Chapter 3

When I was fourteen, Summer and I were best friends.

I often brought her home to play.

She always said she envied me.

Whatever I had, I generously asked my mom to get for her too.

My parents had been fighting frequently since I was little.

They'd avoid me when they fought.

But I could sense any slight change in the emotional state between my parents.

They were incompatible.

Until I was sixteen, Victor cheated with Linda.

It started when they met at a parent-teacher conference and developed feelings for each other.

Linda introduced herself.

"Hello, Mr. Harper. I'm Summer's parent."

That's how they met.

My mom finally let go and divorced him. She developed severe depression. After a failed suicide attempt, she came to terms with it.

After the divorce, my grandmother accompanied my mom abroad for treatment.

I cried and said I wanted to go with my mom.

"Mom, it's all my fault."

"I'll never play with Summer again, never bring her home."

"Please don't abandon me, okay?"

My mom patiently explained to me.

"Mom isn't abandoning you. Can you be good and stay in the country?"

Before leaving, my mom told me.

"I'll be back soon."

Gradually, I understood my mom's intention.

Since she couldn't have Victor's love, not a penny of what belonged to me could be spent by Summer and her mother.

Before they divorced, they signed a divorce agreement.

I would go to Victor, on the condition that he write a will stating all his company and real estate would go to me.

Victor laughed coldly.

"Chloe is my only daughter. Even if you don't say it, my assets will be hers."

My mom said:

"Who knows?"

Summer and I lived under the same roof. We could never be friends again.

At school, I wouldn't even acknowledge her.

At eighteen, after finishing the college entrance exams.

Linda and I got into an argument. She wanted to redecorate the house my mother had designed. I wouldn't let her.

She stood at the top of the stairs. During the argument, she fell down.

The housekeeper had just cleaned the floor with dish soap that day. The floor was slippery.

Linda had a miscarriage.

Linda was a dance teacher. This fall—she lost the baby, and more dangerously, she came this close to being paralyzed from the waist down.

The housekeeper said I'd pushed Linda.

Victor came back from the hospital, his eyes cold as frost.

"Chloe, I've spoiled you too much all these years."

"Your mom and I divorced. I felt I wronged you."

"How can your heart be so malicious?"

He slapped me. I stood there stunned.

Everything went silent with a buzzing sound.

"I didn't push her. Ask the housekeeper if you don't believe me."

The housekeeper looked at me timidly.

"The housekeeper said you pushed her."

I knew I'd been framed.

All of them against me alone—how could I fight back?

The next day was the college entrance exam. I didn't dare be sad or have any extra emotions.

After the exam, I decided to study abroad.

I didn't tell my mom about any of this. I was afraid she'd worry.