Chapter 4

I got cyberbullied.

That day's content was broadcast live, and everyone felt sorry for Sophia Foster and Dad, while I faced countless attacks and insults.

Several classmates acted as informants online, claiming the Foster family sponsored my private school education, that Sophia was always tolerant of me at school, but I constantly bullied her.

[Ungrateful wretch!]

[See, you can't just sponsor people randomly, or you'll raise an ungrateful wretch who bullies your own child.]

[That was jade, right? The Foster family's things must be expensive. How does a maid's daughter have the nerve to say her mom left it to her? If she could afford jade, why would her mom work as a maid at the Foster house?]

[Feel so bad for Sophia. The keepsake her mom left was smashed like that. Make her pay for it!]

[Sophia looks so much like her mom. I used to be a fan of Vivian. Seeing Sophia cry breaks my heart. If Vivian were still here, she'd be heartbroken too.]

[Vivian loved her daughter so much. If she knew her daughter was being bullied like this... sigh.]

Vivian was my mom.

Seeing this comment, my heart ached dully.

If Mom were still here, would she feel sorry for me?

If Mom were still here... would she recognize me?

Would she, like Dad, stand on Sophia Foster's side too?

After all, I was the one who caused her disappearance.

After all, I don't look even slightly like her.

Sophia Foster's birthday party--all the classmates came.

They came to knock on my door, loudly mocking me outside, taking Sophia's side.

I was locked in my room. Dad's orders.

At the time, he wouldn't even enter my room, lecturing me through the door.

"Chloe Foster, how can you face your mother? That necklace was her most treasured possession! It was your grandmother's keepsake!"

"Do you hate your mother that much? Hate Sophia that much? Do you know how long Sophia prepared for this live broadcast?"

"If your mother saw what you've become today, she'd regret giving birth to you!"

After Dad left, Sophia came in with a key.

"Chloe Foster, when you heard Dad personally call you a maid's daughter, how did you feel?"

"You're so shameless, still refusing to leave the Foster house. You got your mom killed, and Dad hates you to death. He wishes you'd die soon--he just hasn't said it out loud."

I ignored her, staring out the window on my own.

It was very lively outside. The lawn by the artificial lake was decorated beautifully.

Flowers, banners, balloons, champagne towers.

Gift boxes in various colors covered the ground. The birthday cake was ten tiers high.

That was the scene from my memories, the scene from my dreams.

Ten years.

Every year, I watched someone else take center stage on my birthday.

Someone was calling Sophia to cut the cake.

Sophia's face darkened, angry at being ignored by me.

"Chloe Foster! I'm talking to you!"

"Why didn't you die with your mother?"

She snatched the jade fragments from my hand and threw them toward the artificial lake outside the window.

I suddenly stood up. Without thinking, I climbed onto the window and jumped into the lake.

A chorus of exclamations, screams, cold water flooding my ears and nose.

Before losing consciousness, I seemed to hear Mom's voice.

I heard her calling my name:

"Chloe! Mom is here!"