Halloween was just around the corner when my two childhood sweethearts, the boys who had cherished me for twenty years, abandoned my grandmother, who suffered from dementia, at a busy intersection teeming with traffic. She never got to see me one last time. Before I could reach her, she was critically injured in a car accident and left this world forever. At that exact moment, a headline blew up online: “The Beaumont Brothers Race for Love! Who Will Win the Fair Maiden’s Heart This Halloween?” It turned out they had ditched my grandmother to fight over the privilege of spending Halloween with my stepsister. The one who lost, Ethan, took his frustration out on me. “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t kept calling me, I would have been the one with Amanda tonight!” The winner, Dylan, issued a stern warning. “You’re an adult now. You need to be more considerate. Don’t you dare call me on Halloween!” After laying my grandmother to rest, I stared at an email sitting in my inbox: “Ms. Claire Preston, please reply to confirm your participation in the Lunar Exploration Initiative. If you accept, you will be given a new identity and will have no contact with the outside world for five years.” I calmly replied to the email: “Confirmed.” 1 I was at the hospital, handling the paperwork to get my grandmother’s deposit refunded, when I heard a familiar voice. “It was just a little cough. You two are so dramatic, dragging me all the way here for a check-up!” The Beaumont brothers, Ethan and Dylan, were carefully flanking my stepsister, Amanda, one on each side. There was a time when I was the person they worried about most. When I was a child, my mother had barely been buried when my father eagerly welcomed Amanda and her mother into our home. Through their calculated schemes, my father’s disappointment in me grew until he finally just sent me away to live with my grandmother. That was when I met the Beaumont brothers, who lived next door. They pitied the young, grieving girl who was bullied by her new family. They became my personal knights, guarding me, showering me with all the affection and care I had lost. They promised they would always be good to me. But the moment Amanda returned to town, all those promises turned to dust. They knew my grandmother was the only family I had left. They knew she had dementia. Yet they still abandoned her, without a second thought, at an intersection flooded with cars. Amanda was the first to see me. A triumphant smile spread across her face. “Claire, what are you doing at the hospital? You’re not… following us, are you? You’re keeping too close a watch on Ethan and Dylan, don’t you think?” I clutched the settlement papers in my hand, my glare fixed on the three of them. Dylan stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Amanda. “Claire, what are you doing here? You told us you were too busy with work to take your grandmother for her check-up, and now you have time to stalk us?” Ethan shook his head, his face a mask of disappointment. “I can’t believe you’d stoop to lying just for attention. Claire, how could you become so disgusting?” The mention of my grandmother sent a fresh wave of pain through my heart. I flew at Dylan in a frenzy. “Shut up! How dare you even mention her name?” “You knew she was sick! You knew, and you still left her on the street all by herself!” Dylan grabbed my wrists, his face dark and furious. “Claire, can you stop being so unreasonable all the time?” “We were doing you a favor, taking your grandmother for her check-up. We just dropped her off at the corner. It was a short walk home from there. She has legs, doesn’t she? What are you being so dramatic for?” Even now, they acted as if they were the ones in the right. My grandmother had treated them like her own grandsons. For more than a decade, they had loved nothing more than to lounge around her house, eating the meals she cooked for them. They had promised they would take care of her. But now, just for a chance to be with Amanda, they had discarded her like trash. I couldn’t bear to imagine how helpless my grandmother must have felt, lost and alone, surrounded by so many strangers, so many cars. “I wish I had never met you!” If I hadn't, I wouldn't have had any hope. If I hadn’t, I could have been there, watching over my grandmother. A flicker of shock, a hint of panic, crossed Ethan’s face. “It was thoughtless of us not to walk her all the way home, but do you really have to blow this out of proportion? Are you just going to throw away twenty years of friendship over this?” Amanda’s eyes darted between us, and then she spoke in her sickly-sweet voice. “Claire, this is all my fault. I’m the reason you’re all fighting. I’ll just… I’ll stop talking to Ethan and Dylan from now on, okay? Please don’t be mad at them!” With that, she covered her face and ran towards the exit. Ethan and Dylan shot me a hateful glare. “Are you happy now?” they snarled, before chasing after her. A little while later, I saw Amanda’s new social media post. “It’s easy to soothe an angry princess. All it takes is two knights and a ride on the Ferris wheel!” When I was a little girl living with my grandmother, all I ever wanted was to ride a Ferris wheel. Ethan and Dylan had promised they would make my wish come true before I turned twenty-five. But because I was always “too busy with work,” it never happened. Now, here they were, taking Amanda to the one place I had always dreamed of going. Looking at the picture of the three of them, so close and complete that there was no room for a fourth person, I managed a brittle smile. I had six days until my departure. The last day before I left was the anniversary of my mother’s death. I would visit her, and then I could leave without any regrets. From now on, I wouldn’t bother the three of them anymore. 2 Five days until departure. During her lucid moments, my grandmother always talked about wanting to go back and see her old house in the countryside. Now, she could never go back. And I was about to leave for a long time. I decided I would go see it one last time, for her. As I reached the edge of the village, I saw it. A massive bulldozer was mercilessly tearing down a corner of the old house. I rushed forward to stop it, but I tripped on the rubble and fell hard. A searing pain shot through my arm. I’d scraped off a large patch of skin, and the blood mixing with the dirt was a pathetic sight. I struggled to my feet and limped in front of the bulldozer, blocking its path. “This is my house! You can’t just tear it down without my permission!” Amanda emerged from behind a large tree, pinching her nose and fanning the air with her hand. “This dump is an eyesore. Turning it into a rose garden would be much nicer for everyone to look at. Old things are an eyesore. They should be torn down to make way for something beautiful!” Her words were a double-edged sword, and her cruel face merged with the one I remembered from a decade ago. Back then, after my mother died, I was so lost that the only way I could sleep was by clutching her portrait. Amanda had snatched it from me, forced me to crawl on the ground like a dog, and tried to make me eat scraps from the pig trough. In the end, even after I’d debased myself, she broke her promise and threw my mother’s portrait into a septic tank. She had stood before me then, laughing like a demon. “You want it back? Go on, jump in and get it! Things that belonged to dead people are bad luck anyway. Your cursed mother belongs in a cesspool!” I had run to my father for help, only to be met with his cold condemnation. After that, Amanda and her mother became even more vicious. They would beat me for the slightest perceived offense. My arms and back were covered in scars from their curling iron. Going hungry was a regular occurrence. Even now, seeing her, my first instinct was to flinch and hide. The Beaumont brothers followed her out of the house. There was a time when I’d accidentally walked into a lamppost, and Ethan and Dylan had rushed me to the hospital for a full-body scan, terrified that I might have been hurt. Now, they just stood there, hands in their pockets, watching me with cold indifference. My thoughts snapped back to the present. Old wounds and new betrayals made me tremble with rage. I raised my hand to push Amanda away, but before I could touch her, she let out a cry and collapsed to the ground. Ethan and Dylan rushed forward simultaneously. They cradled Amanda in their arms, checking her over for injuries with panicked tenderness. When they saw the red mark on her hand from a small stone, Dylan’s eyes turned red with fury. The usually impulsive Dylan strode forward and kicked me to the ground, his gaze icy. “Amanda is your sister! How can you be so vicious?” “As a member of this family, Amanda has a say in what happens to this old house. Are you trying to claim it all for yourself?” “It’s just a few broken-down shacks! Even the whole property isn’t worth a single one of Amanda’s fingers! Go and apologize to her, or don’t blame me for what happens next!” Ethan, the supposedly calm one, held Amanda in his arms and did nothing to stop Dylan. His eyes were filled with disappointment as he looked at me. “Claire, have we spoiled you so much that you think you can act this way?” An indescribable pain twisted in my chest. They had spent a long time in this house with me once. We had caught fish in the river and picked fruit from the trees. Those were the best memories of my childhood. They had promised they would preserve this old house forever, that they would bring their own children back here one day to experience our childhood. Their “forever” had been so painfully short. There were still photos of my grandmother and me inside the house. I wanted to get them back. But Dylan blocked my path. “You have to apologize to Amanda first. Otherwise, you’re not setting foot in there!” My grandmother was gone. The house was about to be gone. All I wanted was to keep a few photos of her as a memento. Dylan kicked the back of my knees, and I fell to the ground with a thud. Amanda shot me a triumphant look before turning back to the brothers, her expression now one of pitiable fragility. “Ethan, it’s so loud and dirty here. Can we go back now?” The coldness on Ethan’s face melted away, replaced by a gentle warmth. “Of course. Does your hand still hurt? Should we go to the hospital to get it checked?” Dylan rushed to her side as well. “Amanda, once this land is cleared, I’ll find every variety of rose in the world and plant them here for you, okay?” Coddled between the two men like a precious jewel, Amanda shot me a look over her shoulder, her lips silently forming the words: “You lose again, sister.” 3 Against her, it seemed I never won. She always managed to take what was mine with such ease. First, it was my father’s love. Now, it was the affection of the Beaumont brothers. Four days until departure. When I got back to the apartment I rented for my grandmother, I noticed something was wrong. Buddy, the Border Collie who had been her constant companion, was gone. The doors and windows were locked. Buddy was a smart dog; he would never have left with a stranger unless it was someone he knew and trusted. I quickly checked the security footage. Ethan and Dylan had been here before I got back. They had always been good to Buddy, so I should have been relieved. But for some reason, a sense of panic began to creep in. I threw on a coat and took a cab to the brothers’ villa. Before my grandmother got sick, I used to stay there sometimes. They had even designed a room and a walk-in closet just for me. I pressed my finger to the scanner, only to find that my print had been deleted. The password had been changed, too. Sometime during my trip, it had started to rain. I was soaked to the bone in an instant, and the anxiety in my chest grew stronger. Just as I was about to call the police, the door opened. Ethan stepped out, holding an umbrella. “What are you doing here? And soaked like this? Are you playing the wet-look card for sympathy?” I ignored him and tried to push past, but he grabbed my arm. “Amanda’s having a party. Don’t go in there and ruin the mood.” I stepped into the villa and saw that it was filled with people. Snacks and nutshells were scattered everywhere. Even my old bedroom and closet had been ransacked. A guy with bleached-blond hair saw me and swaggered over, slinging an arm around my shoulder. “Whoa, playing the wet t-shirt game? C’mere and let daddy have a feel.” Dylan was lounging on the sofa, carefully peeling an orange for Amanda. He didn’t even glance in my direction. Once, a man had merely whistled at me, and the Beaumont brothers had bankrupted his entire family. Now, this sleazeball was openly harassing me right in front of him, and he did nothing. I never knew a man’s affection could turn to ice so quickly. I shoved the man’s hand off me and marched over to Dylan. “Where’s Buddy? What did you do with him?” Dylan ignored me. Amanda walked up to me, holding a glass of wine. “Drink this, sister, and I’ll tell you.” I was severely allergic to alcohol. When I was little, I’d accidentally eaten a liquor-filled chocolate and broken out in hives all over my body. It had terrified the Beaumont brothers. Ethan returned, carrying a case of wine. “Tell me. Where is Buddy?” I demanded. Amanda filled an entire table with glasses of wine and looked at me, her eyes glinting with challenge. “Sister, maybe one glass wasn't enough for you. So I’ve poured you a whole table.” “Drink it all, and I’ll tell you where Buddy is.” Drinking that much wine would nearly kill me. I looked up at Ethan and Dylan. “Is this what you want, too?” Dylan was slouched in his chair, a cocky smirk on his face. “Whatever Amanda wants, we want.” Terrified of what might have happened to Buddy, I stepped forward and started drinking. Glass after glass, the fiery liquid burned its way down my throat, making me choke and cough. My vision blurred, but I forced myself to finish the last one. “Can you tell me now?” Ethan and Dylan didn’t look pleased. Their faces were dark and grim. Dylan finally spoke. “Amanda wanted to volunteer at a pet shelter, so we brought Buddy back for her to practice with.” “But the damn animal bit her. So I taught it a lesson and sold it.” My body swayed. My heart felt like it was being crushed. “Dylan, are you even human?” “That was Buddy. He’s been with us for over a decade. How could you do that to him?” Being called out in front of everyone made Dylan’s face flush with anger. “He was just an old dog. What’s he worth? Here’s ten thousand. That’s enough to buy a new one, isn’t it?” He pulled out a wad of cash and threw it in my face. I couldn’t stay there a second longer. My head was spinning as I staggered towards the door. I had to find Buddy. He was my last connection to this world, the only family member who would never betray me.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "392971", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel