chapter 9
They did not disappear quietly.
A few days later, they found me outside my company building.
The second I stepped out, my father stormed toward me.
“I knew it. There’s no way the Meng family could’ve fallen that fast unless you were behind it. Give everything back now, and I’ll still acknowledge you as my daughter.”
I looked at him and laughed.
He was still talking like a king after his crown had already been auctioned off.
My mother changed tactics when intimidation failed. She grabbed my hand and cried.
“Sweetheart, we were wrong. We really know that now. The Meng family can’t collapse. Let your brother run the company. He’s your real brother. We’ll find you a wonderful husband and marry you off in style. Come home. The hardship outside is unbearable. Let us be a family of four again.”
I glanced at her hand on mine and peeled it off.
“I think the three of you together are family enough.”
My brother’s temper snapped immediately.
“You ungrateful bitch. Mom and Dad may not have raised you, but they still gave birth to you. You come back and destroy everything? If you don’t return the company and the property, I won’t let you off.”
I smiled. “Good. I’ve been waiting to see what exactly you think you can do to me.”
When threats and tears both failed, they tried one last trick.
My mother clutched her chest and coughed delicately.
“To tell you the truth… your father and I have both been diagnosed with cancer. We don’t have money for treatment now. If we die, our only regret will be seeing you and your brother torn apart. Let him into the company.”
My father nodded along. “The doctors said we don’t have much time. We were only reunited as a family for a moment. You can’t let us die like this.”
I looked at them and almost admired the nerve.
Even now, facing what they thought might be death, they were still planning for their son.
Never me.
I waved a hand.
My security team dragged them away.
A week later, Ethan was waiting for me downstairs with red eyes and shaking hands.
He grabbed my arm and snarled, “What the hell did you do? Mom and Dad really got diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer. The doctors said they don’t have long.”
I looked at him in surprise. “Weren’t they already terminally ill? That’s what they told me.”
His face twisted.
He dragged me to the hospital anyway.
In just a few days, my parents had aged ten years.
My mother cried as she clutched my hand. “Madeline, now I understand. My favoritism caused all of this. This is karma. But before I die, my final wish is still that you let your brother into the company. Only if you work together can the Meng family rise again.”
I patted her hand gently and said nothing.
Because what was there to say?
A family is not defined by blood.
A family is the people who treat you like you matter.
The rest are just relatives.
When I left the room, Ethan followed me out.
“Why are you still being stubborn? Mom and Dad are dying. Don’t you care about their last wish? They said we need to work together. Give me the general manager position. I’ll teach you how things are done. You got where you are by luck, nothing else.”
I took a step back and looked him over.
Luck.
That word again.
Funny.
In both my lives, people loved saying my survival came from luck.
My grades were luck.
My endurance was luck.
My success was luck.
As if the only possible reason I could still be standing was because fate kept tripping over itself in my favor.
I shrugged. “Who said I have to respect their dying wish? They never treated me like their daughter while they were alive. Why would death make them sacred?”
He stared at me like he had never seen me before.
“They’re your family.”
I spread my hands. “If they die with regrets, that sounds like their problem. I’m still alive.”
Then I left him standing there.
A little over a month later, both of my parents died.
And after that, I did not hear from Ethan for a while.
Until the day he decided to try to take me with him.