Standing outside the villa, Serena allowed her tears to fall in silence, a lancholy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Tonight was Christmas Eve, and she had taken a twelve-hour flight just to reconnect with her family.
She knew her parents had kept a secret from her—bringing Rosemary to visit their grandmother and uncle.
She knew she was not welco here.
She knew everyone would rather not see her.
But she ca anyway, driven by an affection built over eighteen years.
She wanted to bridge the gap between her and her parents, her uncle, her grandmother.
But as she rushed to the villa, she heard laughter and the sound of rry songs coming from the garden.
In the distance, a group of Santa Clauses and dozens of elves were singing and dancing around a girl.
There was no need to guess who that girl was!
Serena had planned to let bygones be bygones and join the fun, pretending her heart wasn’t breaking.
But then, the fireworks burst into the night sky. Each word they spelled deeply pierced her heart:
"Welco ho."
"rry Christmas Eve."
"Happy Christmas."
"Rose, be happy."
"Stay healthy and safe."
Every single word was a sign of care and blessings for Rosemary!
Not a single word was ant for her!!
Everyone centered around Rosemary, trying their best to make her happy.
Nobody cared about the feelings of her, the adopted daughter!
As the fireworks painted the night sky, they ford marigolds—Rosemary’s favorite flower.
Everyone in the family knew Rosemary loved marigolds.
The brothers had even planted a bunch of them at Reflections Villa.
In the night sky, the marigolds beca a sea of flowers, with a long-haired girl standing in the midst of them.
In the finale of the fireworks display, there were scenes of five brothers and a sister:
One brother holding an umbrella for his sister,
One bending down to tie his sister’s shoelaces,
One bending over to make his sister laugh,
One presenting his sister a bouquet of flowers,
And another holding a sword as if to protect his sister.
This scene deeply hurt Serena.
Did all her brothers only see one sister??
What about her, Serena??
She wasn’t allowed to be part of their lives, and now, she didn’t even have a place in the fireworks display??
Tears once again rolled down Serena’s face, her smile growing more bitter and her heart heavier.
Her parents and brothers had always reassured her that they considered her part of the family and would treat her the sa as before.
But now, everyone had kept her in the dark while they secretly prepared such an extravagant surprise for Rosemary—leaving her alone at ho.
How could they?!
How could they be so unfair?!
Was the eighteen years of affection all just a sham??
Could it really not compare to the blood relation??
It must have been Uncle Sampson’s idea.
There wasn’t a single servant in the garden, and they must have gone inside to dine, joining in the gaiety.
Serena pushed open the intricately carved gate, alone walking into the garden.
She rembered, when she was in elentary school, one winter break, she had co here.
Just like now, it was snowing then—spotless snowflakes drifting endlessly.
The garden was so vast that she couldn’t see the end of it.
She ran around in the garden for a long ti, even throwing snowballs at her uncle.
Her uncle would play along, smiling gently, looking at her with indulgent eyes.
That mont was so beautiful.
All the maids were smiling, saying that Sampson liked her the most, and she was the only one in the world who dared to throw snowballs at him.
Another year, in the autumn, she ca with her parents to visit her uncle, picking nurous precious flowers and plants from the garden.
Back then she didn’t know the value of those plants. She just thought they were pretty.
Louisa scolded her, but Sampson indulgently said, "It’s nothing. As long as Serena likes them, the whole garden—even the whole villa—can be given to her."
Everything in the past was so beautiful, and it was heart-wrenching to think about it.
At that mont, a few maids passed by in the garden.
"Tonight’s dinner was really lavish. Ms. Collins is so lucky to have so many family mbers dote on her."
"Even the gift wrapping paper was studded with crystals. It must have been expensive, right?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Collins were so generous—a private island and the world’s largest castle-thed amusent park!"
"Ms. Collins’ brothers are generous also, making a special trip to give her a surprise and such costly gifts."
"There were private yachts and a private plane. David even gave away his favorite luxury cars—three in total."
"The villa is also quite valuable. I heard it ranks among the world’s luxury hos."
Serena laughed even more bitterly, more painfully.
Tears stread down her face, and her heart felt as if it was pierced by a thousand arrows.
The more she laughed, the more she wanted to cry;
The more she laughed, the more she felt on the verge of collapse.
When her parents were giving Rosemary such expensive gifts, did they ever think of the daughter they had raised for eighteen years?
When Sampson was giving gifts to please Rosemary, did he ever think of his other niece?
And her brothers—usually tied up with work—all managed to find ti today just to give Rosemary a surprise?
As for Hunter, a stiff and cold workaholic like him wouldn’t make exceptions for anyone.
Even if he didn’t have work on Christmas Eve, his strict routines would never allow him to be here—let alone fool around with the other brothers.
> "Let alone the value of the gifts, just the fact that these brothers could spare the ti and fly here to give Ms. Collins a surprise, to sing and dance for her, to prepare fireworks for her—these movents are really touching!"
"Isn’t that the truth? Having such brothers is truly wonderful. My brother only ever cheats out of my allowance, and whenever he does sothing wrong, he throws under the bus because he knows our parents dote on and wouldn’t scold ."
"After all, this is Ms. Collins’ first ti visiting Sampson’s place, and her first ti celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas—it should be a grand event, shouldn’t it?"
Tears stread down Serena’s face once again, her smile more bitter.
She looked more heartbroken.
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