Chapter 3

My name is Fiona Lin.

I've always known my "Lin" comes from the renowned prominent family in Seaside City. But they've never acknowledged me. Until I was ten. The Lewis family suddenly came to Oakridge to find Grandma and take me back. I held Grandma's hand, crying and refusing to go.

Grandma, tears flowing, held me tight with her frail hands. "Sound, go! The Lewis family can give you the best education and let you continue piano lessons. Grandma's useless, can't give you anything."

I was taken into the Lewis family's car, my cries echoing against the window. In the back seat, an older man spoke calmly. "Doesn't your Grandma have kidney disease and can't afford dialysis? If you come back with me, I'll ensure she gets it every week."

Later, I found out he was my grandfather, the head of the Lewis family, a man who thrived on manipulating people's lives.

And I was just a ten-year-old child. I returned with him to the Lewis household. As I stood in the grand hall, people around me pointed and mocked with disdain.

"Did she pick that outfit from the trash? Goodness, it even has patches!"

"Her shoes are filthy. I can smell the stench from here."

"Born from filth, what else would you expect from the likes of her?"

The harshest words came from Phoebe's mother. She despised me.

My mother, a bar pianist, fell in love with my father at first sight, and soon after, I was born. But a family like the Lewis's would never accept her. My father loved her deeply, so much that he renounced his status as a Lewis to be with her in Oakridge. If only the story ended there. But life is never that serene.

Grandpa threatened my father with my mother's safety, forcing him back to the Lewis family to marry Phoebe's mother. My mother fell into a deep depression and died shortly after giving birth to me. When my father heard of her passing, he went to her grave in Oakridge and took his own life.

At that time, Phoebe's mother was six months pregnant. In his farewell note, he wrote that he had fulfilled his obligations to the Lewis family. That poor woman went mad, transforming from a graceful lady to a bitter, spiteful woman.

She hated my father, hated my mother, and hated me. But they were gone, so she unleashed her hatred on me. Someone had to bear her torment and share her pain. Hatred needs an outlet. Otherwise, how could she combat the solitude that crept into her bones at night? But what was my fault? I was just an infant, my mother gone, my father choosing death over raising me. Where could I vent my grievances?

Moreover, she knew full well that my father had my mother and me before her. She also knew my father didn't love her, yet she followed her family's arrangement to marry him for an alliance. Life is about choices. No one else is to blame. When Grandpa declared that I would stay with the Lewis family, she lost her last shred of dignity.

"Dad! You promised me you'd never give this wretched child a single dime! And now you're bringing her into our home, isn't that a slap in the face?"

Grandpa coughed heavily, "Declan is at a critical juncture. If it's discovered that we abandoned our own flesh and blood, how would Declan continue his path?" That's my Grandpa for you. Every step he takes is calculated and strategic.

"Declan, Declan! He's all you care about! I've been a widow in this house for almost ten years! Ten years!"

Watching the hysterical woman before me, I quietly picked up my luggage and stood aside. I'm not foolish. Grandma's dialysis costs depended on the Lewis family.

Ten years of hardship taught me to be adaptable. What does it matter if I'm scolded or hated? Grandma's illness is the most important.

In Oakridge, each dialysis session costs five hundred. She needs at least two sessions a week. I don't have the luxury to turn away from harsh words with flair. In this world, everything has a price. Including pride and dignity. And that's when Theo entered my life.