Chapter 4

"How could you do this to us? What have I ever done wrong? Where did I go wrong to have given birth to such a horrible and vicious daughter like you? I don't want to live anymore!" Mom screamed before rushing over to the table to bash her head against the corner.

Everyone quickly held her back.

Isaac's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me.

"Irene Sherman! Are you happy only if you completely destroy and tear the family apart like this?"

Meanwhile, Mom kept trying to kill herself, and the rest of the family hurriedly brought her out of the room.

Soon, only Vivian and I were the only ones left.

She pretended to be concerned about me as she said, "You know, Irene, I never thought that everyone in your family would actually stand up for me against you over such a minor grievance.

"I guess you can pin the blame on me all you want, but you really should stop making Mom and Dad mad. They won't be able to take it."

Then, she leaned closer to my ear and whispered, "But don't worry. I'll take good care of them in your stead. After all, I know more about their likes and preferences than you, their own biological daughter.

"They even promised me that I'd get your share of the inheritance once they'd claimed eminent domain compensation from the government."

I was shocked. I never thought Mom and Dad had already gone that far.

At that point, I realized that all of the care and concern I'd shown them all this time had been nothing but a joke.

Whatever. I didn't care anymore.

However, I didn't think that Vivian would suddenly use the same trick again.

She messed up her hair and began slapping herself loudly while shrieking, "Please, Irene! Don't hit me anymore! I don't want the persimmons anymore! I'll apologize! I'll apologize for everything!"

Ivan was the first to rush in. He didn't even bother getting things straight before kicking me to the floor.

"How dare you lay a finger on Vivian, Irene, you bitch!"

Isaac and Cathy were the next to rush to us. Isaac slapped me hard and yelled, "You're being more and more unreasonable, Irene Sherman! How dare you hit Vivian!"

Meanwhile, Cathy helped the shivering Vivian sit up in the corner and comforted her.

"It's alright, Viv. It's going to be alright. I'm here."

Mom also rushed in afterward and grabbed me by my hair, yanking at it harshly.

"Irene Sherman! How dare you hit Viv! I'm going to kill you!"

Dad then pinned me to the ground and yelled, "You damn bitch! How dare you do such a thing to Viv just because you thought we let you off easy! Get down on your knees and apologize to Vivian this instant!"

Then, he yanked me up and slammed me down harshly on my knees. My bones nearly cracked from the impact as it slammed against the hard floor.

I glared at the crowd of people who'd been my family for the first 20 years of my life, now threatening and beating me up all for the sake of an outsider, and felt my heart turn to stone.

I wiped the blood from the corner of my lips and glared daggers at them.

"I'm going to call the police! Not a single one of you is getting out alive!"

Isaac was even more enraged by this. He kicked me hard in the back and thundered, "The police! To hell with that, you stubborn old bitch! I'm going to fucking beat you black and blue!"

He'd kicked me so hard and so suddenly that I took the full impact and landed on the floor on my chin. Blood immediately poured from my face.

The commotion was so loud that the neighbors began inquiring at the door, rushing in to stop the fight.

"You can't do this! You're going to kill her at this rate!"

However, Dad didn't care.

"Stay out of my business! What's the big deal about teaching my own daughter a lesson?"

He then turned to me and said, "You had better grovel and beg Vivian for forgiveness before we even consider forgiving you. If not, we're going to teach you another lesson!"

I slowly got back up and spat a mouthful of blood on the floor.

"Over my dead body!"

Dad flew into another rage, raising his hand to cuff me.

I shut my eyes, bracing for the punch.

However, a split second later, I only heard the sound of Dad's painful screech.