Chapter 2
The memory came flooding back: At the banquet, Chloe had deliberately schemed against me, making everyone believe I had pushed her into the water
on purpose.
Caleb had been the first to notice us, but he only saved Chloe, leaving me, who couldn’t swim, to struggle on my own in the water.
And then, Noah was pressing me to admit my fault, implying that if I didn’t, he wouldn’t save me.
Desperately, I struggled in the water, begging for forgiveness, pleading with my brothers to rescue me. It was only at the point of near death that I was finally pulled out.
From that moment on, I dared not provoke Chloe again, carefully trying to please my brothers at home, but what did I ultimately gain?
Chloe stole my thesis, and Noah testified for her, branding me a plagiarist and getting me expelled.
When Chloe needed a kidney transplant due to her poor health, my third brother, Alex, personally took me to the operating room to give her a kidney.
When Chloe needed to boost her international competition results, my other brothers–Caleb, Finn, and Luke–had unceremoniously kicked me off the
team.
discovered evidence of Chloe’s plagiarism and forged medical records and brought it to my eldest brother, hoping to expose her true nature.
But instead, I stirred up public outrage; no one believed me, and they didn’t even bother to look at the evidence closely.
Eldest brother Ethan kicked me out of the house to reflect on my actions. I found myself homeless, penniless, and suffering greatly.
As memories flooded back, I gave up struggling and sank directly to the bottom of the pool.
I opened my eyes wide, my expression blank, as if I had already died. I watched my brothers gathered around Chloe on the shore, and even seeing it again, my heart still ached with piercing pain.
How ridiculous.
I, as their biological sister, couldn’t even compare with an outsider.
On the deck, Noah had been entirely focused on Chloe, and only when he no longer heard my struggles did he turn to look at the pool–I had already sunk to the bottom. Upon seeing this, Noah’s face turned pale:“Alice!”
Without a second thought, he jumped into the water.
When Chloe saw me sink, a glimmer of delight flashed in her eyes; it would be better if I died. She feigned weakness, tugging at Caleb’s sleeve, saying weakly, “Caleb… I want to save Alice, too. She fell into the water because of me.”
Caleb, who had been worried, quickly reassured Chloe, “Don’t be ridiculous. Noah’s got it. Alice’s just reaping what she sowed. She won’t die!” He turned his gaze back to the pool, his expression complex.
Underwater, I saw Noah swimming towards me, his face etched with worry, a worry that seemed genuine. Just moments ago, he had been forcing me to admit my fault, coldly observing my struggle in the water.
This time, I didn’t care for his rescue. A hint of sarcasm flickered in my eyes as I turned and swam away from the surface.
After the drowning incident in my past life, Noah had forced me to learn swimming with Chloe. I had already been left with a trauma, but to please Noah, I had pushed through my fear and learned to swim, but Noah only praised Chloe’s bravery, ignoring my silent struggle. Little did he know, that minute I was intentionally left in the water had left me with severe aftereffects.
But no one cared about my well–being; Noah’s eyes were only for Chloe.
“Alice, what’s this charade? Do you think pretending to drown will erase the mistake you just made?” Noah blocked my path, feeling that I seemed to have changed significantly.
He murmured, when did she learn to swim?”
1.3/1/20
