There were still 15 minutes before boarding.

Samantha White was sitting in the VIP lounge, casually flipping through a magazine in her hand.

The phone on the table vibrated.

It was an unfamiliar number from Silvervale.

"Hello?" Her long, slender fingers glided across the screen as she brought the phone close to her ear. Samantha greeted politely, waiting for the other party to introduce themselves.

There was a prolonged pause before a hesitant voice came through, "Samantha... this is Quinn Harper... I..."

Hearing the name "Quinn," Samantha's previously soft facial expression instantly turned cold.

Expressionlessly, she hung up the phone.

Blacklisted.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Samantha strictly adhered to the principle that one should bear the consequences if they've done something wrong.

What she had always been unable to comprehend, however, was why some people could be so shameless, thinking they could wipe away the harm they once inflicted by shedding a few tears and saying a few apologies.

People needed to have a sense of honor, just like trees needed their bark.

Shameless individuals always seemed to feel perfectly justified in revealing their greed.

Samantha had always thought that if she did not bother Quinn, then Quinn should be blessed and kept distance from her.

Who would have thought that she’d actually dare to come and look for her?

Did she really think Samantha was the same easy-going person who could be easily manipulated as before?

Thinking of who might have shared her phone number with Quinn, Samantha sneered sarcastically.

Indeed, it wasn't long before her phone vibrated again.

Without even looking, Samantha already guessed who the caller was.

She stared at the table indifferently, and just before the call was about to end, she slid the answer key emotionlessly and said, "Mom."

"Sam, did Quinn call you?" Sylvia Jenkins asked cautiously.

After waiting for a while and hearing no response from Samantha, she continued, "Quinn said she wants us to have a meal together. When will you be able to come back to Silvervale?"

"Quinn and I are not family," Samantha's voice was extremely indifferent.

"You child... It's been so long since everything happened, and you're doing well now. Why are you so stubborn, clinging to the past? Quinn has already apologized and wants to make it up to you. What else do you want? If you kept on behaving like this, how am I going to live harmoniously with Walter Harper? Charlie Harper is your younger brother. If the relationship between you and Quinn continues like that, how Charlie, who is stuck in the middle, should do?"

Sylvia became more and more agitated as she spoke, and in the end, she was practically shouting.

Samantha listened to her impassively, remained unaffected.

Haha.

This was her mother. Her own mother.

With a single flippant comment, she wanted to deny the damage Samantha had suffered, acting high and mighty, presumptuously forgiving those who had hurt her daughter.

How could she?

"I've told you, if you can't stand being in the Harper family, you can divorce. I will support you financially."

Sylvia had said the similar things for a lot of time. Each time, Samantha would respond in the same way.

"Is there anything else? I need to board the plane."

When Sylvia thought of what her stepdaughter said, she forcefully suppressed the anger in her heart and quickly said, "Alright, if you don't want to come, forget it. Henry Evans should have some free time recently, ask him to come home for dinner..."

Henry was Samantha's husband.

Samantha interjected coldly before Sylvia could finish, "He's busy, doesn’t have time for a meal. I'm hanging up."

Sigh.

First, Quinn had called her, and now her mother had brought up Henry. Anyone could guess the real purpose of these two calls.

When would Quinn abandon her desire to reap without sowing?

The actual objective of these two calls was probably Quinn wanted to build a connection with Henry through her and secure a project.

Or perhaps she had more sinister intentions, wanting to hook up with Henry. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time Quinn had done this.

Thinking about it made Samantha felt disgusted!

She didn't know what kind of magic potion Quinn had given her mother that made her prioritize her stepdaughter over her own daughter, even stabbing her own daughter in the back.

Over the years, despite becoming accustomed to her mother's actions, each time, Samantha couldn't help but ask herself, "Was she really Sylvia's biological daughter?"

...

Just as Samantha was about to lose herself in her thoughts, the flight attendant interrupted her. "Miss White, you may board the plane now."

As Samantha set foot on the aircraft ladder, she looked towards the direction of the cockpit.

In fact, every time she boarded or disembarked a plane, Samantha's gaze would always drift to the cockpit.

Once upon a time, Samantha's greatest dream had been to become a pilot.

This was the goal she had strived for throughout her entire childhood and adolescence.

She had countless dreams where she flew a plane, gliding through the clouds around the world.

Every time she dreamed, there was always a smile on her face.

However, everything had changed when she turned eighteen.

The effort she had put into becoming a pilot was hundreds, even thousands, of times more than what most people could imagine.

Finally, at the age of eighteen, she had her wish fulfilled when she received an admissions notice from her desired college.

This should have been the springboard for her dream to take off, but instead, her college spot had been taken by someone else.

The person who had taken her spot was her mother's stepdaughter from a second marriage, who by name was her sister, Quinn.

What's even more ludicrous was her mother's stance on the matter. Not only did she approve of it, she was a willing accomplice. Her mother, Sylvia, was a co-conspirator.

After the incident, Samantha had considered doing something big to ruin Quinn's reputation.

But her mother, Sylvia, had tearfully begged her, "Sam, you have excellent grades, if you retake the exam, you can probably still get admitted next year. But Quinn, she isn't good academically, even if she repeats a year, it's not guaranteed she'll be admitted. Let her have this spot, okay?"

What kind of logic was this?

Her good grades were the result of her own efforts. Why should she have handed them over to someone else?

Seeing Samantha remain unmoved, Sylvia had once again threatened, "You've gone this far, what will you gain by escalating the situation further? If you make a fuss, our family will fall apart. Aren't you asking me and your younger brother to die?"

Her biological mother, her closest family member, had threatened her with death, prompting her to relinquish her chance to go to college to her stepsister.

What could she have done?

After this incident, Samantha had lived through some days in a daze. Questioning her value, doubting the people around her, uncertain about her own future.

Over the years, Samantha had imagined more than once what her life would have been like if she had not been able to come out of those dark days.

Yes, she was now successful in her career, had a happy family, and was a life winner admired by many. But did this negate the injustice and pain she had suffered before?

If she had fallen down at the time and had declined ever since, she wondered what those who now looked down on her would have said.

Perhaps they would have berated her as worthless or possibly lorded it over her, pointing fingers at her life. But they would certainly never have sympathized with or helped her.

Upon settling in her seat, Samantha had a phone call with her husband, and after the call, she rested under the blanket brought by the flight attendant.

After some time, Samantha heard a panicked shriek suddenly.

Next, she felt a strong sense of weightlessness.

Feeling weak, her eyelids as heavy as a thousand pounds, her consciousness started to blur.

...

When she woke up, she could hear a murmur of voices and the voice of her husband, Henry saying, "When you get back, you must come to find me as soon as possible."

Get back? Who's getting back? Where to?

Samantha was unable to find the answer and plunged into darkness.