Chapter 6

When I returned home from the Alpha Council, the house was empty. I was just about to head upstairs when I heard footsteps at the door.

The door opened, and Father and Mother walked in first, their faces livid. Then Finn came in supporting Victoria, who was trembling and sobbing. Her eyes were red and swollen, making her look particularly pitiful.

Seeing me, Father immediately rushed over, pointing at my nose and cursing: "You crazy girl! What the hell do you think you're doing? Did you report Victoria's car accident to the Alpha Council?"

Victoria immediately threw herself into Mother's arms, crying: "Mom, I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I shouldn't have been driving. I hurt sister and got everyone interrogated by the council..." As she spoke, she secretly pinched Mother's arm with her nails—reminding Mother to take her side.

Mother got angry as expected: "Victoria just hit the wrong pedal—it wasn't on purpose! Why would you report her? You want her to go to prison? How can you be so vicious!"

Finn also chimed in: "You only got a little hurt, but do you know how long Victoria was interrogated? Three hours! She's so frail, how could she endure that kind of ordeal? If we hadn't signed that settlement agreement, she would've suffered even more!"

I was so furious I laughed. For the first time, I dared to look at them with defiant eyes: "Yeah, I reported it to the council. So what? She deliberately hit me with the car—shouldn't she be punished?"

"Deliberately?" Mother sneered. "Victoria's so kind-hearted, how could she deliberately hit you? You must have been careless! Last time you fought with Victoria over paintbrushes and even pushed her down, and now you want to frame her again!"—she remembered Victoria's previous "grievances," completely forgetting that Victoria had been the one to steal my paints that time.

Father also said: "Ember, can't you be more sensible? Stop always going against your sister!"

Victoria secretly raised her head, seeing the despair in my eyes, and a barely noticeable smile tugged at her lips. She knew that as long as she played the victim, the family would always take her side.

Suddenly, Father grabbed a silver whip from nearby, raising his hand to strike me: "Today I'm gonna teach you a proper lesson about what it means to be obedient!"

I closed my eyes, waiting for the whip to fall, but heard Grayson's roar: "Stop it!"

He'd come back at some point and rushed over to grab Father's hand, snatching the silver whip away. Looking at the unhealed wounds on my arm, his eyes were full of heartache: "She's already injured—what more do you want?"

Victoria immediately ran over crying, tugging on Grayson's arm: "Uncle, don't blame Mom and Dad. It's my fault. I shouldn't have made sister angry... Sister must be deliberately getting revenge on me because I postponed your ceremony."

Her words were like a thorn piercing Grayson's heart. He looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment: "Ember, did you really report this to the council because of the ceremony?"

I looked at the suspicion in his eyes and suddenly felt incredibly ironic. So even when he saw me being beaten, he'd still believe Victoria's words.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood, then endured the bloody tears to say word by word: "You don't want me as your daughter—do you think I want parents like you?"

"You brought me into this world and forced me to be Victoria's essence bank. Did you ever ask if I was willing?"

"She deliberately hit me with the car, and you defend her; she steals my paintings, and you call me petty; she lies and frames me, and you say I'm being difficult..."

My voice grew smaller and smaller, until I was almost choking as I said: "I've had enough. I don't want to be her shadow anymore."

Father and Mother were both stunned—they'd never seen me look so desperate. Grayson was also stunned.

He suddenly remembered all the details he'd ignored: Victoria getting "sick" always coincided with when I needed him; my paintings mysteriously disappearing; the increasing number of needle marks on my wrist...

Could it be that he'd been wrong all along?

He stepped forward to help me up. "Ember, I..."

I shook my head with a bitter smile and turned to walk away.

Grayson instinctively wanted to follow, but behind him Victoria suddenly clutched her head and collapsed backward.

"Uncle, my head hurts so much..."

He stopped in his tracks and ultimately turned back toward Victoria.