Skylar was left speechless by the questioning, doing nothing but crying.

Her silence was undoubtedly a confession.

Ethan felt as if he had been punched squarely in the face. He staggered back a step, his back hitting the cold wall hard.

Truly... it was all a lie.

These three years, all the coldness, accusations, and punishments they directed at Summer, their self-righteous "lessons" and "doing it for her own good," sending her to prison, ruining her hands... everything, all of it, was built upon such a malicious and absurd lie!

And he, the brother who claimed he wanted to protect his sister, was actually the person who inflicted the deepest harm!

"Haha... hahaha..." Ethan suddenly began to laugh low, a raspy laugh filled with endless irony and desolation. As he laughed, tears began to flow.

"Brother... Brother, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..." Skylar broke free from Mrs. Woods' arms and lunged forward to grab Ethan’s leg, crying heart-wrenchingly. " I had just come back then, I was so scared, I was afraid you wouldn't love me, wouldn't want me... that's why I was possessed and did the wrong thing... later, later I was just too jealous of Sister, I couldn't control myself... Brother, forgive me, forgive me just this once, okay? I have cancer, I won't live long, just forgive me this once and save me, okay? I am your biological sister!"

She cried with genuine emotion, her face covered in tears and snot, playing the role of a frail patient and a pleading sister to the limit.

Mrs. Woods was also wiping away tears to the side, pulling on Ethan’s other arm: "Ethan, Skylar knows she was wrong, she’s learned her lesson, look at how sick she is... just forgive her. The most important thing now is to save her life! That child Summer... sigh, our family has wronged her, but Skylar is your biological sister; you can't just watch her die!"

Ethan looked down at his biological sister kneeling on the ground and wailing, then thought of Summer’s ruined hands and her final, resolute back as she left.

Two sets of emotions tore violently at his heart; the pain almost submerged him.

"Biological sister... biological sister..." he murmured repeatedly, his eyes vacant.

"Are you still going to protect her now?!" Julian suddenly grabbed Ethan’s collar and slammed him hard against the wall, his roar echoing through the entire ward. "Ethan Woods! Look clearly! Summer’s hands are ruined! Her dreams! Her life! They were all destroyed by us! By you, and me—these two blind men, these two bastards—personally destroyed! And you’re still thinking about your 'biological sister' now? What about Summer?! What does Summer count for?! She called you 'Brother' for twenty years! What did she do wrong to deserve this?!"

Ethan was stunned by the roar. Looking at the collapse and remorse in Julian’s eyes that mirrored his own, he suddenly flew into a rage as well, throwing a punch that landed hard on Julian’s face!

"And what about you?! Julian Rivers!" Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot as he screamed back, "Didn't you have a part in it too?! Weren't you the one holding down her other hand?! Weren't you the one who said 'this is a lesson you deserve'?! We are all fucking murderers! We are animals who harmed her!"

The two men, like two wounded beasts, tore at each other and roared in the ward, venting all the accumulated remorse, anger, and pain from this period onto one another.

Chapter Fifteen

The girl was stunned by the scene, even forgetting to cry.

"Stop it! Both of you, stop fighting!" The mother stamped her feet in anxiety.

At that moment, the girl on the bed suddenly underwent a drastic change in expression. She clutched her chest and began to cough violently. Amidst the coughing, she let out a sharp gasp and spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, which splattered onto the snow-white sheets—a terrifying sight.

"Skylar!" The mother shrieked in despair.

"Doctor! Call the doctor, quickly!" The two men stopped their physical altercation and rushed to the bedside in panic.

Another chaotic round of emergency rescue followed.

When the chief physician emerged from the emergency room, his face was so grim it seemed he might weep. "The patient’s condition has deteriorated sharply due to massive emotional distress. A lung transplant must be performed immediately, otherwise... I’m afraid she won't last a week."

One week.

Only one week left.

The mother fainted on the spot.

The two men stood outside the emergency room, their faces completely devoid of color.

In just a few days, their world had turned upside down.

The truth had been uncovered, bloody and raw, leaving them with nowhere to hide their shame.

Yet Skylar’s life remained like a death warrant hanging over their heads.

"Go find Summer," the brother wiped his face, his voice dry. "No matter what, beg her to save Skylar. All the mistakes were caused by us; if Summer wants to hate, let her hate us. As for Skylar's crimes, once the surgery is over and she’s recovered, let the law decide what punishment she deserves. But for now, save the life first."

The childhood friend leaned against the wall, silent. His face still bore the bruises from the brother's fists, and his vacant eyes stared at the ceiling.

Hate them?

Would Summer even bother to hate them anymore?

The look in her eyes when she last saw them held no hate—only a desolate, lifeless void.

But as the brother said, Skylar’s life couldn't wait.

However, before they could contact the biological brother again or locate Summer’s whereabouts, his counterattack arrived with the force of a thunderbolt.

At a high-profile business summit gathering the city’s and even the nation’s top entrepreneurs and financial titans, the biological brother—serving as the keynote speaker—did not leave the stage immediately after finishing his scheduled macroeconomic analysis.

Standing under the spotlight, he calmly scanned the vast crowd. Finally, as if by chance, his gaze landed on the two men in the front row, whose faces had suddenly turned ashen.

He picked up the microphone, his voice carrying clearly to every corner of the venue through the high-quality sound system—calm, steady, yet possessing an undeniable authority:

"Taking this opportunity today, I would also like to announce a private matter."

The audience fell silent instantly. Everyone looked toward this young business emperor, wondering what he was about to say.

"My sister, who was lost for many years, Summer Sterling, has been found."

Summer Sterling?

The people below looked at each other. Some who knew the inside story couldn't help but glance toward the two men in the front row.

The girl from that family? She was actually his sister? The long-lost true princess of the Sterling family?

"I am very happy to be reunited with her," he continued, his tone still calm, but his next sentence caused the temperature in the entire hall to plummet. "But what pains me is that before returning to my side, my sister endured grievances and injustices over the past few years that she should never have had to bear."

His gaze, like physical ice picks, pierced into the eyes of the two men.

"Some people, placing bloodline above all else, felt they could ignore twenty years of daily companionship, trampling on a sincere heart and inflicting harm at will," his voice wasn't loud, yet every word carried the weight of a mountain. "Some people, claiming deep affection, couldn't even manage basic trust or distinguish right from wrong, choosing only to listen to one side and aid a villain."

The faces of the two men turned white as paper in an instant.

"My sister is not someone anyone can bully," he said slowly, each word ringing with power. "Every bit of grievance she suffered over the past three years, our family will reclaim, one by one, slowly."

He didn't mention names, but who among the audience wasn't a shrewd socialite?

Combined with the recent rumors about the two sisters, the news of Summer’s imprisonment and release, and the family's recent frantic search for a lung donor, it was self-evident who "some people" referred to.

"Mr. Sterling," a bold reporter raised a hand during the Q&A session. "May I ask what specific grievances you are referring to? Does this relate to the family's recent search for a lung donor to save their daughter? Is your sister a compatible donor, and is your prevention of her donation based on a personal grudge?"

The question was sharp and direct.

He looked at the reporter without any avoidance, instead showing a sliver of cold approval, seemingly appreciating the directness.

"As for what those grievances are, I believe the parties involved know best in their hearts," he spoke plainly, his gaze sweeping over the two men again, who could barely remain in their seats. "As for the lung donor..."

He paused. The entire hall was silent.

"My sister’s health and her own wishes are the primary and only standards. Anyone or anything that attempts to kidnap or harm her in the name of morality, kinship, or any other excuse," his voice turned sharply cold with an unquestionable warning, "will be regarded as a provocation against the Sterling family. And I am a man who is quite protective of my own, and not particularly reasonable."