The next day, Gu Mingzhu brought a bunch of friends home for a party.

My door was banged loudly, but I tried to ignore it.

But the next second, the door was kicked open violently!

She led the group into my room, her eyes landing on my desk. A bad feeling washed over me.

“What are you doing? Get out!”

I hurried to protect my books, but two burly boys grabbed my arms, yanking me out of my chair and pinning me down.

“Partial Differential Equations?” “Advanced Mathematics?”

Gu Mingzhu picked up two books at random. When she saw the covers, she scoffed loudly.

“Putting on a show, are we? A technical school student pretending to be a scholar?”

Slap! Slap!

She hit me across the face with the thick books. She looked down at me, sneering, while her friends laughed uproariously behind her.

Humiliation, resentment…

My eyes turned red. I struggled with all my strength, trying to break free.

I’d never fought for anything in this house.

I’d done nothing wrong—so why did they have to treat me like this?!

“Gu Mingzhu, what did I ever do to you?!”

At my words, Gu Mingzhu’s face twisted, and hatred flashed in her eyes.

“Just the thought of living under the same roof as a country bumpkin like you makes me sick!”

“So what if you’re blood-related? Mom, Dad, and Brother only love me!”

“I’ll make everyone see—you’re nothing but a useless piece of trash! You deserve to be stepped on by me for the rest of your life!”

She and her friends trashed my room, tearing my books to shreds, then left laughing and joking.

Only flying scraps of paper and a mess on the floor remained.

I sat there in a daze, slumped to the ground, overwhelmed by grief and helplessness.

Suddenly, a hand holding a tissue appeared in my line of sight. I looked up—and saw my brother’s face.

He’d been standing outside the door the entire time, watching everything.

“I didn’t bully Gu Mingzhu. She’s the one who’s been bullying me from the start!”

“Here. Wipe your tears. Stop crying.”

Gu Ye sighed and handed me the tissue.

My eyes flickered with hope.

Was he finally starting to believe me?

“Mingzhu’s usually such a nice girl. It’s just that your return made her feel insecure—afraid we’d abandon her. That’s why she’s been acting this way. You need to understand, don’t be so hard on her.”

My eyes widened in shock. Even breathing felt like it was cutting my chest.

“What about me?”

My voice trembled uncontrollably, and all the pent-up grievances I’d held onto for days finally burst out.

She’s insecure, so she gets to bully me as much as she wants.

But who ever cared about how I felt?!

Gu Ye looked at me in confusion, a hint of annoyance in his brows.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re back home now—you have a family, parents, a brother. You’re lucky.”

“But what about Mingzhu? She was abandoned in an orphanage as a baby. She has nothing! She’s so pitiful!”

“Even though you were lost for so many years, at least you’re alive and well. And we’ve never treated you badly since you came back. What more could you possibly want?”

“Why can’t you just let her have her way? Why do you have to be so selfish?!”

His words hit me like a sledgehammer. I froze in place, completely stunned.

Gu Ye shook his head and turned to leave, throwing one last sentence over his shoulder. “You’re such a disappointment.”

I thought I’d gotten used to this treatment after all these days.

But my heart felt like it had been torn open, and cold air rushed in, making it ache fiercely.