bChapter 42 /b

Anna’s gaze swept over the many things on the table and the floor, her eyes full of envy. She said, “Ste, we saw Henry bought all these for you, didn’t he? He’s so sweet to you.”

Ste shot Anna an icy re and snapped, “Jealous! Then why don’t you go marry him yourself?”

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mein just now. Ha

Anna’s face crumpled with hurt, her eyes welling up with tears. She thought, ‘Of course I can’t marly Henry, have had a crush on Lionel for so long. But back then, he only had eyes for Ste.

“Wher three long years of waiting for Lionel to finally marry me, there is no way I would ever settle for Henry”

Emily couldn’t stand seeing Ste treat Anna like this and quickly came to bAnna’s /bdefense. She said, “Ste, you know, it’s not all Anna’s fault. She didn’t choose to be sick.

“As soon as she woke upst night, she called me right away and said she wanted toe see you first thing this morning. Look, she even bought you all these essentials you might needb./bb” /b

Ste refused to even nce at them, bmaintaining /ba stony silence.

Anna grabbed Ste’s hand and said, “Ste, it’s all my bfault/b. Hit me, scold me, do whatever you want. Just don’t give me the silent treatment. It hurts too much when you ignore me like this.”

Without a word, Sti withdrew her hand. She said coldly, “Anna, Emily, do you even know what I need bfrom /byou right now?”

Anna looked at Ste expectantly. She said, “Ste, just say the word and we’ll do it right away”

Emily also nodded eagerly

“Get out!” Ste snapped.

Anna and Emily’s bfaces /bdarkened Anna looked on the verge of copsing Emily, unable to contain her fury, pointed at Ste andshed out.

bShe /bsnapped, “Ste, how could you be bso /bheartless? Anna skipped breakfast this morning just to rush bover /band see you.

“She said that while she’s still feeling okay, the wants to take care of you, to be the best sister she canb, /band cherish you. And this is how you repay her? You’re being so ungrateful.”

“Didn’t you bhear /bme? I told you to get out now,” Ste snapped, her voice icy and unyielding

Emily shot buck, “Get out? Why should I? Your words are so nasty. I must have been blind to ever call you my friend. I never thought you’d turn out to be bsuch /ban impossible person!”

Ste said nothing, her beyes /blocked on Emily with a chilling intensity

Emily felt a twinge of unease, but still asserted righteously, “Am I wrong? If you weren’t such a mess to begin with, would any of this have happened to you? Why hasn’t it happened to any of bus/b? You deserve it.”

Su’s eyes reddened, and she suddenly burst into hysterics. She screamed, “Get out. Get the hell out right now. I mean now.”

bSeeing /bSte about to get out of bed andsh out Emily quickly shielded Anna with bher /bbody. She said, “If you want to hurt someone, then hurt me. But don’t you dare touch Anna.b” /b

Ste suddenly tumbled off the bed. It started Anna and Emily.

Anna instinctively moved to help Ste up, but Emily grabbed her arm, holding her back. Emily said, “Anna, don’t go over there. She’ll hurt you.”

Anna protested, “But she’s my sister, I can’t just abandon her

Emily sighed and said, “Forget it. Anna Let’s just go, if anything happens to her, you know the’ll find a way to me us

Anna hesitated, still uneasy about leaving Ste Emily kept pushing Anna insistently in the end, the two of the walked out

Since yesterday, Ste had fallen twice, leaving her in excruciating pain. She thought that leaving the small town would set her free, but even athering home, her misery continued unabated.

She thought. “Why am il so miserable? Why am I so damn unlucky? Couldn’t life have shown mo just. a little more mercy?

Ste struggled back onto the bed, using every ounce of her strength. As she did, her wounds split open

When the nurse came to apply medicine to Ste, she couldn’t help but say, “What’s going on with you? Stop moving around unnecessarily. If you keep this up, not even divine intervention could save you.”

Ste remained vilent.

After the nurse leht, Ste pulled out her phone and called herwyer. She asked, “Can you help me find a private investigator

Thewyer replied, “That’s not a problem. But what kind of case are you looking into? If it’s something from way back, just so you knowb, /bthe fee could get

pretty steep.

Ste replied, “It was about three years ago.”

Thewyer said, “I’ll put you in touch, You two can discuss the details directly.”

Ste said, “Okay”

The private investigator’s number quickly came through. Ste contacted him.

Ste said firmly, “I need you to look into my kidnapping three years ago. Money is no object. ll pay whatever it takes.”

The private investigator said, “Are you Ste Hayes? And you suspect your kidnapping back then was premeditated?

bSte /bsaid, “Yes, it’s no use reporting it to bthe /bpolice now. It’s been too many years. They did file a report back then, but never found my kidnapper Stil, think your investigation might have better chances.”

The private investigator said, “Three years is quite some time, but fortunately, it’s not too far in the past. That should make it rtively manageable to investigate.”

A flicker of joy crossed Ste’s face. She asked, “Sob, /byou’re actually willing to take this bjob/bb?/bb” /b

The private investigator replied, “Once the job’s done, my fee is 150 thousand.”

Ste said, “I’ll give you 300 bthousand/b.”

The private investigator said, “Deal.”

Later that day, Eleanor visited Ste. After a brief stay, Ste had Mary escort Eleanor home.

Fiona arrived that ahemoon, her face set in ba /bdisapproving scowl the moment she walked in, She snapped, “St, I adm you without understanding the situation.

Lather shouldn’t have hit

“But what kind of nonsense did byou /bspout in front of Eleanor? Are you bso /bdetermined to turn this whole bhousehold /bupside down? Does it make you bhappy /bto see everyone miserable

“bYour /bbrother used to say you only came back to seek revenge on all bof /bus, and used to believe it, I always thought you were perfect. But look what you’ve done now.

Ste was about to speak, but after Fiona’s relentless trade, she lost all desire to say anything

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10:20 Th? 21 Jul of t

Fiersa bellowed, “What’s with your silence! You see our family thriving these past three years while you’ve suffered, and now you want to dragon al down to your miserable level?

“Ste, you’re out of your mind, ollid. If byou’re /bsick, go get treatment. Why drag us all down with you! And Anna came to see you even though the más le??ng awful, but you just screamed at her and sent her away. /li/ol

“What do you want from us? What do you expect me to do!”

Ste shot Fiona a cold nce, unnervingly calm. She asked, “Are you quite finished?”

Fiona snapped, “What now? What else do you want?”

Ste said coldly. “Now that you’ve had your say, get out.”

Fiona was livid. She thought, ‘Tam her mother. How dare she speak to her like this? She sneered, “Fine, I was g this is how you want it, I’m leaving right now..

“Don’t expect

ct me to lift a finger if you end up dying in this hospital” With that, she stood up to leave

going to take care of you today, but since

Ste let out a cold, cynicalugh. She said, “Take care of me? Have you ever cared for me? From the moment I was bom, when you didn’t have enough milk, you gave it all to Anna,

“it was okay if you led me bthe /bform. But you think taking care of bboth /bof us is too tiring, so you often forget to feed me.

“When I was sick, you wouldn’t even give me medicine or take me to the doctor. You just left me lying there to suffer alone, as if it didn’t matter whether lived or died

“At every parent teacher conference, you and Andrew would split up, one for Anna, one for Max Neither bof /bbyou /bever showed up for m

“I wanted to take extracurricr bsses/b. I loved the no. But you dismissed me, saying I had no talent and refused to let me learn. Meanwhile, you secretly signed Anna up for dance, piano, and all sorts of other sses.

“At every school sports dayb, /byou’d only show up for Anna’s events andpletely ignore mine. Even the allowance you gave her was always more than what I got. Have you forgotten all of this?”

A flicker of unease crossed Fiona’s eyes. She turned to Ste and snapped, “What exactly bare /byou saying? Are you trying to settle old scores with me

now?

Ste shot back, “res, I am settling scores with saved meb? /bIs it my fault I ended up like this?

you. I could even understand all your favoritism, but the one thing I never understand is why you never

“Am I the messed–up one? If only any of you had shown me a shred of care, I wouldn’t have be this broken. How dare you me me? What gives you the right?”

Fiona flushed with humiliation. She said, “Ste, how bdare /byou talk to me like that? I’m your mother, after all. Have you forgotten all you’ve done? You even sued our whole family.

“No matter how we treated you, how bdare /byou sue  US

biAD /i/b

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