Leanne's mocking voice rang out above my head.

"A miscarriage report?" she sneered. "Camille, don't tell me you're trying to use something like this to win Emmett back?"

Trembling, I lifted my head, my face deathly pale as I looked at Leanne standing before me.

"Give it back to me."

My voice came out hoarse and broken. Not only did Leanne refuse to return the report, she leaned closer, her tone dripping with contempt.

"I know you saw everything just now. So what if I was gone for seven years?" she said smugly. "You're still the same loser. As long as I want it, everyone will abandon you. You pitiful worm."

"Seven whole years, and you couldn't even get a marriage certificate. In the end, not a single person chose you. If I were you, I'd have killed myself long ago."

Her voice pierced my ears like sharp knives. My pupils shrank as I clutched my ears tightly.

Ever since childhood, Leanne had taken everything I treasured.

I once thought that seven years of companionship could break this curse. But the moment she returned, everything I longed for fell back into her hands.

My chest burned with pain, my vision blurring with tears.

Just then, a shrill car horn suddenly sounded.

I looked up—and saw a vehicle that had lost control, speeding straight toward us!

My eyes widened in terror as I lunged to the side. But at that moment, Leanne grabbed me and held me down with all her strength.

Her expression twisted grotesquely, her eyes filled with malicious delight as she looked at me.

"Sister," she said softly, "let this car accident show you the difference between you and me."

Before I could even process what was happening, someone shoved me hard.

"Leanne! Are you okay?!"

Emmett and my brothers rushed to shield Leanne, their faces full of panic and concern. Not a single one of them spared me a glance.

A sharp crack rang out as searing pain exploded in my ankle.

The next second, the grotesque front of the car slammed straight toward me.

Bang!

With a deafening crash, my world plunged into darkness.

...

When I opened my eyes again, a whimper escaped my throat.

Every inch of my body screamed in protest. The pain burned through me like raging flames.

Memories from before the accident flooded back.

Leanne's twisted, triumphant expression as Emmett and my brothers chose her without hesitation.

The sensation of my heart being torn apart—everything vanished again into darkness with that violent impact.

I struggled to sit up, but a nurse gently pressed me back down, looking at me with sympathy.

"You can't move yet," she said softly. "Where's your family?"

"You were in an accident with that other girl. She only suffered minor injuries, but her family all came immediately. Why hasn't anyone come to take care of you?"

Hearing this, I let out a bitter smile.

My family was right beside Leanne.

Through the crack in the door, I could see the ward across the hall.

It was a VIP suite—costing tens of thousands a night.

The door was wide open. Leanne sat on the bed, rosy-cheeked and radiant, while my husband and brothers crowded around her, feeding her fruit and coaxing her into laughter.

Not one of them had thought to come and check on me—even though my injuries were far more severe than hers.

"Could you please hand me my phone?" I asked quietly.

The nurse passed it to me.

I didn't try to contact Emmett or my brothers.

Instead, I sent a message to a single number.

[You once promised me that no matter when, as long as I needed you, you would appear by my side. Does that promise still count?]

I clenched the phone tightly, waiting for a response.

One minute passed.

Nothing.

I lowered my head in disappointment. Of course. Seven years had gone by—how could that person possibly still remember?

The next second, my phone vibrated.

My hands trembled as I opened the message.

[It will always count. Where are you? I'll come get you right now.]

A rush of warmth surged in my chest, yet tears spilled uncontrollably from my eyes.

I replied. [I still have something to take care of here. Can you come pick me up in seven days?]

Before the other party could reply, Emmett's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway of the ward.

"Camille," he asked coldly, "who are you texting?"

Instinctively, I turned off my phone and looked at him calmly.

"Nothing. Just a friend."

Emmett frowned, clearly wanting to ask more. But at that moment, Leanne's cry of pain came from behind him, and his expression instantly changed.

"Camille, why did you push Leanne?" he demanded. "Do you know she was almost hit by a car?"

On hearing his words, my chest tightened as if I couldn't breathe.

After a moment, I took a deep breath and intoned coldly. "Believe it or not, I didn't push Leanne. If I had, why is it me lying here after the accident?"

The mockery on my face was unmistakable.

Emmett's gaze fell on the wounds covering my body, and a trace of concern flashed across his face.

He reached out, as if wanting to touch my cheek.

"Camille, you've loved lying ever since you were a child. If Emmett hadn't pushed you away back then, the one in the accident would have been Leanne!"

Jace's sharp voice cut in from the doorway.

He strode over and yanked Emmett aside, then looked at me sharply.

"Emmett, Camille has always been good at playing the victim. Don't be fooled by her. Leanne is already ill, and she's still competing for attention like this—so immature. Leanne would never lie. It must have been Camille who pushed her."

He looked at me with undisguised disgust. With just a few words, he sentenced me to guilt.

Leanne had been gone for seven years, and for those seven years, Jace had treated me kindly.

It made me believe that I had finally become the sister he liked.

But a single car accident stripped everything away and returned me to reality.

My brothers had never truly liked me. Neither had Emmett.

The nurse standing nearby couldn't hold back her anger.

"Are you Ms. Mcallister family? How can you treat her like this?"

"She was the most seriously injured in this accident—and she just suffered a miscarriage..."

Before she could finish, Antonio rushed in, panic written all over his face.

"Emmett! Jace! Come back quickly—Leanne's illness has flared up. She fainted!"

Emmett reflexively glanced back at me.

Jace grabbed his wrist.

"There's no need to care about Camille. She brought this accident upon herself."

Antonio shoved the two of them toward the door, then turned back to look at me with open scorn.

"Camille, you tried to get Leanne into a car accident so Emmett would stay devoted to you. I never knew you were this vicious. If anything happens to Leanne, I will never let you off."

I lay stiffly on the hospital bed, enduring pain multiplied by the cruelty of both family and the man I loved, until their figures disappeared from sight.

...

From that day on, until I was discharged from the hospital, Emmett and my brothers never appeared again.

It was as if they had completely forgotten my existence.

Yet the moment I opened my phone, I could see their radiant smiles.

While I struggled alone in pain at the hospital, they took Leanne on a trip.

The photos were taken in the Maldives—a place I had always wanted to visit. Golden sunlight bathed their faces, making their smiles dazzlingly bright.

The caption read: [Seven years later, our family is finally reunited. May our little sister stay with us forever.]

I tried my best to hold back my tears—but they still streamed down my face.

Whether it was family or love, I was never the one who was chosen.

The moment I pushed open the villa's front door, Leanne's shrill laughter greeted me.

My entrance shattered the cozy atmosphere in the living room. Everyone frowned at once, as if I were an uninvited stranger who had suddenly intruded.

My husband, my brothers, my sister... Not a single one of them remembered that I had just been discharged from the hospital.

To this family, I was less than a stranger.

Emmett stood up, hesitation flashing across his face.

"Camille, I'm sorry I didn't pick you up from the hospital. There's been too much going on at the company."

I looked at him indifferently and stepped aside, avoiding the hand he reached out to me.

His expression stiffened. Before he could say anything else, Leanne clung to him and walked over.

She wore that familiar smile—sweet on the surface, but a hint of provocation gleamed in her eyes.

"Sister, you're back," she said softly. "I'm sorry we didn't go pick you up. I really wanted to go to the Maldives ever since I saw the travel guide you made."

The smug glint in her eyes told me everything.

This was just another one of her plunders.

Taking what I cherished had always been Leanne's favorite thing to do.

"If you like it, then take it," I replied calmly.

She clearly hadn't expected that reaction. The smile on her face faltered for a split second.

She reached out toward me, malice flickering in her gaze.

"I heard you wanted to take the baby traveling too. Maybe next time," she whispered, leaning close to my ear.

"As long as he isn't already a pile of rotten flesh..."

I shoved her hand away violently, fury surging through my eyes.

"Get lost!"

Leanne curled her lips smugly and, following the force of my push, staggered back and fell to the floor.

Jace shot to his feet, rage exploding across his face.

"Camille! Have you lost your mind? Leanne's body is so weak—how could you lay hands on her?!"

Antonio was even more furious.

"You just caused her to get into a car accident, and now you're hurting her right in front of us! I should've sent you to the police station to clear your head!"

"The one who was in the accident was me!" I shouted. "If anyone should be reported, it's Leanne!"

I thought I could stay calm. But when everyone stood firmly on Leanne's side, I finally broke.

Emmett looked at me with disappointment and bent down to help Leanne up.

"Camille, even now you're still lying," he said firmly. "Leanne has cancer. How could she possibly have the strength to push you?"

"Don't say that about my sister," Leanne said tearfully. "I know she can't accept my return so easily. I'm willing to apologize properly."

I ignored her performance and stared straight at Emmett.

"Whether Leanne has cancer or not, I don't know," I said quietly. "But that day, I lost our child."

Before I could finish, Leanne's expression changed drastically. She suddenly clutched her head and screamed.

"Damn it!" Jace shouted. "Leanne is having an episode! Give her the medicine—now!"

Emmett shoved me aside without hesitation and rushed to Leanne.

In an instant, everyone crowded around her.

No one listened to me anymore.

The familiar scene made me want to scream, but days of torment had already drained every ounce of strength from me.

In the end, I didn't even glance at the farce unfolding behind me. I turned and went upstairs.

The moment I opened the bedroom door, I froze.

My clothes, my wedding photos with Emmett, everything I had carefully added to this room over the past seven years—all of it was gone.

In their place were luxury handbags, high heels, and revealing dresses.

They were tangled together with Emmett's suits, exuding blatant intimacy.

I even saw used contraceptives in the trash can.

While I was hospitalized, Emmett and Leanne had been entwined—in the master bedroom that belonged to me.

My body trembled violently.

Just then, Emmett's voice sounded behind me.

"I let Leanne move into the master bedroom."

He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"She's sick and needs the best room to recover. You're the older sister—be more accommodating. Your room is over there now."

He casually pointed toward the guest room.

"Why did you change the moment Leanne came back?" I asked softly, despair thick in my eyes.

A trace of hesitation appeared in Emmett's gaze, but after glancing downstairs at Leanne, his expression hardened once more.

"Camille," he said coldly, "everything you had originally belonged to Leanne seven years ago."

"I'm just returning what was hers to begin with."

I didn't cry anymore.

I turned numbly toward the guest room.

If all of this had always belonged to Leanne, then I would give it back—and disappear from their lives completely.

That night, Leanne's moans echoed endlessly from the master bedroom, piercing and cruel.

I wiped all my tears onto the sleeping puppy beside me. Feeling the warmth of its small body, the tearing pain in my chest finally eased—just a little.