Blurb：
Olivia Calhoun, the once-beloved daughter of the powerful Calhoun mafia family in Merovia, faces a tragic turn after her mother’s death. Blamed by her father Vincent Calhoun and brother William Calhoun, she is replaced by the adopted Juliet Calhoun. Even her childhood sweetheart Shawn Kramer abandons her. After enduring humiliation, Olivia seeks refuge with her aunt Marissa Ross, a therapist at MindCare Treatment Center. Determined to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death, Olivia vows to return and bring judgment upon the Calhoun family. This emotional story explores betrayal, resilience, and the quest for justice in a world of family secrets.
Content：
Being the only daughter of the Calhoun family, a mafia family in Merovia, I am doted on like a princess. This changes when I turn 18, when Mom dies.
On the way back from a family meeting, the car blows up, and Mom shields me beneath her. Even as she lies in a pool of blood, her gaze is tender as she says to me, “Don’t blame yourself, sweetheart. I love you.”
Still, after Mom’s death, everyone in the family starts blaming me for what happened, including Dad and my older brother, William Calhoun. I go from being the princess of the family to the jinx that everyone hates.
Soon after that, Dad brings home a new adopted daughter, Juliet Calhoun. William favors her and detests me. Even my childhood sweetheart, Shawn Kramer, takes a liking to her and ignores me.
Dad says his new adopted daughter is way better than his biological one.
They all agree to attend my college graduation ceremony. But on the day, they end up taking Juliet onto our family’s yacht and holding a cocktail party out on the water to celebrate the official addition of a new family heir.
This is the 100th time they ditch me for her.
Unable to stop myself from an emotional breakdown, I cry out, “I’m the one who’s related to you by blood!”
Dad shields Juliet, who backs away from me out of fear. Then, he slaps me on the face. “I wish I’d never had you.”
“Who wants to have a younger sister like you? I wish you’d died with Mom!” William roars in contempt.
This time, I’ve decided to let it all go.
I call Aunt Marissa, Mom’s sister. She’s the founder and a therapist at MindCare Treatment Center.
“Come here. This is your home now.”
I know that Mom’s death was a conspiracy.
This isn’t just me leaving, but withdrawing myself from the family entirely.
I hope that the next time I meet the Calhouns, there won’t be tears on my end. Instead, judgment will befall them.
Chapter 1
I got a text message from my aunt, Marissa Ross.
“I’ve booked the flight ticket for you, Olivia. It leaves in three days. Take the time to bid them a proper farewell.”
A farewell, huh?
Staring at that word, I spaced out for a while.
I thought of Dad, who never looked me in the eye anymore, and my older brother, William Calhoun, who had long since switched sides. I also thought about Shawn, who was meant to be my fiance, but I couldn’t even be bothered to say goodbye to him anymore.
Three days were enough time.
Out on the empty street corner, I stood alone for some time, letting the cold fall air chill me to the bone. Then, I picked up my phone and called Dad.
His name was Vincent Calhoun.
It rang for only a second before he declined the call. When I tried again, he turned his phone off.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to call William. This time, it rang for a while before he finally answered.
“Why do you keep calling?” William questioned irritably. “Don’t you know that Juliet was performing on stage just now? You almost disrupted it!”
Juliet Calhoun was Dad’s new adopted daughter. She was now the true “darling” of the Calhoun family.
Even though I should be used to William’s biased attitude by now, his words still cut deep.
Doing my best to hide the bitterness in my voice, I answered in my usual appeasing tone, “It’s been a while since we last saw each other, William. Can we have dinner together tonight? Juliet likes dining at that seafood restaurant, the Sea Goddess, right? They just launched a new and improved menu. We can try it out together—”
“What trick are you trying to pull this time, Olivia? Just a few days ago, Juliet nearly missed a performance because you had them deliver her gown to her late!” William barked.
“Are you inviting us out to a meal because you want to poison her this time? Or are you seizing this opportunity to put on your pathetic one-woman act again?”
I stiffened. William had once said to me, “Even if no one else believes you, I always will.”
“That’s not true, William. I just want to see you.”
“Well, I don’t want to see you!”
Just then, a sweet, delicate voice chimed in, “Don’t say that about Livie, Will. She’ll get upset.”
It was Juliet. Her voice was light and airy as she continued, “It’s been ages since I last saw you, Livie. Let’s have a meal together. But I’m feeling rather tired, so I don’t want to go out. Let’s eat at home, okay?”
“I feel like having seafood risotto and butter-grilled oysters, but it’s the cook’s day off today. Can you… cook for us, Livie?”
Her request made me uncomfortable, but since this was probably the last time I’d eat with them as a family, I agreed. “Fine.”
Once the call ended, my hands started shaking.
They’d all forgotten that I was severely allergic to seafood. Even the slightest contact with seafood was enough to make me suffocate. Still, I agreed to do it. I was like a pitiful puppy who craved getting even the slightest hint of warmth and affection from my family.
…
Meanwhile, over on the other side, Juliet leaned playfully into William’s arms and said, “Will, Livie seems… to have really turned over a new leaf. She still loves us very much.”
Lowering his head, William lit up a cigarette. His gaze was cold as he said, “She still hasn’t figured out just how unimportant she is.”
Chapter 2
I went grocery shopping to gather all the necessary ingredients. The moment I picked up the seafood, I couldn’t stop shaking. By the time I finished preparing the seafood, my knuckles were red and swollen, and my palms were covered in rashes.
It felt like I was being stabbed with a thousand needles.
Still, I put up with it. This was the final dinner I would have with them as a family. I wanted to have a decent, proper goodbye with them, even if only for my own dignity.
I’d just finished preparing the seafood risotto. The butter-grilled oysters were still in the oven when Dad and the others arrived back at the Calhoun residence.
Dad sat across from Juliet and listened while she shared amusing anecdotes from her performance just now. William was peeling an orange for her, saying affectionately, “Leave it to me. Your hands are made for playing the piano, Juliet. You shouldn’t be doing such chores.”
Shawn sat on the side, staring gently at Juliet the whole time.
I stood in the kitchen doorway like I was invisible, watching the blissful scene in the living room. Juliet sat in the center of the couch, pampered and doted on by everyone. Once, that had been my seat. Now, all they saw was her.
“Why are you standing there, Livie? Come and join us,” Juliet called out sweetly.
Scoffing, William commented, “Don’t. She’ll just ruin the mood if she comes over. I really don’t get it. You’re both my younger sisters, but why is one of you such a deplorable person?”
My nails dug into my rash-covered palms, the pain nearly making my knees buckle. Forcing myself to keep my tone calm, I announced, “The food is ready. You can start eating now.”
After bringing out the final dish, I realized that Juliet was sitting in my seat. Dad sat on her left, and Shawn sat on her right. William sat across from her.
No one had left a seat for me.
I was just about to speak when William gave me a look.
With my tableware and cutlery in hand, I went back into the kitchen. There was a bit of sauce left in the pan, so I dipped some bread in it and sat in the corner to have my dinner.
I glanced toward the dining room. Dad was serving food onto Juliet’s plate, William was peeling the shrimps for her, and Shawn was gently wiping the sauce from the corner of her mouth. All I could do was rely on these stolen glances to confirm whether “love” truly existed for me as well.
At that very moment, I met William’s gaze. He didn’t look away. Instead, he stared right back with a cold, different look in his eyes. I turned away in a hurry, but I slipped and ended up knocking over the pan. It crashed on the floor with a sharp clang.
Immediately, everyone in the dining room stopped what they were doing. Turning around, Dad eyed me coldly. “I knew she wasn’t happy about having to cook. Look at her. She can’t even prepare a meal without throwing the pots and pans around. What a disgrace she is to the Calhoun family.”
Standing in the dim kitchen, I wrapped my arms around my trembling body.
All of a sudden, Juliet looked down, her face pale. A second later, she began coughing violently. Clutching her chest, she exclaimed, “I can’t breathe… It hurts…”
Dad, William, and Shawn immediately rushed over to her.
“What’s wrong, Juliet?”
“Are you having an allergic reaction?”
“Quick, call an ambulance!”
Once Dad saw the rash that began forming on Juliet’s arm, his expression darkened. “She’s having an allergic reaction to the food!”
He whipped his head around and glared furiously at me. “Did you do this?”
Immediately, he slapped me across the face. I couldn’t avoid it in time. My cheek stung, and my ears started ringing. I fell onto the floor, feeling the chill in the air.
“Why do I have a sister like you?” William snarled through gritted teeth. “You disgust me! I knew something was up when you said you’d cook today. True enough, you did it to hurt Juliet!”
Shawn stood by the dining table, his expression cold. “You know why I don’t want to marry you, right? You’re such a schemer. I dare not entrust my life and future happiness to someone who’d hurt other people.”
Dad scooped Juliet up in his arms. “Stop wasting time on her. We need to take Juliet to the hospital at once!”
I lay alone on the floor, my face swollen, my vision blurred with tears. My skin was starting to itch, and my breathing grew laborious. My allergic reaction to the seafood was finally kicking in. It took all my strength to get up and take my allergic medicine.
Whenever something happened to Juliet, it was always my fault. They wouldn’t even give me a chance to explain myself.
This was the last supper that marked my rebirth.
Chapter 3
I went to my room and began packing my suitcase. Pretty much since Juliet’s arrival, my family stopped buying new things for me. They were even reluctant to give me an allowance after I turned 18.
I kept thinking that as long as I got good grades and didn’t cause any trouble, I would still be able to earn a bit of their respect, even if they didn’t like me.
But I was wrong about that.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I stared at the faded family portrait on the desk. In the picture, Dad had his hand on my shoulder, while William was hugging me from behind with a wide grin on his face. Mom stood on the side, her gaze gentle. She was the only person in this family who understood me.
I could still recall the year the family business ran into trouble. Mom fled the house with William and me. It was the first time I realized even this seemingly indestructible family could fall apart.
When Mom returned, she had a fresh wound on her face. That night, Dad turned off every light in the villa and sat in silence until dawn.
The next morning, he hugged William and me, his eyes reddened.
“I didn’t know how to be a good husband before this, but I’ll do my best to be a good father,” Dad said. “From now on, I’ll raise you two properly and make sure you get all the love you need.”
At the time, William put his hand on my shoulder and promised, “I won’t let anyone hurt Olivia. If anyone touches her, I’ll cut his hands off.”
I had always been a sickly child. I would get a fever or cough up blood for no reason. Anytime William called, Dad would drop everything and rush home, even if he was in the middle of a drug deal for the Calhoun family.
When I was 12 years old, a group of girls cornered me in the bathroom and humiliated me. William stormed in with a steel pipe and fought them off. Even though he ended up with a broken arm, he didn’t even flinch.
Back then, the whole neighborhood knew that I had a super protective brother who’d kill for me.
Shawn had treated me very well, too. When I was little, Dad often left on business trips. Shawn would bring William and me to his house for meals. While dishing the food onto my plate, he smiled and said, “If you want, you can eat here for the rest of your lives.”
At the time, I really thought I would marry him, the boy who seemed to only have eyes for me.
That all changed when Juliet showed up.
From the moment she first stepped into the villa, I knew there was something off about the look in her eyes. She didn’t seem like an orphan but a hunter instead.
She seized every chance to put on a show, executing each well-timed tear and every calculated pout to perfection. She excelled at weaponizing her “weak” side to manipulate others.
Juliet would always barge in “coincidentally” whenever I was alone with Shawn or William. After destroying my belongings, she would cry and say, “I didn’t do it on purpose, Livie.”
When William brought her a drink, she would pour it on herself before clutching the edge of his shirt and saying in a trembling voice, “Livie didn’t mean to do it… I’m not mad at her.”
Once, she used a pair of scissors to ruin a new dress Dad had bought before weeping in front of everyone, saying, “I’m really not trying to steal anything from you, Livie…”
After giving herself a cut on the leg, she threw herself into Shawn’s arms and begged, “Please ask Livie to stop bullying me… I can’t take it anymore…”
One night, I finally exploded.
This time, Dad and William, who had always taken my side, defended her instead.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Olivia!” Dad fumed. “When did you turn into this person?”
“I can’t believe you resorted to such tricks to bully Juliet!” William rebuked me.
Hugging Juliet tenderly, Shawn looked at me and said, “I never thought you’d do such a thing. Let’s forget about getting engaged for now. I need some time to get to know who you truly are.”
I thought of my 18th birthday, which became a nightmare that haunted me. We were on the way back from a family meeting when the car exploded. Mom shielded me with her body. Lying in a pool of blood, she smiled and said, “Sweetheart, don’t blame yourself for this.”
Later on, they told me it was an accident. A gunfight involving a rival family had gotten out of hand, and the explosion was accidental. But Mom wasn’t even supposed to attend that meeting. She’d submitted a leave request a week in advance.
Someone had added her name back onto the list of attendees without her knowledge.
I suspected that it was Leon Davis’ doing, but I had no proof. Leon was Dad’s second-in-command and the only person Juliet had any contact with before she joined the family.
I knew full well that Mom’s death was a conspiracy, but what role did Juliet play in that plot? I had no concrete evidence of that.
As the wind blew through the hallway, I got up and closed the door without noticing what was happening at the end of the hallway.
The door to Leon’s study was slightly ajar, and the panels behind the bookshelf moved back into place with a faint click. That was the only hidden passage down to the basement in this entire villa, and it had been untouched for many years.
Chapter 4
Late at night, I finally finished packing my belongings. I hauled my suitcase down the stairs, planning to leave this villa quietly under the cover of night. But just as I came down, I heard the sound of the front door opening.
Dad, Juliet, William, and Shawn were all back. I stood in the shadows between the stairs and the front hallway. They didn’t notice me.
Their voices carried clearly through the damp, cold night air.
“Thank goodness Juliet didn’t eat much, so her allergy reaction wasn’t too serious,” Dad said.
“Regardless of that, Olivia has gone too far,” William added coldly. “We must make her apologize to Juliet in person later.”
“It’s fine, Will,” Juliet replied, her voice weak and pitiful. “I know Livie didn’t do it on purpose.”
“You’re too kind-hearted,” he declared. “An apology alone isn’t enough to teach someone like her a lesson.”
After a pause, he asked, “She’s been using the master bedroom, hasn’t she? It has a balcony, which you like, right?”
“I do,” Juliet answered. “I’ve always wanted to be able to stand there and sing…”
Dad simply hummed in response, agreeing to this arrangement.
My eyes stung. I felt bitter and hurt. Even though things had come to this, I still hoped they would ask me to stay. Emerging from the shadowed corner, I looked at Juliet and agreed, “Since you like it, you can have it.”
Evidently, she didn’t expect me to pop up out of nowhere.
William’s eyes fell on the suitcase before me.
“What are you up to now in the middle of the night? Juliet nearly died because of you, and yet you’re trying to do what? Run away from home to make it seem like you’re innocent?”
“I’m free to move out of the house,” I replied coolly.
William’s expression darkened. “Have it your way, then.”
Juliet hid behind Dad and said, “Don’t get the wrong idea, Livie… I don’t want your room anymore. I… was just kidding about it earlier.”
I looked her in the eye. “Don’t worry. Since I said you can have it, I won’t go back on my word. And this time, I won’t be coming back.”
Dad’s expression suddenly changed.
“What did you just say?” he questioned quietly. “Juliet said you’ve changed, and I didn’t believe her. You just graduated, and you’re already running off to fool around?
“I raised you, paid for your education, and made sure you never have to worry about money. Is this how you’re repaying me? You’re just like your mom, a discontented ingrate!”
“That’s not true. I’m moving out because the day after tomorrow, I’m—”
“Shut up!” Dad interrupted me. “Who cares where you’re going? If you want to leave, then get the hell out. Don’t bother putting on a show. I’ll just treat it as though I never had you for a daughter. Juliet is ten thousand times better than you.”
Staring at Dad, I said in a trembling voice, “I know that all of you have hated me all these years. You think I caused Mom’s death, but it was never me!”
My voice was choked. All of the anguish I’d kept suppressed for far too long finally burst out of me.
“You never even tried to uncover the truth before you decided that I was to blame. And for that very reason, you’ve humiliated me all these years!”
Juliet’s gaze flickered as she chimed in, “Don’t be like this, Livie… I only heard about your mother’s accident after the fact. I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but if you hadn’t opened the door first that day… perhaps… nothing would’ve happened to her…”
“What about you, you conniving snake? Who knows the truth about you?”
I nearly voiced the suspicions I had about Juliet, but Dad roared, “That’s enough!”
He marched up to me and slapped me across the face so hard that I crashed into the nearby pillar.
“This is not the first time you’ve come to me with false accusations about Juliet, and now, you’re even trying to suspect her?”
“You never even bothered investigating!” I shrieked, my lips tainted with blood.
William rushed over and shoved me to the floor. “What right do you have to bring up Mom? She died because of you!”
“It wasn’t me!” I screamed. “On the day of the accident, Mom suddenly found an anonymous letter in the car stating that there was something suspicious about Juliet’s true identity!”
Weeping, Juliet cried out, “How can you say that? I’ve always treated you like my sister… How can you accuse me of killing someone?”
Shaking with anger, Dad wagged his finger at me and shouted, “Leave! Get the hell out of this house immediately!”
I struggled back onto my feet. My cheek was burning, and my vision was blurry. Without saying a word, I grabbed my suitcase and opened the door. It was raining, and the rainwater felt piercingly cold. I turned back around to take an umbrella, but the door slammed in my face before being bolted shut.
“Since you walked out, don’t even think about coming back in,” William added sarcastically. “Don’t come running back someday, begging for our forgiveness like some pathetic dog.”
I stood in the rain, completely soaked. My body was cold and stiff.
I would never be a good daughter or sister to them, Mom. And I no longer longed for their love, which I had been begging for all this while, to no avail.
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