Chapter 1

Mud mixed with grass clippings left a large, ugly stain on the limited-edition princess dress my six-year-old cousin, Maya Shaw, was wearing.

The smile froze on Maya’s face.

A second later, she pouted and burst into tears.

“Waaah… My dress… Aaron gave it to me…”

The warmth vanished from my aunt Mandy Rivers’ face, replaced by barely suppressed fury.

She quickly composed herself, crouched down, and forced a smile as she reached for me.

“Be a good girl, Yuna. Why are you sitting on the ground? Come on, get up. I will take you to change and wash your hands.”

Her hand had not even touched the hem of my clothes.

I immediately flailed and rolled across the grass, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“No! Bad Auntie! She tried to push Yuna into the pond!”

I pointed at the nearby pond with my chubby little hand while crying.

A section of the wooden railing beside it was visibly broken.

Mandy had damaged it in advance.

Her face turned pale, and she hurried to cover my mouth.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Waaah!”

I cried even harder until my little face turned bright red. I gasped for breath as if I might faint at any moment.

Right on cue, the floor-to-ceiling window on the mansion’s second floor burst open. My mother called out in a gentle but worried voice:

“Yuna! What happened?”

My father, Michael Rivers, rushed out of the house right after her.

When he saw me rolling around on the ground, covered in mud, his face crumpled with heartache.

“My precious darling! What happened?”

He scooped me up and held me tightly, using his suit sleeve to wipe the mud and tears from my face.

Mandy immediately put on a tearful expression.

“Michael, this is all my fault. I saw Yuna playing by herself, so I wanted to take her to the pond to feed the swans.

“Who would have thought she would trip and fall, then get Maya’s dress dirty…”

Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

“Yuna is still young and doesn’t know any better. Maybe she thought I pushed her, which was why she kept crying and wouldn’t let me touch her.”

Maya sniffled as she tugged at my mother’s clothes.

“Don’t blame Yuna, Auntie. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have worn such a pretty dress outside…”

What a pair of shameless little hypocrites.

The mother was a master at playing innocent, and her daughter was no different.

My mother looked at the stain on Maya’s dress, then at me, crying so hard I could barely catch my breath.

Her brows knitted together.

“Mandy, Yuna is still young. You’re her elder, so don’t hold it against her.”

My father ignored them completely. His attention remained fixed on the direction I had pointed.

He followed my finger and saw the loose section of railing beside the pond. His expression darkened instantly.

“What happened to that railing?”

Mandy stiffened and quickly explained, “It must have been damaged over time. I didn’t notice it earlier.”

My father said nothing. He carried me toward the pond in large strides.

He stretched out his foot and gave the railing a light kick.

With a sharp crack, the entire section snapped off and fell into the water, sending up a splash.

If Mandy had really taken me over there earlier, I would have been the one falling into the pond.

My father’s face turned completely dark, and the air around him grew terrifyingly tense.

He turned around and swept a cold glance over Mandy.

“Someone seal off the pond! No one is allowed near it without my permission!

“Also, find out who was responsible! Check the maintenance records for every facility in this mansion!

“Find out who went near the pond over the past few days! If you can’t, all of you can get out!”

Mandy’s face turned deathly pale. She could not utter a word.

My father stopped looking at her, turned around with me in his arms, and walked away.

“Come on. I will take you to have a bath and change your clothes. We won’t worry about those bad people.”

I nestled against my father and looked back at Mandy, who stood frozen in place. Then I flashed her a wide grin.

“You wanted me dead? Keep dreaming.”