They Read My Mind

Are They Reading My Thoughts?

The entire family suddenly turned their heads, their piercing gazes fixed on me.

Caught off guard by the five pairs of eyes staring straight at me, I flinched, then quickly acted as though nothing had happened and quietly returned to my seat.

"My dear Yunice, is everything okay now?" my dad asked casually.

'What the heck? Why is he suddenly interested in my bathroom breaks?'

'Anyway, with all the evidence locked in, there's no way Dory is getting out of this one. That girl who got rescued—her body was completely covered in bruises and scars. She's been through so much.'

'Speaking of which, that girl happens to be Alicia's younger schoolmate. Can you believe it? Alicia knew about Dory's twisted preferences and still sent her younger schoolmate, who was just looking for a tutoring gig, straight into Dory's hands. It's like feeding a lamb to the wolves!'

'Alicia, you're absolutely despicable!' I exclaimed inwardly.

"Impossible!" Harvey suddenly snapped, glaring at me with barely contained anger.

"What now?" I asked, utterly confused as I met his glare.

'This guy's losing it again, huh? Let's see if you'll still be yelling 'impossible' when you're backed into a corner and can't talk your way out!'

Harvey's face turned crimson with fury, and just as he looked ready to explode, William smacked him on the back of the head, silencing him instantly.

I lowered my head, feigning sadness as I scrolled through the family gossip feed. 'Wait a second, didn't we leave off with William's drama earlier?'

'Oh, right. Turns out Alicia always knew Dory had a thing for her. But Alicia actually liked William, so she deliberately sent Dory to William, thinking it'd somehow create harmony between the three of them. Later in the original story, Alicia confesses to William, but he turns her down because he can't get past the fact that they grew up as siblings. Alicia ends up harboring resentment, and down the line, she teams up with the male lead, Jeremy Miller, to sabotage the Stone Family. Oh, and Dory played a big role in the whole mess, too.'

'Now, however, Alicia has changed her tune. It seems the family doesn't hate me as much as she thought. Instead of risking her position by driving me out, she's taken a different approach by targeting William. If she becomes the next head of the family by marrying him, wouldn't the entire family fall into her hands?'

I sighed internally, shaking my head. 'Ugh, what kind of lousy love interests does William attract? But since we share the same mother, should I at least warn him?'

Stealing a glance at William, I noticed he was watching me intently as if waiting for me to say something. Avoiding his gaze, I lowered my eyes, my thoughts swirling.

'Forget it. In the original timeline, I warned him, didn't I? But he still fell for Alicia's instigations, thinking I was only badmouthing her because I didn't like her. He even thought that I was trying to hurt Dory for the same reason. To punish me, he snatched several of my resources and handed them to Alicia. Later, he even helped her trick me into meeting some sleazy director with a disgusting reputation. Although he didn't mean to, if I hadn't been quick-witted, I would've fallen for it.'

'And then—well, even after finding out Dory's child wasn't his, he let Alicia convince him to keep the mother and child around out of pity. That was until Dory helped Alicia take over the Stone Family. By then, William was bankrupt, destroyed by her schemes, and haunted by the deaths of over a dozen workers on his construction site. Wracked with guilt, he jumped off the roof of a building. His brains were splattered across the pavement before Dory finally revealed the truth, that the child had nothing to do with the Stone Family and left them all behind.'

'No, no, I'm done playing the hero. Everyone's fate is their own to handle. God helps those who help themselves, but there's no saving the shameless.'

"Pfft—" A sudden burst of laughter pulled me from my thoughts. Jimmy had nearly spat out his drink. His shoulders shook as he tried to contain his amusement.

Harvey had the same expression of stifled laughter while William's face turned red, then pale, as if he were switching masks. Meanwhile, my parents just looked at him with thinly veiled disappointment, as if he were beyond saving.

'Everyone's so expressive today,' I thought with dry amusement.

My gaze shifted back to Jimmy, and I couldn't resist the urge to mock him internally. 'And you're laughing? You're not much better, are you? After Alicia decided to take matters into her own hands and seize control of the family, you were the second one on her hit list.'

Jimmy froze mid-sip, his expression stiffening. He choked on his drink, coughing violently as he sneaked a glance in my direction.

I continued. 'Jimmy was manipulated into drug addiction, squandered his resources to elevate Alicia's career, and eventually became the subject of a storm of scandalous photos that ruined his reputation. In the end, reduced to a shadow of his former self, he took his own life in the bathroom by slitting his wrists on one desperate night.'

'Harvey was tricked by Alicia into attending a cocktail party, where he was drugged and handed over to her gay best friend to play with. He contracted a transmitted disease and died after waking up because he couldn't stand the pain.'

'As for my parents, losing their son in middle age shattered them. They left all their assets to their adopted daughter before tragedy struck again—one died in a car accident, and the other ended up in a mental institution.'

'And me? I didn't fare any better. Alicia had me kidnapped and sold to Pasasi, where I was tortured to death in a dark, filthy alley.'

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I was just about to glare at my idiotic brothers when I noticed the whole family looking utterly devastated, as if the sky had fallen. Their grief-stricken expressions made me pause.

"What's wrong with you all?" I asked cautiously. "Did something happen while I wasn't paying attention? Why do you all look like you've been hit by a truck?"

Thomas' face was dark, while Natalie dabbed at her red, swollen eyes with a tissue. "It's nothing," she said with a forced smile. "We just thought of something sad. Are you hungry, Yunice?"

Before I could respond, the butler entered the room, carrying a tray of dishes. He set it on the table and announced, "Mr. Stone, Mrs. Stone, Young Masters, dinner is served."

As he turned to leave for the kitchen, I frowned, catching a fleeting expression on his face. 'Did he just glare at me?' I wondered.

'The butler had always sided with Alicia, playing no small role in getting me kicked out of the family. But did he already despise me this much?' I couldn't help but wonder.

'Let me take a closer look, let me see—Oh, gross! Ew! Yuck!'

The entire family perked up, their ears practically twitching.

'So, it turns out the butler has hated me from the very beginning. But the reason he hates me is—'