Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So... you're the kidnapped boy?" Ivy asked, her brow deeply furrowed as she stared at Vino in disbelief after hearing the brief account of his past from the man's lips.

Vino nodded slowly, his eyes fixed intently on Ivy's face, filled with emotions that had remained locked away for more than a decade. "Yes. I was that boy. You gave me water and comforted me in that old warehouse, Ivy. And for years, I kept searching for the brave little girl who gave me food when I was starving."

A faint, weary smile appeared at the corner of Ivy's lips. "Oh... so that's how it was. Come to think of it, you were crying in fear in the corner of the room back then. I even had to scold a crybaby like you to make you stop crying," she murmured softly, a hollow laugh slipping between her heavy breaths.

Vino smiled faintly at the childhood teasing. "And that brave little girl is now standing before me in a state like this." The man suddenly fell silent, then, without warning, pulled Ivy's frail body into his arms, enveloping her in a warm embrace that was so different from the coldness of the outside world. "I finally found you, Ivy."

Ivy froze for a moment in his embrace, feeling a sincerity she had not experienced from anyone in a long time. She returned the embrace with the last bit of strength she had, then whispered softly, "I'm also glad that you survived and grew up well... All right, Vino, I want to go inside the house now."

Vino nodded slowly, releasing his embrace and allowing Ivy to get out of the car. The man watched the girl's footsteps until she successfully entered the Carter mansion's grounds, making sure that nothing bad would immediately await her there.

Ivy's footsteps felt incredibly heavy as she pushed open the main door of the mansion, which stood wide open. The atmosphere inside the house felt deserted. Without paying attention to her surroundings, she immediately climbed the stairs one by one toward the upper floor, intending to lock herself inside her room so she could lie down and rest her body, which felt increasingly broken after the doctor's diagnosis.

However, just as she reached the end of the second-floor corridor, her footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

The door to her bedroom, which had been her most comfortable place for the past fourteen years, stood wide open. Even more shocking, all of her belongings—from stacks of books, childhood photo frames, and jewelry boxes to clothes—were scattered across the corridor floor outside the room. Meanwhile, inside the room, every corner was now filled with branded suitcases, luxurious dresses, and new decorations that belonged to someone else entirely.

Several household servants could be seen leaving the room while carrying the remaining cardboard boxes containing Ivy's belongings. Upon seeing Ivy's arrival, the servants stopped in their tracks, their faces turning deathly pale as their body language became awkward and uneasy.

Ivy stood frozen, staring blankly at her belongings scattered across the cold floor. Her throat felt constricted, making her voice barely audible as she questioned the head servant standing closest to her.

"Why... why are all my things outside?" Ivy asked, her voice trembling violently.

The head servant lowered his head as deeply as possible, avoiding Ivy's eyes, which reflected unbearable pain. "I'm sorry, Miss Ivy..." he squeaked softly, his voice filled with hesitation. "This... this was a direct order from the young masters."

Ivy's brow furrowed even deeper, her chest suddenly tightening painfully. "An order from them? What do you mean?"

"Master Arthur and the other young masters instructed us to clear out this room," the head servant continued, his voice growing quieter. "Because the rightful owner of this room has returned, Miss Ivy has to..."

The sentence hung in the air, but Ivy's mind immediately guessed what came next without needing to hear those humiliating words completed. She stared blankly at her own belongings, then turned to look at the bedroom door, which had now completely become someone else's property.

"So... my room has been given to Sarah?" Ivy whispered faintly, the last defense within her heart collapsing in an instant.

Ivy stood stiffly on the corridor floor. Her breathing felt heavy, rushing through her chest as though it were being squeezed tightly. Her eyes stared sharply at the pile of personal belongings scattered outside the room, treated as though they were nothing more than discarded junk.

Fourteen years. That room had been hers. Now, just one month after Sarah Sechan's arrival, her existence in this house had been completely erased as though she had never existed.

Before Ivy could pick up even one of her belongings, the sound of footsteps accompanied by the clicking of heels against the floor caught her attention. From the far end of the staircase corridor, Sarah Sechan appeared, dressed in a pink silk dress that fit her body perfectly. The girl's face looked fresh, showing no trace whatsoever of the illness that had supposedly caused her to faint helplessly a few hours earlier and forced Arthur to carry her.

Sarah walked gracefully toward Ivy and stopped directly in front of the scattered belongings. The corner of her lips lifted into a faint, mocking smirk, completely different from the pitiful expression she usually displayed in front of her family.

"That room is far too good for an adopted child like you, Sis Ivy," Sarah whispered softly, deliberately lowering her voice so that only the two of them could hear. She leaned her face closer, staring at Ivy with a nauseating look of triumph in her eyes. "All the facilities, all the affection, and everything someone like you has enjoyed for so long... I'll slowly take them away one by one. Until you truly have nothing left in this house."

Ivy clenched both hands until her fingernails dug into her palms. The pain in her chest suddenly transformed into a cold fury that spread throughout her entire body. She stared straight into Sarah's eyes, not intimidated in the slightest.

"Take everything if you want," Ivy replied in a low voice that trembled sharply. "But don't think I don't know the filth behind your pathetic act. You were never sick, Sarah. You were only pretending to be sick so that my entire family would give you all their attention and throw me away!"

Instead of becoming frightened or offended, Sarah merely let out a soft chuckle. The cynical smile on her face widened even further, revealing just how cunning the girl before her truly was.

However, in the midst of that smirk, Sarah's eyes suddenly caught sight of someone who had just climbed the stairs from the lower floor—Arthur. In an instant, Sarah's expression changed drastically. Her previously mocking face turned pale, her eyes welled up with tears, and she raised her voice several octaves so that it could be clearly heard by the person who had just arrived.

"Sis Ivy... hic... please don't say that," Sarah screamed hysterically, deliberately slamming her own hand against the corridor wall as though she were suffering terribly. "I never asked for your room to become mine! If you hate me that much, then just hit me! Don't torture me like this!"

Ivy was startled by the sudden change in Sarah's act. "What are you talking about, Sarah? Don't be crazy!"

"What's going on here?!"

The deep, familiar shout that Ivy knew so well thundered from the end of the staircase. Arthur stood there with his eyes widened in anger, watching as Sarah deliberately slapped her own cheek twice in succession, leaving conspicuous red marks before collapsing onto the floor and sobbing uncontrollably.