Jane Sterling looked around the Cainiao Post. The place was somewhat empty, with only a few shelves.
But this place was, after all, a station for the Yin-Yang Express. It probably didn't handle packages for the living.
That would explain why there wasn't much cargo stored here.
The entire space was still more than enough for her.
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you—this Cainiao Post is invisible to ordinary people. In other words, when you step inside the station, no one can see you. They'll just think you vanished into thin air."
Bianca's voice echoed in her mind once more before falling silent.
If that was the case, it was exactly what Jane Sterling wanted.
She had been worrying about how she could possibly hide from Charles Sterling and Sharon Shelby, even if she fled to the ends of the earth.
But now she had a place like this. As long as she didn't step outside, she was certain those two would never find her in their entire lives.
Jane Sterling found a worn-out dustpan and broom and began cleaning the Cainiao Post from the inside out.
Outside the Cainiao Post was a tangle of overgrown shrubs.
Jane Sterling then found a discarded sickle somewhere and used it to clear a path through the shrubs.
The location was certainly remote, but thankfully, the Cainiao Post was a case of "small but perfectly formed."
Not only did it have a small loft for sleeping, but it even had a narrow bathroom where she could shower.
Jane Sterling was absolutely ecstatic.
After a quick clean-up, Jane Sterling dusted off her hands. Just as she was planning to sneak back to that house and grab all of her belongings...
...she reached the gates of Aethelgard University. There, she saw a familiar luxury car parked by the road. A frantic-looking couple got out and came rushing toward her.
The moment Jane Sterling saw the two of them, she took off running as if she'd seen a ghost.
It was Charles Sterling and Sharon Shelby. She couldn't believe it. They'd called her hundreds of times this morning.
After failing to get through, they'd actually resorted to ambushing her at the university. How insidious.
From behind her, Charles Sterling and Sharon Shelby shouted as they gave chase.
"Jane, stop running! We're sorry! We came to apologize, so please don't run! You were gone all night yesterday, where did you go? We were worried sick!"
A cold smile touched Jane's lips.
'Worried about me? Or worried about my bone marrow?'
'If something happened to me, there would be no suitable match for *your* daughter's bone marrow transplant.'
'I can't believe it. The parents I've lived with for eighteen years are actually this kind of people. What fucking scumbags.'
A wave of nausea washed over Jane.
Seeing that Jane still had no intention of stopping, Sharon Shelby suddenly stopped. Her eyes darted around for a moment, and then she plopped down on the ground and started to throw a full-blown tantrum.
"Oh, the injustice of it all! Our daughter's all grown up, her wings have hardened, and now she won't even acknowledge her own parents! We gave you the best of everything so you could study, and after all that hard work to get into the Natural Sciences program at Aethelgard University, you turn your back on us! Will someone please tell us who's in the right here?!"
Sharon Shelby's wails echoed through the air. Jane instantly stopped in her tracks, grinding her teeth.
'That damn Sharon Shelby. Is she really using my own university to blackmail me?'
'I'm only eighteen. I worked so hard to get into college, and I have to see it through.'
'And the Natural Sciences program... the entire major has fewer than twenty students.'
'If people saw this, I'd be infamous before classes even started.'
'Sharon Shelby is a clever schemer. Is she trying to ruin my reputation?'
Seeing that Jane had stopped running, Sharon Shelby, still on the ground, gave a smug smile. She then patted the dust off her bottom and stood up.
The pair walked up to Jane, unfazed by the unhappy look on her face.
Charles Sterling concealed the impatience in his eyes, looking at Jane with a beaming, fawning smile.
"Why didn't you come home last night? We waited for you for so long."
Jane's brow twitched.
'Are you kidding me? As if you don't fucking know why I didn't come home.'
'Besides...'
'Home?'
'What home is there left to go to?'
'The moment you started caring only for your biological daughter—casting me, the child you raised for eighteen years, aside like a worn-out shoe, trying to squeeze every last drop of value out of me—that's when our so-called 'home' shattered.'
Sharon Shelby chimed in with a placating smile.
"That's right, Jane. Don't think we're being cruel. You and your sister are both our children, flesh of our flesh. If you were the one with leukemia, we would have asked your sister to donate her bone marrow to you just the same."
Jane remained silent, standing off to the side.
'These two have no shame, but I still have my dignity to think about.'
Seeing her silence, Charles Sterling assumed his words had cowed her and grew smug.
He exchanged a look with Sharon Shelby, and they both shared a knowing glance.
Charles Sterling stepped forward to take Jane's arm, but she subtly sidestepped him.
Charles Sterling's hand froze in mid-air, hanging there awkwardly.
He quickly schooled his features and put on a pitiful expression for Jane.
"Jane, we know you resent us. We promise, we will never try to force you to donate your bone marrow again. We've already found a more suitable match. But no matter what, Mimi is still your sister. Just going to the hospital to visit her... that's not too much to ask, is it?"
Hearing Charles Sterling's blatant lies, Jane let out a disdainful sneer.
'Does he think I'm a three-year-old?'
'I only just refused the donation yesterday, and today they've already found another successful match?'
'If it were really that easy, would they have needed to pressure me so hard yesterday?'
Jane just smiled coldly, saying nothing.
She had nothing to say to the two people in front of her. She just wanted to get away from this whole mess and never see their disgusting faces again.
Sharon Shelby nodded along.
"That's right, Jane. Even if you won't do it for our sake, you should do it for Grandma's sake, right? Grandma was so good to you. Her only dying wish was for our family to be happy and harmonious."
"Even though you're not our biological daughter, and what we did yesterday was truly out of line... we were just so anxious. We made a mistake in the heat of the moment. So, for Grandma's sake, please forgive us..."
Sharon Shelby sounded sincere, but to Jane's ears, it reeked of emotional blackmail.
Her grandmother had been very good to her, treating her like a precious treasure.
Unfortunately, her grandmother had passed away from cancer a few years ago.
Remembering that gentle, kind face from her memories, Jane's heart clenched.
She looked at the two people in front of her again and, damn it all, felt her resolve soften once more.