Chapter 7

Someone stood at the alley entrance, their shadow stretched long by the sun.

Mike and his crew immediately glared, yelling fiercely at them.

"Where did this newbie come from, staring here for what?!"

Newbie?

Not the driver?

I desperately forced my eyelids open.

I wanted to see the person's face clearly, but blood was smeared all over mine, making it impossible to see anything.

Just then, a clear voice echoed from afar.

"Liam, why are you just standing there? The cake shop is this way!"

The person paused.

"Oh, coming."

I blinked, my throat dry, and mumbled a single word:

"Brother…"

His footsteps faltered slightly. But in the end, he didn't turn around, slowly walking away with the little girl.

The little girl couldn't help but turn her head to glance into the alley, and the next second, she shrieked.

"Brother! There's someone lying there, bleeding so much! Did you see?!"

The moment her words fell, her vision went black – her eyes were covered by a hand.

"Don't look, it's not pleasant."

Liam's voice was gentle, like he was coaxing a child.

From very, very far away.

I thought I heard him whisper:

"My little Chloe, this time I found you early, and I won't let you suffer any injustice again."

"The Caldwells won't be able to hurt you again, and you won't leave us early like in the last life."

In my daze, I remembered him mumbling when he was close to his last breath in my past life:

"It's all my fault… if only I had found you sooner…"

Back then, I thought he regretted that I hadn't been able to keep our child, and that I couldn't have children anymore. I choked out, comforting him:

"Old man, in the next life, we'll still be together, and we'll have children…"

Who knew that what he couldn't let go of, deep in his heart, wasn't me at all.

What lingered in his heart was that rainy day when he was with me, getting an IV drip, and didn't rush back to save Chloe.

So this life, he kept her tightly by his side, protecting her meticulously.

He came here today, not to save me. But merely to see with his own eyes how I, the thief who stole his beloved's place, was being tormented.

But in my past life.

I vaguely heard classmates discussing it.

After the incident at the Caldwells', Asher was sent away, abroad.

Chloe, however, couldn't go with him, staying home, her life getting worse by the day.

A knowledgeable girl had quietly mentioned:

"That day, when they were escaping for their lives, Chloe was the first to run."

"Asher shielded her from the attack, and she ran off without a backward glance…"

But Liam insisted on believing that his sister was pure and flawless.

Hah.

Did he really believe.

That girl he doted on so much was truly that kind?

I bared my teeth in a grimace, wiping away the blood and tears from my face.

Suddenly, I pushed myself up, clinging desperately to one of the thugs' legs.

Let them kick, let them curse, I wouldn't let go for anything.

"You… don't hit my brother!"

My last bit of strength drained away.

Before my eyes.

Everything went black.