Chapter 15
Simone waved her hands at Samuel, shouting urgently, “Dad, save us!”
Samuel turned when he heard the voice, about to head over when he suddenly spotted Stella on the other side. He halted in his tracks.
At that moment, Simone was extremely anxious.
The flames were too fierce. He could only save one of them. Samuel took a deep look at Simone, his eyes revealing the internal struggle he was facing.
But soon enough, he made up his mind and moved in the opposite direction from Simone.
Simone realized she had been abandoned once again.
When Samuel scooped up Stella and dashed through the flames, Simone no longer pinned her hope of survival on him.
As the flames threatened to engulf them, she didn’t even have time to feel heartbroken. Joanne was blinded by smoke and growing increasingly weak in her arms.
Simone forced herself to calm down. Just when she thought they would die there, she suddenly spotted a window in the corner and got an idea.
Risking being burned alive, she hurried back to the bedroom, grabbed a blanket, soaked it, and wrapped it around herself before returning to Joanne.
“Joanne, hang in there.” Simone shook her friend.
“Simone, I really can’t go on. I feel like I’m dying,” Joanne said, utterly drained and unwilling to run anymore.
“Don’t say that. We’ll survive.” With that, Simone crouched down and hoisted Joanne onto her back, moving step by step toward the window.
Just a few steps away, a loud bang suddenly erupted behind them, followed by an explosion.
Simone’s expression changed instantly as she switched positions with Joanne.
With a deafening blast, Simone’s ears bled, and everything around her went silent.
Holding her ears in agony, she rolled on the ground but withstood the pain to lift Joanne again, using all her strength to push her through the window and then jumping out.
After escaping the fire, a kind passerby called an ambulance. When she woke up again, she found herself in a hospital.
When Simone opened her eyes, she was all alone in the ward. The doctor looked at her with pity but had to deliver the cruel truth. “Little girl, you may never hear again.”
Simone had expected as much, but upon hearing the news, she cried alone in the hospital room for an entire day.
The next day, Samuel showed up, but he looked gloomy.
He didn’t ask her how she escaped or if she was hurt. The first thing he said was, “Why did you do that?”
Simone was confused, staring blankly at him. “What did I do?”
Samuel’s expression remained cold. He didn’t answer but slapped her hard across the face.
The slap landed squarely on her left ear, causing a painful buzzing, but it was eerily silent–she couldn’t hear anything with that ear.
“How could you be so heartless? Do you hate your sister that much, wishing she would burn to death?” Samuel asked.
The pain in her body and the torment in her heart suddenly broke Simone. She cried out recklessly at Samuel, “It wasn’t me! It was her! She wanted to kill me!” She seemed to lose her mind.
But no matter how much she shouted or tried to explain afterward, no one believed her. Everyone assumed the fire was set by her and that she intended to kill Stella. She became the criminal.
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Simone lost all her hope. From that moment on, she lost her left ear and her best friend.
Simone pulled her thoughts back from those memories. Suddenly, she smiled.
“Why shouldn’t I hate you?” Simone said. Betrayal was her greatest hatred.
Joanne pursed her lips and asked, “Is this why you took revenge on me?”
Simone shook her head. “The Reed family has brought this upon themselves. It has nothing to do with me.”
She did hate Joanne, but ruining the Reed Group and acquiring it had nothing to do with Joanne. She was simply interested in the value of the Reed Group.
“Can you spare the Reed Group?” Joanne asked. She already knew the answer, but when she asked, there was a glimmer of hope remained.
After all, Simone had once risked her life to protect her. Joanne knew that even her own parents might not go that far.
Simone didn’t hesitate for a moment and quickly shattered Joanne’s hope. “No. The Reed Group is mine.”
Joanne forced a bitter smile. At that moment, she suddenly regretted her choices. For years, she owed Simone an apology, and if she didn’t say it now, she was afraid she might never get the chance again. “I’m sorry, though it’s many years late.”
Since that incident, she always felt guilty whenever she saw Simone. Over time, that guilt twisted into resentment; she began to hate Simone.
She hated that after that incident, Simone no longer wanted her as a friend. That hatred transformed her, and she started to make things difficult for Simone and even bully her. Her behavior slowly mirrored the Reed family’s.
Looking back now, the kind Joanne from their childhood was long gone.
Now that things had come to this, Joanne didn’t want to hide anything anymore. “I didn’t mean to lie back then.”
She recounted everything to Simone. “My dad made me. He said Stella was the true heiress of the Spence family, and if I didn’t help her with false testimony, he would kick my mom and me out of the Reed family, letting the mistress and her son take our place.”
Simone listened intently, her face showing no surprise as if she had known all along.
Joanne glanced at her, and her face went pale. “You knew?”
“Yes.” Simone had known for a long time; Stella had told her. After the incident, Norah had conspired with the Reed family and told them what to
say.
Joanne’s expression turned gloomy.
Simone looked at her and scoffed, “You don’t actually think I’m going to forgive you after you told me all this, do you?” Joanne bit her lip, unable to speak for a long time.
Simone watched her in a daze and revealed a cruel smile. “The thing I regret the most is saving you that day. At ten, I lost friend. She died in that fire.”
With that, Simone picked up her backpack and walked away, leaving Joanne standing there, lost and heartbroken.
my left ear and my best
