Chapter 2

“Are you deaf? I told you to get on your knees and say, ‘I’m a pretentious, pathetic shrew and a slum dweller!’ Say it! Then, I’ll convince my brother to spare you!”

Isabella was screaming in a shrill voice and did not notice that Davide was right behind her.

He had seen my photo. Naturally, he recognized me.

But Isabella was clearly oblivious. When she followed my gaze and spotted Davide, she looked surprised.

“Dav! How did you know I was here? Are you here to pick me up?”

She ran toward Davide, pointed at me, and complained to him. “This shrew dares to fight with me over some gifts! I wanted to get them for you and our parents. Teach her a lesson now!”

I raised an eyebrow. “What a coincidence! I also wanted to get them for my parents, since I’ll be meeting them for the first time.”

Isabella laughed.

“You pretentious shrew! You have a family, huh? What kind of people are they? Is your dad a drunkard or a drug addict? Is your mom a prostitute? Which district does she work in? Did they have to sell themselves to afford that black card?”

In my eighteen years of life, no one had ever dared to behave in such a way with me.

Oddly enough, I was not the angriest person in the room.

I sneered and looked at Davide, who seemed furious.

“Did you hear the way she insulted me and our parents, Davide?”

“What?!” Isabella gasped. “Dav? Is this Celina, your long-lost sister? Did I just—”

Shocked, she stumbled back and trembled uncontrollably.

The people around us cried out in shock as well.

“What? Is this young lady the Ferrero family’s long-lost daughter?!”

“I heard that when they lost her, everyone was out looking for her at the family’s order. They only adopted Isabella when they couldn’t find her!”

“It’s no wonder she looks so confident and brave. I wonder who Mr. Ferrero will side with, now that his adopted sister and his biological sister are fighting.”

Isabella glanced around, and her eyes lit up. She quickly grabbed Davide’s sleeve. With a disappointed face, she tearfully said, “I’m sorry, Dav. I was genuinely worried that when Celina came back, you and our parents would kick me out. That’s why I wanted to buy you the best gifts!”

“I know, my dear.”

Davide, who had been quiet the entire time, patted Isabella on the shoulder. Then, he looked at me and said coldly, “Isabella will always be my little sister and a Ferrero. No one can replace her.”

I stared coldly at my biological brother, whom I had met for the first time.

He chose to take her side and defend her even when he heard that Isabella had insulted our parents and me.

Someone like him did not deserve the gift I had bought with my own money.

I took back my black card from the shop assistant.

“I no longer want these things. You may sell them to whomever you like.”

Seeing Davide take her side, Isabella felt emboldened. She grabbed me by the wrist and raised the card in my hand.

“It’s no wonder you have a black card! It must have been a gift from my family! How impressive, Celina! The first thing you did after coming home was spend my parents’ money and act like you’re a billionaire! Not even I could bring myself to spend five hundred thousand dollars like this!”

Hearing that, Davide frowned in disapproval.

“I never wanted you to come back. Mom and Dad said you wanted to meet us very badly. I assumed you were having a hard time, so I relented and thought I’d let you return home out of remorse. Who would’ve thought that you’d be so ungrateful and wasteful with our money? I shouldn’t have let you come back!”

I let out a bark of laughter.

My biological parents were the ones who had sobbed and begged me to meet with them after finding out who my adoptive parents were.

But according to Davide, I was a dirt-poor woman begging to come home to them.

After all, humans were selfish and opportunistic. They would fawn over those who were powerful and stomped on those they deemed inferior.

“Fine, Davide! Go home to your parents and tell them that I won’t be returning. I neither want to be in your family nor do I plan to meet them!”

I yanked my wrist free from Isabella’s grip and walked out of the store.

Just as I texted Alessandro, my adoptive brother, Isabella dashed over and tried to stop me from leaving.

“Get back here, you damn beggar!”

She stared at me cockily. “Leave our black card behind, then you may leave.”

I sneered.

“You greedy idiot! This is an unlimited black card that can be used all around the world. Only four cards have been issued so far. What makes you think a small family like the Ferrero family can own one?”

“Are you still pretending you’re rich? It’s my parents’ money! It won’t go into the pockets of the beggars who adopted you. Give it back, or you won’t be leaving this store!”

‘Beggars who adopted me?’ I thought.

Out of respect for my biological parents, I had put up with her insults twice.

But my adoptive family was my bottom line. I would never let anyone insult them.

I smiled icily.

“Oh? How’re you going to stop me from leaving?”