Chapter 3

Rain was the one who showed me that journal.

It was the very day she announced her pregnancy.

One hand caressing her belly, the other holding that locked journal, Rain showed no sorrow for the impending abortion.

Instead, her face was smug.

“It’s just a baby, who cares? Getting rid of it will just make Brother dote on me even more.”

Rain unlocked the journal and tossed it in front of me.

I opened it, and Liam’s familiar handwriting instantly filled my vision.

“January 6th, Overcast. I’m sorry, Rain, I can’t love you anymore, my brother’s heart. Mom says the company is about to go public. We are siblings, after all; if our relationship is exposed, it will definitely bring negative publicity.”

“May 10th, Overcast. Rain, today I told Mom that I would bury my love for you deep inside, but it’s so hard. When I see you, all I want to do is hold you, kiss you…”

“October 23rd, Heavy Rain. Rain, today I met a girl who looks a little like you. I decided to pursue her. Mom sent you to study overseas, and I can’t see you. I’m in so much pain. Forgive me.”

Seven years ago, on that rainy night, I left the library very late, and it was pouring.

I was wearing a thin dress, about to brave the rain when I heard someone call out.

“Hey, classmate.”

I turned to see a boy in a white shirt running over from the library entrance, holding an umbrella.

The arrow-like raindrops were blocked by the umbrella.

He raised a hand to brush away the wet strands of hair from his forehead and asked,

“Which dorm are you in? I can walk you. The rain’s so heavy, you’ll definitely catch a cold if you walk back.”

The girls’ dorm wasn’t far, and with exams approaching, getting sick would mess up my studying.

After a moment’s thought, I didn’t refuse.

Who knew, after only about ten meters, a few late-returning boys on bicycles came flying past us.

They pedaled furiously, shouting at us, “Liam, got a girlfriend? Nice! She’s pretty!”

Liam.

So, he was Liam, the campus heartthrob the girls in my dorm often talked about.

I gazed at his youthful, handsome face, my mind drifting.

Their story, a love at first sight, was once a hot topic on campus.

Back then, I didn’t know I was just a substitute.

No, not just a substitute. I was a clown.

The moment Rain returned from overseas, Liam handed her that journal, as if to prove his twisted, undying devotion.

For four years, Rain had watched me from under this very roof.

Watched how I tried to please my husband, how I tried to win over my mother-in-law. Watched me give everything, only to end up with nothing.

Cold tears fell into the suds, quickly mixing with them.

“Hospital duties are hectic. I’ll be staying in the dorm for a while.”

I sped up my scrubbing, still not looking up.

Liam looked at the basin of dirty clothes, a frown creasing his brows.

“Fine, maybe you need some time to cool off. You’re always so emotional, it’s not good for Rain. She needs to rest right now.”

With that, he turned and left. I glanced back slightly, only catching sight of his hurried departure.

When I left the Lennox house, dragging a large suitcase, not a single person came to see me off.

Liam and Eleanor were in Rain’s room.

I clutched my lower abdomen with one hand and dragged my suitcase with the other, inching my way to the roadside, where I squatted down to wait for a cab.

Arriving at the hospital dorms, I passed a room with the door ajar and heard voices inside.

“I never would’ve thought she was like that. So gentle and kind on the surface, but actually so shameless.”

Women often gossiped. I didn’t pay it much mind, but as I prepared to continue, I heard more.

“Ms. Rain is the legitimate Lennox family daughter. She just married in a few days ago and already wants to kick out her illegitimate sister-in-law to monopolize the family fortune. I’ve seen shameless, but never this shameless.”

“Her greed is insane. And she even attacked Ms. Rain! Mr. Lennox truly has a good temper to put up with a wife like that.”

“If you ask me, Mrs. Lennox is just too kind. She actually laid hands on her, and before that it couldn’t have been good. Mrs. Lennox actually tolerated her, what a woman of composure.”

The fragmented voices made my head spin.

What attack?

What monopolizing the family fortune?