Chapter 4

In the blink of an eye, I turned two years old.

For the last two years, the Fairchild residence had been absolute chaos.

On this particular day, I was sitting in my stroller, sunbathing by the pool.

Natalie dragged my seventh-oldest brother, Elias Fairchild, over to the pool. "Eli, you spend way too much time typing away at your keyboard every day; you need to get some sun!"

When she turned her head and spotted me, a nasty look flashed across her eyes before she adopted an innocent expression. "You're out here soaking up the sun, too, Nev? Shall I push you over to the edge of the pool so you can look at the little goldfish?"

I sneered. [Goldfish, my ass. Who on earth raises goldfish in a swimming pool? If you're going to try to murder me, at least put some effort into the cover story. Honestly, she's got more water in her brain than there is in this damn pool.]

Natalie walked up behind my stroller, gripping the handlebars. Right at that moment, Damian stepped forward and stopped her. "Mrs. Fairchild has given strict instructions that you are not allowed near Ms. Nevaeh, Ms. Natalie."

Natalie pouted before turning to look at Elias and turning on the waterworks instantly. "Eli, look at them. I don't even have the right to go near Nev anymore…"

Elias' brows knitted, and his fingers flew across his keyboard. "Damian, you're just a bodyguard. Don't abuse your authority."

Damian stood his ground, unfazed. "This is stipulated in the agreement."

Elias scoffed. "What a load of bull. It's nothing but a bunch of broken systems!"

He slammed his finger down on the Enter key. "I just breached your security network. As of now, your communications are cut off, and your surveillance is fried. I'd love to see how you enforce the agreement without your precious system backing you up!"

Damian's expression changed slightly. The moment his hand went to his earpiece, Elias ambushed him with a stun pen, sending him crashing to the ground.

Natalie's eyes lit up when she saw that. She abruptly grabbed my stroller and shoved it toward the pool. "Nev, go look at the little goldfish!"

The wheels rolled rapidly, bringing me closer and closer to the edge. In the nick of time, a figure darted out from the side. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

A redheaded teenager grabbed my stroller and yanked it back. It was my eighth brother, Everett Fairchild, who had just returned from abroad. "Natalie, are you fucking insane? Are you trying to murder my younger sister?"

A murderous glint flashed in Natalie's eyes. Instead of backing off, she threw her entire body weight against the stroller.

With a loud splash, both my stroller and I were pushed into the deep end. Then, she collapsed to the ground, burying her face in her hands and sobbing loudly. "Why'd you push me, Ever? I was just trying to hold onto the stroller, but you pushed Nev in!"

Everett was just about to dive in to save me when Natalie tackled his legs, clinging to him for dear life while bawling her eyes out. "You bullied me the second you came back. What did I do to deserve this?"

Elias couldn't remain indifferent, after all. He had just rushed to the edge of the pool when Natalie clutched his pant leg. "Don't go over there, Eli! Ever has lost his mind. He'll push you in, too!"

Elias immediately shielded her behind his back. "You've gone too far, Everett! Nat was just keeping Nev company. Why'd you push her?"

Ethan and Elliot, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion, also joined in to condemn Everett. "Everett, you cause trouble the second you set foot back home. Apologize to Nat right now!"

"You've seriously let us down. How did our family raise such a malicious creature like you?"

Stripped of any way to defend himself, Everett trembled with pure rage. "Are you guys fucking blind? She was the one who pushed the stroller! Where's the surveillance camera? Let's pull up the security footage!"

Elias stared at him blankly. "Save your breath. The security system just went down; it didn't catch a single thing."

Everett was beside himself with rage and panic. "What the hell are you all waiting for? Save her!"

Ethan and Elliot looked utterly confused. "Save who?"

Natalie immediately beat him to the punch, pointing at the pool and wailing, "Everett lost his mind. He pushed Nev into the pool. He almost pushed me in, too! Nev is probably... dead by now!"

While Ethan and Elliot forced Everett back into a corner until his eyes welled with frustrated tears, I sighed and crawled out of the pool on all fours. "You're all so noisy."

I looked coldly at these intellectually challenged brothers of mine. "Who said… the surveillance cameras… were down?"