4 chapter 4
When Jocelyn and Houston came back, mum got up and started cooking. Dad and brother were waiting
inside.
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When they arrived, everyone came out to greet them.
Houston looked for me when he got out of the car, but
I wasn’t there.
Jocelyn got out of the car and ran into Mrs. Rowan’s
arms.
She had exquisite makeup on, but after experiencing love, her face had a touch of charm, making her even more attractive. She didn’t look like a cancer patient.
She was pampered in Mrs. Rowan’s arms, and the rest
of them looked at her with kindness.
Jocelyn came out of Mrs.Rowan’s arms and said, ‘Mum, I missed you.‘ She said the same to Dad and brother, and everyone was amused. Houston looked at her with a gentle expression.
She knew I wouldn’t be there, but pretended to be sad
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and said, ‘Vivian still hasn’t forgiven me? Even when I came back, she didn’t come to see me. Does she hate
me?‘
Her eyes filled with tears.
Mum said, ‘If she doesn’t come back, it doesn’t matter. She’s no longer our daughter. Your dad will announce that she’ll be expelled.
Mr.Rowan said he’d have the company send out a notice and have someone pack her things right away. ‘Don’t cry. It’s not good to cry on your way home.
Rowan comforted her, ‘I’ll have someone draw up a notice now.‘
Houston went up and wiped away her tears.
As I listened to them say they were giving me up to please Jocelyn, I felt numb.
Jocelyn finally stopped crying, and the family returned to the house.
While they were chatting at the dinner table, the telephone rang. The maid picked it up and ran over.
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Mr.Rowan looked at the maid and said, ‘Who is calling?
What’s the matter? Tell me.‘
The servant stammered, ‘The hospital is calling. They said Miss Vivian passed away a few days ago and hope we can go to the hospital to claim the body and
cremate it.‘
A heavy silence fell over the table, everyone’s face grim.
Mum was angry and hit the table. ‘She’s still
pretending to be dead. She did it a few days ago, and now she’s doing it again. Does she think we’ll forgive her?‘ ‘It’s outrageous.
His brother felt uneasy when he heard it was another call from the hospital. He asked, ‘Which hospital was it
this time?‘
The maid said, ‘The City General Hospital, sir,’
Rowan’s brow furrowed. He felt a growing sense of
loss.
‘The City General Hospital is the most prestigious in the city. Not only that, but our family’s smart
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healthcare project is in collaboration with them. Let’s go and confirm it!‘ Rowan was thinking.
Mr.Rowan was angry. ‘What trick is she playing at now? She is being naughty. She is playing dead. I’ll let her play dead, Come on. Go up to her room and pack up her things for me and throw them out.’
He told Rowan to announce that I would be expelled from the family.
I watched this sudden farcical scene from above.
Houston was sitting on a chair. When he heard the news of my death, he paused, an unbelievable light flashed in his eyes, and His face instantly darkened.
Jocelyn, ever so perceptive of his moods, immediately replaced her sweet smile with a heartbroken expression, tears welling up in her eyes..
Her voice was choked, her tone was sad and delicate. ‘Does Vivian hate me that much? Did she fake her death to get our attention? Houston, go back to her. I don’t have long to live, and I’ve already done what I wanted to do.‘ She looked at Houston with big, wet eyes.
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Houston snapped out of his daze and rushed to comfort her. His sharp mind, however, caught onto a crucial detail: “again and again.” This meant that this wasn’t the first time I had pulled such a stunt.
I watched Jocelyn’s Oscar–worthy performance, thinking that her decision not to apply to drama school was a waste of her talent.
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Dad got angrier and shouted at the maids to throw my things away. The maid said I didn’t have many things and hadn’t been back for six months.
Mr.Rowan asked the maid to show him my room.
The maid’s face changed when she heard Mr.Rowan’s request. Mr.Rowan was even more certain of his suspicions.
Dad wasn’t the only one. Mum and my brother also asked the maid to take them to my room.
Jocelyn’s face changed. She felt something was about to change.
I followed them and saw the maid lead them to my
room.
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It was the last room in the corridor. It was more of a
storage closet than an actual room.
It was a small space, even smaller than the nanny’s
room.
There was a bed, a wardrobe, a dresser and a bottle of
medicine.
Mum and Dad stood in the doorway, looking at the
room.
They were shocked and speechless. The room was small and had old marks on the floor. They couldn’t imagine how their youngest daughter had managed to live in this room.
Their eldest daughter’s room was luxurious and comfortable, with a soft carpet and lots of cushions. She also had a separate cloakroom.
Their rooms were very different.
They suddenly felt sorry for their younger daughter. Did she always have to compete with her older sister for attention? Had they been completely oblivious to her needs?
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Rowan and Houston stood in the doorway, saw everything. Jocelyn was the only one standing there, looking sad.
Mum asked the maid, ‘How could she live here? Our family is so big, don’t we have a room?‘
Mum sounded angry and anxious. She probably realised that she really cared nothing for her daughter and now she was looking for a reason to vent.
The maid looked at Jocelyn, who was in the doorway.
Jocelyn’s eyes flashed with emptiness, but she stared back with a sharp gaze. The maid lowered her head in fear. Everyone could see the tension between them.
Houston spoke up. His eyes were unhappy, and his
voice was cold. ‘Why?‘
Houston’s presence frightened the maid. She said, ‘When the Lady Vivian came back, she wanted to clean the room next to Miss Jocelyn’s cloakroom. But, but Lady Jocelyn said she had too many clothes and the room couldn’t hold them. She wanted to make the
room into a cloakroom. Then we were going to clean out the room opposite Lady Jocelyn’s, but she said she.
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had too many dolls, so that room was going to be for the dolls. She took Lady Vivian to the storage room to clean it up and live in it.‘
By the time the maid finished, it was so quiet.
Mum and dad looked at their eldest daughter, who had always been well–behaved, with unbelievable faces. After hearing these words again, their hearts were hit extremely hard.
Rowan was shocked. He couldn’t believe that his sister, whom he had always taken care of, was such a person.
Houston looked at Jocelyn and wondered if she was really as kind as he thought. Was this the same girl who had bravely saved him and Rowan from the river all those years ago?Does a person’s character change over time?
Jocelyn,aware that she had become the target of their scrutiny, burst into tears.I’m afraid she’ll steal the love of you. What’s wrong with me? I’m not letting her stay in this shabby house. It’s these servants who won’t move her. What’s it got to do with me? There’s another room on the ground floor. Why does she have
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to move to the first floor? It’s her own fault. Who
made her so stubborn?‘
However, everyone in the family knew the ground
floor was for the nanny. They lived on the second and third floors.
