Chapter 2

By the time everyone rushed to the spare bedroom in the staff quarters, I'd just set up the folding bed and was moving it to the corner.

Melanie bit her lip. "Wendy would rather sleep here than use my art studio? Does she dislike me?"

Jasper's expression darkened again.

However, Dr. Thompson immediately grabbed my hands to stop me. "Who instructed her to move her own furniture around like that? Her vitals haven't even stabilized yet!"

The alarm on my health monitoring wristband started ringing again.

Just before my vision went black, I heard Jasper snap impatiently, "It's been one thing after another with her! How can all these episodes occur at such convenient times?

"I bet she knows Grandpa George and Grandma Naomi are coming back soon, so she started putting on a show in advance to make them feel sorry for her!"

…

When I woke up, Mom was sitting beside my bed. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. When she saw my eyes open, she visibly relaxed.

"Don't go wandering around anymore. I've explained things to Melanie. She won't hold it against you."

I was a little confused. Melanie was the one who'd accused me of hating her. Why was Mom acting like I should be glad Melanie wasn't going to hold the situation against me?

Meanwhile, Mom took out a sapphire necklace and said, "This is the gift your maternal grandma prepared to welcome you into the family. Keep it safe, and stop saying you don't deserve anything."

I'd only just taken it when Melanie appeared in the doorway, her face pale. "So Grandma Polly already prepared a gift from Wendy?"

Forcing a smile, she continued, "That's nice. I guess the necklace I've worn for ten years is yours, too. I was only keeping it safe until you came back."

Mom immediately hurried after Melanie to comfort her. I stared at the necklace for two minutes, growing more and more uneasy the longer I looked. I wasn't worthy of wearing such a large sapphire.

I put the necklace back in its box and handed it to a maid to return to the dressing room, along with the new coat Mom had given me.

That evening, Melanie suddenly burst into tears, claiming her necklace was missing.

Jasper stormed in with several of the household staff and immediately began rummaging through my worn canvas bag.

"You just got back, and you're already stealing things? Is that what they taught you at the orphanage?"

I shook my head. "I didn't touch her things."

"How dare you deny it!"

He ordered the staff to search the entire room, but they found nothing.

Melanie gently reminded him, "Wendy was wearing the new coat Mom gave her today. Why don't you check the pockets?"

Sneering, Jasper went to the dressing room to retrieve the coat. A minute later, he returned with an ugly look on his face. The coat had already been put in Melanie's closet, and the necklace she claimed was missing was lying right there in its pocket.

Eric had gotten hold of the security footage from the hallway. "At 4:00 pm, Ashley Hill, Ms. Melanie's maid, was seen holding the coat."

Melanie's tears immediately began to fall. "I must have remembered wrong. I've been getting such depressive episodes lately, and my memory's been all over the place. I really didn't mean to suspect Wendy."

Jasper immediately shut off the footage. "It was just a misunderstanding. Everyone misplaces things by accident sometimes."

As for Ashley, who'd taken the coat, he simply told her to take two days off. He didn't even ask her why she was seen holding the coat, nor did he tell her to apologize.

Dad frowned, but all he said was, "Melanie is sick. Don't upset her."

As if to make it up to me, Mom took my hand and said, "This weekend, we'll organize a party to welcome you home and officially introduce you to everyone."

All at once, Melanie started wheezing. Gripping the edge of the table, she asked quietly, "Does that mean everyone will only think of Wendy as your daughter and not me?"

Mom hesitated.

Five minutes later, the "welcome home party" became a simple "gathering".

I nodded. "It's fine with me. I don't deserve to have so many people come just for me anyway."

Perhaps feeling a little guilty, Mom had her assistant bring me the latest smartphone. "If anything happens, you can just call me right away."

I felt uncomfortable about owning such an expensive phone. The old one Ruby Lane, the orphanage director, used cost less than 100 dollars. The price of this one was over a dozen times more.

Therefore, as soon as Mom left, I immediately performed a factory reset and left the phone in the living room.

Melanie happened to see it when she came down the stairs. She stared at the phone for a long time before smirking.

Dad was just about to say something to me when he got a video call. My paternal grandparents, George Harmon and Naomi Wilson, as well as my maternal grandparents, Edgar Steele and Polly Atwell, all appeared on the screen.

Grandma Polly immediately questioned, "Why has Wendy's welcome home party been called off?"

When no one answered, Grandpa George scoffed. "We'll be arriving tomorrow evening. If anyone mistreats Wendy, they can forget about getting their hands on either the Harmons' or the Steeles' companies."

Melanie whipped her head up and stared at me, her tears absent this time.