Chapter 1
The mansion always looked so beautiful from the outside—bright windows, polished gardens, and laughter echoing from its walls. Neighbors often called it the perfect family home.
But inside, for her, it was nothing more than a cage of silence and blame.
She had been born on a night of tragedy. Her twin brother had died minutes after birth, and though she had taken her first breath, everyone treated it as if she had stolen his. Her grandparents, powerful and sharp-tongued, were the first to call her a curse. Their words dripped like poison until even her parents turned cold.
Her mother, who once cradled her with gentle hands, now looked at her with bitterness, as though each glance was a reminder of the son she lost. Her father, who should have been her shield, buried himself in work, ignoring her existence altogether.
Her siblings followed quickly. Her elder brother mocked her, her sister sneered at her. If something broke, she was blamed. If something went missing, she was accused. And if nothing at all happened, still… somehow, she was the one punished.
Her room was not a bedroom but a storage closet at the far end of the house, smelling faintly of dust and dampness. At meals, while her family sat together around polished silverware, she was expected to buy her own food with the money she earned from part-time jobs. A millionaire's daughter who worked like an orphan—it was a cruel irony.
At school, things weren't any kinder. Rumors followed her like shadows—cursed child, unlucky girl, unwanted daughter. Teachers turned blind eyes to the bullying, and classmates distanced themselves as if she carried some invisible stain.
And yet… in the middle of this endless loneliness, her heart held onto a fragile warmth.
Across the street lived a boy—the golden boy of their neighborhood. Bright, charming, adored by all, and best friends with her siblings. To everyone else, he was popular and untouchable. But to her, he was something else entirely.
He was the boy who once shared his umbrella with her on a rainy afternoon, the boy who laughed so easily, the boy she had quietly loved for as long as she could remember.
Of course, she knew his heart belonged elsewhere—towards her elder sister, like everyone else's admiration did. But that didn't matter. From afar, she treasured every smile, every careless gesture, storing them away like stolen fragments of sunlight.
Because even if no one loved her, she could still love him.
But love, she was about to learn, was not gentle. Sometimes it was cruel. Sometimes, it destroyed.
And her first taste of it… would shatter her completely.