Chapter 2 A Family That Was Never Mine

My parents sat off to the side, watching the two of them with warm, indulgent smiles. Standing in the doorway, I felt like an intruder—someone peeking in on a happiness that had never belonged to me.

"Ian, at the end of the day, this was our fault. Back then, we thought letting you use Lexi's admission letter to enroll wouldn't cause any problems. Who could've known…" My parents exchanged a glance, their faces full of regret. "We really didn't think it through."

My admission letter?

But back then, they had sworn over and over that, after all my hard work, not even a vocational school in our town would accept me. They had called me useless. Said I had wasted their money for nothing.

My hands trembled as a memory slammed into me. The day the admission letter came, the Swains had brought gifts and sat chatting with my parents. When I asked about Ian, he had even smiled and told me his parents had always liked me—said they wanted me as their daughter-in-law.

So that was the truth. It had never been real.

Ian waved it off casually, telling my parents not to worry. "Forget it, Mr. and Mrs. Collins. No one expected things to turn out like that. Back then, we all thought you could just enroll with the admission letter. Who knew they'd actually investigate? But it worked out anyway. Honestly, I thought the letter alone would be enough. And now, with the royalties from the songs Lexi writes, I'm making a pretty good profit."

During that time, it wasn't unheard of for someone to use another person's admission letter to enroll. But I had never imagined my own parents would hand mine over to Ian.

I fumbled for my phone, disbelief clawing at my chest, only to realize I couldn't even log into my account anymore.

Between shifts, I would sometimes write songs. And every time I finished one, the first person I sent it to was the one I trusted most—Ian.

He would praise me, tell me it was good, and encourage me to keep writing. I had always thought he was running some kind of e-commerce business back home, which was why he didn't need to work.

I shoved the door open and stormed inside, staring straight at the people in the room with burning eyes.

They all turned toward me, wary. Ian shot to his feet immediately, his tone sharp. "Lexi, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? Go back and sleep. You've got work early tomorrow."

Evie looked flustered and quickly hid behind our parents.

After all these years, she was still the same. The moment something went wrong, she would pin it on me. All she had to do was act a little pitiful, and our parents would believe her without question—then turn around and scold me for upsetting her.

All of them were watching me carefully, trying to judge from my expression whether I had heard what they had just said.

"Lexi, why are you just standing there?" my mother snapped. "You stink of alcohol. Don't you know Evie can't stand that smell?"

Evie immediately gagged on cue. My parents immediately fussed over her, patting her back and soothing her.

"Lexi, why are you still here? It reeks."

Ian moved quickly, trying to push me out the door, but I grabbed the frame, letting out a hollow laugh. "She can't stand the smell of alcohol… What about me? Don't you know I'm allergic to it?"

The redness already spreading up my neck was proof enough. Anyone with eyes could see it. But earlier, they had just left me lying on the ground, not even bothering to help me up.

Evie stepped out from behind our parents, her brows slightly knitted, her voice soft and gentle as she tried to 'comfort' me.

"Lexi, don't be upset. Mom and Dad have always known I can't handle the smell of alcohol, but you've never said anything about being allergic. How were we supposed to know?"

It was like they had all found an excuse. One after another, they joined in.

"Exactly. We're not mind readers. How would we know when you got something like that? If you're sick, go buy some medicine."

I couldn't believe those words had come out of Ian's mouth.

This was Arcalis. It was the middle of the night. I didn't dare go out alone.

There had been a night before when I was almost assaulted on my way home. If not for a stranger stepping in to help, I wouldn't have made it back safely. When Ian found out, he swore he would never let me go out at night again.

"Lexi, I really didn't know. I'll go buy medicine for you now." Evie said it sweetly, but she hadn't even taken a single step before Ian frowned and stopped her. Then he turned to her with a gentle expression.

"You're a young girl. What are you doing going out this late? This isn't home. There are fugitives out there. Lexi, what are you trying to pull? Are you seriously asking your sister to go out and buy medicine for you? You just can't stand seeing Evie doing well, can you?"