Chapter 6

Lila stayed outside the house all night. When morning came, she finally walked inside, exhausted.

As she sat on her bed and picked up her phone, she discovered an invitation from the National Design Awards.

Lila had always loved design. She had submitted one of her projects to the National Design Awards, never expecting to make it to the finals.

The organizers told her to submit her final design and wait for the results.

This would probably be the last piece she ever created. So she poured her whole heart into it.

She stayed up for three straight nights before finally submitting her work.

On the day the winners were announced, her design really did win first place.

But the name beneath the winning design wasn't hers. It said Sienna Clarke.

Lila stared at the screen in disbelief. She couldn't understand what had gone wrong.

Just then, Sienna walked over and leaned close to her ear with a smile. "Wow, I actually won. I only mentioned it as a joke, but Mom really stole your original design drafts for me. Julian and Miles even used their connections to kick you out of the competition. Lila, aren't you just the saddest person?"

Sienna looked beautiful on the outside. But inside, she was cruel beyond words.

Lila had never wronged her. She had never hurt her. She couldn't understand why Sienna was so determined to destroy her life.

Furious, Lila couldn't hold herself back anymore. She slapped Sienna across the face.

"Sienna, you've gone too far!"

At that exact moment, Harvey, Mabel, Julian, and Miles appeared at the doorway.

The moment they saw what happened, all their faces changed.

Harvey and Mabel rushed straight to Sienna. They carefully checked her face for injuries, completely ignoring Lila.

"Lila, you're heartless!"

"This is only what we happened to see. Who knows how you've been bullying Sienna behind our backs?"

"You need to be taught a lesson this time!"

As soon as Miles finished speaking, he took a leather belt from one of the household staff and handed it to Julian.

For the first time, Lila fought back. She struggled with all her strength.

Julian looked at her with icy eyes.

"Still fighting back, huh? Sienna's depression only got this bad because of you!"

Lila's heart shattered. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the people standing before her.

"None of it's true! You've all been fooled! Her depression is fake. Her suicide attempts are fake. My cancer is the only thing that's real! Do you have any idea how much this award meant to me? I'm dying! This was supposed to be the last award I'd ever win! Why are you doing this to me?"

But instead of feeling sorry for her, they whipped her even harder with the belt.

"Stop making things up! Even now you're still spreading lies and trying to ruin Sienna's name. How did you become this kind of person?"

"If we'd known you'd turn out like this, we never would have brought you home!"

By then, Lila's body was covered in bruises and wounds. But the pain in her heart hurt far more than anything they did to her body.

She laughed in despair. She was finally disappointed in every one of them.

"At a time like this, how could I still have hoped you would believe me? Lila, you're such a fool."