‘And then—well, even after finding out Dory’s child wasn’t his, he let Alicia convince him to keep the mother and child around out of pity. That was until Dory helped Alicia take over the Stone Family. By then, William was bankrupt, destroyed by her schemes, and haunted by the deaths of over a dozen workers on his construction site. Wracked with guilt, he jumped off the roof of a building. His brains were splattered across the pavement before Dory finally revealed the truth, that the child had nothing to do with the Stone Family and left them all behind.’
‘No, no, I’m done playing the hero. Everyone’s fate is their own to handle. God helps those who help themselves, but there’s no saving the shameless.’
“Pfft—” A sudden burst of laughter pulled me from my thoughts. Jimmy had nearly spat out his drink. His shoulders shook as he tried to contain his amusement.
Harvey had the same expression of stifled laughter while William’s face turned red, then pale, as if he were switching masks. Meanwhile, my parents just looked at him with thinly veiled disappointment, as if he were beyond saving.
‘Everyone’s so expressive today,’ I thought with dry amusement.
My gaze shifted back to Jimmy, and I couldn’t resist the urge to mock him internally. ‘And you’re laughing? You’re not much better, are you? After Alicia decided to take matters into her own hands and seize control of the family, you were the second one on her hit list.’
Jimmy froze mid-sip, his expression stiffening. He choked on his drink, coughing violently as he sneaked a glance in my direction.
I continued. ‘Jimmy was manipulated into drug addiction, squandered his resources to elevate Alicia’s career, and eventually became the subject of a storm of scandalous photos that ruined his reputation. In the end, reduced to a shadow of his former self, he took his own life in the bathroom by slitting his wrists on one desperate night.’
‘Harvey was tricked by Alicia into attending a cocktail party, where he was drugged and handed over to her gay best friend to play with. He contracted a transmitted disease and died after waking up because he couldn’t stand the pain.’
‘As for my parents, losing their son in middle age shattered them. They left all their assets to their adopted daughter before tragedy struck again—one died in a car accident, and the other ended up in a mental institution.’
‘And me? I didn’t fare any better. Alicia had me kidnapped and sold to Pasasi, where I was tortured to death in a dark, filthy alley.’
The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I was just about to glare at my idiotic brothers when I noticed the whole family looking utterly devastated, as if the sky had fallen. Their grief-stricken expressions made me pause.
“What’s wrong with you all?” I asked cautiously. “Did something happen while I wasn’t paying attention? Why do you all look like you’ve been hit by a truck?”
Thomas’ face was dark, while Natalie dabbed at her red, swollen eyes with a tissue. “It’s nothing,” she said with a forced smile. “We just thought of something sad. Are you hungry, Yunice?”
Before I could respond, the butler entered the room, carrying a tray of dishes. He set it on the table and announced, “Mr. Stone, Mrs. Stone, Young Masters, dinner is served.”
As he turned to leave for the kitchen, I frowned, catching a fleeting expression on his face. ‘Did he just glare at me?’ I wondered.
‘The butler had always sided with Alicia, playing no small role in getting me kicked out of the family. But did he already despise me this much?’ I couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Let me take a closer look, let me see—Oh, gross! Ew! Yuck!’
The entire family perked up, their ears practically twitching.
‘So, it turns out the butler has hated me from the very beginning. But the reason he hates me is—’
