A welcome banquet was held at the Chen mansion for Eva.
Eva was introduced as Lillian's long lost twin sister. The Chen family did not want Lillian to feel neglected.
They placed a hand on Eva's shoulder, saying, "I know you're wronging you, but you understand dad's decision, right? We will make it up to you."
Right then, Lillian felt touched. This family truly considered her to be a part and deepened her resolution to remain devoted.
And as the talk directed towards hosting of a banquet, Eva held on to Lillian's hand and humbly requested, "Lillian, can you please be responsible for setting up the banquet? No matter what you do, I will be happy. Nevermind, this is probably a bother for you."
Lillian was in a difficult position. She signed up for an international competition, and winning the competition will allow her with a chance to meet one of her favorite professors. The day of the banquet happened to be the preliminary round of the competition.
However, Mary spoke out, "Of course, Lillian will be more than happy to do that. I want both of you sisters to get along well, hmm?"
Lillian could only nod.
That is how Lillian started to arrange everything for the banquet. She took the responsibility with great pride, handling everything carefully. She wished for Eva to have the best welcome banquet.
But even after being so cautious, she couldn't avoid a mistake.
Her eyes stared in guilt and shock when she watched Eva collapse on the floor, holding her neck tightly unable to breathe. Tears fell down from her reddened eyes, and rashes began to rise on her body. A slice of mango cake was thrown on the ground.
Mary grabbed on to her daughter, concerned, while an ambulance was called.
"Lily, it's okay. I don't blame you. You might have forgotten I am allergic to mango. After all, I am new here, and you had a lot to prepare for. It's alright," said Eva through her cracked voice.
"No, Eva, I paid attention to everything. You never told me you're allergic to mangoes," Lillian voiced out.
From childhood to now, Lillian always paid attention to details when doing things. If it was something like an allergy, surely she would have kept it in her mind.
"It's alright, Lily. It's not your fault. I should have reminded you a couple more times." Eva coughed a few times weakly. "It hurts, mom."
Lillian fell into silence, contemplating whether she had forgotten.
That's when, Alex grabbed her shoulders tightly and shouted, "Enough, Lillian. Stop making it about you all the time! Just be fucking quiet and be grateful she is not holding it over your head after you almost killed her."
Once the ambulance arrived, the Chen family followed after Eva.
The whispers from the guests could be heard. They were deafening. Rumors spread how Lillian hurt her sister out of jealousy.
But Lillian never intended to.
All she wanted was for everything to go well.
With that, she felt the first crack on her heart.
°°°
As Lillian regained her consciousness, she placed her hand on her forehead.
She just dreamed about the incident where the first hand of blame was pointed in her direction.
After that, they slowly escalated through the month. She apparently stole, got into fights, mixed with wrong crowd, and now cheated.
Lillian knew they were only going to get worse in the future.
She thought about the next accusation she was going to face.
Her head felt weak when she tried to get out of the bed. An IV drip was connected to her hand. Although she initially feigned unconsciousness, it seemed it happened for real later on.
She did not lie about starving for two days. Although she did not throw a tantrum like her previous life, touching that rotting food was out of question for her.
The door to her room was pushed open, and Eva entered, followed by Alex. There was boredom on his face, showing how he didn't want to be here.
"Lily, how are you feeling now? The doctor said you suffered from hypoglycemia. I had Jane deliver meal to you. No matter how angry you are, you can't hurt yourself," came Eva's innocent and concerned voice.
Alex placed his hand on her shoulder. "I don't get why you're so worried about her, Eva. This is another one of her attention seeking tantrums. If she doesn't want to eat and die, just let her do that. Now, come on, let's just go and play games."
Growing up, Alex and her did not get along for the most part. They couldn't be left alone in a room without breaking out into a large fight. But even when they had the worst fight between, Alex would show care for when she needed it.
Now, all of a sudden, his mouth turned bitter and harsh towards her, causally wishing for her death.
"Alex, no matter what, Lily is your sister. Don't be mean to her. I am the actual outsider." Eva turned pitiful, looking down at the ground.
What was this show?
Lillian scoffed inwardly.
Then, she reached out to remove the fuzzy slippers from her hand and targeted it towards Alex, hitting him directly in the head. Then, she got up from the bed and walked over to Eva, hugging her shoulders.
"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Alex yelled, rubbing his forehead.