Chapter 6 When Has Jeremiah Ever Spoiled Me

In reality, every gift I had ever given Elsa was carefully chosen and brand new, but she always claimed the gifts were too expensive and refused to accept them. Later, I downplayed the value of the gifts. But I had believed she would understand how valuable those gifts were, given the Brown family nurtured her taste. Yet she always assumed I belittled her and saw her as inferior. Elsa prided herself on being virtuous and noble, so I knew I had to poke at her insecurities to deal with her. As expected, her expression turned sour, but she managed to hold herself together. Hurried footsteps came from the door, and I looked up to see Jack rushing in. When he noticed Elsa's downcast face, he started questioning, "Are you picking on Elsa again? You know she isn't in good health, and you're not a child; how could you be this immature?" Jack started lashing out at me out of nowhere. I knew Elsa must've badmouthed me, saying that I did things I never did. When had I ever picked on her? Elsa must've been feeding him lies for a while. Otherwise, how could Jack, who had always doted on me as a child, change so much as an adult? Now, all he did was defend Elsa. Elsa got up to calm him down and conveniently left out everything that just happened. I let out a sarcastic laugh and interrupted their conversation. Pointing to the necklace Elsa was clutching onto, I mocked, "Does giving her a necklace count as picking on her now? You sure have a unique definition of bullying." Elsa reluctantly showed Jack the necklace now that it was mentioned. Then, she belatedly explained, "That's right. Jane was giving me a gift. She wasn't trying to pick on me." Jack froze when he noticed the necklace. Everyone knew how significant it was to me, and giving Elsa such an important necklace showed how much I valued her. When Jack realized he had wronged me, he was momentarily stunned. He looked awkward knowing he had jumped to conclusions but was too stubborn to apologize. "If it's a gift, just say so. What's with the tone? Anyone would've misunderstood. Jane, soften up. You know that others aren't going to like you if you're too strong and possessive. Only if you were softer, Jeremiah wouldn't have…" Halfway through his sentence, he abruptly stopped as if a thought crossed his mind. He glanced at me, sighed, and changed the topic. "Forget it. This is how you've always been, and you can't change it now. I guess Jeremiah is the only one who's willing to spoil you." I couldn't hold back the cold laugh that escaped me. When had Jeremiah ever spoiled me? Men did have a different interpretation of what it meant to be spoiled, huh? As I thought about Jack in my past life, my gaze grew colder. The brother I had always respected had left me to die in a fire for Elsa. From that moment on, I had lost all hope in him. The fire had burned all familial bonds to ashes. Suppressing my anger, I ignored him and turned to head upstairs. Then, I commanded, "I'm tired. Sara, show them out." "Jane, I'm your brother. What kind of attitude is this…" Jack's dissatisfied voice trailed from downstairs, but I wasn't bothered to listen. I had more pressing matters to attend to. Once I returned to my room, I packed up all my belongings. What seemed like a modest amount turned out to fill several boxes. I had the chauffeur load them into the car and drove away from the house I shared with Jeremiah. Moving out was the first step since I had decided to divorce him. I'd rather take the initiative than wait for him to bring it up.