I nodded before passing the letter of disownment to Dad. He didn't seem to expect that I'd be ready to sever our relationship once and for all, judging from how disappointed he looked when he gazed at me.

"You really are cruel."

I raised an eyebrow in return before glancing at Valerie, who looked rather smug.

"Oh, I'm not as cruel as you, that's for sure. After all, a normal man wouldn't have brought his mistress home the day after his wife died," I retorted.

Dad was rendered speechless. After he took the letter, he signed it without hesitation.

Even though I was already mentally prepared for this moment, I still felt my heart throbbing in pain. After all, my own father had abandoned me.

I turned on my heel and ascended the stairs. Every step exuded unwavering resolve and defiance.

Only when I returned to my room did I sink to the floor as though I had lost my soul. Sorrow and agony engulfed me in an instant.

The next day, I was still asleep when I was awakened by the noises outside my room.

I could hear Valerie saying nervously, "Ellie, this is Daphne's room. You can't stay in this room."

I opened the door to see Valerie stopping a woman from entering my room. When I made out Elaine's face, I felt as though my blood had just turned to ice in my veins.

Never in a million years would I expect Valerie's daughter to actually be Elaine, William's beloved lover.

God sure knew how to make me look like the biggest clown ever.

The men whom my mother and I loved the most ended up getting stolen by the mother-daughter duo!

Elaine approached me happily and took my hand. "Daphne, can I stay with you? I like your room!"

I yanked her hand away before closing the door in Elaine's and Valerie's faces.I wanted to shut them out of my life.

Dad—no, Charles yelled angrily from outside my room, "Where are your manners, Daphne Thorn? Elaine's your younger sister, and yet you never greeted her properly!"

I snapped, "I don't have any sisters!"

Charles began chastising me loudly, his voice coming out in a rumbling roar. Then, he issued an order.

"Elaine loves your room. Besides, you're about to get married soon. You might as well give your room to Elaine and move to the attic. She's going to be living in your room from now on."

What little familial love I had for Charles ultimately dissipated. The heart-wrenching pain was back to haunt me.

I just smiled bitterly. As I smiled, I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I no longer cared about the wisps of conversation that took place outside my room. But somehow, I just knew that the scene outside my room painted an amicable picture of a family comforting and soothing each other.

I didn't want to see Elaine at all, so I left with my suitcase in tow. Even when Charles saw me leaving, he didn't bother stopping me. Instead, he reminded me to carry out my side of the promise.

"I'll let you know when the wedding date is set. If you dare disappear on me, I won't hesitate to dig up your mother's ashes."

As I watched the family of three eating happily at the dining table, I retorted, "Unlike you, I'm a woman of my word. If you dare lay a finger on my mom's ashes, I'll make sure that you won't receive your money!"

When I was about to leave, I spotted the delight in Valerie's and Elaine's eyes. Now that I was gone, they'd be able to really exert controll.

Charles didn't have a single cent under his name. The fact that Valerie was still willing to marry him meant that she had her eye on the one-million-dollar check that he'd be receiving after selling me.

Even if Charles were to get his hands on the money, I would never let him enjoy it. Once the time came, I'd like to see if Valerie was still willing to stay with an old codger who didn't have any money at all.

At that moment, my phone buzzed once. It was a text from William.

"Where did you go?" it read.

I just stared at the text in a daze. For a moment, I didn't know how to answer that question.

William's concern for me just made my heart throb even more in pain. I raised my head to force my tears back into my eyes so that I didn't cry.

After that, I just wandered around aimlessly with my luggage in hand. Since I didn't know where else to go, I decided to sit on a bench in the park and stare at the scenery, spacing out.

I didn't know how much time had passed before I sensed a figure looming over me. When I lifted my head, I saw a familiar face that made my heart wrench in pain once again. Tears began streaming down my cheeks.

William wiped my tears away for me with his fingers. In a helpless tone, he said, "If you're done with your tantrum, let's go home together."

I fell silent at his words.

Clearly, William was starting to get mad at me. His tone became lower and gruffer.

"Now now, Daphne, don't be wilful."

William thought I left his place simply because of a tantrum. He had no idea that I no longer loved him.

I replied bitterly, "I don't have a home now."

He reached out to pat me on the head, his tone taking on a sympathetic tinge. "My home is your home, Daphne. You can live there."

His words made my heart tremble, but it only lasted for a moment. Now, my heart was calm again.

In the past, whenever I got into a fight with Charles, William would take me back to his home and comfort me there so that I could feel safe. His concern toward me gave me the illusion that he truly cared about me.

But the truth was, he only had carnal lust for me. He had already given his heart to another woman, after all.

William tried to pull me up to my feet, but I refused to budge. His voice might be soft, but I could tell that he was already adopting an authoritative tone.

"Stop messing around, Daphne. Be a good girl."

But I just shook my head and turned him down. "No. I'm going to stay in a hotel."

William frowned. This time, he yanked me up to my feet forcefully.

"You'll stay at my place from now on. You may go home whenever you feel like it."

After that, he scooped me into his arms and left the park without giving me a chance to retort.

Seeing as William was overbearingly insistent on this matter, I didn't resist him at all. I finally said, "Once I find myself a new place, I'll move out of your house. I won't disturb you anymore."

William's gaze darkened. Confusion tinged his tone as he asked, "You won't disturb me anymore?"

I saw him looking at me inquisitively. After that, he asked me meaningfully once again, "Are you sure you're capable of not disturbing me at all?"

I just pursed my lips without saying anything. Deep down, I felt the familiar pang of pain attacking my heart once again.

William must have known about my feelings for him. He could tell that I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with him.

Despite knowing that I wasn't a part of his future, he still watched me slowly sink into the quicksand of love. He really was cruel to me.

I took a deep breath before tossing out a question on purpose. "Do you know that your childhood sweetheart is the daughter of my former father's new wife?"

William frowned instantly. His breathing turned heavier as well.

"Yes, I do."

My next question came out, albeit gingerly.

"Do you… love her?"

William's features were scrunched up in a tight frown, as though he was contemplating the answer very seriously.

But then he replied, "Elaine's my junior back in the academy. Moreover, she even saved my life in the past, so I'm very thankful toward her. I don't care what sort of bad blood you have with your stepmother—just don't cause trouble for Elaine."

He never told me whether or not he loved Elaine. Instead, he beat around the bush just to issue me a warning. Clearly, he was defending Elaine.

That was why pelting him with questions seemed quite meaningless.

At that moment, I felt exhausted all of a sudden.

Upon returning to William's home, I went back to my usual room to rest. Minutes after lying down, I felt a pair of warm hands pulling me into an intimate embrace. Soon, the hands began roaming up and down my body.

If this had happened in the past, I'd have gone with the flow. But now, I didn't feel like doing that.

I shoved William away before sitting up instantly. In a displeased tone, I said, "I'm very tired, so I don't want to do anything today."

The way William looked at me was rather odd. After all, this was my first time rejecting his need for pleasure.

Puzzled, he asked me, "Are you angry about something?"

I just shook my head. Then, I got out of bed and walked toward the balcony.

William followed me right away. He hugged me from behind before burying his head into the crook of my neck. He began kissing me.

I kept replaying the scene of William kissing Elaine in my mind, which nauseated me to no end. So, I pushed him away forcefully.

Having lost his balance, William fell onto the couch behind him. Since I rejected him again, he got mad at me.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Daphne?"

I was in a bad mood, to begin with, so I snapped back loudly, "You've always treated me like a robotic plaything in bed, and you've never thought about how I feel! If I'm not in the mood, then I'm not going to be intimate with you!"

William was slightly taken aback by my outburst. Then, he frowned deeply.

"So that's how you feel all this time, huh? You really are making a fuss out of nothing! Whatever, have it your way!"

After that, he turned to leave angrily.

As I watched William's silhouette disappear from my line of sight, all I felt was endless sorrow and grief.

The next day, the maids dragged me out of bed and began giving me a makeover before I could even wake up properly. As I looked around hazily, William walked into the room.

He looked dashing in his custom-fitted black tux. His hair was swept back, and his eyes held a magnetic charm that could put me under his spell.

Perhaps his looks were the reason I had fallen in love with him in the first place.

William patted me on the head out of habit.

"I want you to attend a banquet with me."

I stared at him, completely flabbergasted. Our relationship was secretive in nature. Not to mention, William had told me that his social status was very special, which meant he couldn't make our relationship public.

What was he up to?

But when we arrived at the banquet hall, I found out that it was actually Elaine's birthday banquet. William was worried that others might find out about our relationship, so he chose to maintain his distance from me. We even entered the banquet hall separately.

I turned on my heel, ready to leave. Yet, Elaine was quick to stop me.

"Yay! I'm so happy that you came to my birthday banquet, Daphne!"

I frowned. But in the end, I didn't say anything mean to her, seeing as there were other guests around us.

But Elaine didn't plan on stopping there. Instead, she decided to piss me off even more.

"By the way, Dad misses you a lot. You shouldn't have run away from home, you know? He's getting on with the years, so he needs his daughter to take care of him. What you did was really inappropriate."

I couldn't resist talking back to her.

"My business has nothing to do with you. You're not my sister either—you meddling in my business won't make you look like a good daughter to him, too!" I said.

After that, I shook Elaine's hand off me and entered the banquet hall.

Elaine turned to look at William, obviously upset. She looked so pitiful, like she was about to cry.

Although I had my back on the couple, I could still feel William glaring at me in displeasure. When I turned around, I happened to catch sight of him comforting Elaine gently. I didn't know what he said, but Elaine giggled happily in return.

The discomfort of having to suppress my sadness was starting to get to me. I took a deep breath before opting to sit in a corner. I didn't want to get noticed at all.

Meanwhile, William introduced Elaine to all of his friends. They accepted gifts from everyone they met.

Whenever Elaine was thirsty, William would pass her a glass of water. If she were to step on the hem of her dress, he'd lift the hem for her. When she was done eating a slice of cake, he'd even wipe the corner of her mouth carefully for her.

The thing was, William had never shown me such gentle care before.

As I watched the couple being lovey-dovey in front of everyone, I could feel my heart getting cut over and over again by their actions. It hurt so much that I had a feeling my heart could never recover.

Once the birthday banquet started, Elaine walked up to the stage under everyone's gazes. She gave a polite speech that was met with a round of applause by the guests.

Since Elaine and William's relationship was more or less public by now, someone began inquiring about their future plans curiously.

"Elaine, when are you going to marry William?"

With flaming cheeks, Elaine turned to look at William. Then, she bowed her head quietly without responding to the question.

"Look at how bashful she's become!"

William soon got onto the stage as well. He looked at the guests before saying, "Don't make fun of her. She's still young."

Someone else quickly asked, "Does that mean you're planning to marry her?"

William shot a glance at me subconsciously, only to see my eyes firmly glued to his face.

I'd like to know the answer as well.

The next thing everyone knew, William declared his affection for Elaine on the spot.

"If I were to get married, I'd choose her."

As soon as everyone heard the answer, they began cheering loudly. Elaine's embarrassment deepened even more, but she also smiled happily at the same time. Clearly, she was immersed in the happiness William's confession had brought her.

On the other hand, the final trace of hope that I had been clinging to all this time dissipated the moment I heard William's words.

My heart pounded erratically behind my chest. While pain seized my senses, I could feel flames of rage burning me alive as well. In a way, I was being tormented by my feelings, making me feel as though I was about to fall apart.

So, I fled from the banquet hall with my tail between my legs.

Upon reaching a corner, I ended up tripping over my feet and falling to the floor because I wasn't able to keep my balance. By then, I was already in a state of helpless panic, making me seem like an absolute fool.

A man approached me and helped me up to my feet.

"Miss, what are you doing lying on the floor?"

Instead of letting me go, he trailed his hand upward in an attempt to cop a feel of my chest. Instinctively, I backed away from him before slapping him in the face.

"Get lost!"

Now that he got slapped, the man reached out to grab me furiously.

"You fucking bitch! How dare you slap me?"