He Faked a Disease to Test Me for Three Years, I Used the Time to Earn My Escape Chapter 03
Adrian frowned. “What? Is it not enough?”
I moved my gaze away from the card, looked at Adrian’s face, and said, “I can’t use this money.”
Because I could not take anything from this world with me.
The original Ivy Lane had already been abused to death by the people who had raised her before I entered this world.
Aside from her unfinished wish to go home, she had left nothing behind.
This compensation was useless to me.
Just then, Ava leaned against my mother and spoke in an especially sincere voice.
“Ivy, you should take it. You’re a Whitmore heiress now. You’ll need money for plenty of things from now on.”
“The clothes you’re wearing look pretty cheap. You should buy a few decent outfits first so people don’t laugh at the Whitmore family.”
My mother echoed her.
“Ava is right. A Whitmore daughter should be as polished as Ava—music, art, social etiquette, all of it handled with ease.”
“I’ve already arranged poise coaching, speech coaching, and piano lessons for you.”
“I heard you never even finished high school, so you have a lot of catching up to do. We can’t have people saying a Whitmore daughter is too uncultured to belong in our circles, or worse, that she’s practically illiterate.”
The painkillers were probably wearing off.
Something seemed to swell inside my chest, pressing so hard that I could barely breathe.
“No need. I’ll be leaving soon.”
I cut my mother off, and the room suddenly went quiet.
A flash of delight crossed Ava’s eyes, but her voice came out choked with tears.
“Ivy, are you mad at me?”
“You have every right to be. I took your place and made you suffer outside this family for so many years.”
“Please don’t leave. If you leave, Mom, Dad, and Adrian will all be heartbroken. I’m the one who should go.”
As she spoke, Ava’s tears began to fall.
My mother immediately pulled Ava into her arms, heartbroken. “You’re my baby girl. No one is making you leave.”
My father was just as anxious and hurried to wipe Ava’s tears. “The Whitmore family is your home. It always will be.”
Adrian also coaxed her gently. “Stop crying. Your eyes will get puffy, and then you won’t look pretty.”
But when he turned back to me, all the tenderness on his face disappeared.
“You’ll stay in the guest room from now on. Last room upstairs. Don’t go into the wrong one.”
When I passed by Ava’s room, I slipped into a brief daze.
A blurry memory surfaced in my mind.
My parents were always leaving early and coming home late, while Adrian held little Ivy in bed and read picture books to her. Every now and then, the two of them would collapse into laughter together.
Then I blinked, and the image vanished.
The room that had once belonged to little Ivy had long since changed beyond recognition.
After I entered the guest room, I immediately took more painkillers.
That night, I slept terribly.
In my dreams, I was five years old one moment and ten years old the next.
Laughter and crying tangled together.
Before dawn the next day, pain woke me up.
Warmth rushed through my nose. I immediately covered it and ran into the bathroom.
A long while later, I came out deathly pale and dry-swallowed two painkillers.
At breakfast, Adrian suddenly said, “There’s a party today. It’ll be people around your age. Ivy, you’re coming with us.”
The displeasure on Ava’s face disappeared in an instant. She smiled and said, “Great. I can introduce Ivy to a few friends. Her clothes aren’t really appropriate, so I’ll lend her something of mine later.”
When I came out in clothes that did not fit me, Ava’s smile grew even brighter. “You look so pretty. Just a little plain.”
As she spoke, she fastened a bracelet around my wrist.
“I knew this bracelet would be perfect for you, Ivy.”
Adrian glanced at it and nodded. “It does suit her.”
My gaze fell on the ruby necklace around Ava’s neck, and the free bracelet on my wrist suddenly looked ridiculous.
When we arrived at the hotel, Adrian was called away by his friends.
Ava volunteered to take care of me.
The second Adrian left, Ava’s friends crowded around me.
“So this is that Ivy of yours? I heard she was raised by human traffickers. Do you think she picked up a few trafficking tricks from them?”