Five years after my own brother handed me over to human traffickers, I finally escaped with my life.
Dizzy from hunger, I grabbed a smashed cake by the roadside and stuffed it into my mouth.
My mouth was barely full when a heavy kick suddenly sent me sprawling to the ground.
“Chloe Bennett!
Did you purposely show up on Corey Bennett’s birthday just to provoke her again?”
As our eyes met, I realized the man standing before me was my billionaire brother, who had just thrown a multi-million-dollar birthday party for the fake heiress.
Staring at my wretched face, his expression remained full of mockery.
“Now you know how hard it is out there, don’t you?
You deserve every bit of it!”
“There’s still one month left in your five-year punishment. When the time comes, I’ll bring you home and give you the best life.”
“But only on the condition that you never hurt Corey again!”
I rubbed my eyes in a daze. When I realized I couldn’t bring my brother’s face into focus no matter how hard I tried, I suddenly smiled.
Perhaps, aside from the pain he inflicted on me, his presence in my heart had always been a blur.
“I won’t…” I murmured.
He would never have to worry about his beloved sister being buIIied again, and I would never go home with him either.
After all, with terminal brain cancer, living even one more month was a luxury for me.
…
I swallowed the cake in my mouth with a bitter taste.
Knowing he didn’t want to see me, I tactfully leaned on my crippled leg and stood up, wanting to disappear from his sight as quickly as possible.
But the cancer cells in my brain had already spread to my eyes, and I truly couldn’t see the way.
I could only hunch over, groping blindly with both hands as I shuffled forward.
Suddenly, bursts of laughter rang in my ears.
It was my brother’s friends.
“Tsk tsk, pretending to be a crippled beggar to make Julian Bennett feel sorry for her so he’ll take her home early.”
“She really has no shame, going all out like this. We’re in public!”
“Exactly. Julian is a billionaire, she’s a total embarrassment to him.”
Julian’s pride took a hit. His face darkened as he suppressed his anger and said coldly.
“Chloe, I said there’s one month left and I mean it. I won’t take you back even a day early.”
“Besides, I specifically told them to go easy on you. At most, you’d suffer a bit of hardship. How could you end up looking this pathetic?
Your little act is disgusting.”
I was stunned. Go easy… on me?
Memories of past agonies gnawed at my brain. In the end, I merely smiled, shook my head, and kept walking.
But before I could take even two steps, someone blocked my path.
“Chloe, wait!”
That familiar voice. Even without seeing her face, I knew it was Corey.
She shoved a perfectly intact piece of cake into my hands.
As she grabbed my hands, her nails dug viciously into my flesh.
“Today is my birthday, so I forgive you for everything in the past~ I just hope we can get along once you come back home.”
The sweeter her smile grew, the deeper her nails sank in.
Until they drew blood.
But no matter how much it hurt, I didn’t make a sound. No one would care, and certainly no one would believe me.
I took the cake, only wanting to get away from them as fast as possible. Maybe then I could live just a little bit longer.
Back at my makeshift bed under the bridge, I frantically dug out some nearly expired painkillers. I shoved them into my mouth by the handful until the splitting headache finally eased a fraction.
The freezing wind howled through the underpass, and I pulled my thin clothes tighter around myself.
A short while later, a charity relief van pulled up to the entrance of the underpass.
A loudspeaker began to blare.
“The temperature is dropping, and our Mr. Bennett is here to spread some love!
“Come get your winter coats and bedding!”
The eyes of dozens of beggars under the bridge suddenly lit up, and they scrambled to line up.
Holding my splitting head, I stood at the very back of the line.
When it was finally my turn, the volunteer looked at me, then down at a photo on his phone.
He waved me off.
“Go back. Mr. Bennett personally ordered that we can’t give anything to you.”
He curled his lips in disgust.
“Mr. Bennett is a famous philanthropist. He helps beggars whenever he can. Tsk, you must be a real piece of work for Mr. Bennett to target you like this.”
I pursed my lips. Although it was expected, I still found it ridiculous.
The winner of the Global Philanthropist Award, Julian.
Out of the goodness of his heart, upon learning that Corey was a fake heiress, he resolutely kept her and continued to provide her with a top-tier luxurious life.
He could donate money all over the world, doing good deeds that everyone praised.
Yet he refused to spare a single life-saving winter coat for his own biological sister.
