Chapter 1 A Frame–Up
“You’ll never take what’s mine!” Bridgette Levine snarled at Sephora. Garcia Levine, her sister. Then, without warning, she toppled backward into the pool. The fur collar of her shawl fanned out on the water’s surface, making a dramatic splash.
“Help! Help me!” She thrashed around in the pool, looking totally disheveled.
Sephora, however, stood there with a deadpan, her right cheek occasionally puffing up like she had something stuffed in her mouth.
She had a bit of a tan. Today, she wore a thin jacket over a hoodie, and on her hand was a candy wrapper that sparkled in the sunlight.
Today was supposed to be a grand occasion–the Levine family was welcoming back their daughter, who had gone missing sixteen years ago. Gerald Levine had invited all the relatives for a lavish celebration
at their villa.
Sephora was the star of the show.
Soon, Bridgette’s splash and cries for help caught everyone’s attention.
“Gosh! Bridie is in the water!”
“Quick, somebody help! It’s winter! She could freeze to death!”
“Come on, anyone! Hurry up!”
Christine Hansen, a former diving champion and the two sisters‘ mom,
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was the first to react. Ignoring the cold, she dove in without hesitation and dragged Bridgette out.
They got out of the water, all wet and dripping.
Bridgette leaned weakly on Christine, her eyes locked on Sephora, who was fiddling with the candy wrapper by the pool. Tears streamed. down her face, looking miserable.
“Sephora, you’re Mom and Dad’s real daughter, while I’m just an adopted girl. I wouldn’t dare to steal their love from you. So why… Why did you try to get me killed?” Bridgette choked out.
She was crying so hard that she could barely catch her breath, her whole body shaking nonstop from the cold. But she stood there stubbornly, staring at Sephora.
Christine jerked her head up, her piercing gaze fixed on Sephora.
“Sephie, I’m really disappointed in you.
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The relatives shot Sephora strange looks, like they wanted to last out at her. But the serious look on Christine’s face stopped them from doing.
- SO.
“Christine, you and Bridie are both soaked to the skin. You should go take a hot shower upstairs and change into some dry clothes. It’s freezing in the dead of winter. You don’t want to catch a cold.”
“Yeah, it’s way too cold. Hurry up and go upstairs.”
Sephora kept playing with the candy wrapper, not saying a word throughout, just watching the whole thing with a flat expression.
Once everyone had taken Christine and Bridgette upstairs, Sephora
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Chapter 1 & Frame–Up
began to hear the low murmur of gossip.
“Madam Levine was quite heartless back then! When Sephora was just born, it was just as cold, and she left her out in the snow. Luckily, some kind people found and raised her, but man, she turns out way too mean! That’s what comes from being raised outside your own family.”
“If you ask me, they shouldn’t have brought Sephora back. Those country bumpkins have led her astray. Look at her now! It would’ve been better if she had frozen to death back then.”
“Right! Madam Levine had a change of heart too late. She had to see Sephora before she died and made people go find her. Look what they brought back–what a disaster!”
“Yeah. Even though Bridie is adopted, she has got the best education from the start. She’s good at music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, way better than Sephora.”
The gossip kept going non–stop. Sephora chewed up the last bit of candy and swallowed it, ignoring all the chatter from those nosy relatives as she walked upstairs.
Christine was already out of the shower, freshly dressed. She used to be a diver, but after having Sephora, her health went downhill. Now that she grew older, it was even worse. As she wrapped herself in a shawl, she couldn’t stop coughing.
Gerald, her husband, was right beside her, gently patting her back while holding a glass of mulled wine.
“Have some. It’ll help.”
“Where’s Bridie? She should have some too,” Christine said as she
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sipped it. But as she caught a glimpse of Sephora walking in out of the corner of her eye, she started coughing hard again.
Christine’s skin was fair, Gerald’s was a bit darker, but he still looked pretty pale. Standing between these two, Sephora seemed out of place, as if she didn’t belong.
“Mom, I didn’t push Bridgette into the water,” Sephora piped up after a
while of silence.
Gerald didn’t expect the first thing she did was make excuses for herself instead of asking Christine if she was okay.
He pursed his lips, like he wanted to say something, but eventually, his attention flicked to Christine, who was still coughing.
‘If you didn’t push her, what then? She jumped in by herself?” asked Christine.
Sephora nodded, and then Christine’s coughing grew harsher.
“Leave! Get the hell out of here! Go back to that countryside! I don’t want a daughter like you!”
Sephora’s eyes lit up. “So I can leave?”
Christine thought in disbelief, “What kind of attitude is that?! It’s like she’s dying to get out of there!”
She choked up and burst into tears. “Why did I end up with a daughter like this?
“We kindly brought her out of that poor, remote place. She didn’t even drop her adoptive dad’s last name when she came back to us, and now she can’t wait to leave. What an ungrateful brat!”
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Chapter 1 A Frame–Up
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Sephora’s face softened a bit. The candy wrapper in her hand fell apart, and she crumpled it up and stuffed it into her pocket, feeling a bit irritated.
Gerald sighed and looked at Sephora, his face stern. “Sephora, she’s your mom. She brought you into this world! Is this how you repay her?
“I know you must blame us for not being there for you for sixteen years, but you don’t have to go to such extremes. Bridgette didn’t do anything wrong. Can’t you be more mature and stop making things difficult for us?”
Sephora nodded like a good girl. But before Gerald could even relax, she asked again, “Can I go now?”
Gerald’s breath caught, and he stared at her sternly.
Ever since they brought her home, she had been wanting to go back to the countryside instead of staying in this fancy villa. When they were changing her registration to be part of their family, she wore a poker face, like she didn’t want to do it at all.
new what she meant by asking that question. She didn’t wanna leave the room but rather go back to the countryside.
But she was his daughter by blood. Even if she was a bit difficult and mean, he couldn’t bear to send her back.
“Your adoptive parents are busy raising their cows and sheep and taking care of your brothers, trying to get them married off. They don’t have time for you. Stop thinking about leaving all the time. We’re your real parents!”
