The happiness on Tina’s face vanished immediately, and she glared fiercely at that person. “What are you doing here?”
“I… I wanted to come visit you and bring you some chicken soup.” Rina smiled at her pleasantly before stepping into the ward.
Seeing this, as if something in her had snapped, Tina immediately slapped the quilt on her body and yelled, “What are you doing here? Get out! Don’t ever step in here! You are full of bacteria and will only pollute the air I breathe. Get out right now!”
Hearing this, Rina froze in place and felt helpless. “I have no bacteria on my body. I’ve even changed my clothes, Tina…”
“Shut up! Stop calling my name!” Tina’s face contorted in disgust as she interrupted Rina loudly. “Rina Gray, remember this: I forbid you from calling my name and saying that you are my sister. You are not my sister. Understood?”
“I… I…” Rina lowered her head and sobbed softly.
Right then, Julia came in to see her eldest daughter in tears and her youngest daughter completely livid; she couldn’t help but frown slightly.
“What’s wrong? Rina, tell me what happened,” Julia wiped Rina’s tears and asked in distress.
Rina buried her head in Julia’s arms. “Mom, should I not have come back?”
“Why would you even say that?” Julia was surprised at first, and then she quickly added, “This is your home—of course you could come back!”
“B-But why does Tina hate me so much? She doesn’t allow me to call her name, and she also said that I’m not her sister…” Rina continued to sob in Julia’s arms.
Hearing what Rina said, Julia was taken aback. “Did Tina really say that?”
“Yeah.” Rina nodded.
Julia narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at Tina with conflicted eyes.
Meeting her mother’s gaze, Tina turned her head away in guilt, all while cursing Rina in her heart.
How dare this hillbilly tell on me!
She had originally thought that Rina had always lived in a remote place, so she had probably developed a timid character; never did she expect that Rina was just pretending to be timid and obedient as a means to gain sympathy and compete for favor.
“It’s okay, Rina. You just came back after all, so Tina may still be a little uncomfortable. I will talk about this with her again later,” Julia patted Rina’s back gently and comforted her lovingly. “Okay, Rina. Go outside and wait for me; I will talk to your sister for a while and take you out shopping later.”
“Okay.” Rina broke into a grin then got out of her arms. Before she left, she handed her the thermos in her hand, nodded, and walked out.
Now, only Julia and Tina were left in the ward.
Julia put the thermos on the bedside and looked at Tina with displeasure. “Tina, what’s the matter with you? How could you treat your sister like this! Before she came back, weren’t you anticipating for her to come back too? You said that you wanted a sister to love you and protect you. But what are you doing now?”
Who said that I was anticipating for her to come back? It was just a lie that I purposely told in the first place. But who knew that b*tch would actually come back, Tina thought to herself.
Even though she thought so in her heart, she couldn’t say it out loud.
Tina’s hands in the quilt were tightly clasped together, but her eyes were red with grievance. “Mom, I didn’t mean to do this to her. I just can’t accept that she is my sister. That’s all. She’s so thin and short. Plus, she’s not at all good-looking and looks so poor. She doesn’t look like someone who’s fit to be my sister. Mom, could it be that you’ve found the wrong girl?”
“How can it be? Do you see that Rina’s eyes are the same as mine?” Julia pointed at her own eyes. “Besides, your dad has done a paternity test with Rina, and the test results show that he is her real father. If she is not Rina, then who is?”
Tina bit her lip. “That’s exactly why I can’t accept it—she doesn’t know anything at all! When she came back yesterday, she was a complete joke! When I walked with her, I felt ashamed and was afraid that others would laugh at us, saying that the Gray family has such an embarrassing daughter.”
Julia sighed. “I know what you mean now. You’re saying that you feel humiliated and embarrassed that she is your sister, right?
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