Chapter 3 Homeless

When Era arrived at their house, the door of Xu family seemed to be ajar. Pushing the door open as
quietly as possible, Era walked into the house and opened the refrigerator. She quickly grabbed a
bottle of water and took two sips. Moments later, she heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. It was
Enoch ran down the stairs in a hurry. He looked so furious, as if he was about to die of anger.

"Dad..."

'Smack!' Enoch furiously raised his hand and slapped her right in the face! "You immoral girl!"

Without an ounce of fatherly love for his own daughter in his eyes, Enoch gave Era a vicious tongue-
lashing! "Where were you last night? You didn't come home all night! If you cause some sort of
scandal, I am going to break your legs. You mark my words!"

"Dad, are you sure you want to know where I went off last night?" she asked as she rubbed the area
where she was slapped. At that moment, she felt a little bit of pain. There was pain in her cheek, but
her heart ached even more.

It was said that she was the apple of Xu family. But little did they know, she was nothing but a hostage!

"What did you just say?" Hearing her talking back to him, Enoch's eyebrows were deeply knitted. After
all, this was the very first time she had ever been disobedient as well as the first time she had raised
her voice, leaving him utterly displeased.

"Dad, I said, are you sure you want to know where I went off last night?" Era stubbornly raised her
head as she gave him a look of derision. "Okay, then I'll tell you. Last night, I went to the Glory Hotel
along with a man to check in, and then we..."

'Smack!' —



Using all five of his fingers, he slapped her really hard in the face once more. "You immoral girl, how
could you possibly do such a shameless thing? You... You..." As the intense anger surged through him,
Enoch felt a sharp pain in his chest.

At this moment, Grace Liu walked downstairs. Holding Enoch's arm, she went on and said, "Enoch, you
should take good care of yourself. Both of us depend on you. Please try to calm down."

"Mom is right, Dad. Please listen to her." Anna Xu came over a little while later, and she also snuggled
up to him, acting like a spoiled child.

What a happy family of three they were! Their moment of happiness felt like such an eyesore to Era.
She clearly didn't belong in this family at all!

"Hey, what's that in your hand?" Anna Xu asked when she noticed the invitation card Era was holding.

"It's nothing," Era answered in a cold tone, tightly holding on to the invitation card.

"Let me have a look." As she said that, Anna Xu reached for the invitation card. "Ah!" she exclaimed in
total bewilderment. "Why do you have an invitation to Mrs. Ye's party?

Mom, take a look at this!"

"Are you serious?" Feeling a little doubtful, Grace Liu took the invitation card and blurted out, "It really
is an invitation from Mrs. Ye!"

"Mom, I want to go there with you," Anna Xu said, feeling so excited as she held Grace Liu's arm.

"Okay, okay. I will get you dressed up as the most beautiful princess... All eyes would be on you for
sure. Hahaha..." Trying to keep herself from smiling, Grace Liu completely forgot that the invitation card
was not even hers.



"I'm sorry!" Era reached out for the invitation card and beamed them a smile. And she said, "Mrs. Ye
clearly said that the invitation to her party wasn't just for any woman, so I can't give this invitation to
you!" Passing by both Grace Liu and Anna Xu, she ran up the stairs.

"Era!" Anna Xu screamed at the top of her lungs. Truth be told, she was used to take Era's things for
granted, so she almost lost herself in anger that moment.

"Mom, I don't care about that. I'm going to attend Mrs. Ye's party no matter what!" Era completely
ignored her. For that reason, Anna Xu held onto Grace Liu's arm and asked for help. Hearing this,
Grace Liu turned her head and said to Enoch in a cunning tone, "Enoch, you heard Era, right? How
could she say such a thing? This saddens me. I've always treated her as my own daughter and yet..."

"Stop right there! You wicked girl!" Enoch roared at the woman running up the stairs.

This made Era stopped in her tracks, and she turned back slowly.

"Apologize to your mother this instant. You are Anna's elder sister. You should give the invitation to
her!"

He seemed to be as hard as nails, yet Era simply gave him a bitter smile. "By the way, Dad," Era said,
"there's something I forget to tell you. From this day forward, Era Xu will no longer exist in this world.
And right now, it is Era Ling who is standing in front of you. You are no longer my guardian. So, please
stop ordering me around!"

"You..." Fuming with so much anger, Enoch couldn't find the words right away. "Get out of my sight! You
ungrateful girl! Get out of my house this instant!"

Era turned around, and tears began to roll down her face.



"Era, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" At the corner of the stairs, a ten-year-old boy anxiously
looked at her.

When she heard his voice, Era's tears instantly turned into a smile. Then, she patted his head and said,
"It's nothing. I just made Dad angry. That's all. Raymond, please don't follow my footsteps. You need to
be a good child in the future, okay? Can you promise me that?"

"Okay," Raymond Xu replied, earnestly nodding his head.

At that very moment, she couldn't help herself from stretching out her arms to hold him. In her plans to
leave Xu family for good, Raymond Xu was actually the only one who was holding her back.

The sound of cars' engines were deafening. Era leaned against the corner and broke down. There
were many cars here, so no one would probably notice that she was crying.

That day, she left with nothing to her name. It was a good thing that she had prepared for this day in
advance and stealthily carried the things her mother left her with beforehand. In spite of that, her heart
was still in so much pain, and she felt so alone. No matter how much she cried right now, no one would
care at all.

Rain poured outside. The raindrops were falling on her face, and on her shoulders, drowning her tears.
Her vision gradually turned blurry and all she could hear was the sound of her crying.

She always made it a point to follow her mother's advice—learn to smile, keep smiling no matter what,
and face everything with all your heart. On top of that, she calmly maintained her image as a proper
lady.

She had always been feeling sorry for her mother, so she wanted to get revenge. But even though
everything went exactly as she planned and her plot of revenge was fulfilled, she ended up being just a
hollow shell.



As she raised her head and looked up at the sky, she realized that she was so scared of being lonely
as the rain continued to pour on her face. She wished that she could have a family to call her own, one
that would always be there for her.

From out of the blue, a silver sports car pulled over on the corner of the street. A handsome man
stepped on the brake with a pitiful look and rolled down the window. He helplessly stared at the woman
who was crying and laughing in the rain.

Seeing her crying bitterly but trying her best to smile with all her heart, he couldn't help but frown.

As soon as he heard that Era got kicked out of the house, he immediately got into his car and drove out
to look for her. He knew that whenever she was feeling sad, she had a habit of hiding in the busiest
street and crying her heart out in secret. Sure enough, he really found her there.

What was causing her so much pain? Even though they went their separate ways, he knew she
shouldn't be that sad. Heaving a heavy sigh, he held up an umbrella and stepped out of the car. His
leather shoes splashed water onto the trouser legs of his suit.

"Era, please don't cry." Era was surprised to hear his captivating voice. Before she could even get the
chance to respond, a pair of big hands was suddenly wrapped around her shoulder, and a blue
umbrella sheltered her from the rain.

Era blinked and didn't say a word for a while. She had no idea why she had to see him while she was
in such an awkward situation. After all, he had been stolen from her by Anna Xu, her childhood
sweetheart, Brooks Qi.

Brooks Qi gently wiped away the tears in her face, leaving Era frozen in place.



The way he was being so gentle toward her felt like a calming breeze, making her feel so refreshed.
However, that didn't change the fact that he was the childhood sweetheart who had betrayed her.

"Era, if a girl wants to look good, she should at least learn how to keep her makeup. If you keep crying
like this all the time, you will never be able to marry." Brooks Qi poked fun at her, just like he used to.
However, things had actually been different between the two of them. His jokes didn't sound fun
anymore but only ironic.

Stepping on his foot, Era went on and said, "Did you just come here to make fun of me? I'm sorry, but
the show is over. Goodbye!"

The rain kept pouring down from the sky, and her delicate little face was soaking wet. As she bit lower
lip, she still looked so pretty and charming. Pushing the umbrella away, she walked into the rain and left
Brooks Qi behind without any intention of looking back.

Her delicate figure was trembling in the rain. From the looks of things, it seemed as though the wind
could blow her away. Seeing this, Brooks Qi quickly tried to catch up to her and held the umbrella for
her.

"Era, stop being so stubborn. Come on, you should go back with me. Your father is just having a fit of
anger. I'm sure that if you apologize to him, everything will be fine..."

"Why should I have to apologize to him?" Era asked. Then she stopped and stared at Brooks Qi and
exclaimed, "I didn't do anything wrong! Brooks, don't follow me anymore. I hate you!"

"Era Xu!" Brooks grabbed a hold of Era's arm, tightened his grip, and roared, "Don't be so stubborn. Go
back with me already."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you something." With a cold smile on her red lips, she carefully told him
word by word, "Era Xu no longer exists in this world. The girl standing in front of you right now is Era



Ling."

"Era..." Hearing those words, Brooks Qi couldn't help frowning.

Era pushed him away and ran away into the cold rain.

As he helplessly watched her receding figure, Brooks Qi let out a deep sigh with conflicting feelings in
his dark eyes. 'Era, please don't hate me. I was left with no other choice. Sorry I had to leave
you...'


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