“No. 00061, grab your things. Someone’s waiting outside for you.”

“Sign here and you can leave.”

“You’re on parole for three months. During that time, your supervisor is responsible for keeping an eye on you. If you break the law again, you’ll be sent right back in.”

So... she could finally get out?

At last, a tiny ripple stirred in Vivienne Ashford’s eyes, eyes that had been as still and dead as stagnant water for far too long.

“Clang!”

The iron door shut slowly behind her, leaving only that thin, fragile figure standing there alone.

The summer sun came down hard, hot enough to make anyone miserable. But Vivienne tilted her face up anyway, almost greedily, letting the light spill across her skin. It had been too long—way too long—since she’d felt sunlight like this.

The glow fell over her pale little face, making her look even fairer, even smaller. Her long curled lashes trembled faintly, like startled butterfly wings.

Before long, a fine layer of sweat had formed across her face. The heat was fierce, almost scorching, but it gave her something real at last—the sharp, dizzying sense that she was alive again.

She was out.

Not far away, a black Maybach was parked under the shade of a tree. The window slid down, revealing a cold, expressionless face touched with obvious impatience.

“Vivienne!”

Vivienne lowered her head and finally looked over at the car and the man inside—her eldest brother, Ethan Ashford.

She really hadn’t expected Ethan to come pick her up.

Then again... right. Ethan Ashford was her parole supervisor. Of course he had to come.

She’d wasted so much of his time. He was probably pissed already.

The moment she got into the car, before Ethan could even say a word, Vivienne apologized out of pure reflex, her tone soft and practiced.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

She didn’t want to be sent back in.

And her supervisor had the power to do exactly that.

So for these three months, she had to keep her head down and get through them in one piece.

Getting blamed for stuff that wasn’t hers? Vivienne Ashford had been used to that for a long, long time.

Ethan Ashford had been about to say something a little softer, maybe even ask how she was doing, but her one sentence shut him up cold.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, face tense and voice low, "You don’t need to apologize. You’re my biological sister. Coming to pick you up is the least I should do."

"Thank you."

Vivienne’s reply was still polite, still neat, still distant.

The words sounded nice enough, sure.

Too bad she didn’t buy a single bit of it anymore.

When she had first been brought back to that house, she really thought they wanted her there.

Thought they were happy she was finally home.

Thought blood meant something.

Later, she found out the truth the hard way.

Nobody in that house had actually been waiting for her.

She was the real daughter, the one born into the Ashford family.

And yet every single one of them, even her own mother, liked the girl who had been switched at birth more.

Her mother had once told her, "Celeste grew up with us from the time she was little. We just need time to adjust. It’ll get better slowly. You’re our real daughter, after all. If you’re obedient and well-behaved, how could we not like you?"

So she listened.

She behaved.

She bent herself into whatever shape they wanted.

She tried so hard to please them, tried so hard to squeeze herself into that family like she belonged there.

But every time she came first in her grade, what she got wasn’t praise.

It was blame.

"Don’t talk about grades in front of Celeste. What are you trying to do, show off?"

"Celeste isn’t worse than you. She’s just in poor health."

"You’re hurting her feelings doing this."

After that, Vivienne didn’t dare bring up her grades anymore. Even when she ranked first, she felt no joy at all, not even a little.

Because no one would ever be happy for her.

Back then, she still tried to comfort herself.

She was the older sister.

She should give in to the younger one.

Her parents and brothers just hadn’t fully accepted her yet.

As long as she stayed good, stayed docile, one day they would treat her the same way they treated Celeste.

But after all that waiting, what she got in the end was this—

Celeste Ashford drove without a license, killed someone, and they wanted Vivienne to take the fall.

"Celeste is in bad health, and she doesn’t even have a license. If she gets sentenced, it’ll be serious. You’re the only one who can help her."

She said no, but Ethan Ashford brought up her grandmother instead. "You know what your adoptive mother’s family is dealing with. Your grandma’s still in the hospital. Her condition burns through money, and they can’t afford it."

"If you agree, I’ll get the best doctor to treat her. I’ll hire you the best lawyer too. Nothing will happen to you. Worst-case scenario, it’s just a few months inside."

"How could I ever let anything happen to you? You’re my real sister. Trust your big brother."

Back then, she had still been stupid enough to hold on to hope. She waited day after day, night after night, hoping her family would come get her out.

That wait lasted three whole years.

Now?

She would never believe them again.

The air inside the car was so heavy it almost felt hard to breathe. Ethan turned his head and glanced at Vivienne Ashford, who was sitting pressed against the far edge of the seat, taking up barely any space at all. His brows drew together.

He remembered she hadn’t always been this quiet.

Before, she used to trail after them nonstop, always trying to join in, always searching for something to say. She’d rack her brain just to keep a conversation going.

Sometimes, if one of them casually said a single sentence to her, she’d be happy for ages.

So why was she this silent now?

Maybe because she had spent three years in there, he felt a rare flicker of guilt. After a moment, he took the initiative and said, "Dad’s away on a business trip. Everyone else is home. They’re all waiting for you to come back. Happy now?"

Happy?

If this had been before, she probably would’ve been over the moon, the kind of happy that made people feel like they were floating.

But now, not even a little.

As for family...

She had stopped hoping for that a long time ago.

She didn’t answer his question. She only asked softly, "Can you take me to my grandmother’s place first?"

Right now, the only person she wanted to see was Old Mrs. Starr, the one and only person in this world who had ever truly been good to her.

And after that, she needed to figure out a way to get back to school.

Family, love, warmth—those things were no longer on her wish list. What she wanted now was simple: resume her studies and keep majoring in chemical biology.

Only by making more medicine, only by becoming useful enough, would she have the confidence to bring Old Mrs. Starr out of that situation one day.

Only then would she have the leverage to stand against the Ashford family.

Ethan’s face instantly turned cold.

"Vivienne, we are your family. Everyone at home is waiting for you, and the first thing you want is to see an outsider?"

Vivienne Ashford’s eyes flickered for a second. She lowered her gaze and said softly, “Okay. I got it.”

Seeing her act so “well-behaved,” Ethan Ashford felt like he’d thrown a punch straight into a pile of cotton. It didn’t land anywhere, and that only made him more irritated. He frowned and said, “You don’t have to be this stiff with me. I’m your brother.”

Vivienne only gave a faint little smile. She didn’t answer.

No. You’re not my brother. I don’t have a brother. I don’t have family.

The black Maybach stopped in front of a detached villa, but Vivienne didn’t move.

She had never been here. Not even once.

So... they’d moved to a new house?

Ethan had already walked a few steps before he realized she hadn’t followed. His impatience showed right away. “Why are you still standing there?”

Vivienne seemed to snap back to herself and hurried after him. After a few steps, Ethan finally remembered that they had moved two years ago, and Vivienne had never once come here.

Looking a little awkward, he said, “The old villa didn’t have a great environment. You know how Celeste’s health is, so we moved here.”

“Back then, you were... in there, so no one told you.”

Vivienne lowered her eyes at that, covering the mockery in them.

Again, for Celeste. Of course. What else was new?

The major she had wanted before had never been literature in the first place. But they said Celeste was in poor health, and as the older sister, she had to look after her.

So in the end, she had no choice but to give up the chemistry and biology she truly loved and switch to literature.

On her eighteenth birthday, her only wish had been simple: she wanted her family to go to an amusement park with her, because she had never been to one before.

But in the end, they stayed home.

Because Celeste’s health wasn’t good.

Every single time, she was the one left behind.

She was used to it by now.

Seeing her stand there with her head lowered, saying nothing, Ethan Ashford felt a wave of irritation crawl up his chest.

"If you’ve got something to say, then say it. Who are you putting on this act for?"

He let out a cold laugh, his tone sharp as glass. "Anyone looking at you would think somebody bullied you."

No wonder none of them really liked her. Compared to Celeste Ashford, she was miles behind. Celeste was bright, polished, the kind of girl people naturally adored. But Vivienne Ashford? She always looked small and awkward, like she didn’t belong anywhere decent. Just looking at her was enough to make people feel annoyed.

Ethan Ashford lost the last bit of patience he had. He lifted his leg and walked inside first, not even bothering to wait.

Anyway, she would trail after him soon enough.

She had always been the obedient one.