My health deteriorated day by day, and I often spent entire days in a hazy stupor.
I knew I could drop dead at any moment.
But I still hadn’t paid the final balance for my cemetery plot.
Just as I was agonizing over this, a passerby on the street handed me a flyer.
“Take a look. Some mysterious CEO is throwing a yacht party tonight. Shining shoes for the rich doesn’t require any skills, and you can make a few hundred bucks a night.”
“The best part is, those wealthy folks hand out massive tips. You can get this much in just one go.”
I looked at the fingers she held up and took the flyer.
Just having a job to make money was good enough right now; I was in no position to be picky.
I boarded the workers’ shuttle bus and arrived at the yacht.
From the moment I stepped aboard, I never got off my knees.
I knelt by the entrance with my head bowed, shining a pair of shoes for every person who walked in.
The passerby hadn’t lied to me. Some of the rich kids casually tossed tips of over a thousand bucks.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when the crowd suddenly erupted into cheers.
“Hey, here they come! The star of the night has arrived!”
I still didn’t look up. Just as I was preparing to shine the next pair of shoes, the rag in my hand was violently kicked away.
Then, a familiar voice pierced my ears.
“Chloe!
You’d do any degrading thing just to get my attention, wouldn’t you!”
“There are only three days left until we bring you back. Couldn’t you even wait that long?”
I looked up and glanced around, finally realizing that this was a party Julian had thrown specifically to make Corey happy.
He glared at me, his eyes burning with humiliated rage.
His fists clenched tighter and tighter, but in the end, he merely muttered a curse and stormed into the yacht.
Listening to the wild revelry inside, I simply counted the bills in my hand, one by one.
Realizing I had just enough to cover the final balance, I quickly dialed the cemetery owner’s number.
But after I gave him my information and waited for him to register it, he suddenly sounded confused.
“Chloe?
I can’t find your information. You’ve already undergone erasing one’s legal identity, so I can’t process this.”
“How is that possible?
Sir, did you type it in wrong?
Could you please check one more time?”
Seeing me so frantic and incoherent, the owner kindly made a few inquiries for me, before finally saying in a soft voice.
“The bureau staff said it was the wealthiest man, Mr. Bennett, who forcibly had your legal identity erased…”
The phone slipped to the ground, my eyes turning red as I broke down.
Why? Why couldn’t I even be left in peace to die?
Was he truly going to drive me, his own biological sister, to a dead end all for Corey?
My mind buzzed as I barged straight into the party venue.
“Julian!”
At my shout, the entire venue fell dead silent.
“What gives you the right to erase my legal identity?”
“Am I not even worthy of the right to have an identity?”
Julian slowly swirled his wine glass, his gaze upon me complex and unfathomable.
“You’d stoop to any cheap trick just to make me soften up. Who knows what schemes you’d use to buIIy Corey if you came home. Only without an identity will you be powerless to do anything.”
“But don’t worry. I’m your brother, and I can give you everything you want to keep you safe and sound for the rest of your life.”
I suddenly let out a laugh.
I was being tortured to death by him; what use did I have for safety?
Corey sensibly patted her brother’s back to soothe him, glancing at the money in my hand before speaking.
“Chloe, why must you insist on doing such degrading things?”
“What could you possibly want that our brother wouldn’t give you?
If you hadn’t broken his heart and embarrassed him, he never would have done this.”
With that, she walked up to me, snatched the money right out of my hands, and tossed it into the air.
