chapter 5

Lunchtime rolled around, and I made my way to the rooftop. As expected, Barry was already there.

He stood with a tall, straight build, his handsome profile highlighted by a pair of melancholy eyes beneath thick lashes. Leaning on the railing, he was gazing into the distance.

"Sevyn, why haven't you been at school these days?" he asked.

In this era where everyone had a phone, I was the odd one out. The Wrenley family, except for wanting me to tag along with Rebecca, tried their best to cut me off from the outside world.

"Just got locked up for a few days," I said casually, recounting my recent ordeal.

"I knew you had the guts. You're just the person I thought you were," Barry remarked.

"Actually, I was the one who took a fancy to you first," I retorted, standing side by side with him.

The view from the rooftop was stunning, with rows of red-tiled roofs and lush greenery stretching out as far as the eye could see.

"Did you get it?" Barry inquired.

I smiled, "Sure did."

I handed him a small camera that had been hidden among the study materials he gave me the other day.

Barry flipped through the photos on the camera, silent for a long time.

The pictures showed statues, amulets, and altars taken in a dim environment.

In front of the altars were all sorts of strange things like nails and hair, each accompanied by a photo of a dead person.

There were both men and women, and one of the women looked remarkably like Barry.

A tear slipped from my eye and dropped onto the railing.

I patted Barry on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Waited years for these photos. Now it's up to you. Don't let me down," I said.

Barry turned to me, smiling through his tears, and gently stroked the stray hairs on my head.

He said, "Don't worry. Since you're so amazing, I'll do my best too."

It was my junior year in middle school, time for the SSAT.

Rebecca's grades weren't great, and staying at this school for senior high was her best bet.

On the eve of the exam, I was doing my final review.

"Sevyn, you're so lucky. Your grades are abysmal, but you can still stay in this school with Rebecca even if you do nothing," one of my classmates sneered.

"Rebecca, your dad's a philanthropist. Why don't you persuade him to sponsor some poor college students instead of keeping Sevyn?" another one chimed in.

Someone complained, "Rebecca, you're too nice. How can you put up with this ungrateful girl?"

Seeing that I didn't react, Rebecca said, "Guys, don't talk like that. She's my sister after all. And it takes a lot of perseverance for her to study every day despite always being at the bottom of the class. Keep it up, and she'll succeed. Stop making fun of her."

Someone immediately came to flatter her, saying, "Rebecca, stop joking. It's only because your family's rich. Otherwise, with her grades, she couldn't even get into the worst high school."

The SSAT used a city-wide unified test paper, and the exam rooms were randomly assigned.

At my exam seat, out of Rebecca's sight, I wrote down the answers for each subject with neat handwriting and careful calculations.

After the exam, before the results were out, Rebecca pestered Evelyn to go on a trip.

Evelyn was in a bind and had to talk to Michael.

"Honey, Rebecca's been cooped up at home for so long. How about letting her go and relax for a few days? We can take Sevyn along," Evelyn said.

Michael refused without hesitation and said, "No way. There are too many people outside. If she runs around, it'll be a big problem. Don't risk Rebecca's life."

"Sevyn is such an ungrateful girl. After all these years, she still doesn't fit in. Do you think she knows something... that's why she's always so distant from us?" Evelyn suspected.

Michael scolded her seriously, "Keep your voice down! Don't talk about this at home... In my opinion, there's no way she knows. She's just a wild, ill-bred girl with bad blood in her. Don't take it to heart."

Although Michael initially refused, he couldn't resist Rebecca's pestering. Eventually, he caved in and agreed to let her take me on a vacation to a small island.

The island wasn't big. We had to take a plane first and then transfer to a small ferry to reach it.

Rebecca was afraid of getting bored, so she invited her classmates along and offered to cover all the expenses.

To my surprise, Barry was among this group of people.

Rebecca invited him on a whim, not expecting that he would readily accept the invitation.