Chapter 2
Gina's lips, pale as death, curved into a cold smile. "Don't worry. I'm not crawling back."
After wiping off the blood Ella had drawn from her lips in the restroom, Gina caught her ghostly pale reflection. Mocking herself, she thought, 'What a joke I've become, all for a worthless family bond!
Checking her pulse, Gina remembered the fire at the old mansion. After saving her six brothers, her body gave in to carbon monoxide poisoning. Plus, they had drained 600cc of her blood. Still, she was only a bit weak, nothing more serious. Opening her phone, she saw a message from Olivia before the car accident. [Ethan and I are getting engaged next weekend. You won't skip it, will you, Gina?]
[The marriage that should have been yours had you not vanished. You're not mad I took your man, right?] Olivia's message reeked of smugness.
To Olivia, Ethan Jackson was a gem. To Gina, he was trash.
With a cold chuckle, Gina texted back. [Expect a lavish gift. Have a blast at your engagement.]
Gina used to overlook Olivia's low blows because of their shared blood. But now, she was determined to make Olivia regret it all.
Losing any interest in Olivia's reply, Gina blocked every Miller on her contacts. Then, she dialed a number she hadn't called in a year, her voice slightly hoarse. "Vegate Central Hospital, come get me." "Right away," came the reply.
Meanwhile, Olivia sat unscathed on the hospital bed, sneering at Gina's reply. "Thinks you can mess with me? As if you have the guts. You're probably bleeding out and close to death by now!
Olivia wasn't actually of the rare blood type. She had bribed a doctor to lie. The precious blood drawn from Gina was disposed of down the drain.
When the doctors winked from the door, Olivia swiftly played the weakling, sprawling herself on the bed as Ella and company entered.
Pretending to have just woken up, Olivia blinked at her two brothers and feigned distress. "Mom, how is Gina? She is okay, right?"
Ella thought bitterly, 'Gina refuses to give blood and even assaults Liam. Yet, here is Olivia, barely awake, worrying about Gina. Talk about angels and demons!
Angrily, Ella snapped, "Forget her. From now on, Olivia, you're the only daughter in the Miller family. Consider that girl dead to us."
Olivia had been waiting a whole year for those words. Thrilled yet cautious not to overdo her reaction, she curiously asked, "And Liam? Where is he?"
James grumbled, "That damn Gina broke his ribs. He is off getting treatment."
Olivia's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Liam, a ninth-dan black belt, champion at the International Boxing Competition, gets beaten by a frail Gina? Bullshit,' she thought. Collecting herself, Olivia asked, "So, Gina is gone?"
Then she began to sob. "Gina hates me, and I get it. Everything I have is supposed to be hers. But where did I wrong my brothers? It's all my fault. I wish I never existed."
Seeing Olivia shoulder all the blame, Ella felt her heart break. She hugged Olivia, soothing her. "Sweetheart, you've done nothing wrong. Luckily, the blood transfusion worked. You're gonna be fine."Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
Olivia sniffled, playing the innocent card. "So, Gina just stormed off without saying sorry to Liam?"
Her question hit a nerve with Ella. 'How the hell did we let that brat off so easily? Ever since Gina waltzed back into our lives, it's been disaster after disaster. She is the damn curse that's been plaguing our family. She owes an apology to Olivia and Liam."
Ella dialed the housekeeper, Lucas Harris. "If Gina dares to show her face here, tie her up and chuck her in the basement until I can deal with her myself!"
"Don't bother feeding her. Let her stew on what she has done," James chimed in coldly.
"And Lucas, give her a good whipping, but don't kill her. No mercy needed; she is asking for it," Noah added with a vicious tone.
"Got it," Lucas responded.
An hour later, Lucas reported back. "Mrs. Miller, we can't find the young miss anywhere. She has not come back, and she is nowhere to be found."
'That little shit, she thinks she can just not come back to the Miller family? Impossible! Where would she even go, abandoning the life of luxury here?' Ella muttered disdainfully.
"Just keep looking," Ella snapped.
"Yes, Mrs. Miller," Lucas responded.
"Yeah, let's see how she manages on her own. Pop is barely cold, and she's already eyeing the inheritance. Like hell, she's cutting ties with us." James scoffed.
"As it gets darker, I wonder if Gina is safe out there. Did anyone take her in?" Olivia asked, feigning concern.
Noah just snorted. "Olivia, drop it. She is not worth your worry. She tried to snatch Ethan right from under you. And here you are, still caring about her. What a fool!" "If Gina ends up dead out there, she had it coming," he added harshly.
*****
"Does it hurt?" Inside the Rolls Royce, Michael Clark looked at the bruises on Gina's hand and frowned deeply, gently applying ointment and blowing on it to ease the sting. Gina felt a tickle and withdrew her hand, busy on her laptop. "Nah, it's nothing. I'm not so fragile."
The bruises on Gina's hand, likely from improperly drawn blood, were swollen. Far from receiving concern from her so-called family, all she got was guilt-tripped.
'If it were Olivia, even a tiny scratch would have them up in arms, right?' Gina scoffed internally, her gaze dripping with derision.
Minutes later, staring at the gathered evidence, Gina smirked coldly. "Print these out for me, will you?"
Michael glanced at the laptop screen, slightly put off, and nodded. "Sure thing."
"Gina, time to head back to Oriata City. You have got a situation to take control of," Michael gently suggested.
"Not yet. The trap isn't set," Gina replied, her eyes reflecting a chilly resolve as she stared out the window, deep in thought.
That brutal massacre seemed tangled up with the Miller family.