Cecil rarely went out on weekdays. Usually, she spent most of her time in her studio, which was why Amelia was intrigued that she was going out on such a snowy day.

“Cecil, you don't have a boyfriend, so why are you going out in this weather?”

Cecil did not know how to tell them about her plans to leave and ended up saying vaguely, “I… I just need to get something done.”

Either way, they would be able to connect the dots when they arrived at the visa office.

Amelia did not continue pressing for answers and instead turned to Cleo to ask about their plans for the day.

The two were chatting away enthusiastically and seemed to have completely forgotten about the presence of Cecil in the back seat.

When they reached a red light, Amelia produced a lipstick and asked Cleo to help her touch up her makeup.

Cleo was very receptive.

He cupped her face in his palms and was very gentle with her.

When it looked like their faces were drawing closer, Cecil quickly turned away to look at the snow wafting out of the sky.

When they were about to reach their destination, Amelia suddenly mentioned that she needed to head back home to get a coat.

The navigation screen showed that they were only two kilometers away from their destination.

Without even thinking about it, Cleo mentioned that he would have to take a detour and so beckoned for Cecil to hail a ride to get to her destination.

Cecil smiled bitterly and did not protest as she got out of the car.

Cleo’s car sped away after that, its wheels tossing up a large mass of snow.

There was not a single soul anywhere along the side of the road, so Cecil walked for the remainder of the journey to the office and handed in her documents.

When she left the office after sorting out the paperwork, she bumped into one of her teachers back when she was in high school.

The two chatted briefly.

Upon hearing that Cecil was going to move overseas, the teacher seemed taken aback.

“Are you not going to come back after that? Is your uncle okay with that?”

Cecil did not know why her teacher suddenly brought up Cleo and briskly made up something on the spot.

“Yeah, he’s okay with that. Besides, we’re not related by blood, and now that I am of legal age, I can’t keep troubling him anymore. It’s good for me to go overseas and see the world anyway."

The teacher nodded solemnly.

“It may be true that you two are not related, but still, Mr. Emerson has been nothing but wonderful to you.

“There was once when you attended a competition and were accused of plagiarism by the other teams, and Mr. Emerson was having surgery for his appendicitis at the time. He rushed to the competition venue immediately after the surgery to vouch for you.

“This other time, when you had a fall at the school, Mr. Emerson sped to school and took you to the hospital right away. I heard he was in the middle of negotiating a deal worth several millions of dollars, and he just walked away from it!

“There’s also that time when some punks were trying to bully you, and he had someone teach them a lesson…”

Cecil found herself thinking about the distant past as well when she heard her teacher recounting her stories.

Towards the end of their conversation, the teacher held her hand tenderly and earnestly advised her to remember Cleo’s kindness and to repay him.

Cecil nodded silently.

She had been thinking about repaying him for all the dedication and kindness he had shown her.

She wagered that the best way she could repay him was to tell him she was leaving.

That way, he no longer had to worry about her holding onto him.

When she got home, she changed out of her clothes soaked by the snow and sat at her desk to make some calculations.

She had been living with the Emersons for many years and had been paying attention to the household expenses. She had managed to arrive at an approximate sum.

Apart from the general expenses, there must have been plenty of other hidden expenses over the years.

To be on the safe side, she decided to triple the tallied amount.

Around noon, she sorted out all the gifts Cleo had given her in the past and listed all of them on an online market site.

Then, she contacted a real estate company and put the Millers’ family home on sale.

After everything was done, she felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. As soon as she lay down on the bed, her phone vibrated.

It was a stream of messages from Amelia.

There were dozens of pictures followed by a brief text.

[Cecil, I’m going to be in Hawaii with Cleo for a few days. Make sure to be good at home by yourself!]

She did not need to open the pictures to know they were pictures of the couple boldly displaying their affection for each other.

Ever since they had become official, Amelia would send her dozens of such pictures after their dates.

In the past, she would become so upset at seeing these pictures that she would lose sleep over them. She would even sometimes cry until her eyes became red and swollen.

Now that she had decided to see Cleo as nothing more than a family member, such pictures no longer affected her the same way.

Furthermore, she was no longer interested in deducing Amelia’s intentions. All she did was send a brisk reply.

[Sure. Have fun.]

Five days later, Cleo returned with Amelia.

As soon as they stepped into the house, Cecil's eyes were immediately blinded by the dazzling necklace around Amelia’s neck.

She snuck a glance at it before looking away.

Her hunch was right; the necklace was meant for Amelia.

In that case, what was it that Cleo was trying to say last time before his sentence got cut off?

Whenever Cleo was around, Amelia had always been very warm and friendly with Cecil. This time, she went right up to Cecil and took her hand.

“Cecil, you must have been so bored at home these last few days! Look, I bought a bunch of things. Come and see if there is anything that you like!"

With that, she took off her coat and dragged over a large box.

Cecil shook her head a few times to refuse the offer.

Amelia reacted by casting a strange look at her.

“Come on, don’t be shy! Just think of it as a gift from your future aunt, alright?” Amelia said in a tone that was hard to read.

The sheer mention of the word ‘aunt’ made Cecil look up subconsciously.

She immediately felt something jolt inside her when she caught a glimpse of the red marks on Amelia’s neck.

Amelia had sent a lot of pictures, and one of them was a shot of the bed inside the hotel room.

At the time, Cecil could not figure out why Amelia had sent that particular picture.

It was easy to form the connection now that she had spotted the marks Cleo had left on her.

Cecil kept her head down and stayed silent.

While they were unpacking, Amelia began to talk about the banquet that was happening tonight.

“Cleo, let's bring Cecil with us to Miss Maya’s twenty-first birthday banquet! Those two are around the same age and should get along very well.”

Cecil did a double take upon hearing the mention of a banquet.

Ever since her parents passed away and she moved into the Emerson house, Cleo had never brought her to attend any parties with him.

She did not think much of it, but she was aware that there were some people making comments about her being a parasite.

Just like every other time, Cleo shook his head and dismissed the suggestion entirely.

Amelia wrapped herself around his arm and tried to persuade him in a sultry voice.

She claimed it would be boring without Cecil around.

With that, Cleo gave in and agreed to the suggestion, mainly out of affection for Amelia.

Upon observing the display of intimacy between the couple, Cecil kept her head down to hide a faint smile forming on her lips.

Amelia was truly one of a kind for Cleo to willingly set aside his principles for her.

It looked like he was very fond of Amelia.

That was all Cecil needed to know.

She had the strength to leave Cleo, knowing that he could find happiness, even if Cecil was not the one to give him that happiness.

It was a very lively banquet with many people interacting in quick succession with one another.

Cecil stood by herself in the corner and watched as Cleo drank to countless toasts for Amelia.

Meanwhile, Cecil quietly sipped from a glass of fruit juice.

At one point, several chattering girls passed by and accidentally spilled a drink on her.

They were very apologetic, and Cecil was, in turn, very gracious.

She did not seem very bothered and proceeded to head to the washroom to clean herself.

Before excusing herself to the washroom, she handed her bag and phone to Cleo.

When she returned ten minutes later, Cleo regarded her with a frown and spoke in a tone that was hard to place.

“Your aunt, Dianne, just called and asked me if you were available to talk. She says she’ll call again later when I told her you’re busy.”

Cecil tensed up at the mention of Dianne.

She managed to relax when she realized Dianne had not mentioned anything about her going abroad to live with her.

Cleo was very perceptive and noticed the subtle change in her demeanor. He could not stop himself from probing.

“When did you get in touch with Dianne?”

“About two weeks ago. She just asked me to send some old pictures of my grandparents.”

The lie she made up on the spot seemed to put Cleo at ease.

He no longer suspected her of anything and proceeded to turn around to help Amelia fix her hair.

After Cecil retrieved her phone and handbag, she turned around and prepared to head back to her corner.

It all happened very quickly.

Someone had accidentally knocked over a nearby tower of champagne glasses, which came crashing down in Cecil and Amelia’s general direction.

“Careful!”

Cleo was the closest to them.

He instinctively reached for Amelia and pulled her into his arms in one swift movement.

Bang!

The champagne tower collapsed and produced a thunderous crash. Cecil barely had time to react and was thrown to the floor.

There were broken shards of glass everywhere, and she had landed on top of them.

There was blood everywhere, and her white gown had turned red.

It was a horrifying sight to behold.

Everyone present at the venue was equally shocked by the sudden commotion. Even though Amelia was unscathed, she burst out crying from shock.

Cleo looked at Cecil, who was covered in blood and lying on the ground, then at Amelia, who was crying in his arms.

He hesitated for a moment before turning to his bodyguard.

“Take her to the hospital.”

After issuing the order, he carried Amelia away from the venue.

When the pair disappeared, Cecil stumbled to her feet.

She could feel countless pairs of sympathizing glances cast in her direction.

It was an hour past midnight by the time she got home after dressing her wounds.

The doctor had given her more than a dozen stitches and made arrangements for her to be hospitalized. However, she refused hospitalization and insisted on going home after collecting the medicine.

Cleo was not home yet.

She switched off the lights and lay on the bed, then she stared transfixed at the ceiling, drowned in darkness.

Her body was screaming all over from the searing pain, it was difficult to sleep at all.

By the time she finally felt like she was about to drift off to sleep, it was three o’clock.

Suddenly, the lights in the living room came on.

Cleo staggered into the house and went upstairs.

He reeked of alcohol.

Instead of heading to his bedroom, he went to the last room down the corridor that used to be his former study.

He gently opened the door.

Cecil tended to move around when she slept, and when she turned to the side, she was irritated by the contact against her countless cuts and coughed faintly in her sleep.

Cleo was alerted by the faint voice she made.

He followed the direction of the voice and went to the head of the bed. In one swift gesture, he pulled the figure in bed into his arms.

With one hand, he pulled apart her shirt so he could press his hand against the soft of her waist.

With the other hand, he cupped her chin and proceeded to kiss her.

Cecil was only half asleep and was quickly awakened by the sudden movement.

She immediately caught a hint of the familiar scent of cologne, which helped her identify the person.

Uncle Cleo?

Why had he suddenly charged into the room to kiss her?

She was thrown off, and before she could even react, she heard Cleo’s raspy voice followed by the heat of his breath beating on her skin.

“Amelia…”

She felt herself tense up at the name.

The accompanying smell of alcohol helped her decipher the situation swiftly.

Cleo was drunk and mistakenly thought she was Amelia.

While she was still processing it, she felt Cleo’s hand creeping downward.

She started to panic upon realizing what was happening. She reached for his hands to stop him while attempting to push him away.

“Uncle Cleo, you’ve got the wrong person! It’s Cecil!” she cried out frantically.

Cleo must have been too drunk to understand what she was saying. If anything, he seemed to have become more excited by her actions.

He kissed Cecil with increased intensity and started sucking on her lips.

Cecil felt like she was going to be suffocated.

She felt so frustrated that she started to cry. Her tears wet her bandages and sent a prickly feeling running through her body.

“Uncle Cleo, you’re hurting me, my cuts are…”

She was not sure if it was the alcohol or her cries that finally reached him.

Cleo suddenly stiffened, and then he let go of her arms shortly after that.

Cecil quickly turned to the side and scrambled out of the room, not even bothering to put on her shoes in the process.

She ran downstairs to the living room and wrapped herself in a blanket until the morning when she finally fell asleep.

The next afternoon, when she opened her eyes, she saw Cleo sitting in front of her with an expression she had never seen on him before.

She suddenly recalled the scenes from last night.

She was so scared that she shrank into the corner of the couch.

A cold look flashed across Cleo’s eyes when he observed the way she reacted.

“Was it you who tried to get me into your room last night?”

Cecil was thrown off by the question. Just as she was about to explain, Cleo cut her off with a sharp frown.

“Don’t you ever hatch that kind of idea about me again. I’ll kick you out.”

Cecil studied the determined look on his face.

She was about to tell him that he was drunk but decided against it.

Seeing as she had tried to sneak a kiss on him in the past, she realized that Cleo was not going to believe her no matter what she said.

With that, she gave up on explaining entirely and opted to stay quiet.

She looked down and stared at their shadows cast on the floor.

When she noticed the figure of the shadow in front of her reaching a hand across, she instinctively looked up.

Cleo's hand hovered on top of her head, and it looked as if he was going to pat her head.

Cecil froze. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.

When she was a child, there were times when she would miss her parents so much that she would cry to the point of hysteria and then lose her breath.

During those desolate moments, it was always Cleo gently patting her head and comforting her that saved her.

It was a symbolic gesture between both of them for a long time.

When she turned seventeen, there was no longer any physical interaction between the two.

The thought of Cleo doing it made her so nervous that her heart could stop.

A second later, Cleo angled his hand further upward and grabbed a bottle of red wine from the cabinet behind her.

She had been reading too much into it.

All she could do was laugh at her naivety.

Because she was in a hurry for cash, she had listed all of her belongings as well as the family house at a price lower than the market average.

It did not take long for everything to be sold.

She managed to put together roughly nine million dollars, but it was still several hundred thousand dollars short of the amount she planned to return to Cleo.

Since she was going to Vinland very soon, she did not have much time left to put together the money to make up the difference.

She was a painter and was relatively new to the scene, but despite that, she managed to win many awards over the last few years and was relatively well-known in the industry.

With that in mind, she decided to hold an exhibition to sell her paintings.

It was going to be too hard to coordinate all of that by herself, so she decided to go to Cleo for help.

Amelia happened to be nearby when she approached Cleo.

She seemed surprised at the mention of an exhibition and approached them with a radiant smile.

“What a coincidence! I'm also preparing for an exhibition! Why don't we host a joint exhibit?”

Cecil turned to Cleo, and seeing that he did not object to it, she agreed as well.

Five days later, the joint exhibitions of Cecil and Amelia were held at the art museum.

Amelia had been painting for more than a decade, but it was her first large-scale exhibition.

Because of that, Cleo was particularly invested in the exhibition.

He designated that Amelia’s work be displayed in the main gallery and even ordered the gallery to be renovated.

Significant effort was put into advertising as well.

On the opening day of the exhibition, many celebrities and intellectuals showed up, so much so that the museum recorded a new high in the number of daily visitors.

Meanwhile, things were not as ideal in the other wing of the gallery.

There were nearly a hundred paintings, all cramped into a room barely ten square meters large.

It was so confined that the visitors barely had any space to walk. Auctioning any art on display was completely out of the question.

Cecil stood by the entrance and stared at the commotion in the main gallery with a dejected look in her eyes.

A few of her friends who showed up were just about to console her when they heard a sharp shriek in the room.

“Cecil, there’s a situation!”