Chapter 4

He instinctively tried to hide.

But in the next second, his first reaction was still to shield Lily behind him.

Just as he had once shielded me.

“Millie, just look at yourself! What do you think you’re doing?”

Dad’s eyes burned with fury.

“We’re all working here to help out. We could overlook you lazing around in your room, but you’ve barged into the banquet looking disheveled. You’re making a complete fool of yourself!”

Tears streamed down my face as I suddenly laughed.

“Weren’t you the ones who brought those men here? Now that you see me like this, shouldn’t you be satisfied?”

Dad frowned deeply. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Mom looked impatient.

“All we asked you to do was deal cards and pour drinks. What, are you some spoiled princess? Are those tasks beneath you?

“How did I end up with such an ungrateful daughter? Heaven must be blind!”

I stared blankly at her, then looked at Lily.

Her hand trembled slightly around her wineglass. What else was there to misunderstand?

I bit down on the flesh inside my mouth until it tore. “Why don’t you ask your precious adopted daughter what she did behind your backs—”

I never finished speaking. The entire cruise ship suddenly lurched violently.

“It’s a whirlpool! Everyone, hold on!” the captain shouted.

The glasses on the tables toppled to the floor, and screams erupted throughout the banquet hall.

Almost at the same moment, Mom, Dad, and Sebastian all lunged toward Lily.

The three of them formed a tight shield around her.

The powerful inertia flung me toward the opposite side, and every organ in my body screamed with pain.

I crawled toward the bow as the ship rocked violently.

The sea wind hurled rain against my face. “If I told you that Lily hired someone to hurt me, would you regret protecting her like this?”

Mom let out a cold laugh. “Stop accusing Lily. She’s nothing like you. She’s been obedient and well-behaved since childhood.

“Even if she really did something… you must have driven her to it. It couldn’t possibly be her fault!”

I instinctively dug my fingers into the railing until my fingertips split and blood ran freely.

“Then I have no choice but to call the police and let them deal with it.”

Even if I was about to leave this world, I would not let the people who hurt me get away with it.

“Wait!”

Sebastian suddenly spoke.

He took out his phone and opened a video.

My eyes widened. It showed the surveillance footage from my room.

There was no sound. I could only see the figures moving repeatedly.

In the silent footage, those blurred figures climbed onto me one after another.

“Although they were only pretending to scare you, do you think anyone would believe it was fake after seeing this?”

Sebastian’s face turned dark and vicious. “Millie, if you don’t want to be ruined, keep your mouth shut. Stop slandering Lily.”

The suffocating fear and pain from those five hours swept over me once again.

My body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“It was real! They really hurt me! Why don’t you believe me?”

I practically screamed the words.

“You promised you wouldn’t let anyone hurt me. Why are you bullying me with them now!?”

Sebastian watched my breakdown with the same cruelty as those men earlier.

“Millie, do you think I don’t know you? Stop lying and putting on an act. It’s pathetic.”

The cruise ship tilted sharply under the force of the whirlpool.

My foot slipped, and my body slammed into the railing.

Mom’s face darkened as she shielded Lily and shouted at me. “Get down here right now! Who are you trying to scare? You’re willing to threaten us with your life just to frame Lily. What won’t you do next?”

“What are you so worried about? She wouldn’t dare jump even if she had a hundred times the courage.”

Dad’s voice rang out with authority.

“You spread lies and falsely accused your sister in front of all those people today. This is completely unacceptable. Come over here and apologize to Lily.

“Don’t think your mother and I don’t know that you put on this act today so you could avoid working and repaying the gambling debt.

“Millie, have you ever truly considered us your parents?”

The suspicion in my parents’ eyes pierced my heart like countless sharp needles, leaving it numb with pain.

The sea wind grew stronger, and rain mixed with my tears until my vision blurred.

[Time’s up. Host, body destruction will now begin.]

I gave a desolate laugh and squeezed my eyes shut.

“If two lifetimes were not enough to prove my sincerity, then I’ll give you my final life too.”

As Mom, Dad, and Sebastian rushed toward me in horror, I fell backward and plunged into the whirlpool.