Chapter 2

I nodded at Scott, feeling a sense of unease in my chest.

Scott Howard's gaze was deep, and his intention was impossible to read. He glanced at me and said quietly, "The driver will take you to and from school from now on. Do not embarrass the Howard family."

My cheeks turned red from embarrassment, and I nodded again. This school uniform was already one of the only few pieces of clothing I had that were still in one piece.

Zoey clearly did not expect him to make that arrangement.

I lowered my head and whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Howard."

Michael stood beside us with a stiff smile, nodding repeatedly.

In the following days, my life began to change quietly.

The Howard estate became both a refuge and the starting point of a new life for me, even when I was like an ornament in a corner of the house, ignored and unnoticed by everyone. But at the very least, I had food and warmth and no longer worried and struggled to keep a full belly throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the time I spent in school became my only comfort.

In my previous life, after I had left with my mother, I had no money for school. She refused to work and told me to support her. However, I was only a teenager then. No one would even hire me to wash dishes or deliver food. How could I support two adults?

So, I had no choice but to beg on the streets and scavenge the trash. I would never want to go back to that life where my dignity was trampled.

In this life, I had to focus on my studies. I knew that for someone like me, studying was the only way out. Whenever my name climbed to the top of the rankings, I knew I had moved one step further away from that wretched existence that was my last life.

The only thing that unsettled me was whenever the school needed a parent to attend an event, that phone call to the Howard estate made me anxious. No one in the Howard family would want to come to my parent-teacher meeting, even if it were to praise me.

"Hello, is this Mr. Langley? Your daughter has achieved great results again. We would like to invite you to the parent-teacher meeting…" The teacher's voice was full of anticipation on the other end of the line.

On the other end, Michael's reply was cold. "So what if she gets high marks? I'm busy. Meanwhile, you had better check if she cheated. How could she possibly score that well?"

I felt my heart chill after Michael hung up.

Which parent, upon hearing of their child's success, would consider that their child cheated instead of feeling joy for them?

I took a deep breath and forced the ache in my chest back down.

Zoey had walked in at some point, and her voice still carried that playful, mocking tone as she said, "I think Scott has a lot of free time lately. He can go. After all, she is my stepdaughter. If we never show up at her meetings, people will say the Howard family abuses her. That would be unpleasant."

She walked away after saying that, leaving Michael standing there in shock.

On the day of the meeting, Scott appeared in the back row of the classroom. His presence stirred a small commotion, and my classmates whispered to each other as I sat with my head down.

Then, Scott started attending my parent-teacher meetings. However, he wouldn't join every time. He would show up three or four times out of ten times. That being said, that was a good number for someone like him.

Time slipped by day after day.

I was approaching my life's turning point, which was my high school graduation.

I thought no one would care about my plans for the future, but Scott suddenly asked, "What are your plans after graduation? Do you want to study abroad?"

Before I could answer, Michael cut in from the side with his usual disdain. "Finishing high school is good enough for a girl. She's an adult now. If you ask me, she'll be useful for a marriage alliance."

I stared at him in disbelief, a sense of despair and anger that I had never felt before surging inside of me.

So… this was my so-called father. A man who would sacrifice his daughter's happiness for profit!

Just as I was about to break, Scott's voice rang out again. "The Howard family does not need to sell off a young woman's beauty. Her future is hers to decide."