Crystal did not say anything. She calmly got up and went to the kitchen to get a bowl for Jocelyn.

“Oh, sorry, I do not need it anymore, could you please put it back?”

Crystal had just taken the bowl when she heard Jocelyn speaking apologetically.

Octavio watched all this in silence, neither stopping nor interrupting.

Crystal became even more silent. In the past, Octavio protected her the most. When someone joked that Crystal was a nanny brought by the Carrillo Family, Octavio slapped her in the face.

Next, Jocelyn found all kinds of excuses to ask Crystal to help her with things, such as peeling fruit or getting her coat, but no matter how she asked, Crystal looked submissive.

Octavio was annoyed by what he saw, but he did not say anything until Jocelyn specifically asked for the necklace on Crystal's neck.

That was the only relic Crystal's mother left her.

“No, this is…."

“If Jocelyn wants it, just give it to her,” Octavio suddenly interrupted.

Crystal was stunned. Octavio clearly knew that this was left to her by her mother.

Seeing that Crystal did not move, Octavio directly pulled off the necklace on Crystal's neck. Crystal was choked and fell to the ground, with her knees bruised. She could not help but cry out of anger.

The necklace broke, leaving a red blood mark on Crystal's neck.

Crystal coughed repeatedly, her eyes were red, and she raised her head stubbornly and shouted at Octavio, “Give it back to me, brother. This is what my... aunt left for me!”

Octavio obviously did not expect this situation. He thought he did not use much force. He looked at the broken necklace in his hand in a daze, and felt an inexplicable anger in his heart.

“So what?! Crystal, it's just a necklace.”

Octavio threw the necklace on the ground. The chain fell in front of Crystal, as painful as her broken heart.

“Crystal, put away those unrealistic fantasies of yours. You know I'm your brother, but you do not even look at yourself. Do you really think anyone would like you?”

As soon as Octavio said this, Jocelyn's expression changed visibly.

Crystal's eyes were red, and her thin figure slumped down in the hall. The last thing she saw when she raised her head was the backs of the two people leaving. 

Octavio held Jocelyn tightly in his arms, with a strong and intimate gesture, as if she was the only character in this play, the clown to be laughed at.

She no longer liked Octavio, and she did not ask him to be nice to her, but why, why did he take away her most precious thing?!

The sour feeling came over her heart, and tears felt like a broken necklace. Crystal cried so hard that she almost retched. She looked at the broken necklace and made up her mind again.

She absolutely should not like Octavio again.

There were still fifteen days before the wedding deadline. Crystal was so busy that she was dizzy, and news about Octavio and Jocelyn was also overwhelming.

The prime time of the news was used to report how this noble young man in the Las Vegas spent huge sums of money to buy a beautiful woman's smile, buying her a diamond necklace worth 7 million dollars, and setting off fireworks all over the city for her just to let Jocelyn take a satisfactory photo.

These enviable preferences make everyone envious.

Only Crystal had begun to try to block out the news about Octavio. She had begun to learn to ignore these news.

She subconsciously moved away from Octavio, and her avoidant attitude made Octavio feel strange in his heart, but he did not think much about it and just thought she was throwing a tantrum.

Jocelyn's birthday party insisted that Crystal and Octavio go together, under the pretext of getting to know the family better.

Crystal smiled bitterly. She was going to marry someone from Los Angeles soon. She did not know when she would meet the Carrillo Family next time. What was the point in getting to know them?

She wanted to refuse, but Octavio directly sent someone to bring the dress to her room and asked his assistant to say something harsh.

“Miss Hughes, Mr. Carrillo said that you must go. If you do not go, he will find someone to tie you up.”

Crystal caught a glimpse of the broken necklace out of the corner of her eye. She had already looked for many restorers, but they all said that it was too old to be repaired.

She put on the dress with a bitter heart. It turned out that this was how Octavio loved someone.

It was as if he wanted to bring all the best things in the world to her, but this person would not be her after all.

When Crystal arrived at the banquet, Octavio was touching up Jocelyn's makeup with gentle and meticulous movements.

Crystal felt depressed, so she went outside the banquet hall to get some fresh air. To her surprise, Jocelyn came up behind her with a glass of wine.

“Crystal, we are all smart people, we should all understand some things. It's uncontrollable to like someone, but it's also uncontrollable to like someone you should not like."

Jocelyn glanced at Crystal meaningfully. Crystal's eyes widened and her hands unconsciously clutched her skirt.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

A trace of uneasiness flashed through her heart, and she was even less confident to speak.

Because she knew that from the beginning to the end, she was the one who violated social morals and ethics.

She was the sinner who should be condemned by everyone.

“You like Octavio, right? But you are his sister, Crystal. how dare you do that?”

Jocelyn's eyes narrowed dangerously, and her tone was harsh, with a hint of subtle malice.

“Today I will teach you a lesson and let you know what happens to those who miss me.”

Then, Jocelyn suddenly grabbed Crystal's arm with such force that Crystal was unable to break free.

As Crystal looked shocked, Jocelyn followed suit and pushed herself into the swimming pool.

A scream attracted everyone. The one who reacted the fastest was Octavio. His eyes were like a knife piercing into the helpless Crystal's heart.

Octavio moved quickly, almost rushing into the swimming pool, carrying Jocelyn out of the pool sideways and holding her in his arms.

“Octavio, I don't know what I did wrong. Why did Crystal treat me like this?

“I just invited her to our engagement party, and I did not expect her to be so angry. Did I do something wrong?”

Jocelyn was soaked all over, and Octavio held her in his arms, crying so adorably.

Octavio felt distressed when he saw her compromising look. He glanced at Jocelyn, whose eyes were red, and said in a cold tone, “I told you not to have unrealistic fantasies, but you could not hear me, did you?”

“Crystal, you are not a child anymore. If you bully Jocelyn, you must pay the price.

“I did not push her…." Crystal's eyes suddenly narrowed, and she was about to open her mouth to explain. 

“You still want to say that she jumped down on her own?! Crystal, do you think everyone is as scheming as you?”

Octavio interrupted violently, his cold eyes fell on Crystal, and with a gesture from him, the two bodyguards around him simply lifted Crystal and pushed her into the swimming pool.

Crystal's struggle was completely futile. In the nearly zero-degree weather, the icy cold water engulfed her and she thrashed helplessly in the water.

Even if the weather was not cold, she could not swim!

But this was still in the deep water area, and the water kept choking her throat. Her strong desire to survive made her struggle to climb up, but she was stopped by Octavio's bodyguards and pushed back into the water again.

In a trance, she saw Octavio looking at her with a cold face by the swimming pool, as if he was looking at an enemy.

Crystal suddenly remembered that when she was learning to swim, she really could not learn it. Octavio smiled and pulled her out of the water, saying that he would never let her touch water again.

With just one thought, she gave up struggling and continued to sink.

Her consciousness gradually became blurred, and just at the last second when she was about to sink into the water, someone finally pulled her out.

She was in a very miserable state, collapsed to the ground powerlessly, and with her slightly opened eyes she could only see Octavio's face full of disgust.

“You're disgusting.”

She heard Octavio say.

News of what Octavio had done to Crystal soon spread. When Crystal returned home, Octavio was kneeling upright in the middle of the living room.

Octavio’s father's face turned red with anger, and he pointed at Octavio and scolded him, “Even if Crystal is not our child, she is nominally a member of the Carrillo Family! There were so many media at the banquet that day, Octavio, are you going to ruin us?!

“Didn't you have a good relationship with her before? No matter how angry you are, you cannot push her into the water. I remember Crystal is even afraid of water.”

Octavio’s mother also echoed, but Octavio kept his head down. When he heard that Crystal was afraid of water, he shook his head slightly, but then said nothing again.

After a moment, he said stiffly, “Crystal is bullying Jocelyn, she does not deserve this much protection.

“Besides, she and I have no blood relationship, she is not worthy of being my sister!”

Crystal paused as she was about to walk in. Although she had already decided to give up liking him, her heart still could not help but ache when she heard these words.

If she did not let Octavio know that she liked him, the two of them would probably be the same as before, just like ordinary siblings.

She concealed the loneliness and grievance in her eyes and pretended to have just walked in.

“Dad, Mom, I'm back.”

Octavio’s father and mother were stunned for a moment, but soon they put on a smile and held Crystal's hand affectionately, with a look of kindness that had never been seen before.

“Crystal, are you back? Have you picked out the jewelry? Just pick out whatever you like, we will pay for it for you.”

Crystal pulled her hand away distantly and responded indifferently.

Octavio raised his head in confusion. When did his parents start to care about Crystal so much?

But he did not take it too seriously after all, thinking that they had suddenly changed their nature.

“I have chosen it.”

“That's good. Crystal has really grown up. She was only ten years old when she came to our house."

Octavio’s father greeted awkwardly, and after talking for several sentences he finally got to the point.

“Isn't your engagement party with Jocelyn still two months away? Crystal happens to be going out next month, so it's a good opportunity for Crystal to attend in two months…."

Octavio interrupted coldly. “No! Jocelyn and I's engagement party is next month.”

Octavio's face was as dark as if he wanted to kill someone. He suddenly stood up, supported his numb legs from kneeling, and went straight back to the room.

Crystal felt empty inside. In order to avoid her, did Octavio even get engaged earlier?

Besides, that day was her birthday, but no one in the Carrillo Family remembered it, and no one would remember it.

In the past, Octavio would carefully prepare every birthday for her, but times had changed and things were different at that time.

She smiled self-deprecatingly and returned to her room under the worried gaze of Octavio’s father and mother.