Nora felt a sharp, burning pain in her heart. She suddenly pushed open the door of the lounge and was met by Sally's panicked eyes.

"Nora ..."

Sally said carefully, "I just thought this wedding dress was beautiful and asked Benjamin to recommend it to you. I didn't mean anything else... Are you angry with me?"

Benjamin stood behind Sally, protecting her, telling Nora coldly, "I should have married Sally. If you hadn’t suddenly woken up and interfered, do you think you deserve to wear this wedding dress?"

Nora couldn’t help but stare at Benjamin in disbelief.

Her heart ached as she managed to ask, "If I don't deserve it, why did you let me try it on today?"

Benjamin frowned, answering, "If Sally hadn’t thought of you, do you think I would have allowed it? Now that you’ve tried it on, that’s all there is to it."

Without waiting for her response, the shop assistants began to remove the wedding dress from her.

"Miss Duncan had already reserved this wedding dress," one of the employees said, sneering.

"Some people are so shameless, taking the dress and even trying to steal the man."

"Mr. Hunt clearly doesn't like her. Yet someone still keeps trying to get close to him. It’s really pathetic," another added.

"Miss Duncan is the only daughter of the Riley Family. Does this woman really think she’s worthy of this dress just because she calls someone 'sister'?" a third said mockingly.

The employees continued to insult Nora without hesitation. After being in a coma for five years, Nora's movements were slow and unsteady. When she heard their cruel words, she was about to confront the store manager and have them disciplined. However, Benjamin waved her off.

"Nora, I see a rash on your arm. It looks like you’re allergic. You should go to the hospital quickly."

Sally, who knew the truth, pretended not to hear the insults. The employees quickly forced Nora out of the store. With no other option, Nora went to the hospital.

When she returned home, Benjamin was waiting for her.

"I made a mistake about the wedding dress shop," he said.

"I’ll make it up to you. Let’s go see the meteor shower tonight."

Although Nora didn’t want to go, Mr. and Mrs. Riley were excited to hear this and immediately agreed.

That evening, Nora sat in the car. The route they were taking was the same as the one they had planned five years ago to watch the meteor shower. But the night wind was cold, the sky was clear of stars. It didn’t look like the right weather for a meteor shower at all.

They climbed up the mountain to find the best view. Then, Benjamin suddenly said he had to return to the car for a meeting. He left Nora alone to set up the tent.

Half an hour passed, the wind grew stronger and mixed with light rain. Yet, Benjamin was nowhere to be found. Nora realized something was wrong. With no signal on her phone, she returned to the main road, only to find the car was gone.

She was stranded on the empty mountaintop.

"Benjamin? Benjamin!" Nora shouted, but received no reply.

Heavy rain quickly poured down from the sky, soaking Nora completely. She felt like being drowned. Fortunately, she had made a guide to this place five years ago. So, she managed to find the path down the mountain.

Unfortunately, the rain was coming down hard. Not to mention, the night was pitch black. Nora could barely see the road.

She walked down step by step, trembling with cold and fear. She didn’t know how many times she fell, her body covered in mud and soon washed away by the rain. Her knees and arms were bruised.

The only sound that night was the thunder roaring above her and the rain pounding down, mixing with the despair she felt in her heart.

Finally, after hours of walking, she reached the foot of the mountain. She waited until the early morning. When the rain stopped, before she saw a car driving through the suburbs. The kind driver gave her a lift.

When she arrived home, her parents and Sally weren’t there. Mrs. Burnett, her maid, was shocked to see Nora in such a state.

"Nora, how did you end up like this? Didn’t Mr. Hunt say he would take you back to the hotel after the meteor shower?"

Nora sat on the ground, exhausted. Her heart sank. Did her parents trust Benjamin so much that they didn’t even call her to confirm? Or did they simply not care about her at all?

Unable to speak, Nora remained silent as Mrs. Burnett cleaned her up. Afterward, she saw Sally’s latest post on her iPad. The photo showed Sally with Benjamin and her parents at a concert. They all smiled at the camera, looking like one happy family.

Even worse, Nora saw that Sally was wearing a small dress and the gemstone jewelry her grandfather had sent the day before.

Benjamin had also left a message.

[This is your punishment for your unrealistic delusion!]

After being caught in the rain, Nora developed a fever. She felt dizzy, like a fish stranded out of water. Her heart raced and it felt like it might explode. But her throat was tight and she could hardly breathe.

She heard noises downstairs. Sally and her parents had returned. A moment later, Sally came into Nora’s room with a cup of boiling hot tea.

"Nora, mom was worried you might have a fever, so she asked me to bring you this," Sally said, making a point to puff out her chest so Nora would notice the necklace she was wearing.

Seeing that Nora ignored her, Sally wasn’t bothered.

She smiled sarcastically and added, "By the way, Nora, I asked Benjamin to do all of this yesterday on purpose."

Nora’s heart skipped a beat and a sharp pain twisted in her chest. Before she could react further, Sally threw the boiling hot tea in her own face and started crying uncontrollably.

"Ah!"

The boiling tea splashed all over Sally's face, leaving painful red marks and breaking her fair skin. The teacup shattered on the floor, while the sharp edges cut into Nora's calf.

Mr. and Mrs. Riley rushed upstairs quickly. Sally covered her face and cried uncontrollably in their arms, hiding her right hand to keep them from seeing the wound.

"Mom and Dad, don’t blame Nora," Sally said, sobbing.

"She got angry when she saw what I posted on Instagram Live ... but I didn’t expect this … "

Hearing this, the usually gentle Mr. Riley frowned and pointed at Nora.

"What did Sally do wrong? Yes, you were wronged … but Sally kindly brought you warm tea, but you treated her like this!"

Mrs. Riley also looked distressed.

"Nora, we’ve always taught you to be sensible. But today you’ve really disappointed us."

Nora’s head felt heavy and her chest felt tight as if it were blocked by cotton. She was pale, struggling to defend herself.

"It wasn’t me who splashed the tea. It was her..."

"Did Sally splash it on herself? If she did, how culd her face be burned? She’s a lovely girl! How could you be so cruel, Nora?" Mr. Riley scolded, then told Mrs. Burnett to take Sally for a cold shower.

"Sir, Miss Sally shouldn’t have splashed the tea deliberately … " Mrs. Burnett tried to speak up for Nora, but Mrs. Riley shot her a fierce look.

Sally, with tears in her eyes, pulled off the necklace.

"This necklace was given to Nora by Grandpa. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have said I wanted to wear it just because it looked pretty..."

"Good girl," Mrs. Riley said with care.

"If you like the necklace, wear it. We’ll make the decision for you. Don’t be afraid of her."

With that, Mrs. Riley shoved the necklace back into Sally’s hands and helped her out the door to go to the hospital. Nora was exhausted, her calf wound still bleeding, but her parents turned a blind eye. She could only watch as the necklace was snatched away.

Before leaving, Sally gave Nora a mocking smile, covering her face as she left. Nora was left behind to be scolded by Mr. Riley.

"We’ve had a plan in mind for a while. We didn’t want to mention it before because we were afraid it would upset you. But today, you splashed tea on Sally. Let’s take it as your apology to her," Mr. Riley said in a firm tone.

He then told her the plan, "Your mother and I have decided to let Sally change her surname to Riley and give her half of the 10% of the shares that are under your name, so Sally can truly become part of the family."

Nora’s body swayed when she heard it. In fact, she almost collapsed. She looked at Mr. Riley in disbelief. It was her who had been hurt, but she was being forced to apologize to the person who had caused the harm.

Mr. Riley then continued, "Also, you have such a cruel tendency, Nora. You won’t be able to maintain a good relationship with the Hunt Family when you marry. The wedding ring will be handed over to me for safekeeping and I will give it to you when you are older!"

Finally, he added, "I’ve already decided on these two things! Don’t think about complaining to Grandpa!"

After that, Mr. Riley rushed to the hospital. Mrs. Burnett came in with a first aid kit and quickly bandaged Nora’s wound. Nora was faint with fever and pain. The physical pain from her calf and head was unbearable, but the pain in her heart felt like a sharp knife piercing her chest.

The whole mansion was empty. She could only call the number her grandfather had given her.

When the call connected, Nora apologized hoarsely, "I’m sorry, Mr. Hunt. I wasn’t able to keep the wedding ring you gave to me yesterday."

There was silence on the other end for a moment before a low voice responded, "Have you been crying?"

The long-lost concern, once offered by a stranger, now felt warm. Nora’s nose turned sour. Immediately, the tears she had just managed to stop came rushing back.

"Don’t worry too much about the wedding ring. I’ll take you to choose one you like when I have some free time. You can call me anytime at this number. By the way … " he then paused.

"Just call me Sebastian from now on."

"Okay," Nora agreed through her sobs.

At the end of the call, Sebastian gave her an address and invited her to come play golf to relax.

Nora had a fever for two days. But once she recovered, she went to the golf course. She wore a sun hat, radiating her quiet elegance.

Unfortunately, Nora was quickly stopped at the entrance of the golf course. She gave her membership number, but the staff said it had already been used.

"How could that be?" Nora asked, confused.

After all, she hadn’t played in five years. But such a high-end venue wasn’t supposed to allow anyone else to use her membership. The staff confirmed again that the membership number didn’t belong to Nora.

"There’s already a Miss Riley at the venue," the staff said apologetically.

Not far away, Nora saw the "Miss Riley" they were talking about. It was Sally.

"Let's do this," the staff member said, looking at Nora's outfit and instinctively thinking she must be a part of the Houston’s high-society.

"It just so happens that our head of golf course is also here today. I'll go ask him. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding."

The Houston’s high-society circle was small, so everyone knew each other to some extent.

Nora nodded and casually asked, "Who is the head?"

"Mr. Benjamin Hunt."

It turned out that this was the Hunt Family's property. When she realized Benjamin was the head of the golf course, Nora frowned. Just as she was about to refuse, the staff member hurried away, looking guilty as he left.

After a short while, the staff member returned and said apologetically, "Sorry, Miss, Mr. Hunt said he doesn't know you."

Nora felt a wave of disappointment. She was about to leave when another person ran over, lowered his head, whispered a few words and then took her inside. The court was large and Nora initially wanted to play alone.

Unexpectedly, a ball rolled right to her feet. It was hit by a girl next to Sally.

"Hey, pick up the ball!" the girl shouted at Nora.

Benjamin, who was with them, looked amused, while Sally was already aiming at a spot and preparing to swing. Nora hit the ball, but the girl wasn’t happy.

"I told you to pick it up, why did you hit my ball?"

Nora didn't respond, but the next moment, a ball flew straight at her at high speed.

Before she could move, it struck her face hard. The force of the hit made her take two steps back to steady herself. Nora's head rang, a strand of hair fell out of place and her right cheek quickly became swollen and red.

The accident shocked everyone. The ball had come at her as if it was aimed deliberately. Sally looked pale, clearly not expecting it to hit Nora in such a way. She put down her club, ready to run over and apologize, but Benjamin stopped her.

"What are you apologizing for? You didn't hit her on purpose. Nora is just unlucky. She couldn't avoid it in such a big space."

Then, as if remembering something, Benjamin walked over to Nora with the others. Nora covered her face with her hands, tears falling uncontrollably from the pain. When Benjamin saw the blood on her face, he froze for a moment.

Then, he seemed to recall something and sneered, "Why are you pretending? It's just a ball. How painful can it be? Is it as painful as when you deliberately poured hot tea on Sally’s face?"

"If you ask me, this is just divine justice. You deserved it!"

Nora’s eyes filled with tears.

Physically and emotionally exhausted, she was deeply disappointed with Benjamin and just wanted to leave and end this whole mess. She stepped back, but Benjamin took a step closer and grabbed her wrist.

"I invited you here today so you could apologize to Sally in front of me!"

It was clearly her who had been hurt!

Nora felt shaky, knowing Benjamin would never believe her, just like her parents hadn’t. Yet, she remained stubborn. Her long brunette hair covered the wound on her right cheek, while her beautiful profile was now marked by a pair of tear-filled, determined eyes.

Suddenly, Benjamin remembered the heavy rain from that day and realized he might have gone too far.

A girl, who had once treated Nora like her caddy, came over, grabbed Sally's hand and said as she sneered, "Isn’t she the one who splashed hot tea on Sally? Now, she looks like very ugly!"

Hearing Nora being humiliated like this made Benjamin feel irritated.

He tightened his grip on her wrist, pushing her to apologize quickly. The sharp pain from her wrist made Nora tremble slightly. She didn’t understand why Benjamin kept treating her like this when she hadn’t done anything wrong and hadn’t let him down.

As Nora refused to back down, Benjamin became more frustrated. He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t yield. Especially when her wrist was on the verge of being crushed.

The two of them were stuck in a standoff. Nora's wrist was turning red with her lips being pale from the pain. Finally, Benjamin couldn’t take it anymore and shoved her away.

"Benjamin! You can’t just let her go!" the girl yelled, stamping her feet, eager to defend Sally.

"It’s fine, Benjamin ..." Sally spoke softly, trying to calm the situation.

Benjamin curled his lips, as though showing mercy.

"Who said I would let her go? Here’s what we’ll do, Nora. I’ll hit another ball. Whether you dodge it or not, I won’t hold you responsible for bullying Sally anymore."

Without waiting for Nora's response, he walked back to the spot and swung the club.