Chapter 4

"Don't worry, Danica. If it's true that he did this, I will definitely teach him a lesson."

My grandfather sighed, lost in thought. After all, on one side was me, and on the other, his own grandson.

My mother sat nearby, glaring at me. I knew she was upset because I had exposed my brother. In her heart, my brother was always the most important. She expected me to be graceful and composed but placed all her hopes on him.

"It's just a dislocation, so why are you making such a fuss? Sit down already. Look at yourself; what do you think you look like?"

I had expected this from her and simply let out a cold laugh before turning to Old Mr. Swanson.

"My mother is right; there's no need to punish Ricky anymore. I've already blinded him in one eye."

Old Mr. Swanson nearly choked on his breath when he heard this, and the people beside him quickly supported him to prevent him from collapsing.

But I didn't care about anything else now-all I wanted was to break away from Ricky.

I took the opportunity to press further with Old Mr. Swanson.

"Your grandson broke my arm, and I blinded his eye. We're even now. But we've also become enemies, so let's annul the engagement."

The room went dead silent as everyone held their breath.

"Shut up! Do you even know what you're saying?" My brother Harvey stepped forward, hastily chastising me. "You've ruined Grandfather's birthday party! Don't you have any respect?"

The look in his eyes was filled with disgust, as if I weren't his sister, but an enemy he had grown to loathe.

Before I could respond, Ricky stumbled in, barely able to stand, and dropped to his knees.

"Chairman Mann, Danica stabbed me in the eye just because I made a joke. You have to stand up for me."

His words were pleading, painting me as the villain, but I wasn't afraid.

Grandfather had raised me and knew my temperament better than anyone. He wouldn't judge me unfairly.

Isis, still kneeling, began to cry as well.

"Miss Mann, what's wrong with you? We didn't do anything to you, yet you act so cruelly!"

I cut her off coldly, "This has nothing to do with you."

"Ricky hurt me first-my injured hand is proof enough. You can try to pin this all on me, but no one here is stupid."

The reason those three were acting so united was simple-my brother needed the Swanson family's support to rise in the ranks. That's why I had to break them apart.

Grandfather let out a long sigh.

"Enough! I know my own granddaughter. You've disappointed me, Harvey. A mere outsider, and you're willing to bully your own sister?"

He turned to Harvey with clear disapproval.

My mother, who had been sitting silently, couldn't remain still anymore. She quickly stepped in to defend my brother.

"It's my fault! Harvey has been so busy lately that he got overwhelmed. Please, just punish him lightly. I don't want him to suffer too much."

Hearing her words, I clenched my fists. Why did they always have someone to shield them, even after hurting me so much?

But Grandfather couldn't say much either. After all, my maternal family was powerful, and offending them would lead to trouble.

"Harvey, you'll sit out of the next project. As for Ricky, my granddaughter has treated you so well, and even I've noticed it. But you didn't appreciate her. The engagement between our two families is now off."

I knew Grandfather was going easy on Ricky because of Old Mr. Swanson, but I was still satisfied with the outcome.

"You're Isis, right? How dare you bully my granddaughter! From now on, the Mann family won't tolerate you!"

Just as Grandfather was about to order her expulsion, both my brother and Ricky, those two fools, stepped forward to plead on her behalf.

"No!"

Seeing this, Grandfather's temper flared.

"Then tell me, what should be done?!"

Old Mr. Swanson, livid, struck Ricky on the head with his cane. "Idiot! What nonsense are you spouting?"

But Ricky, who had always been meek, was unrelenting now, seemingly willing to sacrifice everything for Isis.

"Grandfather, please don't persuade me anymore. Isis is my savior. If it weren't for Danica bullying her, she wouldn't have acted like this."

I couldn't bear it any longer and snapped back.

"Why should I tolerate her just to make things easier for you? Do you really think I'm that easy to push around?"

Ricky looked at me with a smug expression, as if I didn't understand.

"This isn't bullying you. I'm simply telling the truth. Aren't you just jealous, which is why you keep targeting Isis?"

I found his confidence laughable.

But before I could respond, Old Mr. Swanson slapped him hard across the face.

The eldest son of the Swanson family quickly came over to drag him away, leaving Ricky behind, covered in blood.

Isis crawled over to my brother's side and, with tears streaming down her face, pleaded, "Harvey, what should I do?"

Seeing her pitiful expression, I noticed a hint of pity flash in my brother's eyes.

In the end, I was cornered. I knocked over all the candles on the banquet tables, deciding to take them all down with me.

When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the time before my engagement to Ricky.

In front of me, Isis was holding a utility knife to herself. "Do you think if they saw me hurt, they'd beat you to death?"

Only then did I realize I had been reborn.

Isis, seeing I wasn't reacting, shifted her gaze to the million-dollar diamond necklace around my neck.

"If you give me that necklace, I'll help you plead with your brother when he scolds you later…"

A surge of anger welled up inside me, and I snatched the knife from her hand, slashing her face a dozen times!

"What's the point of a little injury? Only this way will they have something worth tattling about!"

Satisfied, I tossed the knife aside and calmly wiped the blood from my hands.

Isis was terrified, screaming as she tried to run, "Help! Someone, save me!"

I grabbed her hair, smashing her head against the corner of the table a few times before letting go.

Isis collapsed on the ground like a dead dog, motionless.

"You always love to come around here, so why don't you just die here?"

I kicked her a few more times before leaving, fully satisfied.

In my previous life, as the daughter of the richest family in City A, the Mann family, I was brought up with the finest education, including how to treat my brother's so-called savior, Isis.

But even with my brother's affection, she wasn't satisfied-she set her sights on my fiancé, Ricky.

From then on, she saw me as a thorn in her side, constantly scheming against me, claiming that I was always targeting her.

No matter how I defended myself, they would always believe Isis unconditionally.

Before I knew it, I had wandered into the backyard, only to see Ricky standing under a tree.

When he saw me, his brows furrowed. "Danica, what are you doing here?"

I scoffed, "This is my home. If not me, who else would be here-your beloved Isis?"

His expression darkened immediately. "Don't speak nonsense. She's your brother's savior!"

In my previous life, every time I questioned his relationship with Isis, he would brush me off like this and even accuse me of being paranoid.

It wasn't until I was on my deathbed that I learned that Isis and Ricky had known each other all along.

Not only had she saved my brother, but she had also conveniently saved Ricky, the second son of the Swanson family conglomerate.

Ricky, in turn, harbored ambitions to use my family's status to overthrow the rest of the Swanson family and claim the inheritance for himself.

That's why he plotted everything, only to betray me on the wedding day.

This time, I let out a cold laugh and called over the butler and security guards. "He snuck into our backyard. Who knows what his intentions are!"

"Throw him out of the Mann estate!"

Ricky's face turned ashen. "Danica! We're engaged!"

He looked at me in disbelief. "How can you be so ruthless?"

Recalling everything he did to me in my previous life, I slapped him across the face without emotion.

"This is what ruthless looks like! And by the way, our engagement is off. Now… get lost."

The atmosphere turned deathly quiet, and Ricky's knees buckled, causing him to kneel on the ground.

"Danica, if you're unhappy with me, you can hit or scold me, but how can you say something like that?"

"Have you forgotten the vows we made to always stay by each other's side?"

His words were sincere, but I could see the resentment and darkness in his eyes.

Being around this wolf in sheep's clothing for even a second made me sick to my stomach.

Without hesitation, I ordered the guards to beat him up and throw him out.

Listening to Ricky's pitiful pleas for mercy from a distance, I felt a bit of the heaviness in my heart lift.

That evening, my brother sent someone to summon me to his study.

Behind him, Isis stood with her face wrapped in bandages, looking pathetic, and a frail, barely recognizable Ricky was there too.

The moment I stepped in, my brother struck me with a cane.

"Danica, kneel down!"

"Who gave you the right to hit people? Isis's face is ruined because of you. She almost didn't survive!"

Almost didn't survive…

I sighed regretfully, thinking I hadn't gone far enough.

Seeing I wasn't reacting, my brother swung the cane down again, but this time, I dodged to the side.

"You dare to dodge? Kneel!"

I grabbed the cane and threw it aside.