief filling my eyes.

“I said eat it!”

Ethan lunged forward. One hand clamped around my shoulder like an iron vise. With the other, he grabbed the spoon. Ignoring my frantic struggle, he forced the moldy cake toward my mouth.

“Mmph—let me go!”

I fought desperately, but after the long journey and a full day without food, I couldn’t resist the strength of a grown man.

Ethan roughly smeared the cake across my lips. The cold, sticky cream reeking of sour rot streaked my face. Some of it slipped into my mouth as I struggled.

In that instant, nausea and violent stomach cramps exploded through my body like a bomb.

I shoved Ethan away and rushed to the sink.

“Ugh—!”

I bent over and vomited violently.

My stomach had been empty, so there was almost nothing to bring up. Only the two mouthfuls of green-furred cake came out.

My throat burned as if it had caught fire. Tears streamed down my face from the uncontrollable nausea.

I clung to the sink, gasping for breath. My entire body shook.

Ethan’s hand went slightly rigid.

Then Nora, standing behind him, lightly tugged on his sleeve.

In a tiny voice, she said, “Ethan, look…does she really think I’m dirty? Even after eating it, she had to throw up the cake I made right in front of me…”

Julian frowned and walked into the kitchen.

“Lily.” His gentle voice was now cold as ice. “You’ve really disappointed me. You’re even hurting yourself just to humiliate Nora. Don’t you think you look pathetic right now?”

I remained bent over the sink, listening to the two men behind me.

Then I let out a quiet laugh.

I didn’t lift my head. I simply turned on the faucet and washed the sour liquid from my mouth, along with the tears from the corners of my eyes.

The sound of running water covered the noise of something inside me snapping for good.