"Stay in your lane!"

Those words again.

Like a curse, they had followed me from childhood to now—from the nanny's lips to my biological mother's—never letting me go.

The strength drained from my body. I lowered my head, unwilling to continue a pointless argument.

Staring at the chaotic lines on my palm, I remembered someone once reading my fortune when I was little, saying I was born with thin luck and weak blood ties.

I had been too young to understand then. My foster mother only laughed and said, "Wendy, it's true. You don't have much luck."

The first half of my life really had unfolded just as that fortune described, yet I never believed in fate.

Later, I married Jason and had Charles. All the more, I felt that I couldn't possibly be the unlucky one.

It wasn't until today that I finally began to understand—some things simply can't be forced.

Tears welled in my eyes. I fought them back with everything I had.

I took a deep breath, then smiled.

"Since you're all so afraid I'll fight over the family assets, then I'll sever all ties with the family."

For a moment, both Jason and my mother froze, staring at me in shock. Only Lindsay—her eyes lit up with unrestrained delight.

"What did you say?" my mother was the first to recover.

Her voice turned shrill. "Sever ties? Wendy, you… say that again!"

Lindsay immediately looped her arm through hers and hurried to soothe her.

"Mom, don't be angry. She must have wanted this for a long time. She may just be an adopted daughter, but our family never treated her badly. We fed her well and provided for her, and yet she shows no gratitude at all. What an ingrate!"

My mother's already wavering heart was completely swayed by those words.

When she looked at me again, her gaze was filled with disappointment.

"Fine. Very well! If you want to cut ties, go ahead! Don't come crying to me with regrets!"

I smiled bitterly. With a family like this, what was there to regret?

Jason, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke. His voice softened, carrying a hint of consolation.

"Wendy, don't be so impulsive. Your mom is just angry. Family grudges don't last overnight. Is there really a need to take things to such extremes?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"Jason, what good guy act are you putting on now? As if you weren't part of scolding me just moments ago."

Jason's face darkened instantly.

Embarrassed and furious, he snapped, "Wendy! You really don't know what's good for you! I was trying to help, and this is your attitude?"

"Dad, Aunt Wendy, please don't argue." My son's timid voice broke in. He tugged at Jason's sleeve, looked up at him, and asked, "Does this mean Aunt Wendy won't live with us anymore? Does that mean I can stay with Mommy and Daddy all the time?"

Jason didn't answer. He only looked at me silently.

Lindsay kissed Charles on the forehead and said gently, "Of course. From now on, it'll just be the three of us—no more outsiders."

After saying that, she cast a provocative glance at me.

Watching Charles cheer, a wave of bitterness surged in my heart. This was the son I had risked my life to protect.

Seeing that I had no intention of stopping him, Jason's expression grew even darker.

He spoke coldly, "Wendy, it seems you really need to reflect on yourself. For the next few days, don't come home—and don't see our son either. You can come home when you've thought things through."

I scoffed. "Jason, what are you talking about? Our son? Didn't you just say earlier that I'm Charles's aunt?"

Jason's face flushed red at once, every word choking in his throat.

In the end, he could only glare at me fiercely before storming out of the hospital room.

In the silence that followed, I noticed a piece of candy by my pillow—something Jason must have left while I was unconscious. So he still remembered that I liked sweets when I was in a bad mood.

Perhaps because I had tasted too much bitterness in the past, I especially loved sweet things and never grew tired of them.

The candy wrapper rustled softly between my fingers, stirring old memories.

Growing up in a loveless environment made me feel that love was something painfully hard to obtain. I didn't even know how to love someone properly.

So when Jason pursued me, I was frightened at first.

But he was patient, using warmth and tenderness, little by little, to dismantle my defenses and thaw my frozen heart.

He made me believe that someone in this world could truly love me, and gave me the courage to take that final step.

I once thought that step was leading me toward happiness… until the day I was brought back to the Wheeler family.

I've never been a magnanimous person. The nanny tore me away from my family for over twenty years—and she raised me poorly on top of it.

I had always carried a grudge against her, and naturally, I could never warm to Lindsay, the beneficiary of her schemes.

Back then, Jason had casually said, "Lindsay didn't do anything wrong. She was just a child who didn't understand anything."

I had been angry with him for two whole days over that.

In the end, he had come to soothe me, and a single bag of candy had been enough to calm me down. That episode now felt like a dividing line between us. Life went on as usual, but looking back, I realize that moment marked the path I didn't take.

I popped the candy into my mouth. It melted on my tongue, but the sweetness quickly turned cloying.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

"Hello? Wendy! Why are you calling me? I thought you’d totally drowned in Jason’s little love bubble!"

It was my best friend, Gina Buckley.

She had been the only one at university who saw through all my pretenses and still chose to be my friend. After graduation, she went abroad, but we kept in touch.

"Gina," my voice was hoarse, "I'm planning to divorce… and leave the country."

She paused awhile as if thinking, then said, "Wendy… are you serious? You've finally made up your mind?"

"Yes. I've made up my mind." I stared out at the gray, overcast sky.

"But Gina, I need your help."

"Help? Just tell me! Through fire or water, I will follow without question!"

The day I was discharged, I didn't notify anyone.

When I dragged my unsteady steps across the threshold, the living room rang with laughter and cheer.

My breath caught, and I froze.

The full moon hung high outside, its soft silver light spilling over the four joyful figures inside.

All that was left for me was a thin sliver of cold, creeping into my chest.

When they saw me, the laughter cut off abruptly. The air turned thick with awkwardness.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and deliberately asked in a detached tone, "Excuse me, where is my room?"

My mother's face stiffened.

Lindsay jumped up, eagerly pointing to the smallest, most tucked-away door at the top of the stairs. "Wendy, your things… we packed them all and put them there."

It was a cramped little room meant for the nanny.

In just a few days, every trace of me had been swept away and shoved into that tiny corner. Meanwhile, Lindsay's belongings had taken over the bedroom Jason and I had once shared.

I let out a bitter laugh.

"I thought you were conspiring together to deceive me. Now seeing where I live, I realize… I really am just an adopted daughter."

"Wendy…" Jason's face was etched with awkwardness as he stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell me you were being discharged? I could've picked you up."

I looked at him coldly, mocking, "How could I possibly trouble my brother-in-law for something so small?"

My mother's expression soured.

"Wendy! Don't be rude. Lindsay helped pack your things, and you can't even show gratitude? You're being sarcastic and rude!"

Lindsay's eyes instantly welled up, and she clung to my mother, looking pitiful.

Charles shouted at me, "You bad woman! Don't bully my mommy! Get out of our house!"

I couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the irony. Pain twisted through me, spasming, and my body trembled uncontrollably.

Jason had remained silent all this time. Now, his dark, bottomless eyes locked on me as he asked, "You don't have amnesia… do you?"

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

My mother's face flickered with unease, but Lindsay still stood there, chest out, unashamed.

Charles seemed to sense something from the adults' reactions. He shouted at me viciously, "I don't want you as my mommy! You're not my mommy! You should never remember! You should never come back to our home!"

"Charles, shut up!" Jason finally barked.

Seeing my pale expression, he took my hand, holding it reassuringly. "Wendy, Charles is still a child. He doesn't mean it—don't take it seriously."

I pulled my hand back, smiling.

"A child? He's not a child anymore. He can tell right from wrong. Are these words something a child's thoughtlessness can just excuse?"

Seeing Jason waver, Lindsay's face went pale. She feigned weakness and collapsed into his arms.

"Jason… my head… it's spinning…"

Lindsay's pained groan instantly drew Jason's attention.

He turned to me, his voice cold and sharp. "Are you satisfied now?"

Then the whole family sprang into frantic motion, carrying Lindsay and rushing her to the hospital.

Before leaving, my mother didn't forget to turn back and scream at me, "You bring disaster wherever you go!"

I stood there until my legs went numb, then finally walked into the nanny's room.

The exhaustion—both physical and emotional—crushed me. I collapsed onto the narrow single bed and fell into a heavy sleep.

I had no idea how long it had been when I was jolted awake by rough hands yanking at me.

Jason, his eyes bloodshot, dragged me off the bed.

"Wendy! How can you be so vicious!"

Before I was fully awake, his furious shouting came crashing down on me.

"You knew Lindsay was already in the hospital! You knew she's severely allergic to mangoes, and you still deliberately sent her a mango mille‑feuille! You're holding a grudge and trying to kill her!"

I froze.

A mango mille‑feuille? When had I ever ordered something like that for her?

I laughed in anger.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Why would I use such an obvious method to hurt her, then just wait for you all to catch me?"

"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" he roared. "The dessert shop's order clearly lists your name and phone number!"

He slammed his phone in front of me, bellowing, "Wendy, you've truly disappointed me!"

Disappointed? I was the one who should be disappointed.

Whenever anything involved Lindsay, he never hesitated to believe her, shoving all the blame onto me without a second thought.

"Believe whatever you want," I said, too tired to argue anymore. "If you think I did it, then call the police."

With that, I pushed past him and walked out of that nauseating house for good.

I told Gina what had happened. She exploded on the other end of the phone, cursing furiously.

"Damn it! Fuck them! Lindsay obviously staged the whole thing to frame you! Is Jason dumb or what? How can he not see through this?"

"He can see it. Of course he can."

I shook my head, my heart steeped in desolation. "To him, whatever concerns Lindsay matters more than the truth."

Not long after, my mother's call came through.

"Wendy! How did I ever give birth to such a vicious daughter? What has Lindsay ever done to you that you'd hurt her like this?"

I listened quietly. Only after she finally ran out of breath did I speak, my voice calm.

"Mom, do you know something? The first year after I was brought back to this family, I secretly went for a DNA test, because I couldn't believe that a biological mother could be so cold to a daughter she'd been separated from for decades."

On the other end of the line, my mother's breathing faltered.

I went on.

"The results showed we really are mother and daughter. But I didn't feel happy at all, because I understood then that blood doesn't decide everything. Over twenty years of favoritism have been carved deep into your bones. In your heart, Lindsay is your only daughter."

"Nonsense!" she snapped back, though there was a trace of guilt in her voice.

"You think so?" I didn't press further. I simply said, "Mom, this will be the last time I call you that. From now on, you only have one daughter—Lindsay. There is nothing left between us."

With that, I hung up.

There was no sadness in my heart—only an unprecedented sense of relief. Like someone who had carried a crushing burden for far too long, I had finally set everything down.

Gina's call came in again, her voice brimming with excitement.

"Wendy! It's all done! The overseas studio is registered, and I've helped you put together the initial team—top talents from the industry! Your assets have all been transferred too. Just say the word, and we can officially go to war!"

"Good," I replied.

"But…" Gina's tone turned hesitant. "Are you really okay with it? Leaving everything back home, and… Charles."

Was I?

I closed my eyes.

The images of that day—the car accident, the hospital room, the three of them with their ugly faces—flashed through my mind.

When they deceived me, they hadn't shown the slightest reluctance.

Jason used to say I was soft‑hearted. I had believed I wouldn't be able to let go.

I smiled, but my eyes were ice‑cold.

"The desire to cut everything off now outweighs any reluctance I might have had. Jason thinks he can toy with me at will. Then it's time I send him a very special gift."