At some point, Selena lost consciousness. In her dazed state, she had a dream.

She dreamed of the time in middle school when an article she had written was published in a medical journal.

Excited, she brought the journal home, but no one in her family could understand it. They glanced at it briefly before tossing it aside.

Only her mother read it for a long time. In the end, she stroked Selena's head, eyes filled with love, and praised her.

Curious, Selena asked, "Mom, can you understand medical journals?"

Her mother shook her head and said in a gentle voice, "I don't understand what you wrote, but I recognize the spot where your name is printed."

Even after many years, she still remembered that afternoon.

Now, her articles were published in one journal after another. But the person who used to stroke her head and praise her was no longer there.

"Mom–"

When Selena woke up, there were still tears at the corners of her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a young man looking at her with concern. It was Henry Zimmer, her junior who currently interned at the hospital.

"Selena, your family is way too heartless," he said angrily. "I heard from the paramedics that you were on the verge of death, but they were busy having a family dinner and didn't care at all.

"You were in a coma for two days, and not a single one of them have come to see you."

Hearing his furious complaints, Selena remained expressionless.

Her unusual reaction made Henry's heart ache. Perhaps this reflected her feelings of despair and disappointment.

"Selena, I bought you some soup. You need to eat something."

Before Selena could respond, Henry had already scooped up a spoonful soup and brought it to her lips, leaving her no room to refuse. She had no choice but to open her mouth.

Slowly, Henry's figure in front of her overlapped with a person from her past.

When her mother had just passed away, Selena had clung to the funeral portrait like she was possessed, refusing to eat, drink, or go to school. Furious, her father had beaten her with a belt until she was covered in wounds.

Even Ryan had been so scared that he crouched in the corner, too afraid to make a sound. It was Ian who had stormed into the Carter family's home, using his body to shield her.

He had taken her back to his house and personally fed her.

Back then, Ian had been the light in her life.

She never would have thought that the person who once promised to stay by her side forever would fall in love with someone else.

"Selena, who is he?"

A cold voice pulled her back to reality.

Ian stood at the door of the hospital room. His expression was dark.

After falling for Vanessa, he had already made up his mind to end things with Selena. And yet, seeing Henry gently feeding her soup, Ian felt a sharp pain in his heart.

It was as if something that should have belonged to him had been forcibly taken away.

Henry was about to explain, but Ian strode forward without a word and slapped the soup bowl away. The ceramic bowl shattered, shards flying everywhere.

Selena couldn't dodge in time, and a long gash appeared on her arm. Blood gushed out.

The pain sent shivers through her body. Ian never even spared her a glance. His dark, oppressive gaze was fixed on Henry as he issued a harsh command, "Get out."

His tone made it seem as though Selena was nothing more than his possession, one that no one else was allowed to touch.

But at that moment, his phone rang. After answering, his expression changed drastically.

"Vanessa is feeling guilty. Her depression spiraled, and she overdosed on pills. I need to go with her to the hospital for gastric lavage. I'll come see you later, okay?"

There was no trace of concern for Selena in his voice. It was only a statement of fact.

Selena clutched her bleeding arm and looked at his heartless face. Then, she let out a bitter laugh.

"Alright."

What was there to be sad about?

'Ian, in just eight more days, you won't have to keep up this act anymore.'

Selena's hollow gaze met Ian's.

His gaze wavered for a moment.

But then he thought of Vanessa, who was also in the hospital. Clenching his jaw, he turned and left without hesitation.

Henry watched in shock.

He had secretly liked Selena for a long time. But after hearing that she had a childhood sweetheart and that their relationship had always been strong, he had forced himself to suppress his feelings.

Once, he had been so jealous of this man he had never even met.

Yet, he never would have thought that in Selena's moment of greatest need, this man would leave her to care for another woman.

Selena's wound was still bleeding, but she seemed completely numb to the pain. Her eyes looked lifeless.

Henry's heart ached so much that his lips trembled. He couldn't imagine how deeply Ian must have hurt Selena to turn his once bright and cheerful senior into this hollow shell.

"Selena, I'll go get some gauze and dress your wound."

After her wound was treated, Selena asked Henry to help her with the discharge paperwork.

Before leaving, Henry gently held her back to talk.

He knew the Carter family had no place for her anymore. If she didn't mind, she could stay here for a few days. He was willing to take care of her.

However, Selena merely smiled and shook her head.

She didn't want to drag Henry into this. It was enough that she alone bore the pain.

-

Back at the Carter family home, Selena received a text from Zachary.

"Vanessa just had her gastric lavage. She needs someone to take care of her, so we won't be coming home tonight. I left some food for you in the kitchen. Eat when you get home."

On the dining table, there were only a few scraps of vegetables, meat, and a bowl of cold soup.

It wasn't food left for her. It was Vanessa's leftovers.

Selena showed no expression. She had long used to this long ago.

Since the day Vanessa arrived at the Carter family home through a sponsorship program, Zachary had doted on her.

He said she had grown up in the mountains and had been malnourished since childhood. So, whenever there was good food, Vanessa was given priority.

Selena was older, so she was expected to be understanding. She was expected to willingly give up everything.

Selena had never been the type to fight for anything. So all she could do was watch as Vanessa took everything from her.

Even her former bedroom had been given to Vanessa. Selena had been moved to the shabby attic with its hard wooden bed.

Perhaps in Zachary's eyes, Vanessa—sweet-tongued and good at winning people over—was the ideal daughter he had always wanted.

Just then, the door opened.

Her younger brother, Ryan, walked in carrying a bag. When he saw Selena, he froze for a moment. Then, his expression darkened in irritation, as if he had seen something disgusting.

"I'm just here to grab some toiletries for Vanessa.

"And by the way, Ian asked me to pass on a message. He's done with you. You should just let it go. Vanessa's depression has relapsed, and he can't leave her side right now.

"This is something you gave him before. He told me to return it to you."

He pulled out a tape recorder and handed it to Selena.

It was the first gift she had ever given Ian.

Back then, she'd had no money to buy anything expensive. She had saved up half a year's worth of breakfast money just to buy this tape recorder and had recorded all of Ian's favorite songs on it.

She still remembered how Ian had cried as he hugged her, swearing that he would cherish this gift for a lifetime.

And now?

Not only had he broken that promise, but he couldn't even be bothered to return it to her himself.

Selena's gaze was filled with mockery.

Now that she was thoroughly disappointed, she no longer had any expectations for Ian. She calmly uttered two words.

"Got it."

Ryan, however, looked at her in disbelief. "Ian took such good care of you all these years, and that's all you have to say? Selena, ever since Mom passed away, you've been acting so strange.

"Vanessa nearly lost her life because of you, and you haven't even shown any concern for her. I get it now. You blame Vanessa for stealing our family's love from you, and deep down, you're hoping she dies, aren't you?

"She's already suffered so much, yet you're still jealous of her? When did you become so evil?"

Hearing this, Selena suddenly found it laughable.

If Vanessa had truly intended to take her own life by overdosing, then why was the dosage so precisely controlled? Why was it just enough for her to be found by the Carter family in time?

For years, Vanessa had been using such despicable tactics to slowly steal the affection of everyone in the family. By now, it was second nature to her.

Besides, no matter how much Selena explained, it would be pointless. Just like now, she hadn't even said a word, yet she had already been branded as the villain.

Even staying silent was a crime.

As Ryan was about to leave, his voice turned cold, as if he had completely given up on her.

"Do you know how much I wished that the person who donated blood for me that day was you, and not Vanessa? You're my real sister, but when I was in danger, you hid away. I hate you."

With a loud slam of the door, Ryan walked away without ever looking back.

Six months ago, Ryan had been hit by an out-of-control car. He had lost a massive amount of blood and had been in critical condition.

The hospital's blood supply had been running low, and they had still needed forty seven ounces of blood.

Originally, Zachary and Selena had planned to donate together.

But after just seven ounces, Zachary had started shouting that he couldn't take it anymore and had the doctor remove the needle.

Selena, on the other hand, had already been losing consciousness after twenty seven ounces.

But thinking of her younger brother lying on that hospital bed, she had clenched her jaw and forced herself to hold on, letting the doctors take a total of forty one ounces from her.

When she had woken up, she had found herself in an unfamiliar ward. There hadn't been a single person by her side.

It turned out that Zachary, wanting his son to get along with the newly arrived Vanessa, had lied and told Ryan that it was Vanessa who had saved his life by donating blood.

After being discharged, Selena had forced herself to go find Ryan and explain everything. But all she had gotten in return was a slap across the face.

With tears streaming down his face, he had screamed at her, demanding to know why she wasn't there when he needed her the most.

Why did Vanessa have to give him so much blood, nearly losing her own life in the process?

Fighting back the bitter chill in her heart, Selena had told him to check the hospital records. He would know the truth then.

But to this day, he had never done so.

Instead, he wholeheartedly believed that a fifth of his blood came from Vanessa. In his mind, his own sister was nothing but a cold-blooded traitor who had abandoned him.

No matter what she did or said, it was always seen as malicious.

It didn't matter anymore. Selena was done explaining. She was done with all of it.

Selena sat on the couch in the empty house.

There wasn't a trace of warmth left in this place.

Outside, the wind howled against the windows. She closed her eyes and covered her ears.

But she still couldn't escape the suffocating pressure that pressed down on her. It felt so strong, as if it could crush her at any moment.

Since no one in this family cared about her or needed her anymore, she might as well disappear forever.