Chapter 4

"Gladly!" Alexander's tone was full of excitement. "I couldn't ask for anything better!"

"How else could I marry Olivia if I don't divorce you?"

Mustering the last of my strength, I propped myself up on my elbow to sit up.

Looking at Alexander, I asked a question I had always wanted to ask, "Alexander, did you ever love me?"

Alexander jumped off the bed, about to leave.

Hearing my question, he laughed. I laughed too.

Because we both knew the answer to that question.

"I hate you."

"If it weren't for you, Olivia and I might have been together long ago. We would have studied art together, fulfilled her childhood dreams. It's all because of you!"

After Alexander left, I slowly closed my eyes.

Everything he had just said - those were my wishes, the future I had once shared with Alexander.

But he had forgotten it all.

I was an orphan, raised in an orphanage from a young age.

When I was nine, Grandma Rose took me in as her adopted granddaughter.

"I felt a connection with this girl at first sight. I brought her home to grow up with Alexander so they'd have each other for company."

And so I came to live with the Jiang family.

But to my surprise, when Grandma Rose introduced me to Alexander, all that awaited me was coldness.

Before I was adopted by the Jiang family, I was never popular at the orphanage.

Back then, I was small and skinny, completely unremarkable.

Every summer, Grandma Rose would bring Alexander to spend the holidays at the orphanage.

At that time, I was so afraid of crowds that I always hid in the attic of the orphanage.

But each time, I would secretly peek at Alexander playing with the other girls.

Among these girls, the most popular was Olivia.

Becoming like Olivia was my dream throughout my entire childhood.

Like me, Olivia was also an orphan.

Unlike us, she always received preferential treatment.

Because she was pretty and had blossomed into a lovely young lady at an early age.

Every time Alexander came to visit, the orphanage director would dress Olivia in beautiful dresses.

The director and teachers' intentions were obvious - they wanted her to be adopted by the Jiang family.

I secretly liked Alexander, but no one knew.

I would trace his features over and over on paper.

Many times, I wanted to go downstairs to play with him.

But I was just too unremarkable.

So much so that I never spoke to Alexander during my time at the orphanage.

Everyone at the orphanage crowded around Alexander and Olivia.

Everyone thought Grandma Rose would take Olivia home.

But an accident happened...

The summer I was eight years old, Alexander accidentally fell into the pond and nearly drowned.

As usual, I was reading on the second floor of the orphanage when I heard cries for help. I looked out the window.

Alexander's body was bobbing up and down in the water, while Olivia was too scared to speak.

I dropped my book and ran over, picking up a stick on the ground to reach out to Alexander.

After Alexander got to shore, he fainted and lay there like he was dead.

I was so scared I stood frozen, unable to speak.

The children who came running when they heard the cries pointed at me and shouted, "Sophia! You pushed Alexander into the pond!"

In the crowd, I saw Olivia.

She stared with wide eyes but said nothing.

"Sophia! Did you push Alexander in?" The orphanage teacher roughly shoved me to the side.

"I... didn't." Usually too timid to speak up, I couldn't help but defend myself in that moment.

But Olivia stepped forward and pointed at me, "It was Sophia, I saw her!"