Chapter 2

Colin's steps faltered. Something occurred to him, and he laughed bitterly.

"The truth? Every year's videotapes have been labeled with those words. And what did we see?" He closed his eyes, forcing down the bitterness in his chest. "They were all just her way of gloating over how she had betrayed our family!"

Lance took the videotape and tossed it into the trash. "We're not watching that. We cut ties with her a long time ago."

My fingers curled into fists. Even as my nails dug into my palms, I felt no pain. The dull ache buried deep in my heart was the real source of my suffering.

I wanted to tell them that whatever was on this videotape really was the whole truth. I wanted them to learn the truth, but I also couldn't bear the thought of them having to face it. That was why I had written those words on every tape. If knowing the truth would only bring them pain, it was better for me to bear it alone.

Xavier looked surprised for a moment. "Really? When I first met that young lady, she didn't strike me as the kind of person you two make her out to be."

Colin scoffed, "Before she drove our parents to their deaths, brought Garcia Group to ruin, and made us take the fall for her, I had no idea she was such a monster!"

When I heard this, my eyes welled up with tears.

Xavier noticed that he was getting worked up and decided not to say anything more. "All right. But I need to tell you something. She gave me all those videotapes at once. So, the last time I actually saw her was ten years ago."

Colin and Lance exchanged a glance. For a fleeting moment, they felt unease and panic, but the feeling passed so quickly that neither had time to make sense of it. Instead, they sneered.

Colin yelled, "She's living the high life now. Why would she ever return to this godforsaken dump every year?"

"What a vicious woman! Even after leaving, she still had to record something to rub it in!"

With that, he stormed off.

Lance hurried after him, but when no one was looking, he quietly retrieved the videotape from the trash can.

I watched him in surprise, and a glimmer of hope rose within me. Perhaps Lance didn't hate me as much as I thought.

That evening, Xavier invited Colin and Lance to his home for dinner. After a few rounds of drinks, the three of them had loosened up and begun speaking more freely.

Xavier said, "You need to stop being so stubborn. I may have only met that young lady once, but I trust my judgment of people."

Xavier recalled the day we first met. Colin and Lance had just been brought into the prison when he saw me. I was staggering as I walked, my face pale and my eyes swollen and red from crying.

As he reminisced, he said, "You have no idea. She was crying so hard that the entire prison could hear her. Even I felt tears welling up."

Colin and Lance remained silent, their fingers gripping their cups so tightly that their knuckles turned white.

"What right does she have to be sad? Isn't all of this her own fault?" Colin hurled his cup, and it shattered just inches from my feet.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. But a ghost's words could never reach the ears of the living.

Xaiver shook his head drunkenly. "No, that's not it. When she came to see me, she handed over ten videotapes. I saw that one of her fingers had been severed! Her wrists were also covered in bruises."

I raised my hand and looked down at the missing finger on my right hand, smiling bitterly. A memory surfaced in my mind. My parents and brothers gathered around me, watching me play the piano. Sadly, those beautiful memories had eventually been ruined by the cruel reality that came afterward.

Lance suddenly froze. "What did you say?" He sprang to his feet, suddenly sobering up.

But a moment later, he smiled in derision. "You can't be talking about Brittany. Such a selfish person would never let herself end up like that! She must be living it up in some villa by now!"

As he spoke, his arms trembled uncontrollably. He struggled to suppress the hatred in his heart and the lingering trace of sorrow.

Colin listened in silence, his eyes welling up with tears. "Xaiver, you can never judge a person by appearances. No one knows better than I do what a monster she really is!"

By then, Xaiver had already passed out drunk on the couch. Yet, he continued mumbling the same words under his breath. "No, that's not right. I heard her say something. She said she sent you to prison to… What was it again?"

Colin and Lance stood there gloomily. After covering Xavier with a blanket, they quietly left the house.

As soon as the front door closed, Xavier suddenly murmured, "Oh, right. She said it was to protect you…"