After being kicked out by her family, she turned out the real heiress worth billions, and people around her got to know it. Her family regretted deeply and demanded half of her fortune as repayment for bringing her up. She sneered and used a truth-telling talisman to expose their plots. A scumbag had always been pestering her and wanted to get back together. She easily made him "meet his ancestors" every night. Moreover, her cousins had looked down on her, regarding her as a disgrace. Surprisingly, the chairman of a rich family came to her and said, "As long as you can save my daughter, I'll meet all your demands!" Another rich family, who had been at feud with her new family for a long time, also shamelessly came over and said, "As long as you can help us, our family will be very grateful for the kindness of your family!" Later, even the rebellious cousin became her follower, claiming, "She is my only sister! Whoever dares to insult her, I will curse their entire family!" Her new family finally realized that their little poor girl was actually a big shot! "I need to draw spells, get rid of evils, save people and chase that guy! How busy I am!" She said in distress. That guy, "Actually, you don't need to chase me. I'm already yours."
In June, just after the college entrance examination had ended.
Scarlett Garrison handled her hospital discharge alone and headed home. As soon as she stepped through the gates of the Garrison Family's villa, a suitcase landed with a "clang" at her feet.
A well-dressed, elegant woman stood at the entrance, looking down on her with disdain. Her gaze swept over the girl's delicate features and snow-white skin, a flicker of jealousy passing through her eyes, quickly followed by undisguised loathing.
"I've had your luggage packed up. From today onward, get out of this house and go back to your biological parents!"
Scarlett Garrison didn't so much as glance at the suitcase on the ground, her almond-shaped eyes indifferently fixed on Emma White, the woman she had called mother for seventeen years.
The commotion at the door caught the attention of the people inside the house, and soon, Mr. Garrison and his two children also came out.
Mr. Garrison, looking at the suitcase by Scarlett's feet, turned towards his wife with a tone of reproach.
"Emma, what are you doing? Scarlett is still the daughter we've raised for eighteen years."
"She's nothing but an ungrateful loser!" Emma White glared at Scarlett,
"The city's representative spot that I clearly told her to give to Isolde, she ignored my words like they were nothing! If I hadn't found out about the final selection, we'd still be in the dark because of her! If she had any conscience, she wouldn't have stolen from her sister!"
Isolde Garrison, upon hearing Emma White's words, showed a flash of envy, quickly masked, displaying a facade of hurt and distress.
Yet, she spoke up, "Mom, don't be like that. The chance to be the city's representative is rare, and it's normal for sister to not want to give up her spot. Maybe there's something I didn't do well enough, otherwise, I wouldn't have missed out..."
"How are you any worse than her? What she has is all thanks to our Garrison family," Emma White softly consoled her daughter.
Scarlett Garrison just quietly watched the mother and daughter's act; she had seen it countless times from childhood to now. She felt not a ripple in her heart; she almost wanted to laugh.
Four days earlier, she had been hit by a car while trying to save Isolde, flying over twenty meters through the air. Everyone thought she wouldn't survive.
When Emma White and the Garrison family rushed to the scene, their first reaction wasn't to check on her injuries but to comfort a weeping Isolde, frightened by the car accident.
Scarlett lay on the ground, dazed, feeling the cold seeping into her limbs. More chilling to her, though, were the words between Mr. Garrison and Emma White—
"The car's front is smashed; she probably won't make it."
"It's just as well. If she dies, it means the major disaster meant for Isolde was indeed blocked by her. It hasn't been in vain that we've raised her all these years..."
Scarlett had always been aware that she was nothing more than a tool for the Garrison Family, meant to shield Isolde from misfortune.
As a child, she didn't understand why, whenever Isolde fell ill, Emma White would demand she care for Isolde around the clock, and why, with her care, Isolde would quickly recover, while she herself would then fall seriously ill.
It wasn't until later, when she met her master and was enlightened, that she understood her and Isolde's "Eight Characters" corresponded to the Harmony Technique of Qian and Kun.
Of the two halves, she was the auspicious half.
The Garrison Family kept her by Isolde's side to use her own fortune to offset Isolde's misfortune. Each time she blocked disaster, Isolde's destiny slowly improved, while her own moved toward decline.
If not for her being prepared, perhaps her fortune would have been exhausted, and she would have died in that car accident four days ago.
It was because of the car accident that her biological father unexpectedly found her.
"Are you done? If you're finished, may I leave?"
Having heard the couple coldly discuss her death, Scarlett's last bit of expectation for the Garrison Family had utterly vanished.
She felt no reluctance about leaving the Garrison Family.
"Scarlett, don't blame your mother; you really are in the wrong here," Mr. Garrison finally stepped forward, his face as serious as ever, "Now that you've found your biological parents, you should just go back with them."
Isolde Garrison also spoke up, her voice soft and timid,
"Sister, don't be mad at Mom, she's doing all this for me."
As she spoke, she suddenly took an envelope from the side and handed it to her, saying thoughtfully, "This is for your travel expenses. Dad mentioned that your biological parents live in that kind of mountainous area, your family is very poor, and those places have underdeveloped networks, so it's better to take some cash."
Beside her, Emma White scoffs,"Don't say we're heartless after all these years. This money is enough to last a year in the mountains. Our family has been more than good to you."
She said with another sneer, "Once you go back there, you probably won't have a chance to see us again. I've heard there are plenty of old bachelors in those mountains who can't find wives. It will be perfect for you to get married—after all, with your average grades, you're definitely not going to get into a university."
Scarlett Garrison looked at Emma White, who displayed a mixture of benevolence and malice, and merely glanced over her coldly.
"The wrinkles on your forehead are deep, a sign of scheming too much and accumulating karmic debt. Instead of worrying about me, you might as well spend these few thousand bucks on a face mask to mitigate it."
She paused for a moment, seemingly adding on purpose, "Although it might not be of much help, either."
Scarlett's earnest tone made Emma White's face suddenly turn sharp, and she snapped angrily, "You little wench, who gave you the guts to talk to me like that!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to slap Scarlett across the face.
Scarlett merely watched her coolly and gracefully sidestepped, causing Emma White's slap to miss its mark.
Emma White, in disbelief, "You dare dodge..."
Isolde saw and quickly stepped forward to hold back Scarlett, "Sister, don't anger Mom like this, she'll forgive you as long as you speak nicely."
It sounded nice, but in truth, she was holding her to prevent her from dodging Emma White's slap.
Scarlett raised her hand to push her away, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the jade bracelet on Isolde's wrist.
In a swift move, she grabbed Isolde's wrist and demanded coldly, "How did you get this bracelet?"
Isolde was wearing the bracelet today specifically to flaunt it.
Now that she finally saw her noticing her wrist, and caught off guard by the grip, she cried out in a startled pain, "It hurts..."
As soon as Isolde cried out, Emma White instantly changed her expression and grabbed Scarlett's hand, yanking her away and shrieking angrily, "Scarlett Garrison! What do you think you're doing?!"
Scarlett, however, stared intently at Isolde, her voice colder, "That is the bracelet Grandma left for me."
"For you?! That's left by the old lady for Garrison, and since you're no longer a part of the Garrison Family, of course, the bracelet belongs to Isolde!"
Scarlett clenched her teeth and let go of her suitcase, turning instead to look at the father of the Garrisons, "I can leave without taking a single thing from the Garrison Family. I only want the bracelet Grandma left for me."
If there was anything in the Garrison Family she still cherished, it was only her grandmother.
Her grandmother was the only person in the family who truly cared for her and her well-being—they were all she thought about even as she lay on her deathbed.
That bracelet was the only memento Grandma had left for her.