Chapter 4

But when I opened my eyes, the only thing I saw was the sneering face of the orphanage director.

Seeing me look around in confusion, she scoffed. "What are you looking for? You got to play rich girl for a few days, and you actually thought you belonged here?"

"Mrs. Helen called. The adoption is over. Pack your things. We're going back to the orphanage."

She snatched my new dress off the hospital bed, tore it to shreds, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.

"Don't daydream about things that don't belong to you."

The paralyzing fear of being abandoned made me run out of the room before I could even put on my shoes.

Dragging my weak body, I finally found Richard and Helen in a luxury VIP suite.

Before I could say a word, Chloe saw me. She screamed and threw her glass of water at me.

"Get out! I hate you! You tried to steal my parents!"

"Mom and Dad are mine! They only love me, not a stray like you!"

Before that day, Chloe didn't know I existed.

The heavy glass struck my forehead. It swelled instantly, and warm blood began to trickle down my face.

But Helen didn't scold Chloe. Instead, she and Richard rushed to comfort her, whispering promises that they would kick me out.

After Chloe finally fell asleep, Helen walked out of the room. She looked down at me, her eyes completely devoid of warmth. She seemed to only just notice the blood on my forehead.

"Does it hurt?"

I stood there, trembling, and waved my hands frantically.

"I can cook, Helen. I can do the laundry and clean the floors too."

"Please don't throw me away. I'll be so good. I’ll do whatever you want."

The hallway fell dead silent. Her voice was flat.

"Don't call me Mom. We only brought you here to save Chloe. Now that she's cured, you need to leave. Your presence makes her unhappy."

I lowered my head, squeezing my tiny hands together, trying my best not to let her hear me cry.

Seeing my silence, she turned around and went back into the room to tend to Chloe.

In the end, I wasn't taken back to the orphanage. Donald arrived and stopped them.

In the hospital corridor, Donald and Helen had a huge fight over me.

"She was only brought here to save Chloe," Helen said coldly. "Now Chloe is fine, and she hates her. Besides, the girl has sticky fingers. I can't keep a thief in my house."

Donald’s anger flared. "She is a child, not a toy you can discard when you're done with it!"

"This is cruel. She saved Chloe's life. How can you be so heartless?"

"Fine, do what you want," Helen snapped, clearly annoyed. "If you want to raise her, take her yourself. The doctor said Chloe needs peace and quiet."

"We're moving to the estate in the suburbs to help Chloe recover. We won't be coming back here."

Unwilling to argue further, Helen turned and walked away.

After that, Donald took care of me. The post-surgery complications gave me a high fever that kept me in the hospital for two weeks, leaving me with stress-induced epilepsy. I could no longer handle severe shock or stress.

Helen never came to visit me once. After Chloe recovered, she, Richard, and Chloe moved to the suburban mansion.

I was taken back to Donald's estate.

Donald protected me fiercely, but my epilepsy eventually terrified Chloe.