The night was dark.
Luna Brooke stared in disbelief at the man and woman hugging and kissing each other in front of her. She felt like she was losing consciousness, as though a large hand was squeezing her heart. Even her voice was trembling with pain as she said, "No, this isn't real… Today's my birthday, so you're all just giving me a surprise, right?"
As tears streamed down her pale face, her black eyeliner was smudged. It made her look even more of a mess.
"Luna Brooke, you're so stupid that I can't deal with it anymore!" The young man wearing a proper suit didn't even hide the repulsion in his eyes, losing all the warmth and gentleness he had portrayed in the past. She couldn't believe it. "I've always loved Eve only! If it weren't because of the inheritance your mother left you, do you think I would even take a glance at someone as filthy as you? Stop dreaming! You're not even worth a second of my time!"
Luna Brooke stumbled a few steps back before she collapsed on the floor. Her eyes began to lose focus as she murmured, "Why are you all treating me like this? I've never been selfish with the money my mom left for me. Why… Why are all of you treating me like this..?"
This must be a hallucination. She must have forgotten to take her meds. That was why she was having hallucinations! That had to be it!
"Are you trying to shrug off some beggars with that little money? As long as you are dead, your mother's one-billion inheritance would belong to Clarence and me!" The charming and curvy young lady revealed a captivating smile. However, it seemed that she was not too happy with it, and said something even more heartbreaking, "Oh, right. That one million in your card? Emmett took it to pay his gambling debt! But since it wasn't enough, he used your identity to borrow another 700 thousand!"
Luna Brooke yelled out with tears on her angry face, "You! I- I'm going to tell Dad about this!"
As she struggled to stand up, a sharp pain instantly spread to her whole body.
Before she could even react, she once again fainted on the ground with her eyes closed.
"Clarence, are you sure the drugs will work?"
"Don't worry. I've asked someone to bring it out from a lab. Even forensics won't find anything! Not to mention everyone knows that she's mentally unstable. No one would be surprised if she took the wrong meds!"
"Phew. This woman is finally dead. We don't have to do it in the shadows anymore!"
"Let's get out of here first! The party's about to begin…"
As the door closed, the woman on the ground finally began to lose her senses…
After a powerful impact and being thrown into the depths of the sunless ocean, the suffocation the woman experienced finally made her lose her final ounce of strength as she slowly drifted deeper and deeper.
After a long time, bright light forced her to open her eyes slowly.
Clean, white curtains fluttered along with the wind in a luxurious room as her chaotic thoughts were dragged back into reality.
Her cruise ship had crashed into an iceberg. She didn't survive even when she was a top-ranking assassin trained by the nation of Zenthia.
But why? Why would she be here?
She looked at the face reflected on the mirror not far away as memories began to flood her thoughts.
Luna Brooke. The eldest daughter of the Brooke family.
Her birth mother had passed away because of sickness and left her with a fortune. The mistress became the wife together with her illegitimate son and daughter.
Unfortunately, the former had been too sheltered. She didn't realize the siblings' hostility against her under the cover of their false pretenses.
Firstly, she was plotted against and became "mentally unstable" in everyone's eyes. She immediately became an outcast among the aristocrats. Then, her fiancé was stolen from her. Not only that but all her money had also been stolen from her by Eve's younger brother and had put her in a 700 thousand debt!
Today, on her 23rd birthday party, she was supposed to be the star of the show. Instead, she had been murdered by her fiancé with a glass of poisoned wine.
The pain on her chest reminded her that she had survived in place of this foolish girl.
She solely stood up and walked towards her dressing table, and gently removed her already ruined makeup.
'Luna Brooke, is it? Don't worry. Now that I've taken control of your body, I'll make everyone pay!'
Half an hour later, just as the head of the family Julius Brooke was going to get angry in the crowded hall, a figure slowly appeared at the doorway.
Her long wavy brown hair lay still on her shoulders as the tight, black dress that she was wearing accentuated the young woman's curves perfectly.
Her innocent, glassy facial features were somehow quite charming, like a Devil's Trumpet quietly blooming at night. She successfully attracted everyone's attention with that endless splendor of hers.
"The eldest daughter of the Brooke family is so beautiful!"
"What's the use of being pretty? Don't you know? I heard that she became mentally unstable after her mother's death."
"Right. She would paint her face like a monster every day. What a waste!"
"I pity the son of the Oaks for being engaged to a mentally unstable woman!"
There was a hint of iciness in Luna's eyes as she listened to the whispers.
The original had believed Clarence Oak's lies, saying that heavy makeup suited her. That, too, was just a part of the two Brooke siblings' plot!
Looking at Clarence and Eve's extremely mortified expressions, Luna felt somewhat satisfied. They found this hard to believe? The best was yet to come!
When Julius Brooke saw Luna finally arrived, he didn't scold her for being late since he was already used to his daughter's various strange actions. He merely said, "Today's your birthday party, go say a few words! Remember, don't say anything weird!"
Luna glanced at Clarence and Eve without making any large movements, and her lips curled into a smile.
"Of course, Dad. I will!" She replied to him calmly.
She turned and climbed up the stairs in the middle of the hall, with a microphone in her hands. As she spoke, her voice was soft like the first light after a long and dark winter, "Thank you for coming to my 23rd birthday party during your busy schedule, and welcome. I'll make this short. Today, I will be breaking off my engagement with Clarence Oak. May all of you be witnesses to this!"
"Luna! What are you talking about?!" Julius Brooke immediately darted forward and snatched the microphone in anger. He then continued, "Stop this madness at once!"
Luna looked at Julius with a smile, but it wasn't sincere at all. It was cold, very cold. She then said, "Dad, please don't be mad just yet. The reason that I wanted to break off my engagement isn't that I'm sick, but because Clarence betrayed me. The person that he loves is Eve. As the elder sister, how can I steal my younger sister's beloved? She has suffered so much out there, I can't bear seeing her hurt!"
In two short sentences, she had then exposed the truth about Clarence's cheating and Eve being an illegitimate daughter to everyone.
The next moment, Luna pressed a button, and indecent sounds echoed within the hall.
On the screen, two naked, sweaty bodies were holding each other. The crowd was instantly horrified.
"Oh god! That's terrible!"
"I knew it. A woman raised by a mistress would never be proper! She even seduced her sister's fiancé!"
"They mutually love each other. I suppose that Young Master Oak was done being together with someone who's mentally unstable!"