The skies in July were searing, yet the rain that fell on her seemed to cast a frosty layer around her, causing her to tremble all over. Zoe Bell knew her adoptive parents did not love her, but she had not anticipated...
that they would be so heartless!
To ally through marriage with the Stone Family, they were willing to ruin her.
She never liked dancing initially, but Vivi Lange felt that dancing could cultivate one's demeanor. Gradually, Zoe also found joy in it, and since her adoptive parents liked it, she tried hard to learn, hoping to make them happy.
Dancing slowly became a part of her life, and she gained a lot from it.
She felt that she could change her life through dance.
Or perhaps in their eyes, her life...
was inconsequential.
It didn't count for anything at all.
So it didn't matter if it was easily destroyed.
She took a deep breath, took out her phone intending to hail a cab to the training institution to rest. There was her office, but at that moment, her boss sent her a message.
Telling her
she had been dismissed, without any reason!
Telling her to clear out her personal belongings when she had the time.
"Zoe, I'm truly sorry. I had no choice. I'm just an ordinary person, and you..." The person in charge was evasive, also distressed, "Are you okay?"
It was clear that the Bell Family had made a move.
"I'm fine."
"The children all especially like you. I didn't want to dismiss you. Don't worry, I'll give you some extra compensation. Take good care of yourself, and let me know if you have any difficulties."
Zoe Bell responded somberly as the rain fell, feeling even colder, her legs aching fiercely.
Water droplets speckled her phone screen, making the touchscreen less responsive. She had just located the taxi app when her phone vibrated again.
It was a call from Director Hall of the orphanage. After some pleasantries, she got to the point, "Zoe, has something happened on your end?"
"Why do you ask so suddenly?"
Zoe Bell bit her lip, trying to keep her tone steady and natural.
"President Bell's lawyer suddenly called, saying they will withdraw future support. If there's really a difficulty, I can understand, since donations are voluntary after all. I'm grateful for his support over these years..."
Zoe Bell had known Director Hall since she was a child. If it were not a genuine hardship, the director would not have made this call.
Kevin Bell knew what she cared about and had easily pinpointed her vulnerability.
He was pressuring her.
Cornering her with nowhere to turn, nowhere to go!
Forcing her to compromise.
She had already compromised for the sake of the orphanage, trying to accept everything the Bell Family arranged for her.
But the leg injury pushed her years of pent-up grievances and sufferings to the brink; she just couldn't bear it anymore.
Anger overran her reason,
and all she wanted was an explanation!
She wanted to know why!
She feared that now in Greenland, there wasn't a single hotel or inn willing to shelter her; she had to either plead with Brandon Stone or apologize to her adoptive parents and obediently return to the Bell Family to accept all their arrangements.
But she couldn't understand what she had done wrong.
Why everyone was pressuring her.
As if she were the cause of everything turning out the way it had.
Her adoptive parents even felt that she had stolen the life initially meant for Mina Bell, taken her place...
her fiancé!
Even the fact that Mina hadn't gone to college was somehow her responsibility.
Twenty years ago, she arrived with nothing,
and now, once again, she was being driven out with nothing!
It was too cold, so she put on that trench coat, long enough to cover her calves.
But even clothed, her body felt unprotected, the wind carrying the rain like arrows, like blades, piercing through her body, gruesomely brushing past.
As the wind and rain swept by, tears streamed down her face, dotting her cheeks.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her breathing.
Zoe Bell, don't cry!
It's not worth it!
This is a luxurious district in Greenland, mostly accessed by private luxury cars, and it's difficult to hail a cab in the rain.
Even if she hailed a cab, Zoe Bell wouldn't know where to go.
Her body had already been soaked by the rain, clutching her phone, her heart felt desolate.
Mina Bell kept sending her messages.
"Sis, it's raining so hard outside, please come back, just apologize to mom and dad."
"Last time it was my fault, I shouldn't have developed inappropriate thoughts for Brother Brandon, I apologize to you. You can hit or yell at me, but please come home quickly. It's unsafe for a girl to be outside so late."
"We are all family, there's nothing we can't get past."
...
Zoe Bell sneered coldly, her stomach churning with discomfort, a wave of nausea surged up.
Family, how could she say such a thing.
Doesn't she feel hypocritical?
She was well aware of her status and situation within the Bell Family, she never coveted anything that wasn't hers, and this would not have changed even if Mina Bell hadn't returned.
She was grateful for everything her adoptive parents had given her, so over the years, she had been compromising.
But Mina Bell didn't think so, she was convinced that all these years Zoe had stolen what belonged to her.
Being an adopted daughter, wearing beautiful evening gowns and expensive jewelry, she accompanied her parents to social gatherings.
She seemed glamorous, but once she got home, it was like Cinderella losing her glass slipper, everything reverted back to its original state.
Her adoptive parents always guarded against her, and even through their actions, they told her:
She did not deserve it!
This also led to her not having friends in Greenland, as ordinary people thought she was the spoiled daughter of a rich family and dared not approach. Mr. and Mrs. Bell also didn't allow her to mingle with ordinary people, fearing they might lower the Bell Family's status.
And the world of the wealthy, with their wild and lavish lifestyles, she just didn't fit in.
When Brandon Stone took her out, she seldom joined in their revelries, so people in those circles said she was aloof and difficult to approach, some even said, she looked down on them.
In Brandon's presence, they were relatively nice to her, but privately they often mocked her, "Just an adopted daughter, but quite haughty."
Brandon Stone liked her, but even he looked down upon his own identity.
He thought he should be obedient and compliant, and should never lose his temper.
Thus, on such a rainy night, she couldn't find a place to shield herself from the wind and rain.
It was precisely because he knew this, that Kevin Bell could pressure her like this!
He understood:
She wasn't as indifferent as flora, didn't have a heart of steel; the orphanage was one of her few memories in this world, she couldn't just watch it encounter problems.
Thus, no matter how much she was humiliated, she would ultimately compromise.
She chuckled lowly to herself, could she really not break free from the Bell Family?
Must she be manipulated by them for her whole life?
——
In the distance, the sky was filled with dark clouds, both the sky and the earth were deeply gray, and the silhouette of Zoe Bell was desolate, swallowed by the rain.
Her figure, amid the heavens and earth, appeared tiny and alone.
Just like a soul heavily scarred, wandering in this gloomy world, unable to find an exit.
Every now and then, cars passed by Zoe Bell, until a car moved through the shower and stopped in front of her, its headlights glaring. She instinctively stopped walking, waiting as the headlights slowly went out, then someone got out of the car.
Her vision blurred by the rain, she struggled to open her eyes to see the person clearly.
Dressed in black, holding a black umbrella, his face gradually became clear, with deep-set eyes and an aloof demeanor.
He took large strides and stopped in front of her in just a few steps.
The moment the umbrella tilted towards her…
her world,
the rain stopped.