I Forgot Them All

Everything changed after my parents adopted Fiona Matthews.

My parents, my brother, my fianceven my own familythey all took her side.

And I went from being the beloved princess of the Summers family to someone everyone despised.

All my struggles were just to get a little more love, but it was all in vain.

When I finally decided to give up everything, I suddenly developed a conditionselective amnesia.

This condition made me forget the painful people and events in my life.

At Fiona and my fianc's engagement party, I forgot my fianc.

On the day I spent my birthday alone, I forgot the brother who once promised to protect me forever.

On the day my parents threatened to disown me for Fiona's sake, I forgot my parents.

In the end, I left New York with nothing holding me back.

And they all regretted it.

"Aurora, aren't you done throwing your tantrum yet?" Preston's disgusted voice drifted up from downstairs.

I stood on the staircase, looking down from above.

My parents, Julian and Preston surrounded Fiona as they sat together. The way they looked at me was cold and full of contempt.

It was as if the steps beneath my feet had created a harsh divide, splitting us into two completely different worlds.

In their world, Fiona was the cherished princess everyone adored, while I was the vicious villain who bullied herevery move I made met with their impatience and wariness.

But in my world, it was like an endless rain was falling. I ran frantically in all directions, but I couldn't find a single shelter where I could rest.

It didn't used to be like this.

I forced myself to maintain an indifferent expression, though my eyes betrayed my confusion.

Before Fiona came to our house, I was the one who was pampered and spoiled, the princess raised in the palm of my parents' hands.

Though my parents were always busy and frequently traveling, every time Dad came home, he would catch me as I ran into his arms, lift me high in the air, his voice full of indulgent affection: "Did our Aurora miss Daddy?"

If I loudly replied, "Yes!" Dad would laugh heartily and rub his stubbled cheek against mine.

The gifts my parents brought back for me each time could literally bury me.

Even when my parents weren't home, I never lacked for anything.

Because I had the best brother in the world, and the gentlest childhood friend.

When my parents were away, Julian and Preston kept me company. Even though they were boys and Julian was five years older than me, they never minded that I was a delicate girl. They patiently played childish games with me.

I grew up under their adoration until I turned seventeenuntil my parents brought home a girl my age named Fiona Matthews.

Everything changed.

Fiona was the daughter of my mother's college roommate, Lauren Matthews. They had been close friends in their youth and stayed in touch even after both got married. But Lauren's family circumstances were modest, and she didn't want to take advantage of our family, so they mostly communicated online.

Until that year, when Fiona's parents died in a car accident.

My mother felt terrible for Fiona, who had lost her parents while her relatives passed her around like a hot potato. So my mother adopted Fiona.

My mother told me: "Aurora, Fiona has been through so much. Be understanding with her."

That understanding cost me everything.

Fiona was nothing like me. She was always frail and delicate, her eyes perpetually misty. If anyone spoke even slightly louder, she could shed tears at any moment.

On the first day, I made Fiona cry.

Because I called out "Mom," and fragile Fiona immediately thought of her deceased parents. Under my mother's reproachful gaze, I stumbled backward two steps in panic.

Within the first month, I "caused" Fiona to fall into the lake.

Behind the Summers family mansion was an entire garden with a lake in the center. Beside the lake stood a treehouse my father had specially built for me when I was little. It was my favorite place.

Fiona cried constantly. Mom said it was because she missed her parents too much.

Mom told me to take Fiona to play in the treehouse together. I didn't want to.

In my heart, the treehouse belonged to me alone. I had too many beautiful memories there. Whenever I was unhappy, I would go to the treehouse to look at the stars, and Julian would always find me there and gently wipe away my tears.

I said reluctantly, "Can't we go somewhere else?"

Fiona's voice was soft: "It's okay, Mrs. Summers. If Aurora doesn't want to, I won't go."

My mother's voice rose, leaving no room for negotiation: "Aurora, is this how I raised you?"

I had no choice but to take Fiona to the garden. By the lake, I looked at the distant treehouse, feeling unhappy, but still tried to patiently prepare to take Fiona inside.

But just then, Fiona stumbled and crashed into me, and we both fell into the lake together.

By the time someone discovered us, Fiona and I had struggled until we lost all strength.

Through my haze, I saw Julian swimming toward me to save me. In my heart, I called out silently: "Julian, save me, please save me."

But from the shore, Mom's voice rang out sharp as a hammer, making my head spin.

"Julian! Save Fiona first! Fiona's health is poor! If she dies, how will I answer to the Matthews family?"

In my despair, I watched Julian glance at me with guilt before turning to swim toward Fiona instead.

I opened my mouth, wanting to call out to my brother, but the bitter lake water surged into my stomach as if trying to fill the void left by the love I was about to lose.

In all the chaos, a security guard pulled me out.

Fiona woke up quickly, but because I had been submerged too long, I remained unconscious for three full days before waking.

When I woke up, everything had changed.

Mom looked at me with utter disgust: "How did I give birth to such a vicious daughter?"

Dad was so disappointed: "Aurora, your father always taught you to be kind."

Julian looked at me with guilt and confusion: "Fiona hasn't affected you at all. Why would you push her into the lake?"

That's when I learned that Fiona had woken up three days before me.

After she woke, she tearfully claimed that I had pushed her into the lake, and said that only if she disappeared would I be happy.

I protested loudly: "That's not true!"

"I didn't push her! She pushed both of us into the lake!"

But no one believed me. The more I explained, the more powerless I felt.

From that day on, in everyone's eyes, I transformed from a pampered princess into a vicious person.

I don't know why, but I kept doing things wrong.

Whenever I encountered Fiona, everyone seemed to think I was targeting her.

When my parents returned from business trips, they only remembered to bring gifts for Fiona, but forgot about me.

After enduring six months of accumulated emotions, I finally exploded: "Mom, Dad, who's actually your daughter? This is so unfair!"

I saw a flash of guilt in my mother's eyes, but it quickly transformed into self-righteousness: "Fiona lost her parents. Of course we need to take extra care of her. Why are you being so petty? You're nothing like me."

Dad looked guilty: "Dad will give you a card, Aurora. Go buy whatever you like, okay?"

But Fiona was crying again, her voice low but impossible to ignore.

Everyone looked over. Fiona said softly: "I'm sorry, Mom, Dad. It's all my fault. I don't want any gifts. Give them all to Aurora."

Mom immediately grew angry: "Aurora, when did you become like this? Your father and mother are very disappointed in you!"

I watched Julian wipe Fiona's tears, and suddenly felt that something seemed to be drifting further and further away from me.

I was panicked, uneasy, disappointed, and sad.

But all I could do was bite my lip and say: "I don't care anyway!"

Then I ran back to my room.

I wouldn't cry. When I was little, Dad said Aurora was a princess, and Aurora's tears were pearlsI couldn't cry easily.

I tossed and turned in my room, growing more and more confused.

Why?

Was Fiona really more likable than me?

Sourness traveled from my chest to my nose, making it hard to breathe.

But I refused to admit defeat. My pride wouldn't let me bow my head.

I thought, since Fiona had stolen everything from me, I would just take it all back.

From my seventeenth year to my twenty-third.

I spent six years learning one lessonthe more you try to grasp something, the harder it is to hold onto.

I became a complete failure. Family, love, careerI had nothing.

All I had was my parents' irritation and impatience, Julian's indifference, and Preston's hatred.

I held my head high, like the princesses in the fairy tales Preston used to tell me when I was young. A princess never bows her head.

My voice struggled to remain steady: "I'm done."

I looked down at the group at the bottom of the stairspeople I once thought would be my lifelong support, my family.

The corners of my mouth lifted in a mocking smile: "You're all one family now. What more do I have to make a fuss about?"

Julian looked at me, his fingers suddenly twitching. He knew me best, after all. Julian was my biological brother. From the time he was five years old and watched me being born, he had watched me grow up.

For some reason, Julian's heart seized, and he felt an inexplicable panic.

But the next second, my mother's words prevented him from grasping that moment of alarm.

"Aurora, I don't care what tricks you're planning now. I'm telling you, tomorrow is Fiona's engagement party, and you must attend."

Tomorrow was Fiona and Preston's engagement party.

It took me a full month to painfully accept this fact.

Actually, I had no choice but to accept it.

I tilted my head slightly. My arm was still throbbing with dull pain.

My mother must have forgotten that when I was seven, Preston had picked roses from his mother's garden, clumsily removed the thorns, and then found me.

Preston looked at me and asked quietly: "Aurora, when you grow up, will you marry me?"

When Preston asked me this, my parents, Preston's parents, and Julian were all present. Everyone laughed at the sight of us, just tiny children.

Only Preston didn't laugh. His face turned red as he stood awkwardly before me.

My mother asked with a smile: "Preston, do you know what marriage means?"

Preston answered seriously: "It means protecting Aurora for the rest of her life."

"Ma'am, Aurora is so delicate. What if someone else can't take good care of her?"

My father snorted lightly: "Wait until you're grown up, then we'll talk about this."

So every year on that day, Preston would ask everyone: "Am I big enough yet? Can I marry Aurora now?"

It wasn't until we entered middle school that Preston realized how silly his past behavior had been. But still, on that day each year, he would gently take my hand: "Aurora, when we grow up, I'll definitely marry you."

Preston, who promised to protect me forever, now stood in front of Fiona, looking at me with hatred, as if I were about to hurt Fiona at any moment.

I suddenly felt tired.

I had once vowed to win back everyone's love, and so my entire life became trapped in this mansion, obsessively calculating whether they treated me better or worse than Fiona.

A little more, and I would be happy.

A little less, and I would be depressed.

Round and round, until I seemed to lose myself entirely.

And I still ended up with the image of a vicious woman.

Everyone downstairs was my closest family in this world. They didn't love me. Did I even deserve to be loved by anyone else?

But what else could I do?

I had already tried my best, and they still didn't love me.

Maybe I had been too happy before, so that after seventeen, every day since has been paying back that debt.

I nodded: "I understand. I'll go."

I didn't have the energy to look at the surprised or relieved expressions on their faces below. I returned to my room.

The moment the door closed, my straight spine bent.

I slid down against the door to the floor. My mind seemed to be thinking about everything and nothing at all. The world became hazy before my eyes, as if separated from me by a layer.

Only my hand unconsciously gripped the freshly scabbed wound on my arm.

I had cut it with a small knife a few days ago.

Starting a year ago, the thought of leaving this world became increasingly intense.

With Fiona here, maybe even if I died, it wouldn't affect those people in the slightest.

But I was still struggling to stay alive.

Every time I thought about ending it all, those warm moments from childhood would flood in, making the hand holding the knife lose a bit of its strength.

I opened my phone. The contact list was nearly empty.

Ever since Fiona came to our house, I had been forcibly bound to her. I got into New York University; Fiona didn't, so my mother donated two buildings to get her in.

After graduation, I started working at the Summers company, and immediately Fiona was placed in my department.

Under Fiona's performance, in everyone's eyes, I was the arrogant young lady with a terrible temper. No one wanted to get close to me.

She, on the other hand, was the poor little thing I bullied, easily winning everyone's favornot to mention she spent the Summers family's money giving plenty of benefits to her so-called "friends."

I couldn't even find a single outlet to pour out my pain.

Those feelings of resentment, anger, numbness, and suffering crashed around inside my body, as if trying to destroy me from within.

And I was completely helpless.

I curled up into a ball on the soft carpet.

After a long while, I couldn't help but shed a tear.

Dad, you lied to me. My tears aren't pearls at all. No one cares about the tears I shed.

I wanted to get up right now and go before that group of people who once loved me but now loved Fiona, and shout: "Tell me! What exactly do you want me to do?"

But in the end, I just curled myself into an even tighter ball.

Sleep, Aurora.

Everything will be better after sleep.

Close your eyes, and this painful day will end.

I didn't sleep well. My eyeballs kept jumping beneath my eyelids, my breathing quick and shallow, as if I were being tormented.

But when dawn approached, my breathing finally steadied.

It wasn't until noisy sounds erupted outside my door that I groggily woke up.

The door was being pounded loudly. I lifted my aching body from the floor and opened the door.

Outside stood Julian with his cold voice: "Why haven't you gotten ready yet? Today is Fiona's engagement party. You're not planning to throw another princess tantrum and refuse to go, are you?"

My head still hurt. I had no energy to answer Julian's question.

Perhaps seeing how pale I looked, Julian's voice softened slightly: "What's wrong with you?"

I stepped back, my voice flat: "Nothing."

Julian looked at me, as if angered by my coldness. His eyes filled with disappointment: "Aurora, you weren't like this before. You used to"

"I'm sick of hearing that line. If you have nothing to say, go keep your dear sister company. If you keep wasting time, I really will miss the engagement party."

With that, I closed the door in Julian's shocked gaze.

Warm water streamed over my body. I was still thinkingengagement party? Fiona's engagement to whom?