They were saying, “Mandy, why did you carry such heavy things on your own? Why didn’t you ask us for help? We can carry it for you.”

They reached out in an attempt to help her with the box.

However, Mandy suddenly wrestled against them and rejected their helping hands. “I can do it by myself. Olivia asked me to carry these on my own. I don’t need your help,” she said.

As she spoke, it looked like she was losing her grip on the test tubes. The box wobbled before it crashed onto my head.

Brandon and Benjamin were in shock as they yelled out Mandy’s name and threw themselves at her.

Both of them held her tightly in their arms so that she would not get hurt.

At the same time, Brandon pushed me aside. I hit my waist against the corner of a table, and I was covered in cuts resulting from the shattered test tubes. I could not get up at all.

I yelled out in agony as cold sweat trickled down my temples. It was excruciating, as though the corner of the table had smashed into me.

Brandon and Benjamin turned around to look at me with a hint of concern in their eyes.

However, they were soon distracted by Mandy’s sobs.

She cast her eyes down as she sobbed and apologized to me, “Olivia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break the test tubes. I… I can go and get another box for you. But can I do that a bit later?

“My finger got cut by the test tubes. I want to treat it first.”

Upon hearing her words, Brandon and Benjamin were immediately angered. They glared at me. “Olivia, you’re too much! What research requires so many test tubes?”

“None! Besides, if you need test tubes, why don’t you ask some guys to get them for you or get them yourself? Why did you ask Mandy to do it alone? And you’re telling us you’re not targeting her?”

My waist was throbbing intensely as I sat on the floor that was covered in shattered glass.

I could not hear them clearly through the pain. So, I whispered and asked them to send me to the hospital.

However, Brandon and Benjamin did not care about my request.

One of them carried Mandy in his arms and walked out while the other twin carefully sucked on her injured finger.

When they reached the doorway, they glanced at me and said, “Olivia, since all of this happened because of you, you should stay here and clean up the mess in the research lab before you leave.”

“Don’t pretend to be injured to escape your duty, and don’t feign innocence. If you don’t clean the research lab, don’t even think about leaving.”

After they said that, Brandon locked the door from the outside.

I gritted my teeth as I endured the pain.

Then, I picked up my shattered cell phone and mustered the last bit of my strength to call the emergency helpline.

When I regained consciousness, I was lying on a hospital bed.

I looked at the stern yet concerned doctor before me and almost cried.

The twins who had been my childhood friends for decades were not even bothered by the sight of my injuries.

However, a stranger whom I had met for the first time was treating me with kindness.

I was hospitalized for two weeks due to my injuries.

During this period, I did not rest. Instead, I booked a flight to Switzerland for a month later.

I had done some mental calculations. I only had a month left to live.

When I was diving in the deep sea to get a special seaweed, I took a risk and took off my protective gloves.

A mysterious sea creature that guarded the seaweed bit my hand.

However, I endured the pain and plucked the seaweed.

After I returned to land, I went for a checkup and discovered that I had been infected by the West Nile virus.

There was no known cure for it.

On top of that, the last phase of the infection was extremely painful. It would turn anyone into a shell of a person.

I did not want to die without dignity. Hence, I arranged euthanasia for myself in Switzerland a month later.

After I was discharged, I went back to the Anderson family’s house.

It was my twenty-fourth birthday.

When my mother was still alive, she would throw me a huge birthday party every year.

She would prepare a huge cake that was as tall as a human in the living room. Then, she would personally put a custom-made diamond crown on me and dress me in a gown that she had made herself. She would take photos of me and embrace me as she called me her most beloved little princess.

Even though my mother had passed away, I kept the tradition of throwing my birthday party.

Every time I saw the cake in the middle of the banquet, I felt as though my mother was still here with me.

However, when I returned home tonight, I saw that someone had already cut my cake and dirtied the living room with whipped cream.

Mandy was wearing the crown that my mother had custom-made for me when she was alive. She was also dressed in the gown that my mother had sewn for me. She was laughing and having a good time with Brandon and Benjamin.

The dress was covered in whipped cream.

I was furious!

I strode forward and snatched the crown off Mandy’s head and slapped her.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I questioned them, “Why are you at my place and using my stuff?”

Mandy was shocked by the blow, and her face momentarily twisted with rage.

She was just about to hit me when she remembered that Brandon and Benjamin were still around.

So, she immediately changed her expression.

When she looked up again, she appeared pitiful.

“Olivia, I’m sorry. I’m just…”

Before she could finish speaking, Brandon and Benjamin had shielded her.

They carefully touched her cheek and worriedly asked if it hurt.

When they saw her silent tears, they were furious.

Benjamin slapped me with an angry look in his eyes.

He yelled at me, “Olivia, why did you hit her?! Mandy knows that it’s your birthday, so she asked us to come over to celebrate your birthday with you. But you didn’t even clarify anything before you hit her!

“Why are you so unreasonable?”

I stared at them sharply. “Celebrate my birthday with me? You’re wearing my gown and crown without my permission, and you ruined my cake! Is this how you celebrate my birthday?”

Brandon averted his gaze before he exclaimed, “Mandy said she grew up in a poor family. She’s never seen such a pretty crown and gown. Is it a big deal if she wants to try them on?

“You were born into a rich family. You don’t lack gowns and crowns. What does it matter if she tried them on?

“Besides, it’s just a cake! There’s more than half left. That’s more than enough for you to eat. Why are you being so petty?”

“You’re hitting someone because of this? No wonder others say that you’re unreasonable and arrogant. No wonder no one in the research lab likes you.”

Brandon had just finished talking when I slapped him forcefully.

As I pointed at the three of them, my finger was trembling from rage.

“Mr. White, send the three of them out! From this day onward, none of them can enter my house!”

Brandon and Benjamin’s faces fell. They could freely enter my house before because they had been my childhood best friends.

Did this mean that I was going to cut them off?

Brandon and Benjamin were just about to speak when Mandy suddenly sobbed.

“I’m sorry, Olivia. I didn’t mean to come over to celebrate your birthday. If you don’t welcome me, I can leave. Please don’t be angry at Brandon and Benjamin because of me.

“I’ll leave on my own. I won’t interrupt your birthday celebration.”

After she said that, she prepared to leave.

She had only taken two steps when she suddenly sprained her ankle and fell onto the floor. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Brandon immediately wrapped his arms around her lovingly. He turned around and said to me, “Since you don’t welcome Mandy, both of us will never celebrate your birthday again!”

“In the future, we’ll have Mandy to celebrate our birthday with us. You’re not welcome.”

After that, they left.

Mandy, who was leaning against Brandon, looked at me smugly. It was as if she was informing me that she had won this battle.

Between the two of us, Brandon and Benjamin would always choose her.

After the birthday party, I still bumped into the three of them at the research lab sometimes. However, we never spoke again.

A few times, Brandon and Benjamin tried to talk to me awkwardly, but Mandy cut them off.

She would always greet me with a smile and ask me to forgive her for showing up at my birthday party.

With her explanation, everyone in the research lab thought that she was kind enough to celebrate my birthday, but I treated her poorly and chased her out.

Hence, I was in a more difficult position.

However, I no longer cared about those things.

My resignation letter was already in the midst of processing. In a week, I would leave this research lab.

Before that, I had one more thing to do.

On my last day, before everyone in the research lab, I asked Mandy to pass me the seaweed that I had brought back from the deep sea.

Mandy was known to be helpful and bubbly in the research lab. She would not be able to refuse my request.

However, when she passed it to me, she “accidentally” dropped the seaweed in a sulfuric acid solution.

I suddenly smiled as I watched the seaweed disintegrate.