Back in the day, all those rich boys who tried to win me over with their money – I rejected them all.
But that pride, that sense of ambition, has now been crushed to pieces, not even a shred left.
And I became the joke in everyone’s eyes.
Originally, Jim Marshall and I had nothing to do with each other, like two parallel lines that would never cross. But everything changed after Emma died. From that moment on, he hated me.
He believed that I was the one who killed her.
But Emma died from a heart condition – nothing more, nothing less.
Emma and I never got along. No matter how hard I tried to avoid her or steer clear of any conflict, she would always go out of her way to pick a fight with me.
In her eyes, being the daughter of a mistress was a shameful label.
But if I, the daughter of the “real wife,” were out of the picture, she could finally stand in the light, untainted.
So, the phrase Emma used most often when talking to me was: “Evelyn, if I were you, I’d have killed myself a long time ago.”
After all, I was the one with an absent father, a deceased mother, a stepmother who despised me, and a stepsister who constantly tormented me.
But in the end, it was Emma who died first.
That day, she planned another one of her nasty tricks. She sent me a message to meet her at the equipment storage room, intending to lock me in there for the entire night.
How did I know? I overheard her scheming with her friends on a phone call.
So that night, I didn’t go to the equipment room.
Emma went there alone. Her heart condition suddenly flared up, and without anyone to help her in time, she died.
My stepmother later told Jim that it was me who had lured Emma to the equipment room.
And that was the beginning of his hatred toward me.
He never believed me, no matter how much I tried to explain myself.
Driven by the memory of his deceased “perfect girl,” and because I happened to resemble her, he sought me out.
He wanted me to be her replacement.
If it had been any other time, I would have outright refused such an absurd arrangement.
But life played a cruel joke on me.
I was terrified that if I didn’t agree, I might be the next to die.
The taunts and insults from everyone at the party were completely unfiltered, every foul word imaginable was thrown my way.
I did my best to block out their voices.
Jim ordered me to pour him a drink, and I obediently did as he asked.