Pregnant With His Child, Branded as Trash novel

The day I discovered I was pregnant, the entire city was buried under a blizzard.
With numb, trembling feet, I made my way to the private dining room where Kurt was having dinner, wanting to surprise him.
I also wanted to tell him that the Crown Prince he had offended had finally grown tired of me before the one-year "atonement period" was up.
We no longer had to pay off that million dollar debt!
"Kurt, isn't your proposal to Daniella coming up next week? Is the surprise ready?"
Hearing the voices leaking through the cracked door, I brushed the snow from my coat.
My cheeks were frozen red, yet I couldn't stop smiling.
Kurt was even planning a surprise...
"Daniella probably doesn't know you were the one who volunteered to send her to the Crown Prince as his personal secretary, right?"
"With a twisted personality like his, she must've been tortured miserably."
My hand froze mid-knock. My fingertips went numb.
Volunteer?
"What else could he do? She bullied Olivia so badly she developed depression and couldn't even go to college! Olivia is Kurt's first love. To punish Daniella, Kurt had it rough toosleeping with a secondhand woman must've been disgusting."
Cruel words sliced into my ears like knives. But I never did any of those things...
Panic surged through me. I looked toward the hazy reflection of Kurt inside the room.
He didn't deny it. He only let out a lazy, mocking laugh.
His friend continued.
"You guys don't know, right? The Crown Prince really went all out with Daniella. A few days ago he forced her to drink strong liquor until her stomach almost ruptured. Before that, he left her hanging on the balcony for a whole day and night! Oh, and the roller-coaster incidentshe was tied to the seat for seventeen rounds. She almost ended up in the ICU!"
Laughter exploded inside the room.
"And Kurt just asks, 'You okay, baby?' Then she says, 'I'm fine.' If she knew that every time she was tortured, Kurt got a project worth tens of thousands from the Prince, hahshe'd probably break down on the spot for you all to see!"
"She has no idea that the happiness she feels now will turn into despair in seven days."
A gust of wind hit my back, but I could no longer tell if the cold was from outside... or from the ice forming in my chest.
The laughter kept pouring out of the room.
I tried to speak, but it felt like someone had sealed my throat shut.
How... how could this be?
I remembered every time I was hurt, and Kurt's eyes would redden as he dabbed medicine on my wounds with trembling fingers. I remembered him apologizing, "It's my fault. I made you suffer."
I remembered him waiting for me every night, no matter how late, smiling softly as he said, "You're home."
Those gentle momentsthose tender wordswere the only reason I survived this past year.
But now... all of it was a lie?
Then someone inside teased, "What's wrong, Kurt? Already feeling sorry for her? Olivia will come back tomorrow. If you regret it and want to return to your miserable life with Daniella, there's still time!"
Kurt seemed to snap back to himself. He laughed and mocked, "Sorry for her? How could I?"
"She's nothing but used trash. She disgusts me."
The room erupted into another round of laughter.
"One week from now, at the proposal ceremony, I'll expose everything in publiclet her fall from the clouds straight into the mud. Then she can get out of my life, and I'll confess to Olivia."

I couldn't remember how I walked out of that restaurant.
My limbs were cold, as if blood had stopped bothering to flow to them.
The pregnancy test report slipped from my pocket, landing in the snowy road.
A truck rolled over it, crushing the damp paper until it disappeared
as if it had never existed.
I stared blankly at the street, every sentence I heard moments ago echoing in my skull.
Each replay carved another fresh wound into my chest. Especially that one sentence from Kurt, "She's just used trash."
That tonedisgust, contempt.
He had never spoken to me like that.
I couldnt understand.
I truly couldnt understand how things had become like this.
My breath hitched, and I held my head, trying to stop the chaos in my chest.
Kurt and I grew up in a broken family.
My father was an alcoholic; his mother struggled with mental illness.
For as long as I could remember, life had been nothing but tormentmy stepmother stabbing me with needles, my father smashing bottles over me.
Only Kurt was kind to me.
I was two years younger. Every time I was about to collapse, he stood in front of me and said, "Don't be scared. I'm here."
When the belt came down, he shielded my head with his own body so I wouldn't be beaten to death.
We survived those hellish days together.
Then, as if heaven took pity on us, our stepmother got drunk one night and fell into the river.
After that, only our father remained.
I spiraled into severe self-harm back then.
Kurt took blades from my hands over and over, showing me his own scars.
Look, it hurts. Dont do it again.
Afraid of hurting him, I forced myself to stop.
Later, when he reached his third year of high school, our father refused to pay his tuition. So I worked part-time jobs to support the two of us.
But on Kurt's birthday that year, he got into a fight with our father over money and accidentally pushed him down the stairs.
I froze in terror.
All I could think was my brother was about to take the college entrance exam. He couldn't go to prison. His life couldn't be ruined.
While I was secretly paying someone to remove the building's newly installed surveillance cameras, his deskmateOliviaran to the police to confess.
"It was me. I pushed him. He... he tried to touch me, and I panicked."
The reason didn't matter. Her parents couldn't accept that their daughter had been assaulted, so they pressured the police directly.
With no footage, no witnesses, and records of my father's drunken behavior, the case was ruled an accident. But from that day on, Olivia forced herself into the space between me and Kurt.
They became inseparable, like a couple.
I even thought... they would end up together.
But on the night exam scores came out, Kurt suddenly hugged me and confessed.
His voice was so soft, "Daniella... let's spend our whole lives together, okay? You're my family. You're the one I want to protect... more than anyone."
I agreed. Because in my entire life, I could never accept another man except him.
From then on, I never saw Olivia again.
We built years of memories, of warmth and survival. We leaned on each other through the darkest days.
So now, standing in the snow, I wanted desperately to believe I misunderstood him.
Maybe he was forced?
Maybe he was just playing along with his friends?
But the moment I remembered Olivia, ice began forming in my veins.
I remembered what his friends said in that private room.
"Who told she bullied Olivia until she got depression..."
So in their story, Olivia failed her exam because I bullied her?
And Kurt... believed that?
The man I loved for more than ten yearsthe man who once protected mehad thrown my trust and devotion away because of someone elses lies.
He was even planning for my downfall.
I couldn't understand.
It felt like someone had punched a hole through my skull; pain poured out endlessly.
Tears kept falling no matter how hard I tried to stop them.
Ten years of loveworth less to him than another woman's fabricated kindness.
Am I doomed to be like this forever?
Destined to be bad, dirty, inferior in everyones eyes? Unworthy of sincerity?
I worked so hard to survive.
To resist cruelty.
To protect myself.
Where did I go wrong?
Why did people say I inherited my parents' "vicious genes"?
Why? My voice was hoarse, barely audible.
Then, a sharp cramp tore through my lower abdomen.
Terror surged through me. My entire body went cold. "Baby... no... please... don'tdon't let anything happen..."
My hands trembled as I curled over, clutching my stomach.
This child... might be the only family I would ever have. The only blood relative who would never betray me.
I fumbled for my phone. My first instinct was still Kurt.
My fingers shook violently as I dialed again and again.
Beepbeepbeep
No answer.
"Pick up... please... please just pick up..." I sobbed into the screen.
Still, he didn't.
Even as the ambulance rushed toward me,
I was still calling him, again and again.
Years of dependence couldnt disappear in one night.
But he refused to answer.
At the hospital, the emergency team rushed me in. The nurse asked for my emergency contact.
Hoarsely, I gave her his number. The same number I had called twenty-seven times.
This time, someone picked up.
And the first words I heard were, "She's pregnant? Don't keep the baby. Just get rid of it."
"It can't be mine anyway. She disgusts me."
The call ended instantly without hesitation.
I collapsed... and everything went dark.
When I woke up again, it was early morning.
I was alone.
I forced myself upright, pain radiating from my abdomen, emptiness spreading through my chest like dead soil.
Like self-torture, I opened Instagram and searched Olivias name.
The latest posts popped up immediately.
The first photo was Kurt at the airport, waiting for her, smiling gently.
The caption read, [My knight came to pick me up.]
The second photo was Olivia leaning on his shoulder in the car, fingers intertwined, holding flowers.
They looked so sweet, so perfect togetherlike a match made in heaven.
I stared for a long time. Then a broken laugh escaped me.
When I was discharged, I did two things immediately.
First, I quit all my part-time jobs, withdrew every cent I'd saved over the years, and stored it in a new bank card with a new password.
Second, I submitted an application on the university website: to volunteer as a teacher in Africa.
An hour later, a notification popped up.
A flight to Africa is scheduled for one week from now. Please be prepared.
One week later, Kurt will "reveal the truth" at the proposal, preparing what he calls a "surprise" for me.
Since he's going to give me a surprise, I'll give him one in return...
A surprise he'll nver forget for the rest of his life.


By the time I returned home and pushed open the door, a wave of warmthtinged with the sharp scent of gingerwashed over me.
Kurt was bent over the table, placing down a steaming bowl of porridge.
And beside him sat Olivia, looking up at him with soft, adoring eyes.
Their shoulders were almost touching. Their conversation was light, intimatethe atmosphere was so tender it formed its own quiet little world.
At that moment, stepping into the apartment felt like intruding into a home that no longer belonged to me.
The door clicked shut behind me.
Both of their smiles froze.
Kurt's body shifted subtly toward Olivia, not medrawing an invisible line with his stance, shielding her behind him.
His expression stiffened, but he forced a casual tone. "She just came back from abroad. She doesn't have a place to stay yet, so I told her she could stay here for a few days."
He said it with such natural certainty, as if my opinion had never mattered.
In the shadow behind him, Olivia lifted her chin and gave me a delicate, razor-thin smile.
A sharp pain stabbed through my chest, stealing my breath.
I couldn't get a single word out. "...Oh."
I only wanted to go to my room and pack my things.
But I had barely taken a step when Kurt called after me.
"Why are you being so rude now? You can't even greet your old senior?"
Before I could respond, Olivia gently tugged his wrist, her voice fragile and coquettish. "Kurt, forget it... Maybe she's in a bad mood. She doesn't have to greet me."
Then she turned to me with a soft smile.
"Did you eat, Daniella? You must still be weak... after the abortion."
My blood turned ice.
All the pain, the panic before I lost consciousness, the calls he refused to answerand that sentence on the phone: "I don't want the baby. It's not mine. It's dirty."
All of it crashed back into me like a tidal wave.
Kurt's expression darkened, as if reminded of something filthy he'd rather forget. Still, he forced himself to walk toward me.
He frowned, glanced at Olivia, then lowered his voice, "Daniella, I know this past year has been hard. I saw how Arturo humiliated you. Don't worryone day, I'll help you get revenge."
He deliberately avoided mentioning the baby. To him, the child was a stainsomething too repulsive to acknowledge.
Olivia added gently, "Don't be sad, Daniella. You'll have a baby with someone you truly love someday."
At that, something inside me broke. Tears spilled uncontrollably.
My voice came out hoarse and scraped raw, "That baby wasn't Arturo's. He never touched me. Not once."
Nine months ago, Kurt had closed a million dollar contract and was so ecstatic that he ended up scraping Arturo's luxury car.
I rushed over to helpand caught Arturo's attention. He wanted me as his personal assistant. If I refused, he demanded one million in compensation.
That would wipe out Kurt's first big contract.
Kurt held me in trembling arms and said, "I won't sell you for money."
Yet every night he came home, he complainedabout work, about pressure, about Arturo targeting him, about the contract possibly being canceled...
For his future, I gritted my teeth and agreed.
It wasn't the first time.
In high school, I gave up my studies so he could go to university.
Sacrificing for him was already woven into the fabric of my life.
He hugged me, and apologized, "Daniella, when I make money, I'll give you a good life."
I was foolish enough to believe him. I thought, as long as he loved me, everything was worth it.
For nine months, I stayed on guard around Arturo, blocking every advance. Each time he tried something, I ate garlic and gagged right in his face. Eventually, he couldn't even stay hard around me.
Enraged, he resorted to other ways to torment mebut I endured everything. Until I matched him with a socialite he'd been eyeing, and he lost interest, discarding me like trash.
But Kurt never believed nothing happened.
Every time we were intimate, he turned off the lights, refusing to look at the scars on my body.
I thought he was being gentle.
Now I realized, he probably thought those scars came from being with another man.
That they were dirty.
That I was dirty.
Kurt's eyes flickeredhe still didn't believe me.
Olivia cut in, trying to take my hand. "It's okay if you don't want to admit it. I trust Kurt. He'll understand you."
I jerked away from her touch. "I said he never touched me!"
But the next second, Kurt shot to his feet, fury exploding across his face. "Daniella, what the hell are you doing? Are you trying to bully Olivia again?!"
I stared at him, stunned. Then I laughedcold and breathless.
"Me? Bully her? When have I ever bullied Olivia?"
Kurt's voice dropped into a harsh whisper, "You shouldn't act like this. You think I don't know"
Mid-sentence, he froze, as if realizing the slip of his tongue. Then he quickly changed his tone, lowering his voice again.
"Enough. Just apologize to Olivia. She was only trying to comfort you. You shouldn't treat her like this."
I looked straight at him.
I had never bullied anyone.
Not once.
If he had just told me his accusation, at least I could defend myself.
But he didn't.
He simply believed it. Believed I was cruel. Believed I was the villain.
His face was full of disappointmentand his forced tolerance making it even worse.
Pain squeezed my heart until I could barely breathe.
I exhaled slowly.
Fine. Just seven more days, then I'd be gone. Why waste grief on someone so unworthy?
A flicker of triumph flashed in Olivia's eyesso fast it vanished instantly.
She lowered her lashes, picked up the shrimp porridge from the table, and walked toward me, voice soft and coaxing, "It's okay, Daniella. No need to apologize."
She held the bowl in front of me carefully, as if afraid I'd be upset.
"This porridge... Kurt and I made it together. We thought you should eat something warm after the abortion. Why don't you try some?"
I was about to refusewhen her hand suddenly trembled. The entire scalding bowl of porridge came crashing down my forearm.
Heat seared straight through my skin, pain exploding up to my scalp.
I nearly cried out.
Meanwhile, only a few tiny drops landed on Olivia.
Yet she suddenly screamed, "Ah!!"
Then she collapsed to the floor, trembling like she'd been terribly wronged.
She put her hands together as if begging for mercy.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's my fault! Please don'tdon't hit me, okay?"
"I was wrong! I was really wrong!"


Olivia was kneeling on the floor, crying, her face full of fearas if she'd truly suffered some inhuman abuse at my hands.
I froze. Her sudden collapse took me entirely off guard.
My arm was blistering red, bubbles rising beneath the skin, the pain sharp enough to numb my fingertips.
I opened my mouth, just about to say I hadn't even touched herbut the next second, Kurt rushed forward and scooped Olivia into his arms, holding her as if she were something fragile and precious.
His voice was so gentle it was almost trembling, like he was afraid the air itself would scare her.
"It's okay, Olivia... don't be afraid. No one will hurt you. I'm here. I'm here."
"I'll protect you."
The way he held her was exactly the way he used to hold me when I was a childwhen my parents beat me, when I cried until hiccups shook my chest, he would pat my back and whisper the very same words.
Only now, the one in his arms wasn't me. It was another woman.
My heart twisted painfully. I swallowed hard, trying not to choke on the ache.
But knowing all too well what it felt like to be wrongly accused, I didn't want things to escalate further.
I forced myself to steady my voice.
"I... didn't spill that porridge. She did it her"
"Enough." Kurt's cold voice cut me off like a blade.
He lifted his head, looking at me as if I were some troublesome, spoiled child.
"Daniella, you're really getting too unruly. You need to calm down. I've spoiled you far too much."
He suddenly stood and grabbed my wrist hardhard enough to make me wince.
Fear surged up from somewhere deep in my memory, cold and instinctive.
"Kurt, I really didn't do anything... Why won't you believe me? I didn't hurt her"
Kurt said nothing. He just dragged me up the stairs.
My blood turned to ice. My mind snapped back to a nightmare I thought I'd buried long ago.
"Let go of me... Kurt, let go... please" My voice cracked into a sob.
He pushed me into the attic and slammed the door, followed by the click of a lock.
His voice echoed from the other side of the stairs. "Stay inside and reflect on your behavior. When you realize your mistake, I'll let you out."
"Kurt!" I screamed, hoarse. "You know I'm afraid of the dark! You know"
My voice broke into pieces. But his footsteps faded further and further away.
The attic swallowed me whole.
Nothing but darkness. Thick, suffocating, absolute.
I collapsed to the floor as my breath caught in my throat.
He knew. He knew when I was little, my father locked me inside a sealed suitcase and dragged it around for an entire day and night. He knew I couldn't handle small spaces. He knew darkness made me panic, made my heart spasm, made me claw at my own skin for air.
And he still did it for Olivia.
He didn't even want to hear me explain.
In that suffocating void, I clutched my chest as if my ribs were closing in on me.
If this were any day before today... If Kurt had done this to me thenI would've cried and convinced myself I must've done something wrong. That I'd made my brother angry again.
I would've repeated every word, every gesture, trying to figure out where I'd gone wrong, hoping that if I behaved, if I tried harder, he would smile at me again.
That if I was obedient enough, he would never abandon me.
But now I finally knew what hid behind his years of "guidance," "discipline," and "correction."
And none of itnot a single bithad ever been my fault.
The night felt endless.
I pounded on the door until my knuckles burned, and screamed until my throat tore.
The darkness seeped into my bones, dragging me back into the old terror, drowning me all over again.
It wasn't until the next morning that the lock finally clicked open.
Light stabbed into my eyes.
I looked up, but I couldn't even raise my arm to shield myselfmy burned skin was swollen, blistered, raw and numb from the pain.
Kurt stood there, brows furrowed as if he were looking at a disobedient child who'd caused him trouble.
He stepped forward quickly and lifted me from the floor.
"Why are you sleeping on the ground? Silly girl."
I had no strength left to respond.
Kurt crouched, opened the ointment he brought, and began applying it carefully to my wounds.
"Does it hurt?" His voice was gentle, as if nothing had happened the night before.
"It was my fault yesterday," he murmured with a sigh. "I lost my temper. I just... I'm afraid you'll turn out like our parentsviolent."
His tone was helpless, tender. As if he truly worried about me.
But only I knew that "violent" accusation came from rumors he'd never bothered to verify.
His gentleness was just another snareanother method of control.
He applied the ointment with exaggerated care.
But he didn't see the despair in my eyes.
"Don't be angry anymore," he said, rubbing my fingertips like soothing a sulking child. "Take a couple days to rest. I'll take you to Disneyland you've always wanted to go to, okay?"
The closer his gentleness pressed against me, the clearer I saw the truth hiding behind ita man ready to push me straight into the abyss.
I drew a quiet breath.
"Brother," I whispered.
He paused and looked up. "Mm?"
I stared at him and asked slowly, "Do you... love me?"
Kurt didn't hesitate to answer. "Of course, I love you."
My vision blurred. He didn't remember.
He didn't remember telling me once, "Daniella, I won't say 'I love you' lightly. I want to prove it with my actions, not sweet words. I cherish you. I love you, and I want to protect you."
All of that... meant nothing now.
I no longer knew whether he ever loved me at all. But maybe that answer didn't matter anymore.
Because in six daysI would be gone.


The "compensation" Kurt promised never happened.
These past few days, he stayed glued to Olivia's side.
If he wasn't "helping her get a new ID," he was "accompanying her to school to handle paperwork."
Every day they came home together looking like an ordinary couple.
And every evening, he would hand me a small cakea token apology, a prop to placate me.
He hadn't called me "little sister" in a long time.
But these days, he said it constantly, avoiding words like "baby" on purpose.
I noticed every change.
My heart stung a little, yet my determination to leave grew firmer by the day.
I prepared the supplies I would bring to Africa.
Using my own savings, I bought a house in a city far away from him.
I even went back to the old house I once vowed never to return to... and dug out the surveillance footage I'd spent all my money to obtain back in high schoolthe video of Kurt pushing my father down the stairs.
While I was drawing out my path to freedom step by step, my phone suddenly rang.
The caller was one of Kurt's friends, his voice shattered with panic. "Daniella! Come quick! Kurt is drunkhe's allergic to alcohol! If you don't come, something will"
Before I could respond, he hung up.
I froze.
My heart clenched so tightly it hurt to breathe.
After all, we had depended on each other for more than ten years.
I couldn't truly let him destroy himself. I closed my eyes and whispered to myself, "...Just one last time."
I carried my plane ticket in my bag and rushed to the private room.
But the moment I pushed open the door, I stopped dead.
Kurt was sitting neatly on the sofa, clothes spotless, expression calm. His hands were steady.
There were no wine glasses on the table. Only juice.
The people around him all stiffened when they saw me.
Their eyes looked at me like I was some joke they had summoned for entertainmentsurprised, uncomfortable, impatient... and threaded with a pity that cut deeper than disgust.
I understood instantly.
I had been played.
My chest felt like it had been struck by a blunt weapon.
I stepped back, ready to leave.
But just then, someone spoke up. "So this is Kurt's little sister? Wow, you've grown."
I forced a polite smile.
If this were before, I would've run over happily, chatting with them like old friendsbecause I used to believe they were just like Kurt, that they treated me as family.
But nowI could feel it clearly: hidden beneath their gazes was an unmistakable layer of disdain.
Some looked at me with emotions barely restrained: contempt, suspicion, warinessas if I were some troublesome stray dragged in from nowhere.
They believed Olivia's story about being "bullied."
They thought I had inherited my parents' "violent genes."
They looked at me like I was a walking problem.
Needles pricked all over my skin.
Worse stillI couldn't explain.
Not yet.
Not until the truth came out in three days.
Right now, I had to pretend I knew nothing of their hostility. So I swallowed every ounce of injustice, as if swallowing burning stones.
A senior who had always treated me kindly pulled me over. "Since you're here, sit with us."
Her motions looked natural, but I could feel her grip was tighter than beforeas if she feared I might suddenly cause trouble.
Kurt added gently, "Sit. We're just about to eat."
His tone was the same as always, but his eyes... his eyes were distant, veiled with something unreadable.
Different from before.
I realized he must have heard from Arturo that I was planning to leave.
I tugged the corner of my lips and let the senior guide me to a seat.
The room was filled with laughter, and his classmates talked around me as if I didn't exist.
"Back then, Kurt and Olivia really were a great match."
"They almost ended up together, right? Too bad her parents were against it."
"I heard she messed up her college entrance exam around that time..."
My knuckles whitened as I clenched my hands under the table.
They weren't even lowering their voices.
Each sentence sliced into me like a blade.
The more I listened, the clearer the truth became.
After Olivia "confessed," she and Kurt only grew closer. Teachers and classmates practically treated them as a couple. Until her parents stepped in and tore them apart.
They even spoke to Kurt personally. Only then did he distance himself from her.
After that, she failed her college exams and went abroad...
At this part, some of their expressions turned complicated.
Their eyes swept over me with barely hidden resentment.
I knew exactly what they were thinking, "If Olivia hadn't been bullied, she wouldn't have failed her exams."
"If not for this little sister, those two would've been together already."
"She's the cause of everything."
They didn't say the words, but their eyes had already hurled every accusation at me.
Under the bright lights,
I sat there like a criminal on trial.
A waiter brought out a plate of salted egg yolk pumpkin, gleaming golden under the light.
My favorite dish.
In the pastwhether at home or outthe moment it appeared, Kurt would wordlessly serve me a piece.
Today, he picked up his chopsticks as usual.
But halfway through, he changed direction and placed the pumpkin into Olivia's bowl.
She lowered her head shyly and thanked him.
The people around them cheered, teasing her into drinking.
She refused a few times, and then Kurt suddenly took her glass.
"She can't drink. I'll drink for her."
But he was allergic to alcohol even a sip would leave him flushed, gasping for air.
I knew he was doing it on purpose.
He knew I wouldn't watch him trigger a reaction.
Because I couldn't watch the only family I had die.
My eyes burned. I snatched the glass from him and downed it in one gulp.
"Daniella"
For some reason, panic flashed across his face.
He reached toward me as if to stop me, but Olivia held onto his arm, and he couldn't get a word out.
The alcohol scorched down my throat into my stomach.
Someone whistled, calling me bold, calling me loyal.
Then more glasses appeared in front of me.
I took them mechanically.
Drink after drink, I gulped down everything.
Kurt frowned, lips parting as if to speakbut his classmates teased him for being "too protective," calling him a "sister-obsessed fool."
Laughter drowned him out. He lowered his head awkwardly, unable to say a thing.
Still playing the role of "helpless," aren't you?
I laughedand tears slid silently from the corners of my eyes.


The alcohol surged through my veins like a rising tide, flooding my awareness until I could barely stay conscious.
Before they could force another drink on me, I let my body go limp and collapsed on the sofa, pretending to be completely drunk.
The noise around me quieted.
Kurt leaned in, gently patting my cheek. His voice dropped low. "Hey... you okay? Feeling sick?"
His palm was cold, while my face was burning.
I couldn't stop myselfhabit made me nuzzle lightly into his hand.
That tiny movement made him freeze.
His eyes waveredhesitation, guilt, something almost soft. But the moment shattered as one of his classmates snorted.
"I knew it. She's just a loyal little lapdog. Whatever Kurt tells her to do, she does. He really trained her well."
Laughter broke open around us.
"Tomorrow will be a show! When she finds out the truth, she's gonna lose her mind."
Olivia tugged lightly on Kurt's sleeve, her voice soft and fragile. "Maybe... we shouldn't. Isn't this too much? She's still your sister."
Her eyes were perfectly redenough to look kind, not enough to look fake.
Kurt's classmates immediately chimed in.
"Olivia, you're way too softhearted! After what she did to you back then, you still pity her? No way."
"I won't be soft," Kurt said suddenly.
He pulled Olivia into his arms, shielding her. His tone was colder than I'd ever heard.
"Evil should be repaid with evil."
My nails dug painfully into my palm.
Another voice joined in, sounding almost excited. "Good thing we got that tip from Crown Prince's side early. Otherwise she wouldn't suffer enough. If she doesn't hit rock bottom, how will she realize how good Kurt is to her?"
Someone else added, "And the stuff in the drinks should be working by now. It's about time to send her to the room."
A violent ringing exploded in my skull.
So the drinks... were drugged.
I thought forcing alcohol on me was already the worst they'd do. I didn't expect the alcohol to be spiked.
Their plan was simple yet cruel. They would send me to a hotel room alone, let some "pervert" walk in and destroy me. And at the last second, Kurt would burst in and "save" me.
They wanted me terrified, broken, dependentunable to leave him ever again.
This was their revenge.
Planned. Calculated. Perfectly orchestrated.
I tried to stand, but my limbs were turning heavy, my head swollen, my stomach twisting with a metallic sourness.
I wanted to vomit but couldn't.
The drug was taking full effect.
My whole body trembled, but I didn't dare move.
Tears slid down my temples, and I couldn't even lift a hand to wipe them.
I could only watch.
Watch Kurt hold Olivia in his arms. Watch him walk step by step toward the door. Watch his silhouette grow farther and farther awayleaving me here to be used, plotted against, thrown into hell.
When the door closed, my heart dropped like a stone into a bottomless pit.
A large man was already waiting beside the bed.
When they pushed me inside, he stepped forward in one giant stride, his shadow swallowing half the room.
I tried to retreat, but my legs were soft as sand.
He reached for me.
I screamed for helpmy voice echoing through the room before being smothered by the thick walls.
No one came.
Not a single person.
The man looked down at me, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Relax. At first I was only supposed to put on a show. Someone else would kick the door down later, carry you out, and you'd know who your 'savior' is."
He paused. Then his lips curled. His voice turned disturbingly casual.
"But too badyou offended someone you shouldn't have. I've been told not to act anymore. So... I'll just cooperate."
A cold numbness shot down my spine.
It was... Olivia.
She wanted to destroy me completely. Only now did I realize how thoroughly I had been trapped.
The man's thick fingers grabbed my collar.
I heard fabric tear.
The sound was like the last shred of my dignity being ripped apart.
"No!!" My scream tore out as my hand brushed against something on the nightstanda heavy glass ashtray.
I didn't think, didn't hesitate. I grabbed it and slammed it into his head with everything I had.
There was a dull thud, and the man staggered.
It was my only chance.
I scrambledalmost crawlingtoward the window.
My hands shook violently as I forced the latch open.
Cold ocean wind blasted into the room, sharp as knives.
Outside the window, the balcony hung suspended.
Below itthe dark sea churned under the night sky.
I stepped out.
And then I let myself fall.


Fortunately, the hotel staff arrived in time. I was dragged out of the water and saved.
Kurt rushed over almost immediately, pulling me into a tight embrace. His eyes trembled with lingering panic.
"Daniella, you scared me to death! Why would you do something so stupid? If something happened to you, what would I do?"
My throat burned from the seawater I choked on, tears leaking uncontrollably as a reflex.
I listened numbly as Kurt rambled through his explanationthat I'd gotten drunk, they lost track of me for a moment, and some drunken stranger dragged me away.
They had searched everywhere for me. So he said.
I pushed him away, my voice cold and firm. "The hotel has surveillance. I'm reporting him."
But before I could take a step, Kurt blocked me.
He wrapped me back into his arms, coaxing softly, "Daniella, that man is the son of the city's richest tycoon. We... can't afford to offend him. When I have power one day, I'll get justice for you, I swear."
I closed my eyes, tears spilling like snapped beads, my heart filling with an icy hopelessness.
I almost died, and even soKurt would rather protect his own lie than make the man who almost assaulted me pay.
"Come on, let me take you to Disneyland, okay? Didn't we say we'd go together when we grew up?"
"Trust me. Soon, we won't have to live like this..."
He clumsily changed the subject. Before he finished, one of his friends rushed over.
"Kurt, Olivia fainted from the shock!"
Kurt's expression instantly shifted.
Without thinking, he shoved me into the arms of a hotel staff member.
"Daniella, I'll take you to Disneyland tomorrow. Go with them for a checkupI'll come find you later!"
"Kurt!" I couldn't help shouting his name, but all he did was drop a perfunctory kiss on my forehead before rushing away.
I watched his disappearing figureand finally vomited all over the ground.
A cruel realization twisted in my chest:
If the one assaulted had been Olivia, Kurt would've torn the world apart to make the perpetrator pay.
I closed my eyes, ripped off the amulet we'd bought together, and threw it into the ocean where it vanished.
And the so-called "compensation trip" to Disneyland?
It wasn't just the two of us.
He brought Olivia.
"Olivia is not feeling well. I can't leave her alone. She'll just tag along a bitshe won't bother us."
"Then I'm not going."
I turned to leave, but Kurt grabbed my arm. His brows tightened with irritation.
"What are you angry about now? Why are you being so unreasonable?"
"Olivia just came back today and wants to get along with you. She's trying. Why can't you?"
Before I could even respond, he pulled me toward the door with a force that made me freeze.
It reminded me of Arturoand instantly extinguished all my resistance.
In the car, both Olivia and I sat in the backseat.
But she suddenly shrank back, looking up at me with tear-filled fear, like I might hurt her.
Kurt paused only one second before opening the front passenger seat.
"Olivia, sit here."
She glanced at me once, her eyes gleaming with smugness, then obediently slid into the seat.
My fingers clenched quietly in my sleeve.
When Kurt bought this car, he tossed me the keys with a gentle smile. "The front passenger seat is only for my Daniella, okay?"
But now even that belonged to someone else.
I blinked my numb eyes and turned to the window. I agreed to come to Disneyland because when we were kids, Kurt said he'd take me there somedaythat it would mark a new beginning.
I'd held onto that promise for years.
But now... if I couldn't refuse, then I would treat today as our final goodbye.
The park buzzed with people, laughter everywhere. But I felt like I was trapped behind a glass wall, only watching the silhouettes of Kurt and Olivia walking ahead.
All the way, they stayed side by side.
"What do you want to play first, Olivia?" She pointed; he bought the tickets immediately.
Whatever she wanted to eat, he queued without complaint.
I followed behind, like a piece of air tagging along.
A staff member saw them standing together and smiled warmly.
"You two have such a lovely relationship. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!"
Kurt stiffened. His gaze flicked toward me. But in the end, he said nothing.
Only when Olivia went to the restroom did he walk over.
"She's a foreign worker. She doesn't understand. No need to explain."
"I know."
He frowned, like he finally noticed I wasn't tailing behind him as usual.
It seemed being ignored made him uncomfortable. He even had the ridiculous illusion that I was like a kiteand if he loosened the string for even a second, I'd fly away.
He opened his mouth to speakbut Olivia emerged from the restroom, calling sweetly, "Kurt, I want ice cream."
"Okay, I'll buy it." He swallowed whatever he meant to say and walked off, leaving me alone with her.
Olivia studied me for several seconds, then suddenly smiled.
"Daniella, confused, aren't you?" She leaned close, voice dripping with malice. "Wondering why your brother is hot and cold with you?"
I stayed silent.
She didn't mind. Her tone turned almost playful. "Because he thinks you inherited trash genes and wants to 'fix' you. To you, he's probably the most important person in the world, right?"
"But to me? Kurt is just one of the men around me. If you kneel and kowtow a few times, I might even return your precious brother to you."
She watched my face eagerly, waiting for it to break.
She hadn't changed since high schoolshe still delighted in ripping away what others treasured most.
My eyes flickered. My voice was steady. "Kurt is just one of your men?"
She laughed lightly. "Of course. What else? He's just a decent-looking orphan. In high school, I teased him a littlepretended to turn myself in to help himand he treated me like his savior. He never knew I was the one who orchestrated his bullying. He still thinks I was brave to stand by him."
She paused, then smirked. "Oh, and do you know why he believed your child wasn't his? Why he forced you to abort it? Because I told him I saw you sleeping with Arturo at a hotel. I said it casually, and he believed it. Isn't that hilarious?"
"You!" My vision blurred red. I lost control and grabbed her collar in a tight fist.
That innocent child's death was my lifelong wound.
I could endure her destroying mebut the fact that my baby died because of her casual lie...
Olivia's grin sharpened like a blade. "So what? It was just a lump of flesh. A puddle of mud."


I couldn't hold back anymore. I raised my hand, ready to slap Olivia, but the next second, someone shoved me hard.
An adult man's strength was overwhelmingI crashed into a nearby chair, pain ripping through my abdomen like it was being torn open.
"Daniella! You're bullying Olivia again? You've grown up, but you still can't change your disgusting genes! You're just like your fathera sadistic monster!"
Kurt was so furious he spoke without restraint, dropping every pretense he usually kept in front of me. Every word was exactly what he truly thought.
"It was Olivia who caused my child"
My nose burned, but I forced myself to stay calm. I wanted to explain what really happened to my baby.
"Looks like I was right to make you get an abortion. Genes as filthy as yours shouldn't be passed on!" The moment Kurt heard the word "child," he cut me off sharply.
His eyes were filled with unmistakable disgust.
And in that instant... every emotion inside me died.
All the explanations bubbling in my throat, all the desperate desire for him to finally see the truththey vanished.
I turned away and said coldly, "I'm leaving."
But Olivia suddenly spoke. "It was my fault earlier. I accidentally upset Daniella... It wasn't her. Kurt, let's not ruin our day in the happiest place on earth."
Then she looked at me with a fragile smile, as if earnestly trying to mend our sisterly bond.
"Daniella, how about we go on the roller coaster together?"
But we both knew the truth. Roller coasters were a nightmare for me.
Back then, when Arturo was in a bad mood, he tied me to one and forced it to run ten full loops. I'd been spun until I almost passed out.
After that, I never dared touch that ride again.
"Get lost." I shoved away Olivia's reaching handbut before I could walk away, Kurt grabbed my wrist tightly.
"Olivia is trying to make peace with you and you still act this way? If you still see me as your brother, you'll go apologize and accompany her!"
"If you don't listen, then I don't want you anymore!"
His grip was harsh, dragging me toward the roller coaster, trying to force me into the seat.
And when I heard him say he didn't want me... most of my strength to resist disappeared.
The sun was blazing that day, but I felt no warmth at all.
The machine began its slow climb upward.
Wind roared past my ears. Olivia tilted her head and glanced at me.
Then she smiled.
Her lips clearly formed the words: "See? Your brother is my dog. He does whatever I tell him to."
The next second, the world flipped over.
My heart felt like it was being torn into pieces.
Raw terror crashed over me. I screamed until my throat tasted like blood.
By the time the ride stopped, I couldn't even stand. My legs buckled, and I collapsed to the ground, vomiting uncontrollably.
My vision spun, my throat burned with the taste of iron. I didn't even know if I was crying or choking.
"Daniella! Are you okay?" Kurt rushed toward me, panic and worry flashing across his face.
I blinked in a daze.
Then Olivia pressed a hand to her forehead and whispered, "I... I feel a little dizzy..."
"What's wrong? Did the wind get to you?" Kurt immediately turned away and walked to her without hesitation.
Just one turn of his bodyand I was completely left behind.
In an instant, all the magical illusions I had about Disneyland shattered into dust.
My vision darkened. I closed my eyes with a bitter smile and fell backward.
'Kurt... maybe we'll still be step-siblings in the future, but we will never again be the most important person to each other.'
...
When I woke up, I was alone in the hospital room.
A nurse whispered, "Your brother dropped you off and left. He said he was busy... his girlfriend is waiting."
Girlfriend?
I nodded silently.
My hand trembled as I reached for my phone.
On Instagram, Olivia had updated her page with a nine-panel grid full of photos of her and Kurt.
She was leaning on his shoulder, while he was bending to turn on the faucet for her. Another was Kurt holding bags of the souvenirs she bought.
Every picture was a sweet moment between them.
The caption read. [Now that the annoying person is gone, my knight is finally mine alone :)]
A tear splashed onto the screen.
I didn't even know when I started crying. My phone vibrated, there was an incoming call.
It was Kurt.
His voice carried its familiar warmth. "Daniella, feeling any better? Something urgent came up at the company, so I left first. Rest well, okay?"
"In the afternoon... that was my fault. I forgot you're afraid of roller coasters. I'll buy you a strawberry cake later to apologize, alright? Don't be mad. I really didn't mean it."
He sounded tired, as if he truly was busy. But I clearly heard a soft voice next to him
"Kurt~ come buy cake with me later~"
He quickly lowered his voice, like he didn't want me to hear. "Mm... I'll visit you tonight."
Then he hurriedly added, "Don't forget you still need to go to Arturo later. If you're late, he'll torment you again. Wait for me to come back."
Before he finished, he hung up.
The screen went black. Only my reflection stared back at me.
I let out a hollow laugh and went home alone.
In the living room, I looked at all the familiar thingsthe white plush sofa, the solid wood table, the landscape painting we hung together.
I once thought this place was warm. A safe haven.
But now... standing here felt like I was trespassing in someone else's home.
I packed the few belongings I had.
When I zipped the bag shut, it was barely filled.
This home we built togetherafter all these yearshardly had anything that belonged to me.
And suddenly, I realized a cruel truth: This wasn't my home. It was just a house I lived in.
If I hadn't discovered the truth by accident, a few days later, I would've been thrown out like a stray dog.
Until the day before I planned to leave, Kurt never came home.
He didn't even calljust sent some daily texts pretending to care.
Through Instagram, I watched how far he and Olivia had progressed. With every update, the pain in my chest dulled a little more.
I accepted my absurd life as Daniella. I only wanted to walk away from everything that hurt me... and let my life regain even a little weight.
The day before I left for Africa, I anonymously sent that surveillance footage to Kurt's biggest enemy.
Then I placed the DNA test results and a voice recorder on the table, picked up my bag, and left.
Three hours later, I was on a flight bound for Africa.
When the cabin door closed, an indescribable sense of relief washed over me.
Like I had finally locked a burning, ruined city behind me.
'Kurt... I hope you enjoy the gift I prepared for you.'

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