After I was kidnapped, my whole family was relieved because the kidnappers had mistaken me for my sister Bella, who was supposed to be the target. When the police rescued me, I was bleeding from almost every pore on my body. I didn’t cry or make a fuss. I developed emotional indifference syndrome. I had no emotions and could no longer feel sad about anything happening around me. I felt more at ease than I had on any previous day. But later, they all regretted it and begged me to return to my former self. When I returned home from the hospital, there was no one in the house. Even the furniture had been moved out. Unable to contact my family, I called the housekeeper and found out they had moved to a new place. I went to the address she gave me. The whole family was already sitting at the dining table, ready to eat. Seeing me return, everyone at the table looked a bit uncomfortable. “Why didn’t you tell me you were moving?” I asked. “Well, your sister has been having nightmares lately about being kidnapped,” Mom said casually, as if discussing the day’s menu. “I figured the old house might have some bad energy, so we changed locations. Your sister has a delicate constitution. It’s good you’re back – sit down and join us for dinner.” The table was full of Bella’s favorite dishes. My face was covered in thick bandages and I walked with a limp, but no one seemed to care. In the past, I would have been very upset by this. But now I felt nothing. My emotions were gone. Seeing me sit down calmly, Bella suddenly leaned over. “I’ve been so scared these past few days, I didn’t even dare to go out. That’s why I couldn’t visit you in the hospital. Mom and Dad were worried I might get kidnapped too, so they had to stay home with me. You don’t blame me, do you, Aria?” Before I could respond, Dad jumped in: “It’s not a big deal. You two are sisters – can’t you understand each other?” I didn’t know how to react. I was the one who had actually been kidnapped. Bella let out a hearty laugh. “Hehe, I was just afraid Aria might overthink things!” She picked up a shrimp and put it in my bowl. “Anyway, Aria has always been so independent and much braver than me. I really admire people with guts like that.” I silently put down my chopsticks. I’m allergic to shrimp. Not a single person at the table remembered.
My name is Aria, born on July 7th. My sister’s name is Bella. We are full-blooded sisters, believe it or not. A fortune teller said my fate was inauspicious and I shouldn’t be raised at home, so my parents sent me to live with my grandparents in the countryside. For many years, they hardly ever came to see me. It wasn’t until my grandparents passed away that they brought me back home. I returned with high hopes, but I quickly realized this home didn’t belong to me. The day I was kidnapped, Bella had insisted on taking a shortcut through a deserted alley. After walking a bit, she said she needed to find a restroom and told me to wait right there for her. The next thing I knew, I lost consciousness. I will never forget what happened during that time. … “Worthless trash,” the kidnappers growled as their fists rained down on me, venting their anger. They had mistaken me for Bella and kidnapped the wrong person. My family refused to pay the ransom for me, so the kidnappers couldn’t get a single cent. I was starved for three days and tortured for three days. My throat was so raw I couldn’t make a sound. When the police burst in, the kidnappers were about to strip off my clothes. Blood obscured my vision, but I still strained to look behind the officers. No one was there. Not a single family member had come. I wanted to cry but no tears would come. The doctor said I had post-traumatic stress disorder, specifically manifesting as a loss of emotions. Medically, it’s also called emotional indifference syndrome. The hospital room was empty. After the police officer in charge of the case left, no one else came to visit. 2 The people at the dinner table treated me like I was invisible. The three of them chatted and laughed, looking like the picture of a happy family. In the past, I would have tried hard to join their conversation, but today I did nothing. “I’m done eating,” I said, casually wiping my hands on a napkin. “Which room am I staying in?” Mom looked startled for a moment before responding. “The other rooms haven’t been set up yet.” “Aria, don’t blame Mom and Dad. They’ve been so busy lately they can barely keep up with everything,” Bella said, acting protective of our parents while subtly implying I was being unreasonable. She had done this many times before. I countered, “Did I say I blamed them?” I gently put down the hand towel and said flatly, “Then I’ll just pick an empty room. Enjoy your meal.” As I slowly walked upstairs, I could hear my parents’ conversation. “Where did she get this prickly attitude from? Bella, don’t take it to heart. Here, have some of the pigeon soup I made – you haven’t tried it yet!” Bella went along with it. “My sister’s probably just shaken up by what happened.” Mom disagreed. “What does she have to be shaken up about? She came back just fine, didn’t she?” … I closed the bedroom door, shutting out their chatter.
That evening, Noah came home. He’s not the Wilsons’ biological child – he was adopted by my parents. Bella and I call him our brother. I had always dreamed of having an older brother to stand in front of me and protect me. Noah did fit all my imaginations of a good big brother, except he protected Bella. Towards me, who suddenly appeared and took away some of Bella’s attention, he was full of hostility. From the moment he walked in, Noah didn’t spare me a single glance. The lack of welcome was written all over his face. How had I been so blind before? Even when he treated me this way, I always tried to get close to him, fussing over him and giving him gifts. I envied Bella and was jealous that she had the whole family’s love. But now that all those emotions had disappeared, their behavior seemed forced and uninteresting to me. I felt a bit hungry. Noticing I hadn’t greeted him, Noah gave me a couple extra glances. “Hey, I don’t want your stuff,” he said, pulling out an elegantly wrapped gift bag. I recognized it as the birthday present I had chosen for him. It was a jade pendant I had polished and carved myself. I had given him many gifts, and each one was publicly returned to me. He and Bella both seemed to enjoy the process of trampling on my dignity. “Noted,” I said, my attention completely elsewhere. The food was all laid out, but I had no appetite. The table was full of seafood. There wasn’t a single dish I could eat. Just looking at it made my wounds ache. Noah was taken aback. In the past, this girl would always beg him to keep her gifts. This time she agreed so readily – was she playing some new trick to get the family’s attention? “Brother, what did Aria give you?” Bella asked, her hand already unwrapping the gift before he could answer. “Oh, what a beautiful jade pendant! Aria must have put a lot of thought into it. Brother, you should keep it.” Noah pressed his lips together. Keep it? Wouldn’t that mean he was accepting this person? She was the reason Bella felt insecure and cried countless nights. “I’ll never accept anything from her. Take it back,” he said to me, his tone brooking no refusal. My stomach was hurting from hunger. Faced with a table full of seafood I couldn’t eat, I just wanted to go out and get something else. I had barely stood up when Noah, taking it as me being unwilling to face him, grabbed my wrist. “Take your stuff back.” Bella gave me a look that said she was enjoying the show. According to past patterns, I should be crying by now. “Just throw it away,” I said. “What?” Seeing that no one was moving, I took the jade pendant and tossed it in the trash. “I said, if you don’t want it, throw it away. I’m leaving now.” Everyone at the table fell silent. This version of me was too unfamiliar to them. I ignored them and directly left the table. Noah felt a bit unsettled, watching that annoying figure gradually disappear. It was as if something had quietly slipped out of control. Bella glanced at Noah, her hand gripping her chopsticks tightly.
I went out and ate to my heart’s content. When I got back home, Mom and Dad were sitting in the living room waiting for me. “Come here, I have something to say to you,” Dad said. I could probably guess what they wanted to talk about. Since I came back, the two of them had barely spoken to me. The few times they did, it was always about wanting me to go on blind dates for an arranged marriage. Money always circulates among a small group of people, and it’s common for wealthy families to form connections through marriage. They just didn’t want Bella to do these things. Besides, Noah and Bella had grown close over time and showed signs of mutual affection. My parents were unwilling to disrupt that, so they had put off the idea. However, my return solved this problem. The unfavored second daughter was the perfect tool. “Aria, the youngest son of the Cloud family has returned from abroad. You two are about the same age. Why don’t you meet up sometime, have dinner and chat?” Mom added, “After what happened to you, your father and I were so worried. We thought if you had a man by your side to protect you, we’d feel much more at ease.” I had always refused these kinds of arrangements. These rich kids grew up living decadent lifestyles and were involved in all sorts of unsavory business. Mom and Dad clearly didn’t care about my wellbeing at all, which had upset me for a long time. But now it didn’t matter. If meeting once could shut them up, that would be best. I nodded. “Okay, when should we meet?” They seemed surprised that I agreed so readily. The long lecture they had prepared had nowhere to go. Both of them paused awkwardly before Dad recovered first. “Tomorrow at noon, at the restaurant owned by Cloud Corporation. If he takes a liking to you that would be great, but it’s fine if he doesn’t. They’re not just any ordinary wealthy family.” I nodded. The atmosphere fell silent again. “Is there anything else?” I asked. “No… that’s all,” Mom said. I got up to go upstairs, my movements quick and decisive. Mom and Dad exchanged a glance, both seeing complex emotions in each other’s eyes. “This girl has been acting strange lately. I hope she’s not planning anything,” Dad said. “I’ll have the housekeeper keep an eye on her. We can’t let her cause trouble for the family,” Mom replied. “If only she was half as sensible as Bella.” “How could she compare to the daughter we raised ourselves…” I let out a soft laugh. Right, only Bella was “our daughter” in their eyes.
I met the blind date, Zack, one afternoon. He was leaning against the driver’s side window, lighting a cigarette but not smoking it. He didn’t like smoking, but felt compelled to maintain an image of vice. When the cigarette burned out, he messed up his hair and got out of the car. I happened to witness this whole scene. The impossibly handsome young man unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and slouched in his chair with an air of decadence. “Hello, are you Zack?” I went over to greet him. “Mm, and you’re… Aria?” He hesitated, as if wondering what kind of girl would have such an unusual name. “I heard you’ve turned down a lot of people before?” I asked. “Can’t say I’ve turned them down when I’ve never even met them,” he replied. He suddenly smiled. “I guess that makes you pretty special.” “What’s your take on this arranged marriage business?” he asked. “What can I say? My life is worthless, so my family calls all the shots.” The kidnapping incident hadn’t spread, but Zack surely knew about it. He gave me a meaningful look. “Miss Wilson, you and I are the same kind of people.” He raised his glass, wanting to toast with me. I pushed my glass away. “Not quite. I’d like to eat first.” Zack paused for a moment, then rested his chin on his hand with a slight smile. “Alright then, let’s eat first.” I sighed. I had hoped to encounter an idiot, but instead I met someone with more schemes than a beehive has holes. As soon as I finished eating and parted ways with Zack, I received a message from my parents. The Cloud family was very satisfied with me and hoped to proceed with the marriage soon. I had miscalculated. I had only intended to find some fool to cooperate with me so my parents would stop forcing me to go on blind dates. Who knew I’d end up meeting Zack and digging myself into a big hole.
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