When True Heiress Returns, I Choose to Leave

Chapter 4

Holly's tough days had officially begun.

I got woken up at exactly four in the morning by noises coming from the yard outside. I pushed the window open and spotted her standing down there in athletic wear, her chin tilted high in the air.

Zoe handed her a thick stack of daily schedules. She skimmed the pages quickly, a faint smirk tugging at her lips, then glanced over toward my window. I leaned on the windowsill, still half-asleep, staring down at her.

She flashed me a confident grin, totally convinced she'd come out on top. I shut the window quietly. Was she seriously that clueless?

At five o'clock, stacks of annual industry reports piled halfway up the wall inside the study. Holly stared at them in disbelief. "I have to read all of these?"

Zoe nodded firmly. "Shirley got through all of this every single day." Holly forced a smile. "It can't possibly be that hard."

Thirty minutes later, her brows were tightly furrowed.

An hour in, she chewed nervously on the end of her pen.

Two hours passed, and she slammed all the documents down on the desk. "Who could ever finish this much stuff?!"

Zoe kept her expression completely calm. "Shirley stuck to this workload every day before."

Holly took a deep breath and sat back down again. "I was just stretching my legs a little." I peeked in through the window, then pulled my head back and walked away. Just look at her. Anyone would lose their mind stuck with this routine.

Piano practice started at seven. Zoe nodded at her gently. "You've got solid basics. Let's start with Piano Concerto No. 3. Shirley began learning this piece when she was five years old."

Holly's smile froze right on her face. Two hours later, her fingers trembled nonstop. Four hours later, her gaze turned blank and unfocused.

Waltz lessons kicked off at eleven. The first time she stepped on her dance instructor's foot. The second time, she bumped her knee against his. The third time, she lost her balance and tumbled straight to the floor. The instructor spoke in a calm tone. "You're actually better than Shirley was at first. She nearly bruised my feet all over back then." Holly's mood lifted a little. The instructor added right away, "Still nowhere near as good as Sarah, though."

Her face went rigid once more. She learned etiquette all afternoon, investment knowledge through the evening, and stayed up late going over corporate project reviews alongside Dad.

It was eleven at night when she finally stumbled out of Dad's study, her steps wobbly and unsteady.

I was squatting on the staircase munching an apple, watching her trudge toward me bit by bit. She looked down at me, and I tilted my head up to meet her eyes. She pressed her lips together and asked, "Did you… live like this every single day?" I shook my head honestly. "Nope. Life's way easier for me now. Mom said I'm just not cut out for all this, so there's no point torturing the teachers anymore."

Her face turned purple, then white, then purple again. She grabbed the wall for support and dragged herself away. I stared at her retreating back and silently cheered her on in my head.

On the seventh day, Holly finally snapped. She hurled her pen onto the table, her eyes glistening with tears. "It's so unfair!" Mom raised one eyebrow. Holly pointed furiously at the schedule sheet, her voice shaking.

"Why did you let her have it so much easier than me? I have to get up at six and don't get to rest until eleven at night. But her? She only reads books a little in the morning then gets to relax, practices piano briefly in the afternoon and can mess around afterward. She even gets to squat on stairs eating apples late at night!"

Mom lifted a hand to cut her off. "So what are you trying to say?"

"This whole setup isn't fair!" Mom let out a soft chuckle. "Fair? Your goal is to outshine everyone, to beat Sarah. The hardships you're enduring right now don't even come close to what she suffered when she was your age."

Holly's face paled instantly. Mom flicked a glance my way. "As for Shirley? Her only goal in life is to be a useless layabout. If you're willing to settle for that kind of life, you can switch places with her anytime."

Holly stood rooted to the spot, burning with resentment, tears welling up in her eyes.

Ten days rolled around, and it was time for horseback riding lessons. They dragged me along too. Holly sat atop a horse in full riding attire. Her face was drained of color, yet she held her back ramrod straight. Ten grueling days had worn her down completely. The fearless spark in her eyes had faded away entirely.

I sat on a wooden bench off to the side, crunching potato chips and watching her. Thick fallen leaves carpeted the ground deep within the riding grounds. Holly rode ahead, Mom followed in the middle, while Ethan, Leo and I trailed behind them.

Leo jerked his chin toward me. "Your horse is the finest-bred stallion on the whole estate." I was about to reply when a shrill horse whinny cut through the air up ahead. For no obvious reason, Holly's horse suddenly went utterly wild, rearing its front hooves up high and screaming frantically. I froze in shock.

Ethan's face drained of color. "Why'd her horse just bolt like that?"

The frantic steed then bolted recklessly all across the riding grounds with Holly clinging on its back. Holly gripped the reins for dear life, screaming at the top of her lungs. Her face turned ashen, and she looked like she'd get thrown off any second.

Mom cracked her riding whip and urged her horse forward to chase after Holly. The next instant, the wild horse stood fully upright and tossed Holly hard onto the ground.

Mom leaped down from her horse in an instant to check her injuries. But the crazed animal kept charging forward, spinning around and barreling straight toward Mom and the fallen Holly.

Ethan and Leo both rushed over to intervene. Leo got knocked aside by the horse's charge, and Ethan tried his hardest to block its path, only to get flung away as well.

Just as the horse's hooves were about to trample Holly in a deadly strike, she abruptly hauled Mom right in front of herself as a human shield. At that exact same moment, I let out a sharp gasp and threw my body forward to lunge between them.