Chapter 2

Lily's face went pale in an instant. She never thought that a country bumpkin would see through her plan so quickly. Scarlett had even known exactly where the necklace was hidden. Shooting a quick glare at the incompetent Janet, Lily then hurriedly bent down to pick up the necklace, putting on an overly tender act. "It's great that we found it. That's all that matters. Jonah, I told you it wasn't Scarlett. She and I had a scuffle this afternoon, and I accidentally fell into the pool. The necklace must have slipped off then. "Janet must have found it later but couldn't bring herself to return it, which caused me to wrongfully accuse Scarlett." Wow. Lily sure had a way with words—she'd immediately spun a new accusation. Sure enough, Jonah's conflicted expression darkened once again into fury. "Scarlett, you know Lily can't swim, and you still pushed her into the pool? Do you really hate her so much you'd rather see her dead than alive?" Todd also fumed, "Even if we did wrongly accuse you, I never imagined you'd do something so vicious!" Margot shook her head in disappointment. "Scarlett, you've really broken my heart." Those words would have left Scarlett heartbroken before, but not anymore. Her lips curled into a mocking smile. "Since you're all so sure I pushed her, then next time I'll make sure I do. Wouldn't want to waste the blame." Fury washed over Todd, leaving his face ashen. "You heartless brat! How did we end up with a daughter like you?" "Daughter?" Scarlett shot back with a sneer. "How come you didn't bring up the fact that I'm your daughter when you were wrongly accusing me just now?" "Scarlett, how could you say something like that?" Lily immediately put on a wounded, innocent look. "You were the one who started—" "Lily, are you not tired of acting?" Scarlett cut her off coldly. "Your acting's pathetic. Stop putting on a show in front of me. It's an eyesore." Margot frowned. "Scarlett Quinn, like it or not, we're family. Apologize to your sister, and we'll let this matter go." "Family?" Scarlett repeated the word, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "A family that throws her a birthday party while making me stay in a storage room? A family that jumps to accuse me even when I've done nothing wrong, and demand I apologize?" Gazing at these biased, double-standard so-called family members, Scarlett scoffed. Every last bit of longing for their care was already gone from her heart. She turned and stormed back into her room, slamming the door behind her. Everyone outside was stunned. This was the first time since Scarlett's return that she had acted with such defiance, showing the Quinns no regard whatsoever. "People from the sticks are so crude!" "She's insane—completely unreasonable!" One by one, they left with sullen expressions. Inside, Scarlett finally felt peace in the silence. She glanced around at her shabby room and felt nothing. A year ago, when she was first brought back to the Quinn residence, they took her straight to this dirty, cluttered storage room. They said, "You've just come from living out in the sticks, so you don't know the proper etiquette yet. Guests often visit, so just stay here for now. Once you've learned the ways of high society, we'll let everyone know about your identity." She then waited for five years, only to meet her end under torture in a psychiatric hospital. And still, they never acknowledged her—not even once. Even earlier today, she was drawn by the liveliness in the front yard and couldn't help but approach Lily's coming-of-age party, only to be scolded harshly, "Who let you out? How embarrassing! Go back in!" Just as she turned away, she heard one of her supposed family members say, "That's the new maid. She's not used to our rules yet. My apologies." Her room was nothing but cold and cramped. The broken skylight offered no barrier as the frigid wind rushed in. Her still-damp clothes stuck to her skin, and the biting chill burrowed deep into her bones. Alas, the Quinns never noticed. And even if they did, they chose to ignore it. Ironically, that skylight had just been broken a week ago by none other than Lily with a baseball. "Sorry, Scarlett! I didn't hit the ball properly and broke the skylight. Hope I didn't scare you. I'll have it replaced right away. They say the weather's turning cold. We wouldn't want you getting sick." But no one ever came to replace it. The entire Quinn family had never treated her like she mattered. "What's the point of staying in a 'home' like this?" Scarlett quickly packed her things. She'd had enough of this suffocating place. Though she had already lived in this place for a year, her belongings were pitifully few. There were just a few faded articles of clothing and a couple of reference books she'd bought with her own hard-earned money. Her so-called family, in the name of "breaking her bad habit of greed", gave her only 500 dollars as her living stipend each month. That wasn't even enough for her basic needs at school. She had to work part-time just to scrape by. Lily, on the other hand, had a black card from their eldest brother, and she was able to swipe hundreds of thousands at any time. Suitcase in hand, Scarlett walked toward the exit. Inside the living room, the whole family was gathered around Lily, watching her unwrap presents with joyful laughter. They looked like a real family, whereas she was nothing but an intruder. Thus, no one noticed when she slipped out the side door. But just as she stepped outside, a tall, imposing figure blocked her path. "Scarlett, where do you think you're going?" The Quinn family's eldest son, Jonathan Quinn, was furrowing his brows disapprovingly. Scarlett wasn't about to be polite to him, nor did she have any intention of stopping. "Get out of my way."