bChapter /b59

Ste would never forget that moment for the rest of her life wh

her life when the nurse drugged her, leaving herpletely partyred and her body almost drained

of blood. Lionel betrayed her yet again.

Watching Lionel draw tal after vial of blood from her arm, Ste felt all lingering affection for him drain away

“I’m sorry” Lionel said remorsefully

Ste snapped. “I don’t want your damn apology. Get the hell out of here now.”

Lionel stood b

before Ste. The man who never cried was now weeping. “Ste” Lionel pleaded, “I know I hurt you, but I had my reasons. Will you believe

Ste red at Lionel, her voice trembling with anger. “That still doesn’t justify you hurting me, Lionel. I’ve been to the hospital so many times, and you know my condition better than anyone

“Thosest few vials of blood you took pushed me to death’s door. If you wanted me dead so badly, you shouldn’t have shown up at all

Lionel bsaid /bsoftly, “I came to apologize

“I know you want me to forgive you, Lionel. How dare you even think I’d forgive you? All this time, I thought you actually cared about me, but you just wanted to extract somefort from me to ease your own guilty conscience.

“Every single one of you is so selfish, always thinking only of byourselves/b, never about me. What am I to you? Just some disposable trash you can bsummon /band discard at will.”

“Stop it, Ste,” Lionel pleaded desperately, his voice trembling. “You mean

mean everything to me. You’re special.”

“Enough!” Ste snapped, cutting him off. She had already put up with Fiona; she was in no mood to deal with Lionel,” you don’t get out right now, scream rape and have you thrown in jail.”

Lionel stared at her in disbelief, as if he couldn’tprehend bhow /bshe could have changed so drastically.

“Get out!” Ste shrieked, summoning every bst /bounce of her strength. bShe /bhadn’t eaten and bwas /bstill very weak, but she refused to be defenseless. Aher all they had put her through, she had to protect herself.

Lionel slowly turned to leave, then hesitated and nced back, as something had just urred to him.

“Get the hell out!” Ste snarled at Lionel, her voice raw with fury

“Ste.” Just then, the door bswung /bopen, and standing there was none other than her close friend, Kevin, Kevin nced at Lionel, then at Steb, /bsensing the tension between them. “Heyb, /bwhat’s going on?”

“Get him out of here.” Ste turned her bback /bon them.

Kevin shot another nce at Lionel

Lionel let out ba /bheavy sigh and walked out

Kevin kept his gaze fixed on Lionel’s retreating figure until he disappeared bfrom /bview, then walked over to Ste. “Steb, /bit really you?”

Ste turned her head and bsaw /bKevin’s expression shit from initial confusion to overwhelming excitement. A warmth blossomed in her chest. “Kevin, I’ve been back for a while now, but I haven’t seen you anywhere.”

Kevin gripped Ste’s hand tightly, his eyes wide with disbeliet “Ste, is it really you? Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re actually here. You’re so thin bWhat’s /bwith all these injuries? What the hell happened to you? bTell /bme everything.”

it was as if they had instantly slipped back into thatfortable, familiar dynamic. Ste said, “Kevin, you’re bombarding me with too many questions: don’t even know where to begin”

Kevin said gently, “Hey, no rush, Just go through them one by one, bokay/b?”

Ste didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she asked curiously, “I ran into Emily earlier. Howe I didn’t see your

bKevin /bfell silent for a moment. Ste already had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but she still wanted to hear it from Kevin himself.

Kevin said, “Now that you’ve seen her, I guess you already know Emily and Anna are friends now, right?”

Ste nodded.

Kevin said, “Not long after you left, Emily’s fully ran into some trouble, I was about to go help, but Anna gott everything at Emily’s ce had already been taken care of

“She told me at the time that she bwas /bbso /bgrateful to Anna. Without Anna, she wouldn’t have known what to do.

there before I bcould/b. By the time arrived,

“I told her I could help. But she bsaid /bI didn’t have much say in the Carver family. She didn’t want to burden me. I asked her why she would call Anna for help. She felt silent.”

Kevin paused for a moment, then continued, “I asked her she was gonna turn her on us for Anna? She said we had misunderstood Anna, and she was willing to be friends with Anna.

“After seeing her like that, I stopped talking to her. And in the past three years, bwhile /byou were gone, I didn’t get together with Emily either.”

Ste was deeply moved. “Kevin, I never thought you-”

“it’s okay. We’ve always been close friends. I searched high and low for you all over the world, but never heard ba /bword. I only just got back recently. I was picking up some medicine for my mom when I ran into you.

“Let me

me get a good look at you,” Kevin bsaid/bb, /bunable to hide his excitement. He gently cupped her face, his eyes searching hers with a mix of wonder and disbeliel

‘Thank goodness. Ste thought. “Not everyone has betrayed me after all, at least Kevin is still here” Ste asked softly, “Kevin, could trouble you something?”

with

Kevin feigned exasperation. “Don’t talk about trouble between bus/b. We’re best friends. Whatever you need, just say the word and I’ll make it happenb./b” Ste asked softly. “Kevin, my phone’s broken. Could you buy me a new one? I really need it right now.”

“Of course I’ll go get you one right now. Just wait here for me.”

Ste nodded

As Kevin turned to leave, he made sure to add, “When i get back, I want to hear all about where you’ve been all these years.”

Ste nodded once more. A wave of relief washed over Ste the moment Kevin loh. She still had one true friend left.

Kevin was actually Troy’s half–brother. They shared the same father. Their dad was a notorious womanizer, with countless mistre children scattered everywhere.

dillegitimate

Perhaps it was because bTroy /bwas the eldest son and born to his father’s principal wife that he was especially favored. Otherwise, Troy wouldn’t have grown up to be so spoiled and arrogant.

Troy looked down on all those outsiders, ocially Kevin. Since most of the other women had only given birth to daughters, they posed no mal threat to his position.

But Kevin was a son, and one who outshone Troy in every way possible. Troy resented band /bfeared him for it

10:32 Thu, 37 Jul

He frequently instigated others to bully Kevin. Deep down, Kevin’s mother knew she’d made a terrible mistake. It was a moment of poor judgment that doomed Kevin to this life.

Kevin’s mother had always been in poor health, but despite his father’s ws, he secretly held Kevin in high regard. The more things went on like this, tha more Troy and Kevin became sworn enemies.

When Ste learned that Kevin had been searching high and low for her ever since she left, she was deeply moved in this whole world, apart from Eleanor, only Kevin truly cared about her.

Ste needed to use the restroom. She hadn’t left her bed in days and wasn’t even sure if her legs would hold her.

She gingerly slid off the bed. Just as she reached for the door, she bspotted /ba group of people rounding the corner, and they suddenly stopped. Troy freed

led Π her with a menacing grin. “So, here you are. What a chase you’ve l