Chapter 2

I walked step by step into the river. The next moment, another hand grabbed me.

I turned, confused, and saw Finn, my younger brother.

He was holding a cake with Cassandra's initials on it.

It must have been a cake to celebrate Cassandra's return after faking her death.

Finn's eyes were blazing with anger and hatred.

"What are you doing here? Did you know I was bringing Cassie a cake, so you came to stop me?!"

"Skylar, have you forgotten? I've already cut ties with you!"

In this world, if anyone hated me more than Julian, it would be my own brother.

But he wasn't always like this.

We lost our parents young, and I raised him alone, naming him Finn, hoping he'd be as resilient and free as a maple leaf.

He dreamed of studying music, so I dropped out early, working three jobs to send him to the best training programs.

Once, when our house caught fire, he ran barefoot into the flames, crying that if I died, he wouldn't live either.

We were each other's only support in this world, the closest blood relatives.

But everything changed after he met Cassandra.

Just because Cassandra said she wanted something good to eat, he forced me, even when I was seriously ill, to cook a table full of dishes for her.

When she didn't eat, I couldn't help but ask why, and he snapped back:

"Your cooking is awful! How dare you yell at her!"

With that, he dumped my hard-earned meal into the trash.

Later, Cassandra and Julian conspired to frame me, faking her death by jumping into the ocean.

Finn hated me to his core because of it, disowning me, watching coldly as I suffered, even pushing me deeper into despair himself.

Thinking of this, I didn't answer him. I slowly pulled my wrist from his grasp, inch by inch.

Julian saw this and immediately sneered.

"Cassie's back. She was kicked out with nothing, so she probably can't accept it and wants to kill herself."

Finn frowned, a cold laugh escaping his lips.

"Someone as afraid of death as Skylar? She wouldn't really kill herself. She's probably just putting on a show."

"Great minds think alike," Julian chuckled. "She just put on two shows for me."

After his mocking laugh, Finn looked at me with renewed hatred.

"Skylar, a vile person like you? Even if you really died, no one would care!"

"Now get out of the way. Don't block me from finding Cassie."

I slowly lowered my eyes. "Fine, I'll go."

The words were barely out before I plummeted into the rushing river.

Finn's face went white.

The river was swift, and in the blink of an eye, I was swept over ten yards away.

A sense of relief washed over me.

This time, I really could die, couldn't I?

But then, with a splash, I was pulled out by Finn and thrown onto the muddy grass, disheveled and covered in grime.

He was soaked, kicking me like a madman.

"Skylar, are you trying to make everyone think I forced you to die, and ruin me?!"

"You sicken me!"

"You... when did you learn to swim?" I coughed violently, bitter water spewing from my mouth.

Finn kicked me hard again, then sneered.

"After Cassie jumped into the ocean, I went and learned to swim."

"What? Disappointed your plan didn't work?"

I couldn't help but scoff. Love truly was amazing.

I had tried countless times to teach him to swim.

But each time, Cassandra stopped me. "With me around, Finn doesn't need to learn to swim. I'll always be with him, to save him if he's ever in danger."

Finn would also coldly dismiss me:

"Skylar, that's the difference between you and Cassie. You only force me to do things I don't want to. You don't deserve to be my sister!"

Later, Finn accidentally drowned, but Cassandra just watched coldly. It was me who jumped in and saved him.

Yet he thought Cassandra had saved him, giving her all the credit, and even accused me of being heartless, watching my own brother drown without moving.

Now, Finn, who had always been terrified of water, had learned to swim for Cassandra.

"What does my taking my life have to do with you? You're nothing but a stranger to me."

Hearing this, Finn's face turned beet red. He swung his hand and slapped me.

"If it weren't for the vow I made after Cassie died, to accumulate good karma for her, do you think I'd save you, my biological sister whom I've disowned?"

"Today, I'd save even a dog if it fell into the water!"

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Biological sister? That's a fresh one. What about Cassandra? Your 'good sister'? But she's marrying Julian."

Finn's hand froze. The cake in his hand dropped to the ground as he stared at Julian.

"Marrying?! Julian?"

I was about to speak when another target, Dr. Beckett, rushed over, his words like a thunderclap:

"Cassie's gone missing!"

"Skylar, did you hide Cassie?! Hand her over right now!"