Chapter 4

After William kicked the door open that day, he got into a huge argument with Anthony and Emily.

After that, Anthony and Emily became almost overly careful with me.

Whenever we ate, they always made me eat first.

Emily would even blow on my soup to cool it down before feeding me one spoonful at a time.

Anthony dug out an old photo album that he hadn't looked at in years.

He turned the pages one by one and pointed at the pictures. "Chloe, look. This was your third birthday... And this was the first time you ever danced. You were such a cute little girl."

William happened to walk by.

When he saw this, he stopped and sneered. "You're really good at acting. You're just pretending to be pitiful so you can drive Hannah out of this family, aren't you? Seeing you like this makes me sick."

At that moment, I happened to be looking at a picture of William and me together.

He had once been so good to me. So good that I couldn't even bring myself to think about when he had started to change.

A loud slap across William's face pulled me back to reality.

Anthony and Emily had finally lost their tempers.

Hannah quickly stepped forward and held onto their arms. "Dad, Mom, please don't be angry. William just has a bad temper. He didn't mean what he said. We'll get along with Chloe from now on."

She paused as if she had suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. Isn't there a ball next week? I remember Chloe used to love dancing. I can take her with me. Maybe it will help her feel better."

Anthony and Emily looked at the little girl in the photo. She was wearing a pretty dance dress and smiling brightly. After a long silence, they finally nodded.

On the night of the ball, Hannah grabbed my hand the moment we arrived. "Come on. I'll take you to the backyard and help you pick the prettiest dress."

I obediently followed her away from the crowd.

When we reached the pool, she suddenly stopped.

She leaned close to my ear and whispered viciously, "Do you really think you can take everything that belongs to me just by pretending to be obedient? Dream on! Dad, Mom, and William will always love me."

Then she gave me a cruel smile. "Do you want to make a bet? If I win, you have to leave Saunder Mansion on your own. And you can never come back."

As soon as she finished speaking, she shoved me into the freezing pool.

Hannah watched for a moment before jumping in after me.

Then she screamed. "William! Help me!"

William rushed over when he heard her. But he suddenly stopped.

He hesitated for only a second before jumping into the water and swimming toward Hannah.

He pulled Hannah to the edge of the pool. Only then did he hear the guests screaming around him.

"There's someone else in the pool!"

"She's not moving! She's going to drown!"

William whipped around. His face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly jumped back into the pool and clumsily dragged me out.

I curled up on the freezing ground, coughing and gasping for air.

William didn't say anything. A hint of worry flashed across his eyes.

But the moment he heard Hannah crying, those words of concern disappeared.

He looked at Hannah's red eyes as if he had suddenly remembered something.

His face darkened again. "How dare you scare Hannah like this? Get on your knees and apologize to her!"

I wanted to nod. But my body wouldn't stop shaking.

His expression turned completely cold. "Chloe, everyone knows you aren't afraid of water. You won the citywide swimming championship when you were in elementary school. Your acting is getting more and more ridiculous."

He shouted as he grabbed me roughly and tried to force me to the ground so I would apologize to Hannah.

I lost my balance and fell forward.

That was when my prosthetic leg came loose.

The flesh-colored prosthetic rolled across the floor, its metal screws scraping against the ground.

The entire area fell silent.

Then terrified screams erupted from the crowd.

William stared at my empty legs. His face suddenly turned white.

He stumbled backward several steps. His eyes widened in disbelief. Then he collapsed onto the ground.