Before I could finish my words, he interrupted me ruthlessly. "Hermione, we just came out of the house and you said there was a fire. Don't you even think before you lie?"
Orlando's voice came from afar. "You don't need to pay attention to her, Oliver. She is just petty. She doesn't even consider her position to meddle in other people's affairs. It's so annoying!"
Before I could say anything else, the phone was hung up.
Helpless, I had to search for the source of the fire in the dark.
It turned out that Orlando left in a hurry and forgot to turn off the stove. His beef rib soup had already been burned into black charcoal.
The room was filled with thick smoke, making it difficult for me, who suffers from asthma, to breathe.
I gasped desperately, my vision went dark and I staggered to the medicine box, following the memory.
Trembling hands were uncontrollable and as they waved, they accidentally touched something, making a crisp sound.
Finally, I found the medicine and sprayed it on myself like a life-saving straw. I climbed up to the window and breathed fresh air in big gulps.
It was already late at night when the house was cleaned up. Camile turned on her mobile phone and updated a nine-square grid of photos on her social media.
[A false alarm, luckily there were two knights on call! I just wronged them ....]
In the photo, Oliver and Orlando were lying on the floor next to her bed, one on the left and one on the right.
A while ago, we went on a National Day trip and all the hotels were fully booked, so I had to book a homestay.
The two of them yelled and complained that the bed was too hard and not comfortable for people to sleep on, so they got angry and rushed home overnight.
Now they were even willing to sleep on the floor! It must be hard for the two precious and noble young brothers, right?
Looking at the countdown on my mobile phone where one day had passed, I felt silent. In five days, I would leave here.
It had nothing to do with them anymore!
The next day, I was forced to wake up and Orlando, with a gloomy face, dragged me to the living room regardless of anything.
On the sofa, Camile's eyes were red as she looked at a photo on her mobile phone.
"Hermione, I know you've never liked me. All this time you must have thought I stole your dad away, so you have to throw away even the figurines I gave to Oliver and Orlando, right?"
Oliver's face did not look good either as he handed the mobile phone to me.
"Where did you throw this figurine? Mimi drew it herself and gave it to us!"
I suddenly remembered the things I had dropped in the haste of my asthma attack last night.
"Last night, the kitchen caught fire because you forgot to turn off the stove while cooking beef rib soup and I accidentally dropped it ...."
Oliver stood up and angrily reached out his hand, as if trying to hit me, but was stopped by Camile.
"I know you really didn't mean it, Hermione. How about we let you compensate me with something else? I think the pottery doll on your beside looks pretty."
"No way!"
"Okay."
My refusal voice coincided with the unanimous agreement of the two brothers from the Lynch Family.
My mother asked for that pottery doll for me before she passed away. She said that the doll would accompany me for the rest of my life on her behalf.
Once, the doll accidentally broke one of its feet and I was sad and heartbroken for several days.
Orlando ran all over the city and finally found a pottery shop that could repair it.
At that time, they said that the doll not only represented my mother, but also contained her concern for me.
Orlando, who had tall body and long legs, walked to my bedroom in three or two steps and held the doll in front of Camile like a treasure.
I glared fiercely at him and stepped forward to snatch it. "This is something my mom left me. Why do you want to give it away on your own initiative?"
Orlando gave me a contemptuous look and said, "Mimi didn't find your dead thing unlucky and you even complained about it!"
Oliver responded with a sullen face, "Yes, you broke Mimi's figurine, so you should compensate her. It's rare for her to like such a broken doll of yours!"
I seemed to have lost my sanity and kept beating Orlando who was trying to stop me.
Camile let out a scream and said loudly, "Isn't it just a broken doll? Why did you hit Orlando?"
She picked up the lucky doll and threw it at me. "Just a dead thing, it's so dirty! I'll give it back to you, but don't hit someone like a madman!"
The pottery doll fell to the ground and instantly shattered into pieces.
The blessing and my name that my mother had written in the doll's belly were also shattered into pieces, unrecognizable.
Camile's sharp and vicious appearance overlapped with her childhood's.
At that time, my mother had just passed away and my father could not wait to bring Camile and her mother into the house.
In front of others, Camile was a good and well-behaved girl, but behind others she turned into a devil.
She always pretended to be pitiful and acted like a spoiled child in front of my father to take away things from me. However, the next day she destroyed them one by one and then put the blame on me.
The last time, she secretly stole my father and her mother's marriage certificate and scribbled a big black turtle on it.
"Dad, Hermione wants to kick me and mom out ...."
As a result, my father threw me back to my grandmother's house and ignored me for twenty years.
My saddest and most aggrieved times were always spent with the doll.
"Get out! Get out now!"
I held the shattered doll, tears streaming down my face.
Late that night, I received a call from Orlando while I was half asleep.
"Mimi, I was wrong about what happened during the day. We said we would always tolerate each other. You come pick me up and we'll make up!"
"Mimi, I'm feeling unwell. Can you come and pick me up? I have a headache, ah ...."
Back then, due to the matter of filling out college application forms for the college entrance examination, the two brothers and I had different opinions, which led to the biggest argument in our history.
I just went to my friend's house to cool my head, but they thought I had run away from home and searched the entire Hillsburgh.
When they finally found me, they almost knelt down in front of me.
From then on, we agreed that no matter how angry we got, we must tolerate and forgive each other.
In the past few years, they had always been lenient with me and spoiled me and never wanted to make me angry.
Thinking about how much the two of them had taken care of me and favored me over the years, I finally softened my heart, put on my clothes and went to the bar designated by Orlando.
As soon as I pushed open the door of the private room, I heard bursts of laughter from inside.
Orlando laughed while slapping his thighs, "I told you she would come, right? Look, isn't she cheap like a licking dog?"
"Come on, come on, the loser has to drink three glasses as punishment."
Camile laughed in satisfaction, staggering between Oliver and Orlando.
"I told you this bet was fun, you guys see her shoes are on the wrong feet. It's so embarrassing!"
At the moment, I looked down and realized that I had put my shoes on the wrong feet. When I heard his scream, I was so panicked that I did not care about any grudges in my haste.
Looking at their unscrupulous manner of making fun of me, my heart was filled with coldness.
So this was the feeling of being truly betrayed. It hurt so much!
My face darkened. I walked over to him and splashed the wine on his face.
"Why, is it fun to deceive others? Do you feel so proud of playing with others' sincerity?"
The whole room fell silent and Camile aggrievedly took a tissue to wipe the alcohol on Orlando's face.
"Hermione, don't blame him. He just wants to prove to me that you are ...."
"His licking dog, haha ...." she said as she could not control the shrug of her shoulders and burst out laughing.
I raised my hand to slap her, but was grabbed by Oliver.
"Just a little joke, can't you afford to play like this?"
Camile raised her eyebrows and added. "Hermione, you are too narrow-minded! You even boast about your twenty-year childhood friendship with Oliver and Orlando, but how come you can't afford to play like me, who you've known for twenty days?"
I did not want to deal with them anymore, so I turned around and was about to leave, but Camile bocked me.
"Now that you're here, why don't you have a drink with us before you leave?" she said with a devious smile.
Oliver and Orlando also blocked my way, one on the left and one on the right.
"You made Mimi unhappy during the day, so just drink a glass of wine to make amends and let this matter go."
"Yeah, according to the rules, you have to drink three glasses."
I looked at them in disbelief. They knew I was allergic to alcohol.
Back then, a client of Lynch Group who had been in public relations for a long time held a dinner party and they brought me to attend.
The client was a greasy man. I had already told him that I was allergic to alcohol, but he insisted on me accompanying him for a drink.
Oliver and Orlando lost their temper on the spot and beat up the client, resulting in the loss of that important project.
Afterwards, I felt really bad about myself and they consoled me. "It's okay to lose one project, we can still make money from other projects, but we will never allow others to bully our beloved Mimi!"
What happened that time was still vivid in my mind, but now they were helping others to bully me.
I stubbornly stood in place and refused to compromise.
"I did nothing wrong. Why should she make me apologize for damaging my things?"
Oliver got angry and said, "Having a father but no mother raising you, you have no manners at all! Your harsh demeanor is so digusting, no wonder your father abandoned you."
Orlando's face darkened as he said, "Hermione, don't forget that the tuition fees for your college education were all paid by the Lynch Family and you have lived in our house for so many years, but I haven't even bothered to argue with you."
I felt a deep pain in my heart. My grandmother passed away before I could take the college entrance examination. I had no tuition to go to college. I called my father, but he scolded me for being a spendthrift.
After hearing about it, those two brothers from the Lynch Family helped me pay for my tuition and even took me to their home.
"Hermione, it's okay if your dad doesn't want you, you still have us! No matter what happens, we will always stand by your side!"
"Sooner or later, you will be a member of our family. The tuition fee will be used as the food expenses for us to eat and drink for free at grandma's house these years!"
I never wanted to be greedy for these things and I had been working hard to save money over the years to pay them back.
Orlando, who had a straightforward personality, got impatient. He grabbed my chin and took a glass of wine to pour into my mouth.
"It's just a glass of wine, why are you so shy?"
I did not know if it was because I was forced to drink or because my heart was too painful, tears slid down the corner of my eyes.
With tears in my eyes and a heart full of sadness and resentment, I said, "Is it true that as long as I drink these three glasses of wine, we'll be clear?"
Hearing this, Orlando and Oliver were stunned for a moment, then nodded indifferently.
Camile covered her mouth and poured more than ten glasses of wine!
"Orlando and Oliver have given you more than three glasses of wine, at least you have to finish them all."
"Okay, I hope you keep your promises."
I stepped forward and drank one glass after another, the spicy liquid ran down my throat, burning hot.
I did not know how long it had been, but it felt like it was just a moment. The three people in front of me turned into six and my head started to feel dizzy.
Fallen to the sofa, Camile held onto Orlando and Oliver in a daze.
"I'm tired. Can you guys take me home?"
Before leaving the bar, she turned back and blinked at her male friends sitting on the sofa. "You guys have fun! Especially my sister, you guys have to take care of her!"
"No, don't go ...."
I struggled to sit up, but was held down by those male friends.
They approached me with a grin on their faces. I had a bad feeling and tried to crawl towards the door, but they pulled me back.
"I heard that Miss Riley has been sleeping in the same bed with those two brothers of the Lynch Family since she was a child. I wonder if she has been played with by them?"
"Let's check it out and verify what is so special about Miss Riley that she could serve those two brothers for so many years!"
No, no, boundless despair rose in my heart...
