All Her Secrets

Catherine officially settled down in the Swanns. Her room was in the basement of the Swanns’ residence.

There were dozens of rooms in the broad residence of the Swanns’. But Catherine was arranged to stay in a room in the basement that even the maids would not stay at.

Hah!

One could see from this how the Swanns treated her.

Looking around the spartan room, Catherine did not show any trace of emotion on her doll-like face.

She did not care about where she was staying. She preferred staying in the basement, as it was quieter there.

So that the other members of the Swanns would not bother her relentlessly.

If it were not for Catherine’s looks, nobody would believe that she was the daughter of the Swanns.

Korbin’s wife, Rachael, was known to be a beauty in Casier when she was younger.

If she called herself the second prettiest woman in Casier, then nobody would dare to claim to be the prettiest.

Everyone thought that Liana, the youngest daughter of the Swanns, looked like Rachael the most and had inherited Rachael’s good looks. That was why she was most favored in the Swanns.

However, when everyone saw Catherine today, they realized that Catherine looked almost exactly the same as Rachael. In fact, it could be said that Catherine looked even more beautiful than Rachael when she was younger.

Ring, ring.

The old-fashioned phone Catherine had left on the desk rang. When Liana saw Catherine’s phone earlier, she even mocked Catherine in disdain as a bumpkin for using such an old-fashioned phone.

Catherine didn’t care at all. An old-fashioned phone?

If Liana discovered this was one of the few dozens of satellite phones in the world, what would she say?

…

Catherine checked the phone and found that she had received a text message.

From: Ronin Oconnor Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

Ronin: [Boss, someone is investigating you. Should I do something about it?]

Catherine: [No, let him investigate.]

Ronin: [Okay, boss. Have fun!]

After reading Ronin’s messages, Catherine deleted the chat record. She was used to keeping everything clean, leaving no trace behind her.

Ronin was a boy Catherine had adopted. He was three years younger than she was.

The boy had no other talent but was very good at computers.

At his age, Ronin was already so skillful at computers that he ranked within the top ten of the world’s best hackers.

He was still young. Given enough years of training, he would undoubtedly rank higher in the future.

As Catherine had come to attend her grandfather’s funeral right after traveling all the way from the countryside, she was indeed tired and wanted to take a rest.

She took Vicente’s photo she had always kept with her out and stared at it in a daze.

Her grandfather was so cruel. To make Catherine accept the Swanns’ fortune, Vicente didn’t even give her a chance to see him for one last time.

Catherine would never accept such an arrangement if she didn’t know that this was her grandfather’s final wish.

After all, nobody could make Catherine do what she didn’t want to.

At the sound of footsteps approaching her door, Catherine took away Vicente’s photo.

She reached to wipe away the drop of tear in the corner of her eye in a hurry. Within seconds, her beautiful face was back to being expressionless.

Liana pushed the door open without knocking, leading maids into Catherine’s room.

If her father did not tell her repeatedly to bear with it for now, Liana would have told the maids to throw Catherine out long ago.

Bang!

The wooden door was pushed open and hit the wall with a loud bang.

Liana’s brows were knitted as soon as she stepped into the room. Her eyes were filled with disdain.

Liana raised her voice on purpose and exaggerated things in her words. “Is this a dog house? Why is it so smelly here? It’s so disgusting!”

Catherine sat up slightly, crossed her arms, and looked down at Liana. Her eyes looked cold.

“Are you calling me a dog?”

Liana laughed triumphantly. She was disdainful toward Catherine.

“I can’t do anything about it if you admit being a dog. Why don’t you try barking? I’ll see if you sound like one.”

In the face of Liana’s taunting, Catherine wasn’t angered. Her expressionless face remained as calm as ever.

However, her lips curled into a light smile.

“Liana, even if you wouldn’t admit it, I’m still your older sister by birth. If I’m a dog, what are you then?”

Caught off guard, Liana saw Catherine’s lips part as she said more words that left Liana even angrier.

“Are you a dog’s younger sister? Or its feces?”

Liana was so angry that her face contorted.

“You…”