Chapter 2

Every time I gave Victoria a wolf essence transfusion, I needed several days of rest to recover my strength. This time was no exception. But the house was eerily empty—everyone was at the hospital keeping Victoria company, and nobody remembered to leave me even a warm meal.

I walked out of my room with an empty cup, hoping to find some bread to stave off my hunger, when a hard cardboard box suddenly came flying at my face. My wolf soul was still in hibernation and I couldn't dodge it. The box smashed into my forehead, instantly drawing blood.

"Ember! What the hell are you doing? Why aren't you checking the messages we sent you!" Mother stood in the living room with her hands on her hips, Victoria trailing behind her—wrapped in a thick shawl, her face rosy, without a trace of frailty.

Victoria immediately rushed over, reaching out as if to help wipe the blood from my forehead, but deliberately scraped her nails across the wound, making me flinch back in pain. Her eyes instantly reddened as she turned to Mother: "Mom, please don't be angry. Sister probably didn't see the message. She was so exhausted after donating wolf essence yesterday, maybe she fell asleep..."

"Fell asleep?" Mother got even angrier, pointing at my nose: "Look at the group chat! We sent messages at six this morning telling you to make Victoria's favorite chocolate cake to welcome her home! You couldn't even be bothered to reply—are you deliberately going against us?"

I pulled out my phone only to find the screen was black—I'd definitely plugged it in to charge last night, but now it wouldn't turn on. I didn't need to think twice to know Victoria had unplugged my charger while I was sleeping and hidden my phone under the couch. She wanted our parents to think I was deliberately ignoring them.

"I didn't see the message, my phone died," I said, rubbing my throbbing forehead, my voice somewhat hoarse.

"Died?" Finn walked in from outside holding my phone, the screen lit up—obviously Victoria had just given it to him. "This has battery, doesn't it? Ember, could you stop making excuses? Victoria's discharge is such a big deal, couldn't you pay a little attention?"

Victoria tugged on Finn's sleeve, saying softly: "Brother, don't scold sister. I don't really want cake anyway. Sister likes to paint, maybe she painted too late last night and forgot to check her messages..."

"Paint?" Finn laughed coldly, his gaze sweeping over my bedroom door—where I'd left last night's unfinished painting of a forest with deer herds. But now the canvas was slashed to pieces, paint splattered everywhere. "What good are those trashy paintings? Last time Victoria told me you painted a forest without her in it, and said you 'didn't want to stay with a burden.' Is this how you act like a big sister?"

I was stunned—that painting was meant to be a gift for Grayson, because he'd once said he wanted to take me to see a real forest. Last night I'd clearly put the painting away in my drawer, but now it was destroyed. No need to guess—Victoria again.

"I never said that! She's lying!" I finally couldn't help raising my voice.

Mother immediately charged over, pointing at my forehead: "How dare you talk back? Victoria's so well-behaved, would she lie to us? Look at yourself—all you do is hole up in your room, either painting or spacing out, you don't care about your sister at all! How did we end up with such a thoughtless child?"

Just then, Grayson walked in. Seeing the wound on my forehead, he immediately frowned and hurried over as if to touch it, but Victoria caught his hand.

"Uncle, don't worry, sister just bumped into something accidentally." Victoria looked up at him with complete dependence in her eyes. "I just told sister I wanted her to walk with me in the garden, but she didn't seem very willing... Did I disturb her?"

Grayson's movement paused, and when he turned to look at me, his voice carried helplessness: "Ember, Victoria just got out of the hospital and wants you to walk with her. Just go with her, okay? She's fragile and needs someone to look after her."

I looked at the trust in Grayson's eyes and felt a chill in my heart. He clearly saw the wound on my forehead, saw how pale I was, but still believed Victoria's words. Memories from my previous life flooded back—I was always being framed by Victoria like this, but Grayson would always say "She's still young, you should be patient with her."

"I'm not going." I stepped back, avoiding Grayson's hand. "I don't feel well, I want to rest."

"What's wrong with you?" Mother immediately retorted. "Victoria's much more fragile than you, and she's not complaining about feeling unwell! Ember, I'm telling you, today you're going to the garden with Victoria whether you like it or not, or you're not eating dinner!"

Victoria secretly glanced at me, a barely noticeable smile tugging at her lips. She knew that as long as she played the victim, everyone would side with her.

Looking at this family in front of me, I suddenly felt utterly ridiculous. They'd rather believe a "frail sister" who lied constantly than trust me, the daughter they used as their "wolf essence bank." Even though Grayson had moments of caring about me, he was always blinded by Victoria's pretense.

"Fine, I'll go." I took a deep breath and turned back to my room to get a jacket. At the doorway, I heard Grayson quietly ask Victoria: "Did you bump into her just now? That wound on her forehead looks really painful."

Victoria's eyes immediately reddened, her voice choked with tears: "Uncle, I didn't! I was just trying to help sister pick up her cup, she accidentally bumped into me and fell... It's all my fault, if only I hadn't touched the cup."

I froze mid-step, the last bit of hope in my heart crumbling. So he had suspected something, but Victoria's tears would always matter more than my grievances.

In my jacket pocket was a copy of the forest purchase contract I'd secretly made yesterday. The paperwork would be done in two days, and then I could finally escape this suffocating family.

As for Grayson... if he could never wake up, then I didn't want this misguided "love" either.