Chapter 8

When the shift at work was finally over, Giselle waited for Vincent in the lobby of the hospital. While waiting, she scrolled through social media on her phone. A hand placed on her right shoulder drew her attention away as she looked up. He grinned at her widely, and said, "Sorry, to keep you waiting. Let's go," Flashing a smile back at him, she stood up.

The two started to make their way to the parking lot. Giselle's car got a flat tire this morning. She had no choice but depends on Vincent. 

First, she asked Luna if she could give her a ride, but Luna was already at the hospital. Luna had to give an emergency surgery this early morning to one of her patients. She was left with only him to rely on since none of her family members would be willing to help her. Especially her mother, who already hated her enough. 

Sighing out loud, she turned to ask him, "How was the meeting?" Her gaze shifted to the ground, and then to his footsteps as she tried to match his. 

Vincent unbuttoned the first two buttons, then heaved out a loud breath in exhaustion. He turned to glance at Giselle to replied, "Bad news," He groaned before he placed one of his arms around her shoulder. 

Due to the height difference, it allowed Vincent to placed his weight onto her. The sudden heaviness caused Giselle to stumbled in her steps. She swore underneath her breath then turned to smack him in his upper arm. 

Shooting him a deadly look, she scolded, "I told you to not do that to me." He laughed at the short angry girl in front of him. He couldn't help but pull her back to place his arm around her. "Anyway, why was it bad news?" She asked in curiosity while she tried to ignore his arm around her.

As they reached the parking lot, he replied, "Apparently, Luna and I with the other three doctors got sent to attend this meeting to learn more about some of the new techniques for surgery in California." 

Taking a deep breath, then exhaled out loud, he purposely pushed Giselle out of his arm, as soon as he spotted his car. He burst out laughing caused her temper to rise for a hot minute. 

After she stumbled forward, she turned back to raise her hand then chased after he to try to smack him. "This is why I don't like walking with you!" She raised her voice as she pushed Vincent's back with full force. 

His tall figure with strong built didn't move an inch, instead, he grabbed her hand to hold. She noticed his action but didn't say anything. 

She knew that her relationship with him was no more than a brother and a sister. She didn't understand why he kept trying to treat her like they are a couple. To avoid the awkwardness, she let go of his hand and then started to run to his car. 

"Whoever gets to the car first will get a free meal!" She said. As she ran, she asked herself, why does he always act like this? 

Giselle never felt the same way as he does, no matter how nice he treated her. He was just a brother and a best friend to her. She couldn't bring herself to like him even if she tried. Plus, Luna likes him. 

She never wanted to break her friendship of her with Luna over just for a guy. She tried as much as she could to make him likes Luna back, but he seemed to get the wrong ideas every time.

Vincent laughed from far away before he started to jog after her. His exhaustion went away whenever he was with her. He tried to stop himself to like her, but he couldn't do it. 

He told himself countless times, that the girl who made his heart beats fast, she would never like him back. She only liked him as a brother. 

She told him in the past, but those words seemed to have no effect on him. It was a pain to him because the more he sees her, the deeper his feeling grows. 

How can I stop myself from liking you?  Vincent questioned himself as he bit his bottom lips. He continued on jogging as he puts up a fake smile that seemed to make others believe. 

After Vincent dropped Giselle off at her house's gate, she thanked him, then motioned him to leave fast before her mother could find out. Making her way into the mansion, she caught a glance at her mother. "Stop there!" Her mother demanded from afar as she made her way closer to her direction. 

Rolled her eyes, she stood still facing her mother. Her eyes scanned her mother's appearance. Without even asking, she already knew, that her mother was about to head out for an event again. 

Lin Chu stared up and down at her daughter who was wearing a peach-colored blouse with white jeans, and white sneakers.

Lin's temper rise when she noticed such a low-class appearance of her daughter. "I can't believe you are my daughter." She said, then shook her head with disappointment. "At this point, I don't even know anymore if I actually gave birth to a girl or a guy."

Giselle shot her mother a deadly glare with that statement. She was about to open her mouth to argue, but her younger sister and the other two strangers drew her attention away. Both she and Lin turned to look at Demi who was walking down the stairs in her high heels. 

Demi's long black mermaid dress emphasized every curve on her body. A high slit on the dress, caused it to show her beautiful long legs with fair skin, that gave a slight peek of her ass, for every step she took. The deep V-neck flashed her cleavage to everyone, as her nipples were playing peekaboo behind those laces fabric. 

Her dress covered almost little to nothing when Giselle saw her younger sister bareback.

A young teenage girl with a woman, who wore makeup way thicker than Demi, made their way toward Lin Chu with a smile. "Is Demi pretty, Madam Chu?" The woman asked Lin with her fake sweet tone of voice before she noticed Giselle. Without wasting a second, she introduced herself to Demi's older sister, "Hello dear, my name is Stella." 

The woman stuck out her hand expecting Giselle's hand.

She ignored Stella's hand then looked at her mother who was glaring at her. She then shifted her gaze back to Stella. Instead of shaking the woman's hand, she placed both hands up together at her chin level to form a pray. 

"Nice to meet you," She said, then placed her hands back down before she introduced her name. "I am Giselle." Rolled her eyes in annoyance, she sighed out loud. It is not like I am going to the event with them. Why are they wasting so much of my time? She thought as she looked at Demi then at her mother waiting for them to say something.

At the corner of her eyes, she noticed a black car was approaching the mansion entrance. Everyone turned to look at the same time to see a driver ran to open the car's door for Richard Chu. Why is he home so early today?  She wondered as she watched her father walked into the house with one of his hands was holding onto a bag.

A smile formed on Lin's lips as she made her way toward Richard. With a gentle tone of voice, Lin greeted her husband with a bright expression, "Rich, we are ready to leave. What did you buy?" Her hands tried to reach for the bag that he was holding, but Richard Chu walked pass her. 

Ignored his wife, he came to stand in front of Giselle. His lips formed a smile, then handed her the bag. "I've bought this for you. Hurry up, and go change." He said with a soft tone. 

Though Richard Chu married his wife unwillingly, he never once forgot about his role of being a father. He knew that his wife favored Demi more than her. Demi could be a perfect daughter compared to her, but it didn't change the fact that they both are his daughter who he decided to bring to this world. 

To Richard, even if Giselle was not a perfect daughter like Demi, but he still wanted to care and treat her equally. He failed at what he was trying to do because his actions in the past had already labeled him to be on Demi's side.

Demi Chu jealously watched her older sister and her father. Though her father always gave her money, Demi felt like Richard Chu cared more about her older sister than her. Biting her lips, she glanced away to stare at Stella who was standing aside quietly with a teenage girl.

Giselle stared at her father's bag then sighed out loud. She bit her bottom lips for a few seconds as she lost in her own thought. She shifted her eyes up to meet her father's, then she replied, "I don't think people would care even if I don't go," She gave a quick glance at her mother, then turned to look down at her shoes as she continued to talk, "It is not like I am important anyway." 

She bit her own teeth as she tried to fight back her tears that were forming in her eyes. 

Her lips trembled as she took a slow deep breath, "If there is nothing else... I will be heading to my room." She bowed her head a little to her father before she turned around. Swallowed hard as she tried to hold her tears. Giselle began to make her way to her bedroom without any further words.

As soon as she locked the door behind her, all of the tears, that she was trying to hold back earlier, started to run down. Her knees felt weak as her body slid down against the door to sit. Crying quietly, she hugged her own knees. 

Why do you have to pretend to be nice to me? Mother and you are no different. If Demi is perfect, then go ahead, and love her. I am not. I have nothing compared to her. 

An ugly someone like me should've never been born. I am lack of everything that Demi has. I don't even deserve to be shown to the world that I am another daughter of the Chu. It hurts me so much whenever I hear you and mother talked about her. 

What am I, anyway? Do I not have feelings? Am I not allowed to be known? 

She questioned herself a million times in her head. When it started to give her a headache, she wiped her own tears away, then took off her shoes. Giselle stood up and made her way to the bed. She cried uncontrollably in silence until she fell asleep on her bed.

A few hours had passed before her beautiful eyes opened to look at the ceiling above her. Her eyes felt exhausted and swollen. Emotionlessly, she got off the bed. Feeling thirsty, she decided to make her way to the kitchen. 

The mansion was dark and quiet. She turned on the hallway light and continued on walking. The housemaids were nowhere to be found. 

Opened up the fridge, she grabbed a water bottle to drink. Her eyes felt sore from crying, then she closed them while she was drinking water. Suddenly, she heard a loud thud as if someone was jumping onto the floor. 

Her eyes shot wide open. She turned to scan the dim lighted empty kitchen. The only light source that lit the kitchen was coming from the hallway. 

Her heartbeat sped up, but she couldn't see anything move in the dark. 

Could it be the housemaid? She thought, then requestioned herself. Was it the wind then? I probably just imagined stuff. She rubbed her puffy eyes gently, and then she heard a crack near her. She gasped at the sound that she heard, and then she paused when she felt someone stood right behind her.