Chapter 5

Cecily was confused. "What did my family do to her?"

Chris was disappointed. "Are you still pretending to know nothing? If it weren't for your father, Emily would have had a happy childhood. But he ruined her life and made her have no complete family. She even had to rely on loans when she attended school. But you live a luxurious life. I'm trying to make amends by loving her now. What's wrong with that? You've really let me down."

Cecily stared at him as he left and was lost in thought.

She didn't have many memories of Nenis, Denis Wall.

When she was six, Danis was implicated in a scandal involving counterfeit drugs.

Millions of patients in the country were harmed by the drugs from Nenis's company.

But Nenis was framed by his competitors.

He never got the chance to clear his name and tragically died by jumping off a building.

That incident forced Ellen to leave her frequently with the Lambert family while she went to seek help.

Later, Ellen remarried the lawyer who had helped them back then.

Ellen changed Cecily's name to protect her from gossip.

That event was rarely mentioned then.

Yet it was spread wildly online now.

Cecily had reported one online video after another, but it was useless.

More videos were released online.

Many details in the videos were only known to those close to Cecily.

She dared not think about it, but she couldn't stop doing so.

A few days later, the Lambert and Warren families had a planned dinner together. They had meant to discuss the details of the wedding between Chris and Cecily.

Cecily had intended to call off the marriage directly. But she found it difficult to say it after she saw Chris.

Since he left her hospital room unhappily last time, Chris showed no signs of dejection.

Instead, he was in high spirits and looked happy.

Cecily then understood everything when her stepfather, Marc Warren, smiled and waved a young woman over.

So Chris wasn't excited about their wedding.

"Cecily, she is the daughter of mine and my ex-wife, Emily Nash. She's here for graduate studies, so take good care of your sister."

Emily was dressed in a light gown and stood obediently beside Marc. She was giving a shy smile on her face. "Hello, Cecily. I've often heard my father mention you. It's nice to finally meet you."

Cecily's eyes darkened. "Take off the dress you're wearing."

Everyone at the table was taken aback.

Chris immediately stood up and shielded Emily behind him. "Cecily, what's gotten into you?"

Cecily slammed her spoon down. "The dress she's wearing is mine."

The simply designed pink dress was one of the few things left to her by Nenis.

He had been specially preparing a coming-of-age gift for Cecily before his death.

Along with the gift came Nenis's last words. "I always wanted to see you grow up, but I won't be there to witness it."

Over the years, Cecily had carefully kept the dress in her wardrobe.

Whenever she missed Nenis, she'd take it out and look at it, but she had borne to wear it.

Yet the dress was on Emily now.

Emily's eyes immediately welled up. She said timidly, "I'm sorry. My clothes got dirty, so Professor Lambert took me home and lent the dress to me."

Cecily let out a cold laugh. "My wardrobe has hundreds of clothes. Why did you have to choose this one?"

Chris interrupted her impatiently. "It's just a dress, isn't it? Emily is your sister. Don't be so petty."

"My sister?" Cecily glanced at Emily. "I'm a member of the Warren family, and she has the family name of Nash. We're not even related by blood. How is she my sister?"

Marc paused with embarrassment and quickly forced a smile. "Emily, why did you wear Cecily's dress? I'll have someone bring you a new one later."

Emily hung her head and said nothing.

Chris's face darkened, and he reached out to block Cecily. "Cecily, the two families are gathering together today. Do you really want to spoil the evening for everyone?"

Emily gently tugged on Chris's sleeve and said with sobs, "Professor Lambert, don't argue because of me. I'm not supposed to be here anyway."

She turned to everyone and bowed pitifully. "I'm sorry for ruining your dinner, everyone. If Cecily doesn't like me here, I'll leave now."

Chris grabbed her wrist. "You don't have to leave."

Cecily looked at their tightly clasped hands and chuckled softly. "Fine. I'll leave. Anyway, I came here today to call off the marriage between us."