The more Clara Taylor spoke, the colder Summer Watson's expression became.
When Clara finally finished, Summer let out a short, mocking laugh.
Pointing at the right side of her face, she sneered,"Even my foster parents of fifteen years despise this face — say it's too hideous for even a ghost film. If Adrian York could fall for my beauty, it's only natural that he now despises my scars. Nothing strange about that."
Upon hearing this, Victor and Clara's faces stiffened.
They immediately understood her hidden meaning — Summer had heard everything they'd said in her hospital room the day she was admitted!
Clara quickly dragged two chairs over and sat down beside Victor, facing Summer."Since you already know," she said, "let's be honest with each other."
The three of them stared at one another for a moment before Victor spoke first.
"These days, your mother and I have been handling your contract breach issues. You still have one drama and two endorsements under contract. Now that your face is ruined, the breach penalty totals forty-three million."
"The production company agreed to compensate us only fifteen million according to the contract terms," Victor continued, his voice hard and cold. "We didn't have much savings to begin with, and to clean up your mess, we sold one of our houses to pay off the penalty."
Then he glared at Summer viciously."Summer, if it weren't for us, you would've starved to death with that crippled father of yours. We've raised you for fifteen years — you should be grateful."
Summer almost rolled her eyes.
Grateful?
The original Summer had been adopted by the Watsons at age three.Barely four months after entering their home, Clara had sent her to a child acting agency for training.At age four, she debuted and quickly became popular — from that point on, her life was nothing but endless filming, photoshoots, and work.
For fourteen whole years, she spent almost all her time on set.Out of 365 days a year, she spent less than two months at school.Thankfully, the original girl was bright and managed to study between shoots, scraping by with barely passing grades.
In her final year of middle school, she juggled filming by day and studying by night, but still only got into a mediocre high school.
The Watsons had stolen her childhood and youth — she never got to study properly, never got to play, never lived as a real girl should.She had been nothing more than their money tree, earning so they could live comfortably.And now they wanted her to be grateful?
To hell with that!
In all her two hundred years of life, Summer had never met such shameless people.If she could tolerate them, she wouldn't deserve her title as the strongest survivor of the apocalypse!
"The fire may have ruined Summer Watson's face," she said coldly, "but the two of you shattered her heart with your own hands."The "Summer Watson" she referred to was, of course, the original host of this body.
With that, she suddenly raised her leg and kicked the two chairs with full force.
Victor and Clara fell backward with a scream, crashing to the floor, limbs flailing.
Both of them stared up at her in utter shock.
She actually kicked us!
"You crazy brat!" Victor shouted furiously, bracing against the chair to stand. "You dare hit us now? You've really grown wings! I'll beat you to—"
Before he could finish, Summer suddenly pulled a fruit knife from behind her waist and threw it toward him.
There was a sharp crack as a flash of silver streaked through the air.When Victor looked down, he froze — the blade was embedded perfectly into the wooden chair, right beside his hand.
His pupils constricted in fear. He didn't move a muscle.
Clara stared at the knife, her face drained of all color."You—you…" she stammered several times before her voice completely died.
Summer bent down, pulled the knife out, and slowly ran her fingers along the blade as she spoke with quiet menace."You want to hit me? Then let's see which is harder — your hand, or my knife."
The two of them instantly went still, trembling like a pair of frightened quails, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
Straightening up, Summer tapped the knife lightly against her palm as she spoke, voice calm but cold.
"For fourteen years, out of three hundred and sixty-five days a year, I worked three hundred of them to earn money for you. For your comfort and luxury, Summer Watson had no childhood, never attended school in peace. You acted without conscience — so don't blame me for being ruthless."
She reached into her backpack, pulled out a document, and tossed it at their feet."Take a look. If you've got no objections, sign it."
Clara scrambled to pick it up and opened it — across the top, in bold print, it read:"Letter of Family Severance."
It clearly stated that due to "irreconcilable differences," Summer Watson and the Watson family agreed to sever all relations, never to contact each other again.Furthermore, Summer would leave without taking a single cent — a clean break.
Seeing the words "clean break," both Victor and Clara visibly relaxed.
"You really agree to walk away with nothing?" Clara asked cautiously, afraid Summer might change her mind.
Summer gave them a cold, expressionless glance."What, you'd prefer I asked for a few million instead?" she said flatly.
Clara panicked, instantly pulling a pen from her bag and scribbling her name at lightning speed, then shoving the pen at Victor."Sign it! Quickly!" she urged, terrified Summer might reconsider.
Victor didn't hesitate either — he signed right away.
When he handed the signed document back, he still had the nerve to lecture her:"Summer, you chose this yourself. Remember, from now on, we have nothing to do with each other."
"No ties whatsoever," Summer said coldly.
Taking back the severance letter, she grabbed the parasol by the sofa and walked out of the hospital without looking back.
After she left, Clara and Victor exchanged a glance, then hugged each other tightly in relief.
When they finally pulled apart, Clara sighed,"Thank goodness that brat knows her place. The severance letter was her idea, so if word gets out, it has nothing to do with us!"
Just the thought of that "useless girl" walking out on her own made Clara feel delighted.
Victor nodded repeatedly."Now that we've paid off the penalty, we don't have much left. Call the show's team and ask when they'll transfer the compensation payment."
Summer had signed a contract with the "Godmaking Alliance."According to the agreement, if she was injured during filming, the show would pay compensation.Her burns were categorized as a minor tenth-degree disability, so the production owed her fifteen million in damages.
Clara nodded, stood up, and pulled out her phone to call the show's coordinator, Linda Shaw.
But as soon as Linda answered, she said sharply,"Our finance team already transferred the compensation to the performer's own account. Still trying to squeeze more out of us? What are you two, living inside a money pit?"
Clara exploded."What nonsense! I haven't received any transfer! Your show ruined my daughter's face — and now you're trying to play deadbeat?"
Linda let out a bitter laugh."Oh, come on. We sent the money directly to Summer Watson's account this morning. Don't believe me? Ask her yourself! Honestly, even people who sell their daughters for fame aren't as disgusting as you two."
"Poor girl," she added coldly before hanging up."Having parents like you — what terrible karma."
Click.The line went dead.