Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oscar stood frozen in place. He stared at me in disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, I let out a cold laugh and walked past him toward the black-car driver, who was still cursing under his breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll transfer the compensation money to you later,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing that, Oscar clenched his fists tightly, the corners of his eyes reddening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taken aback at first, I quickly understood. \u201cOh, I\u2019ll use my income, not the Berglings\u2019 money,\u201d I explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCarol!\u201d Oscar cut me off impatiently, but to my surprise, there was a trace of grievance on his face. \u201cYou\u2019re the sole heiress\u00a0<\/p>\n
of the Berglings. If you were to have the Berglings entire fortune, I\u2019d never protest!\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I found it laughable and met his eyes, a trace of irony in my voice as I said, \u201cIs that so?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearing that, Oscar flinched. It was as if the truth finally clicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In name, Eveline held the title of the Berglings heiress, while I, the true heiress, had been reduced to a joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To them, I was nothing but a disgraced lunatic, a woman lost in her own delusions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed hysterically, the sound cracking as tears fell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oscar and I used to be inseparable. He took me everywhere, even to his movie sets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now, all his warmth was gone. He would glare at me with icy indifference, commanding me to play second fiddle to Eveline at every turn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, he hauled me to the car. His head hung low as he said, \u201cOnce Eveline wins the physics award, we\u2019ll announce that you\u2019re the true Bergling heiress. We\u2019ll tell them that everything up until now was a misunderstanding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t be bothered to answer. Instead, I turned my head and stared out the window.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I crossed into this world, I was an orphan. During a routine check-up, I was diagnosed with bone cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lying on the hospital bed, I had slipped into a coma from the agonizing pain. When I came to, the system had brought me to this world as a six-year-old child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, a voice rang out in my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReach a favorability level of 80 with the Bergling brothers and the male lead, Nathan. Marry him and be rewarded with 100 million dollars and a ticket back to the real world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following the voice came a burst of static, like a radio losing its signal. I almost thought I\u2019d imagined it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, getting a second chance at life and a healthy body was enough of a win for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back to the present, the car drove smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oscar, on the other hand, gripped my wrist tightly. His fingertips brushed the back of my hand gently. It was the same way he used to soothe me when I couldn\u2019t sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As an orphan, I craved the warmth of a family. I even considered abandoning my mission just to stay, but once Eveline-the orphan I had brought home-arrived, all that love became hers alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I started by acting like a spoiled child, then I tried sulking. Eventually, I just broke down into hysterics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, all my pain was met with a single, cold remark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop making a scene. Do you have any idea how pathetic you look right now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car stopped at the gates of the Bergling residence. I shook off Oscar\u2019s hand and stepped out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCarol!\u201d he said, his voice laced with disbelief. \u201cI\u2019m hurt, and I did it for you\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cut him off, indifference plastered all over my face. \u201cIf you\u2019re hurt, go see a doctor. Telling me is a waste of time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed open the Bergling residence\u2019s front door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first thing I saw was Eveline seated on the couch. She was being doted on by everyone in the living room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eldest brother, Martin Bergling, wore a stern expression as he threw a punch at Nathan\u2019s shoulder. \u201cEveline hadn\u2019t had a decent meal or a wink of sleep in three days because of you!\u201d he said. \u201cIs this your idea of looking after her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Eveline quickly stepped in to intervene. \u201cMartin, Albus, please! I\u2019m perfectly fine! This was just a misunderstanding. There\u2019s no need for this now that we cleared the air,\u201d she replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood at the entrance, watching their touching display of sibling devotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHost, I have detected a significant drop in your dopamine levels\u2026\u201d the system said, its voice taking on a somber tone. \u201cTell me, host. Are you feeling a great sense of sorrow now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 2\u00a0 Oscar stood frozen in place. He stared at me in disbelief.\u00a0 Then, I let out a cold laugh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-only-when-i-gave-up-did-they-care"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}