Chapter 42
In the middle of the night , the sky roared with thunder as dark clouds rolled in .
Moments later , a violent storm broke out , with deafening rain pounding the ground .
Elysiaâs frail body finally gave in .
No one could have imagined that just a few raindrops would push her down .
Collapsing onto the wet stone , she curled up , trembling , covering her cars to block out the thunder as she muttered to herself :
â Daddy ⦠Torin ⦠you donât want me ⦠Mommy ⦠I miss you .
Her fragmented words were captured clearly , echoing in the cars of everyone watching .
The viewers â hearts clenched with empathy , some even angrily questioning the fate , â Why treat such an innocent child this way ? â
In the darkness , the creak of a door opening could be heard .
â Rowena ? Are you asleep ? â It was Fenwickâs voice .
He had entered Rowenaâs room .
The bedside lamp flicked on , revealing Rowena in a pale pink nightgown , her face a mix of confusion and â hidden under the cover of the storm â a subtle , mocking â tsk .
â
But as Fenwick approached , she switched to a pitiful expression , throwing herself into his arms while crying .
Rowena said , â Fenwick , youâre here ? Itâs thundering ⦠Iâm so scared .
â
Fenwick , predictably , held her close and gently reassured her .
â Donât cry .
Iâmhere now .
I knew youâd be scared of thunder , especially one as loud as this .
Youâve been afraid of thunder since you were little .
â
Rowena pouted subtly , then continued sobbing , â Itâs so lucky youâre here , Fenwick .
What if ⦠what if one day Iâm gone ? Who will comfort me then ? â
â Donât let Elysia chase me away , okay ? I know itâs my fault for taking her place , but I donât want to leave ⦠â
Fenwick looked at her with unwavering determination .
â Thatâs impossible , Rowena .
How could you think that ?
â Sheâs the outsider .
Sheâs the one who doesnât belong in this family .
To me , Elysia has been dead for a long time .
â
Fenwick was so focused on reassuring the fragile girl before him that he forgot about Elysiaâs heightened senses .
He didnât even consider that she might hear him .
As he made promise after promise to Rowena , justifying his lack of love for Elysia , Rowena smiled .
Hearing the same words repeated over and over , Rowena began to grow weary of them .
She let out an exaggerated yawn , feigning disinterest , clearly signaling for Fenwick to leave .
In the broadcast studio , the audience erupted in anger .
[ This awful man ! Heâs so good to his stepsister but says , â Elysia is dead to me â about his biological sister .
Why canât he just go to hell ? ]
[ He knows Elysia has super hearing and still says this ? Clearly , heâs trying to hurt her on purpose .
]
[ And Rowena .
.
Her fake pity act is nauseating .
]
[ But Rowena is scared of thunder .
People say irrational things when theyâre terrified .
]
[ Maybe Fenwick thought Elysia was asleep and wouldnât hear him .
He said it to comfort Rowena .
]
After realizing how absurd his words had been , Fenwick sat in a daze for a long time ,
He hadnât meant to hurt Elysia , but in his carelessness , heâd done so much damage â¦
It was his lack of thoughtfulness that had caused this , forgetting that his sharp â eared sister could hear everything from outside the villa .
Back then , Rowena had been so terrified that in his panic , heâd blurted out anything to calm her down .
And that had led to â¦
â I remember now .
Wasnât your Scholastic Assessment Test the next day ? Elysia tore up your test admission ticket on purpose to get back at you for punishing her by making her kneel , â Rowena said .
â It seems Iâm partly to blame for provoking her into doing that ,â Fenwick admitted , lowering his head in guilt .
â This is my responsibility , not yours ,â Torin replied coldly .
â Itâs just a test admission ticket .
If ripping it up would make Elysia forgive me , let her tear up Caellanâs ticket for this year too .
â
Iâd gladly
Everyone shifted their attention back to the main screen .
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Chapter 42
Not long after Fenwick left , Rowena opened her eyes .
This time , however , there was no trace of vulnerability or fear in her gaze â only mockery .
â Idiot , â she muttered , â How could he mix that up ? I have never been scared of anything â least of all thunder .
Fenwick is so dumb â
She sighed , frustrated .
â Now I canât even sleep .
Maybe Iâll check if Elysia is still outside kneeling properly .
As Rowena got out of bed , she paused in her tracks .
[ Wait .
Rowena isnât scared of thunder ? Fenwick , are you out of your mind ? ]
[ I canât stop laughing .
All that comforting was completely unnecessary .
Rowena didnât even care .
]
Fenwick sprang up and shouted , â Impossible ! Stellan , there must be a technical error .
Rowena is afraid of thunder .
I remember when we were kids , she cried so much she didnât even want Torin anymore .
â
â It was Elysia , â Torin interrupted , his voice low and somber .
Torinâs words triggered a memory : three â year â old Elysia , terrified of thunder , running out of her room by mistake and clinging to Fenwick , refusing to let go even when Torin arrived .
She had stayed with Fenwick all night .
The realization hit him like a thunderclap .
The girl who was genuinely terrified of thunder was now outside , forced to kneel in the pouring rain , listening to the sounds that scared her most .
Torin was overcome with guilt and despair , his sorrow like the torrential downpour on the screen , drowning him and making it hard to breathe .
Even Fenwick was shocked to realize he had confused the two girls .
The sister he cherished had once again deceived him .
The screen continued playing .
Rowena stopped at the door , a gleam of excitement in her eyes .
â Wait ⦠isnât Torinâs Scholastic Assessment Test tomorrow ? â
She rested her chin on her hand , pondering for a moment .
Torinâs unease grew as he watched , wondering why sheâd say such a thing .
Rowena said , â Last time I almost managed to get Caellan killed in that cave .
The time before that , I nearly ensured Fenwick couldnât have children .
If I tear up Torinâs test admission ticket , letâs see how he takes that test .
And Fenwick ⦠â
Fenwick swallowed nervously as he listened .
Rowena said , â With how clueless he looks , thereâs no way heâll score high .
I donât even need to step in .
â
His words faltered , and his mind scrambled , rewinding back a decade .
Wait , were his scores really that bad ?
Meanwhile , Rowena continued , completely unfazed , â Once Iâm in high school , Iâll get a perfect score .
Then Iâll be the best in the family , and Mom will definitely love me the most .
â
â Who knows , â she added with a sly smirk , â maybe Dad will even hand over the entire Drayton family fortune to me .
â
The idea of inheriting the family wealth made her laugh out loud , her eerie chuckle punctuated by flashes of lightning outside .
The scene was chilling enough to leave the Drayton family , and everyone watching the live stream , completely stunned .
A few seconds passed .
The Drayton family remained frozen in shock , but the viewers in the live chat burst into laughter .
[ Thatâs the funniest joke Iâve ever heard .
Scholastic Assessment Test â perfect score ? ]
[ The funniest part is that she doesnât know Torin already has a guaranteed university spot .
The test is just a formality for him .
]
[ Itâs obvious why Rowena gets along with Fenwick â she doesnât see him as a threat .
To her , heâs just stupid .
]
[ Yeah , Rowenaâs probably just talking big again .
Especially considering what Fenwick and Torin were saying about her just now ⦠J
In the livestream , viewers echoed the same sarcastic refrain : [ Elysia did that ! ]
Their mocking tones filled the chat , accompanied by memes and looping sarcastic animations .
Fenwick was furious , but he couldnât answer back .
The events they were watching seemed irrefutable .
â Stop scratching your head , your dandruffâs flying everywhere , â Torin muttered , scooting his chair away .
His expression was numb , his voice drained of energy .
â Letâs keep watching .
Soon , weâll know exactly what happened that night .
â
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