My Silver Lining in the Dark Clouds

The night before returning to the Cantrell residence, I had a dream where I was the despised antagonist in a book.

In the story, my father had adopted a girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to my late mother. On the day he came to pick me up, he got into a devastating car accident.

After that, my second brother, Shawn Cantrell, lashed out, calling me a curse, while my eldest brother, Seth Cantrell, treated me with cold indifference. In the end, I was abandoned by everyone, meeting a tragic and lonely end.

My father had a car accident while on his way to pick me up. The news hit me like a ton of bricks, bringing back memories of how my mother had died during childbirth, which led my father to blame me for her death. After I turned five, he sent me away to live with my grandfather in a small town, and we had not seen each other since.

I stood there with my luggage, suddenly remembering last night's dream. While it seemed absurd, I could not shake off the suffocating scenes from my dream and my tragic end. A chill ran down my spine.

After a while, I called Xavier Kingston, and he showed up at the airport shortly after. He asked, "Home or straight to campus?"

Xavier was my arranged fiance and the only person who had stood by me in my dream. Even though he was a minor character in the story, he was brilliant and had excellent grades.

He could have inherited everything from the Kingston family and had a bright future ahead. Instead, in my dream, he took the blame when I hurt Rosie Cantrell, going to jail and missing his college entrance exam.

He was still locked away when I died.

Looking at him now, I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes stinging. I replied, "Let's go to the hospital."

"Are you feeling sick?" Xavier asked, concerned. He did not know about my father's accident yet.

Meanwhile, my guilt for him only deepened. I shook my head and said earnestly, "Xavier, I need your help to figure something out."

When he gave me a puzzled look, I managed a smile. "I want to attend Luivelle University."

He was obviously caught off guard by my words, but he chuckled and said, "That's easy. Let's do it together."

We got in the car and arrived at the hospital shortly after. Taking a deep breath, I followed my memory to the hospital room.

Inside, Rosie was crying while my father lovingly wiped away her tears. My older brothers, Seth and Shawn Cantrell, were comforting her while watching over our father.

It was a perfect family moment, but it was hard to watch. I could not help but feel bitter anger boiling inside me.

As if sensing my presence, my father looked up, and our eyes met. He hesitated before finally speaking.

"Stella?" He sounded unsure, almost as if he barely recognized me. Then again, it was unsurprising since he had not visited me once these years.

Shawn suddenly spat, "You're nothing but bad luck! Wasn't killing Mom enough? Are you here to kill Dad too?"

His words made everyone's expressions darken. They all blamed me for Mom's death, but was it really my fault?

I let out a bitter laugh as tears threatened to fall. It was exactly like my dream—I had my answer.

When Xavier tried to defend me, I held him back, shaking my head.

Just then, Rosie stepped forward, frowning. "Shawn, how could you say that to Stella? Apologize to her right now!"

She was playing the perfect little angel.

Shawn glared at me but did not say more, while Seth merely glanced at me once before remaining silent.

I smiled sarcastically at Rosie. "And who might you be? Did Mom have another daughter I didn't know about?"

My father's face paled as he explained, "Rosie is my adopted daughter—"

"How kind of you, Mr. Cantrell," I cut him off.

The formal address seemed to hurt him. He said uncomfortably, "Stella, I'm your father."

I let out a dry laugh. "A father who abandoned his own daughter to raise someone else's."