"Stop talking nonsense!" Someone interrupted. "Mr. Gillard has already said that this must not reach the ears of his disabled wife."

I stood in the crowd and felt that the laughter and joy around me became harsh noises and the wound on my hand was aching again.

It turned out that everyone knew their true relationship, but I was the only one who was kept in the dark like a fool for five years.

Suddenly there was an exaggerated exclamations from the crowd.

"This is a natural pink diamond worth one hundred fourty million dollars. It was bought at a Paris auction house. It turns out that the mysterious buyer is Mr. Gillard."

"This is the largest transaction in the auction house in recent years. Mr. Gillard is really a man who dotes on his sister."

Following the gaze of most people, I looked towards the stage.

Joseph was taking out a top-grade pure natural pink diamond necklace to give to his sister as a gift for her grand opening gallery.

I remembered not long ago, he disregarded my advice and took a flight to attend an auction abroad in a high fever.

After two to three days, he came home with a pink diamond ring in his hand.

"My dear, I bought this specially from abroad. Do you like it?"

At that time, I was so moved that tears welled up in my eyes, thinking that he was trying so hard just to give me a gift.

Joana walked to me gracefully wearing the necklace and her eyes fell on the pink diamond ring on my hand.

"Emily, my brother is indeed a fool. He even gave you the gift ring from the auction house. Those who didn't know would think our family is bankrupt."

"That's too much. Wait, I will teach him a lesson for you."

It turned out what I received was just a gift Joana did not want?

I then turned the pink diamond to the palm slowly.

At this moment, it seemed to weigh four hundred fifty kilograms, making it hard for me to catch my breath.

On the stage, Joseph was only focused on putting the necklace on Joana. The two of them were so intimate that there was no room for a third person in between.

I took off the ring and threw it into the trash can.

I did not want the ring.

And I did not want Joseph either.

I did not wait for him.

I sent him a text message saying that I was not feeling well and went home first.

After a minutes later, he replied with only [Okay.] and there was no more news from him.

Suddenly, a notification popped up on my mobile phone.

I clicked on it and it was a post from Joana.

[My brother is really something. He got drunk and started calling me by my childhood nickname "Dear Baby". I’m not a kid anymore.]

In the video, Joseph's eyes were hazy and his head were leaning on her shoulder, then he muttered to himself. "Joana, you are my dear baby forever ...."

Just after the video finished playing, the man returned home with a strong smell of alcohol.

As soon as he entered the bedroom, he eagerly pressed me under him and kissed me all over my face.

"My Dear Baby, I love you so much. I really love you so much. Tell me you love me now, tell me now ...."

Even though I had a nickname, he always stubbornly called me "Dear Baby".

His voice overlaps with the voice in the video just now.

Soon, I realized that every time he called me "Dear" or "Dear Baby", he was thinking of his true love.

Did he treat me as a substitute for Joana?

A feeling of nausea came over me and I could not stop myself from throwing up.

Joseph regained his senses and his eyes regained clarity.

"My Dear Baby, what's wrong with you? Did I hurt you somewhere?"

He patted my back gently and the worry between his brows did not seem fake.

I forced a smile and replied, "It's okay, I'm just a little bit comfortable because of the smell of alcohol."

He showed guilt on his face as he brushed my hair behind my ear.

"I'm sorry, my Dear, I wasn't pay attention. I'm going to take a shower right now."

He had just walked into the bathroom when the lights in the room suddenly went out.

Darkness shrouded everything inside the villa.

Joseph rushed to me, still with the unwashed foam on his head.

Just as he was about to hold my hand, his mobile phone suddenly lit on, dazzling in the darkness.

The moment he picked it up, I saw the name on it clearly. It was Joana.

In the darkness, the phone illuminated his worried face.

"Dear, Joana has a stomachache. My brother-in-law hasn't been home lately and she can't take care of herself. I have to go check on her."

He turned off the screen and the room fell into darkness again.

I could not see the expression on his face, I just stared at him and said, "The power is out, can you stay with me?"

After being kidnapped by criminals, I was locked in a dark basement for three days and three nights. From then on, I developed a fear of the dark.

In the darkness, I tried hard to control my body's trembling and reached out to pull his sleeve, but he shook it away.

"Can you please stop making trouble for no reason? Joana is really not feeling well. There was just a power outage at home. It will be fine in half an hour at most. How can you use this excuse to be jealous of her?"

"Besides, she's my sister, what could possibly happen between us?"

As soon as the words fell, he turned around and left.

The door slammed shut.

The loud sound was like a heavy hammer, hitting my heart hard.

I opened the divorce agreement delivered by my lawyer's courier and read it by the light of a flashlight.

Joana's message popped out.

[Joana, you have been so considerate on my brother. I just had period pain, but he made such a fuss.]

I clicked on the photo and saw her lying on the bed. The big hands on her lower abdomen were wearing a familiar watch belonged to my father.

Before I could reply to the message, she sent me a video.

Joseph was helping her wash a pair of bloody underwear.

Last time I was on my period, I accidentally got blood stains on the bed sheet.

He frowned, his face full of disgust. "The blood of you women have during menstruation is dirty and disgusting. How can I sleep like this?"

He pushed me out of the house regardless of my stomachache.

"Go out and find a hotel to sleep in, don't pollute the air at home."

He generously gave me a few thousand dollars to open a better room.

But now, he was devoutly rubbing and washing the blood-stained underwear of another woman.

I threw the phone aside and solemnly signed my name on the divorce agreement with trembling fingers.

I stayed up the whole night.

As the sun slowly began to rise, there was a noise at the door. Joseph pushed the door open and walked in, followed by Joana.

"Dear, Joana is not feeling well. I don't trust her to be at home by herself, so I bring her over to stay for a few days."

Anyway, this house would soon no longer belong to me, so they could do whatever they wanted.

I nodded indifferently, turned around and walked into the bedroom.

Just as I laid down, Joana walked in with a glass of water.

We had not been alone since she made her public official announcement with my fiancé.

I did not believe she suddenly came in just to bring me a glass of water.

Before I could speak, she sat down opposite me with a smile on her face.

There was no one else here, so she simply stopped pretending.

"You lost, whether it's career or love, you have always been a loser."

"So what if you are a genius? I am now a well-known writer who is hard to find, while you're just a housewife whose hands tremble holding a spatula."

I looked at her coldly, feeling a surge of disgust in my heart, but I did not want to show weakness in front of her.

"What are you so proud of? You stole something through improper means and after a long time, you even deceived yourself? It's really shameful to resort to underhanded means when you're not skilled enough."

She was infuriated and ashamed by my words.

"Bitch! You're a cripple, what right do you have to tell me what to do?"

"You may not know this, but it was Joseph who came up with the idea to cut your hand. He is on my side as well."

I ignited anger in my heart and stood up to push her out of the door.

Before I could touch her, I heard a loud scream.

"Ah~"

The hot water in the glass spilled all over her hands.

I stood there in shock, not yet able to react.

Joseph rushed in, pushed me away and anxiously held up her hand to check the injury.

She burst into tears and huddled in the man's arms, crying.

"Brother, I was kind enough to give her a glass of water, but she, she deliberately spilled the hot water on my hand."

"If it was somewhere else, it would be fine, but I'm a painter and these hands are related to my career!"

Joseph's face turned pale in an instant. He turned to look at me, his eyes full of anger and disappointment.

"Emily, even if you are upset because your hand was disabled, you shouldn't take your anger out on others."

I sneered.

"She mentioned that competition, Joseph, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

He frowned, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.

"What explanation? It's just that you were unlucky and met a bad person. What does it have to do with Joana?"

"No matter what, you shouldn't have hit her. Apologize now!"

As soon as he finished speaking, she started crying and shouting in pain again.

Seeing her cry, he felt heartbroken. He picked her up and took her to the hospital.

A few moments later, I received a message from him.

[Joana is the only girl in our family. If she gets hurt in our house, it will be hard to explain to my parents.]

I was too lazy to reply, so I just swiped left to delete the chat box.

Since he was not at home, I sorted out all the gifts, love letters and photos that he and I had exchanged over the years and burned them all.

When the fire burned out, news broke online that Joseph had spent a huge amount of money on his sister.

The girl only had slight redness and swelling on her skin, but he summoned all the experts in the hospital to check on her.

In the photo, he held her in his arms.

It was clear that the love in his eyes was not between siblings, but the love that a man had for a woman.

The hospital was a bit busy that night.

Only to solve a woman's minor burns.

I did not wait any longer. I walked out of the villa gate and got into the car that had been prepared.

On the other side, Joseph was giving Joana water.

He was somewhat absent-minded. But then, he realized that he had said something too harsh to me and thought about how to make up for it.

Let's take her to Europe for a trip.

She had said many times that she wanted to go, but she always refused on the pretext of being busy with work.

Joseph picked up his mobile phone to book a flight, but his assistant suddenly rushed into the ward.

"Mr. Gillard, your wife went to the mountains to pay a visit to her parents, but she encountered a flash flood and her whereabouts is currently unknown."