Bang!
A great crash reverberated as a black Buick had a head-on collision with a girl in black.
Like a kite whose string had been severed, the body of the victim soared high into the air and then slumped onto the ground nearly twenty meters away from the scent of the car accident.
The witnesses of the car accident screamed with shock as they surrounded the victim.
"She's dead! Help!"
"Poor girl! She's still breathing! Quick! Call the ambulance!"
With blood all over her head, Harriet Foster curled up on the ground.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. Blood flowing out of a gash on her forehead made her vision turn red.
In her ears echoed the sharp voice of her adoptive mother, Ellie Andrews.
"All these years, we have fostered her as the scapegoat for Casey Forster."
"She is lucky, and her fate agrees with that of Casey. As long as we provide for her, Casey can share her good luck and make her the victim of those bad things."
"The calamity for Casey is around the corner, so we shall find a way to make Harriet shield her from it!"
"Let her die! Does it have anything to do with me? I've provided for her for eighteen years! I owe her nothing!"
Harriet just made a call to her adoptive father, and he answered the call by accident. Then, Ellie's voice came from the other end of the line.
At that moment, Harriet realized that the Foster family had adopted her to serve as a shield for Casey!
She now understood why Ellie made her stay by Casey 24 hours a day whenever Casey fell sick.
In this way, Casey had a quick recovery, and then Harriet became badly ill.
Harriet was the victim whenever something bad happened with Casey around her.
Her mentor had warned her of the Foster family, but she didn't believe that.
Moreover, her mentor had alerted her of the calamity of the 18-year-old Casey, saying that the Foster family would make her suffer in that calamity to protect Casey.
She was unwilling to doubt her adoptive parents with ill will. They had raised her for 18 years anyway.
Even if they didn't love her, they wouldn't be so cruel to make her die for Casey.
Till she overheard Ellie on the phone, and the charm she had prepared in advance worked in the car accident, Harriet realized that she had deluded herself.
The Foster family had never treated her like a human being!
They considered her as the tool to protect Casey!
Harriet blankly looked at the gloomy sky above her head, and a drop of tear slid down from the corner of her eye.
She couldn't care about the Foster family anymore since they were cruel to her.
She would repay the Foster family for their upbringing and then sever her ties with them. From then on, there would be no further entanglements between Harriet and the Foster family.
…
Three days later, Harriet went to the Foster's residence.
Unscathed, she stood at the door of the house and casually leaned against it.
Ellie, fuming, hauled a suitcase downstairs from the second floor and flung it out of the door.
She raised her eyebrows, glared at Harriet, and said sarcastically, "You are lucky! You got merely a few scratches after you had been flung more than twenty meters away in the car accident. Now, your real parents found you!
"Take your things and scram! Get back to your parents in the mountains! Don't let me see you again!"
Harriet calmly squinted at Ellie with indifference in her eyes, and a smile of scorn flashed past.
Hearing the noise, Devan Forster and Casey hurried downstairs.
"Ellie! What are you doing? Harriet just got discharged from the hospital today. How can you chase her out?" Devan frowned.
Ellie responded furiously, "She should feel lucky that I didn't tell the guards to kick her out. How dare she come back!"
"I told her to let Casey be the Face of the City, but what did she do? She didn't take my words seriously. I would still be in the dark if I didn't get the inside information through my connections!"
Hearing this, Casey had a flash of anger in her eyes, but she quickly pretended to be kind and meek as before.
"Mom, it wasn't easy for Harriet to get the chance. Understandably, she is reluctant to give it up. If there's anyone to blame, it's me. I am not good enough to get chosen..."
"You aren't inferior to her!" Ellie ranted. "Obviously, she played dirty tricks to get the seat! Otherwise, it would be yours!"
Harriet watched this farce coldly and sneered in her heart.
Since childhood, she had seen such scenarios countless times.
At first, she felt sad, wondering why Ellie never listened to her explanations and why there was only humiliation and abuse for her.
Now, she was calm and even indifferently watched the show between Ellie and Casey.
It was much more entertaining than the TV dramas.
"Are you done?" Harriet picked her ear and sneered, "If yes, goodbye."
From the moment when she knew that the Foster family used her as a tool to shield Casey from disaster, she didn't feel for them anymore.
Leaving the Foster family, to her, was a liberation.
Moreover, her real parents had found her.
From now on, she also had her family.
Devan looked at Harriet seriously. "Harriet, Ellie did make a mistake. However, she has a reason to do so, so don't blame her.
"Now that your real parents have found you, we can't keep you here anymore."
Casey quickly pulled out an envelope, handed it over, and said softly, "Sis, here's one thousand dollars I prepared for you. You may need it during your trip home.
"It is said that your real parents live in the mountains where there are no roads or internet. I am afraid you can't use mobile payment in such a poor place. Therefore, I prepared you some cash for an emergency."
Harriet stared at the envelope and remained silent.
Ellie ridiculed, "Do you want more? You are a Foster by blood, but we have provided for you for 17 years. You should feel glad that we don't ask you to make compensation!"
Then, she sneered, "You should know what is good for you. Take the money, or you can't fend for yourself when your real parents make you marry a poor peasant.
"Given your poor academic performance, do you think you can get admitted into colleges? Even if you can, your real parents may not afford the tuition! People in the mountains are said to prefer boys to girls, so you may have a little brother at home."
Harriet chuckled instead of getting angry. "Bullshits! Did you eat garlic this morning?"
"You!" Ellie changed her expression in one second and rushed over to slap Harriet. "How dare you ridicule me?"
Harriet effortlessly dodged the attack, so Ellie was in shock with her eyes wide open.
In the past, Harriet didn't have the gall to dodge the punishment from Ellie.
"Mom, don't be angry!" Casey hypocritically tried to pull Ellie back. "Harriet didn't mean it."
With her sleeve rolled up a bit, she deliberately showed off the bracelet on her wrist.
Harriet saw the bracelet, and her expression changed. "Grandmother gave that bracelet to me. Why do you wear it?"