Fading Visions

Chapter 4

Victoria went to the Willow family's residence in the afternoon. When she arrived, she saw Edgar opening the car door for Emily, who had also just arrived.

As usual, Emily appeared like a delicate and gentle woman. After thanking Edgar, Emily glanced at Victoria's car parked behind theirs.

"Edgar, Victoria's here."

Edgar always focused his attention on Emily, leaving him with no time for anything else. His expression immediately turned displeased as he turned towards Victoria's car.

‘Hah! I knew it. Her previous attitude was just a new trick. It's only been a few hours since I ignored her, and she's already followed me here.’

With a mocking smile, he walked towards Victoria, who had just gotten out of her car.

"Victoria, you've finally realized your mistake. Now, apologize to Emily. After that, I won't ignore you anymore," Edgar said in a low voice.

Victoria said nothing. Her expression was apathetic, and her gaze was cold. Her presence at the Willow Family Residence had absolutely nothing to do with Edgar. The only reason she came was because she wanted to retrieve her mother's heirloom necklace, which Sebastian was keeping.

She had decided that she would no longer waste her precious time on Edgar. Therefore, she had no interest in engaging in any nonsense conversation with him. With her head held high, Victoria walked past Edgar, ignoring him as if he wasn't there.

Once again, Edgar was stunned by Victoria's attitude. A slight discomfort began to grow in his heart.

"Edgar, I told you before. Victoria is really angry. What should we do?" Emily immediately approached Edgar with a sad expression on her face.

Emily's soft voice pulled Edgar from his thoughts, and he turned to look at her and smiled. "Miss Emily, there's no need to think about something unimportant. Your birthday is coming up soon. You need to take care of your health."

Emily still looked sad, but she nodded.

As for Victoria, she completely ignored the conversation between the two and walked towards the stairs.

Just as she reached the top of the stairs, she saw Sebastian and Lauren, her stepmother, walking towards her. They were about to go down to the ground floor.

"Victoria, you're here," Lauren said with a wide smile, greeting Victoria as if she was happy to see her stepdaughter.

But in reality, she was the one who made Victoria's mother's illness worse every day in the past. She was also the one who asked Emily to ruin Victoria's mother's flower garden years ago. She did all of that to get rid of Victoria and her mother.

Of course, Victoria knew about this. That's why she never liked Lauren. Unfortunately, no matter how much she told Sebastian, her father never believed her. In the end, she was the one who was pushed aside.

Victoria ignored Lauren and said to Sebastian, "I want to talk to you."

Seeing Victoria ignore Lauren, Sebastian became angry. "Look at how you're acting. Have you become a wild girl after living alone outside?"

"The necklace of my mother that you keep. I want it," Victoria ignored Sebastian's words.

"You..." Sebastian was angry, but he held back because he knew that he couldn't make Victoria angry before the wedding. He cleared his throat to stabilize his emotions. "On your wedding day, you will get the shares and some of the properties that your mother left behind. You don't need that necklace."

"That is a heirloom necklace from my mother's family. As her daughter, it is only right that I keep it," Victoria insisted.

"Victoria, just this once. Stop being stubborn and so arrogant. Emily's birthday is coming up soon, and I've already given that necklace as her birthday gift. You should be able to concede."

Hearing Sebastian's words, Victoria smiled mockingly. "Concede? She has successfully replaced my place as the daughter of the Willow family, and you're still asking me to concede?"

"Victoria..." Sebastian wanted to say something else to persuade Victoria.

But his words stopped when Emily came up to him. It seemed that Emily had heard their conversation because she looked so sad.

"Dad, it's okay. That necklace really belongs to Victoria. I have no right to have it at all." Then, she looked at Victoria. "Victoria, wait here, I'll get it for you."

With that, Emily went to her room.

"See? Emily is so obedient, unlike you who always causes trouble," Sebastian scoffed.

A moment later, Emily returned with a jewelry box in her hand. Just as she was about to give it to Victoria, she saw Edgar walking up the stairs with several paper bags in his hands.

"Miss Emily, where should I put these things?" Edgar asked.

Emily smiled, "Just put them there. I'll take them to my room later." Then she said to Victoria. "This is your necklace, Victoria."

Victoria didn't immediately take the jewelry box. She said, "Open it, I want to see if it really is my mother's necklace."

"Victoria!" Sebastian said through gritted teeth.

"Dad," Emily calmed Sebastian, her expression showing the impression of a kind-hearted woman being oppressed. Then, she opened the jewelry box. "Victoria, I wouldn't dare to deceive you. This is your mother's necklace."

Only after Victoria saw that it was her mother's necklace did Victoria reach out to take the jewelry box from Emily's hand. Her cold expression made her look arrogant, so in the eyes of Sebastian and Edgar, Victoria was an evil woman who enjoyed oppressing her own sister.

Just before Victoria touched the jewelry box, Emily deliberately dropped the box to the floor, causing the beautiful diamond necklace to fall out of the jewelry box and onto the floor.

"Victoria, I'm sorry. I've been practicing the violin from early morning until noon, so my hands are a little shaky now," Emily said with a fearful expression on her face.

Victoria stared at Emily with a sharp gaze. She knew that Emily did it on purpose, but with people who adored Emily around, who would believe her? Therefore, she didn't intend to say anything and immediately bent down to pick up the necklace.

Suddenly, a figure approached and stepped on the necklace.

"Emily!" Edgar stood by Emily's side, who now looked so weak in his arms.

Seeing her mother's necklace being stepped on, Victoria could no longer contain her anger. "Edgar, get your foot off!" she yelled.

Edgar, Sebastian, and Lauren were so worried about Emily's condition. So when Edgar saw that Victoria had no empathy for Emily at all, he felt angry.

"I... my head is spinning," Emily said weakly.

Edgar ignored Victoria. He immediately carried Emily. "I'll take you to the hospital, Miss Emily." With that, he turned around, and as he stepped, he deliberately kicked the necklace under his foot.

Seeing the necklace slide towards the stairs, Victoria reflexively chased after it. It was her mother's heirloom necklace, so she didn't care about anything except catching the necklace. Along with the necklace, Victoria rolled down the stairs.

"Mom... it's okay. I got it. I got it." Ignoring the bruises and wounds on her body, Victoria curled up on the floor, hugging her mother's necklace.

At that moment, Edgar stepped closer with Emily in his arms. Then, he stopped in front of Victoria.

Without looking down, Edgar said, "This is what you get for bothering Emily. If you do it again, you will get a more severe punishment."

With that, Edgar stepped away.

Unbeknownst to Edgar, Emily turned to look at Victoria with a mocking smile on her face.