Chapter 0003

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly, a voice rang out, somewhat shrill, catching everyone's attention.

A girl stood by the door, her angry gaze directed towards Louis before quickly striding towards them.

She was none other than Elly, the eldest daughter of the Smith family.

Seizing the opportunity, Mason quickly withdrew his hand from Louis's grip and ran to hide behind his mother.

Elly looked at them, took a deep breath, and asked, "What's going on here?"

Mason quickly chimed in, "Elly, it’s Louis. Not only did he snatch my things, but also he argued with mom. He’s truly ungrateful!"

Hearing Mason's words, Elly almost immediately frowned.

She didn't bother to inquire further and just looked coldly at Louis, as if a judge, saying, "I'm extremely disappointed in you, Louis. How could you do this?"

Louis didn't explain, but just gave her a cold stare.

It was the first time that Elly received such a look from Louis. She was once the person that Louis respected the most.

It made Elly even more uncomfortable, so she raised her voice, "Louis, apologize to mom and Mason quickly! Otherwise, I can't help you either!"

She thought that Louis would compromise as usual.

But unfortunately, she was wrong.

Louis shook his head and said in a low voice, "No, I won’t apologize because it’s not my fault."

He used to respect his foster father and sister because they had never bullied him as the other two.

Especially Elly, she sometimes seemed so friendly to him like a real sister.

But Louis had realized that it was his illusion. Elly was just as selfish and hypocritical as her father.

At certain times, she did not hesitate to show him some kindness; but fundamentally, she never regarded him as family.

During the three days in the hospital, she didn’t even give him a call for care.

"You..." Louis's attitude seemed to infuriate Elly to the point of speechlessness.

Louis said, "As you wish, from now on, I am not a part of this family anymore though I know I wasn’t before."

Suddenly, Mr. Smith’s phone rang, which caught everyone’s attention.

He quickly answered, and the authoritative voice of a man was heard: "Hello, Mr. Smith. I am a manager in Astor Corporation. Congratulations to you for two things:

One is about the investment. Our president, Mr. Astor, has decided to invest heavily in your company.

The other is about the internship program in the Astor. Congratulations! Your son has been selected.”

Hearing these, excitement quickly appeared on his face, Mr. Smith announced them with joy.

“Oh My God! I can’t believe it! Manson has been selected...” Mrs. Smith said excitedly.

“Really? The Astor Group decided to invest us? Awesome! And Mason, well done!” Elly exclaimed, patting her brother's head affectionately.

“My son, you are truly worthy of being the heir to our family.” Mr. Smith smiled with relief.

“......”

Hearing the praise from his parents and sister, Mason felt a little elated. It was a pleasure he had never experienced before as a bad student.

He arrogantly walked to Louis and provocatively said to him, in a voice that could only the two of them could hear.

“Louis, Even the Astor recognized my excellence. I am definitely more outstanding than you! By the way, Grace is my girlfriend now. I know you have a thing for her.”

Hearing him showing off, Louis looked at him as if he were a fool, sneering, “Idiot! I never had a thing for Grace.”

Mason was stunned, not expecting that Louis’s reaction would be so dull.

However, misfortunes never come singly!

When the Smith family was immersed in joy, the manager finally realized that they had misunderstood.

So he urgently explained, “Mr. Smith, I thought you’ve made a misunderstanding about the result of selection for the internship. It’s Louis Smith who has passed it, please notice.”

Feeling shocked, Mr. Smith hang up the phone and looked towards Louis.

Mrs. Smith paused for a moment before immediately losing her temper, "Louis, you bastard! You’ve stolen my son’s opportunity!"

Elly also looked at Louis with a reproachful gaze, as if he had done something terribly wrong.

Mason, of course, didn’t hide his fury. His eyes seemed ready to tear Louis apart.

He recalled how he had just shown off in front of Louis, making him look like a clown that was just sensationalizing.

Mrs. Smith was so angry, and she raised her voice, "It’s definitely a right choice to expel him!"

Mr. Smith sighed in resignation and then added, "Given that we've lived together for nearly 18 years, if you transfer this internship slot to Mason, I’ll forgive you."

Louis looked at them, thinking it funny to see their shamelessness.

Also, he found it odd because he hadn’t even applied for the internship at Astor, but he didn’t bother to explain.

He looked at the Smith family and said indifferently, "Mason wasn’t selected only because he's useless. And I will never give up anything for him again. For nearly 18 years, I’ve sacrificed a lot!"

"So Mason, Keep my ring safe and I’ll get it back soon!"

Finishing his words, Louis then left.

The Smiths were all stunned since it was the first time that Louis had rebel against them like that.

Mrs. Smith cursed loudly, "Son of bitch! We shouldn't have adopted him seventeen years ago. Truly a weirdo, thankfully we’ve got rid of him. Otherwise we would definitely be in more and more trouble..."

"Don’t talk nonsense!" Mr. Smith said in a deep voice, looking gloomy.

However, what the Smiths didn't know was that the moment Louis stepped out the door, horrible laughter filled the basement storage room.

"He's gone! He's finally gone! This house belongs to Annabelle..."

"Did anyone hear that?" Elly asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"What?" The other three felt confused.

"Like the laughter of a little girl..."

"Honey, maybe you are tired because of hard work. You should have a good rest." Mrs. Smith said.

Both Mr. Smith and Mason agreed with her, paying on attention to it.

"Perhaps...I'm really so tired that I'm hallucinating?" Elly muttered, and then she went upstairs for a rest.

Meanwhile, in the garbage gathering area of the community, Louis endured the stench, trying to find his belongings.

After a while, Louis looked at the smelly clothes in front of him, he frowned and fell silent.

“Fine, I’ll buy new ones...as long as the wand is here.”

He snapped his fingers, and then something miraculous happened.

A gentle light illuminated and then gradually condensed, finally becoming a small stick about thirty centimeters long with a red feather attached to the end, flying into Louis's hand.

Louis held it gently, his eyes deep and profound.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had forgotten an important item!