Chapter 3
A few days later, I heard a heated argument downstairs.
“How shameless! Living off me and keeping a pretty boy outside!” Uncle Ryan slapped my mom.
My sister rushed to intervene.
Still angry, my stepfather shoved her to the ground.
“I haven’t even talked about your precious daughter. Didn’t we agree to take one daughter each?”
“Why does she keep coming here and taking half the stuff?”
Mom retorted, “She’s taking my things. Not your business.”
“Yours? Look at yourself. What isn’t bought with my money? And now I’m supporting your whole family!”
“Ryan, you have the nerve to say that. If it weren’t for your infertility, would I need to do this?”
This completely enraged my stepfather.
He lost his temper, throwing Mom’s things out.
She tried to stop him but was pushed down too.
No one dared intervene, and my sister cowered in a corner.
Initially, my stepfather married Mom for her looks and the two kids.
After marriage, he invested in me, grooming me as a successor.
In the past life, Mom exploited this, recklessly spending his assets.
Though my sister was pretty, she was empty-headed.
But their greed and stupidity knew no bounds.
Mom had a lover, and my sister shamelessly claimed everything would be hers in the future.
Word quickly reached my stepfather.
She wasn’t even dead, and they were eyeing his estate. Who wouldn’t be upset?
He couldn’t bond with them as they weren’t his own.
He brought in his nephew to groom as an heir and kicked them out.
In this life, Mom was kicked out again.
But my stepfather didn’t kick me out.
“Nean, following your clueless mom is worse than staying with me.”
All my efforts weren’t in vain.
My stepfather knew I was smart, ambitious, and had vision.
I considered his opinion before making any major decision.
I even discussed taking his last name privately.
My mom, who only cared about buying clothes, was oblivious and uninterested.
She refused to leave, saying she’d rather die there.
She underestimated my stepfather.
A man who built his business from scratch is different from my weak, incompetent rich heir dad.
He wouldn’t be fooled by her petty tricks.
“Miss Nora, pack some clothes for her in the bedroom,” he instructed.
He called security.
Just like that, my mom and sister were thrown out.
As my stepfather passed my room, he patted my shoulder.
“Nean, focus on your studies. Adult matters don’t concern you.”
I nodded.
Fools remain fools, no matter how many times they live.
My life wasn’t affected at all; in fact, Uncle Ryan valued me even more.
My mom secretly urged me to plead with my stepfather.
Of course, I didn’t go.
She called every day, hurling the nastiest insults at me.
Aunt Lydia overheard once and doubted if I was even her biological child.
Ha, in her eyes, only my sister mattered.
Without my mom’s support, my sister had an even harder time.
Her grades were bad, and she hated school.
Seeing this, dad stopped sending her to school, but he was buried in debt and living a mess.
I was single-mindedly preparing for college entrance exams. Uncle Ryan was busy and rarely home.
Not long after, on my way to school, a group of thugs blocked my path.
It happened that day our car was in for maintenance, so I was on my own.
Just after leaving the school gate, a man stopped me.
“Are you Nean?”
Before I could answer, someone covered my mouth from behind and dragged me to an abandoned warehouse.
Once the blindfold was off, someone kicked me to the ground.
“Sister, enjoying the luxury mansion?”