Chapter 4Mending My Heart Without You

Daphne's birthday party was a grand affair. Catherine forced me to attend. "If you don't show up, what will people think of us? That our real daughter is too embarrassing to show in public?"

At the gala, Daphne gave a tearful speech thanking the Harringtons for raising her. Guests cooed, "What a sweet girl. More of a daughter than the biological one."

People looked at me in my quiet corner. "Is she the real one? She looks like a statue." "Raised in the sticks. No class."

Adrian stayed by Daphne's side all night, wiping her tears, completely devoted.

I sat in the corner, my wine untouched. The noise felt like suffocating waves. I slipped away early and went back to my room.

When I opened the door, I froze.

My desk had been ransacked. Drawers were pulled open.

I rushed to the nightstand. Grandma Ruth's vintage jade bracelet was gone.

I ran back to the ballroom.

In the middle of the crowd, Daphne was holding the green jade bracelet up to the light, laughing. "Beatrice lent it to me. Isn't it pretty?"

"Give it back," I said, my voice shaking.

Daphne gasped, startled, and dropped it.

"Crack."

The bracelet shattered into pieces on the marble floor.

The room fell silent. Daphne immediately started crying. "Beatrice... I'm so sorry, it was an accident..."

Guests whispered, looking at me like I was a madwoman.

Adrian walked over, glancing at the pieces. "It's just a bracelet, Beatrice. Is all this drama necessary?"

I knelt on the floor, picking up the broken jade. The sharp edges sliced into my fingers, blood dripping onto the stones, but I felt nothing.

"My grandmother left this to me," I whispered. "The last thing she told me before she died was to keep it safe."

Adrian's face paled. He knew exactly what Grandma Ruth meant to me. He had been there.

But Daphne wailed louder, burying her face in his chest. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry. I'll get you a much better one."

Catherine stepped forward. "Beatrice, your sister didn't mean to. Don't be so petty."

Richard frowned. "Enough. It's just a bracelet. We'll buy you a similar one later."

I stood up, clutching the broken jade in my bleeding hand.

I walked up to Daphne.

And I slapped her, hard, across the face.

The crowd gasped.

The next second, Adrian lunged forward, grabbed my wrist, and his other hand came down—

"Slap."

He hit me back.

My cheek burned, and I tasted copper.

Adrian's eyes were icy. "Beatrice, you went too far."

The text:

[Oh my god... that was her grandmother's only keepsake.]

[Adrian is a monster! He knew how much she loved her grandma!]

[I kind of get Beatrice now. Who wouldn't lose their mind?]

I wiped the blood from my lip. I didn't cry. I didn't scream.

I wrapped the broken jade in a handkerchief and slipped it into my pocket.

"The debt I owed you for saving me... is paid in full."

I looked at Richard and Catherine. "This family... I don't want it."

I turned and walked out of the ballroom.

Catherine yelled after me, "Let her go! If you walk out that door, don't you dare come back!"

My phone vibrated repeatedly.

Adrian sent a wire transfer: "Stop being angry."

My parents both sent wire transfers labeled "Compensation".

I accepted every single one.

The next morning, I went to the clinic alone. I signed the consent forms, changed into a hospital gown, and lay on the operating table.

"Do you have anyone with you?" the nurse asked.

"No."

The procedure was quick.

When it was over, I walked out of the clinic, pale and hollow, holding two pieces of paper.

An ultrasound showing a fetus at eight weeks.

And the surgical termination receipt.

I returned to the empty Harrington house, grabbed my pre-packed suitcase, and left.

At the airport gate, I opened my chat with Adrian.

I typed out a message:

"Adrian, I paid back your kindness with five years of my youth and a life. From now on, we are even."

I attached photos of the ultrasound and the medical receipt.

I hit send.

Then I blocked him, deleted his contact, turned off my phone, took out the SIM card, and threw it into a trash can.

"Final boarding call for Flight 108 to London..."

I stood up and walked toward the gate without looking back.