Chapter 3After marrying the disabled CEO, the family that forced me to marry on behalf of them went crazy with regret.

"Stella Sutton, you know your place now, don't you?"

"You're nothing but a dog the Suttons raised for twenty years."

"Now that I'm back, you, this dog, can be abandoned at any time."

Her words were ugly, but they were the brutal, cutting truth.

After my parents finished breakfast and left, only Scarlett and I remained in the dining room. The challenge and smugness in her eyes were undeniable.

I looked at her coldly, not wanting to waste my breath.

Scarlett's gaze fell on my wrist, and her eyes lit up.

It was an heirloom bracelet I had worn for many years, an antique piece, a rich emerald green, shimmering with an inner glow.

"That bracelet is nice. I want it," she said, reaching out to snatch it.

I instinctively protected my wrist. "This is mine!"

"Yours?" Scarlett scoffed. "What do you own that's truly yours?"

"Everything you eat, wear, and use in the Sutton household, isn't it all the Suttons'?"

"And what belongs to the Suttons, naturally belongs to me!"

"Let go!" I snapped.

This bracelet was the only keepsake my biological parents had left me before they died.

It held profound significance for me.

"My biological parents left this to me!" I tried to explain.

But Scarlett reacted as if she'd heard the biggest joke. "Your biological parents? Who are they? Does it matter?"

"Anyway, I want this bracelet now, and you *will* give it to me!"

She pulled with force, her nails digging into my skin, the pain twisting my face.

In the struggle, the bracelet slipped from my wrist. With a "smash!" it fell onto the hard floor.

The crisp sound of it breaking shattered in my ears like a clap of thunder.

The bracelet split into several pieces, and my heart, too, shattered into a million fragments.

It was the only memento my biological parents had left me, the only way I could feel their presence in this world.

Now, it too was broken, just like my heart at this moment, incapable of ever being whole again.

Scarlett froze for a moment, then a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

She hypocritically bent down and picked up a shard. "Oh, sister, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to."

"If you had just given it to me earlier, it wouldn't have broken, would it?"

Her apology was light and empty, devoid of any sincerity.

Julian Davies, I didn't know when, arrived, having heard the commotion.

Seeing the broken pieces on the floor and Scarlett's "aggrieved" expression, he immediately turned on me.

"Stella Sutton! What are you doing now!"

"Scarlett only liked your bracelet; couldn't you have just given it to her? Did you have to make a scene like this?"

Julian tenderly took Scarlett's hand. "Don't be afraid, Scarlett. It's just a bracelet. I'll buy you a better one."

Then he frowned at me. "Stella, Scarlett just came back; she's still innocent. She suffered a lot outside. Can't you be more understanding?"

He didn't ask me a single question, didn't understand the circumstances, and didn't even see the red marks Scarlett’s nails had left on my wrist. He simply condemned me, as if I were some unforgivable criminal.

For some reason, at that moment, I found myself looking forward to the day I would marry Dorian Blackwood.

Julian's tone grew increasingly annoyed. "Why do you always have to be at odds with Scarlett? Are you trying to get my attention?"

"Let me tell you, my bride is already decided—it's Scarlett. You don't need to play these useless little tricks anymore. I'm never going to marry you!"

I hadn't realized Julian thought this way; I felt as if I had never truly known him.

"Julian Davies, you have no right to tell me what to do. We stopped being anything to each other the day I broke off the engagement!"

I ignored his endless accusations, simply knelt down, picked up the fragments, and rushed out of that suffocating house.

I didn't notice the stunned, complex look in Julian's eyes as I turned and left.