They Sabotaged My Future, Then Begged Me to Come Back When I Built a Better One Chapter 07

They Sabotaged My Future, Then Begged Me to Come Back When I Built a Better One Chapter 07

Maybe my words hit them. They felt speechless. 

Vivian looked like she’d just thrown a punch at thin air. Her 

face cycled from pale to red and back again. 

Finding no satisfaction, she let out a cold huff and stalked 

away. 

Soren remained seated on the sofa, staring at me. 

Something unreadable churned in his eyes. His voice came out 

hoarse, almost frightening. 

“Brielle, do you have to degrade yourself like this?” 

I lowered my head, my gaze falling on the jagged scar across 

my wrist. 

A constant reminder of that night’s despair. 

A thin layer of moisture welled in my eyes. I swallowed the 

sting and forced a faint smile. 

“Isn’t this exactly what you made me? I’m being obedient 

now, Soren. Still not satisfied?” 

Days of submission shattered in that instant of sharp defiance. 

I raised my head and looked him straight in the eye. 

Soren froze. He couldn’t bear to look at me. He couldn’t bear 

to look at the scar. 

Snatching up his jacket, he fled. 

Late at night, the entire villa fell into silence. 

Avoiding the cameras, I slipped quietly into Soren’s study. 

After two weeks of playing obedient, I’d finally gotten him to let his guard down. He’d stopped locking the study door. 

I turned on his computer. It required a password. 

My fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment. Then I entered Vivian’s birthday. 

The system unlocked. 

A faint, bitter smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I swallowed the surge of emotion and began searching. 

At last, inside a hidden folder, I found what I was looking for. 

One file showed a transfer of five million to the overseas account of the driver who hit me. 

So in his eyes, one of my legs, ten years of relentless studying, was only worth five million. 

But when I opened the second file, my blood ran cold. 

Soren had used his family’s influence to bribe members of the test development committee, buying Vivian access to core SAT questions. 

I stared at the screen, the absurdity of it all almost laughable. 

Back at Silver Pines Foster Home, I had studied under dim motion–sensor lights until my eyes burned red just to earn my grades. 

And all Vivian had to do was have Soren lift a finger, and it was handed to her. 

All for her. He’d grown arrogant enough to trample the law, to rob every student in this province of their right to a fair shot. 

I saved the files to a drive. 

Then, along with the old phone I’d retrieved from the storage room days before, I tucked them securely against my body. 

On the day the results came out, the news coverage was 

endless. 

Vivian earned a perfect SAT score. The Harrington family was 

overjoyed. 

They threw an extravagant graduation party at the Grandview Plaza Hotel downtown. 

They invited business leaders and members of the education 

community. 

As the family’s disgrace, I had originally been forbidden from 

attending. 

But Soren insisted otherwise. 

He had always kept me away from Vivian before. This time, for some reason, he was determined to bring me to the event. 

Inside the banquet hall, Vivian wore a princess dress and a diamond tiara, surrounded by our parents and a crowd of 

guests. 

“Mr. Harrington, you’ve raised your daughter well. Not only is she beautiful, she’s a genius.” 

“Exactly. Unlike some families that end up with a useless 

failure.” 

My parents beamed, basking in the praise, never once mentioning me as I stood in the corner with my crutch. 

A few guests who knew the situation passed by. Seeing my 

injured leg, they laughed openly. 

“Look, that’s the Harringtons‘ younger daughter.” 

“I heard she was so jealous of her sister she went and broke 

her own leg.” 

“What a pathetic, crazy cripple.” 

Soren stood not far off, glass in hand. 

On the surface, he was making polite small talk, but out of the 

corner of his eye, he kept me locked in his sights. 

He thought I would break down. 

He thought I’d tear up and confront him, the way I always 

used to. But I didn’t. 

I sat quietly in the shadows, even offering a polite smile to 

those who mocked me.