On the day my sister was finally found, my parents and brother were brimming with joy. But then, they heard my thoughts. [Great, Hailey is finally back. It’s just too bad Dad’s biggest project is about to be snatched away by a rival. Should I warn him now?] Mom looked at my sister with tears in her eyes, ready to take off the family heirloom—an emerald bracelet worth millions—and give it to her. [Sigh. Once that bracelet leaves Mom’s wrist, it’s gone forever. In a minute, Hailey is going to pretend to accidentally drop it just to test her status in Mom’s heart. Such a pity, that emerald has perfect clarity.] My brother, overcome with emotion, was about to pick Hailey up and spin her around. I tilted my head, looking at him. [Carter is pathetic too. His girlfriend is currently sitting on his best friend’s lap. I wonder if he’ll still be this happy tonight when she tells him she’s pregnant and makes him a dad!] The very next second, Dad’s cell phone rang. 1 My gaze remained fixed on my sister, acting as if I didn't see the frozen expressions on my parents' and brother's faces. Dad hesitated for two seconds before answering the phone. A moment later, his expression drastically changed. "What? Okay, I understand." Putting down the phone, the joy on Dad’s face from Hailey Vance’s return instantly turned grim. Even Mom’s voice trembled as she spoke. "Richard, what’s wrong?" Dad glanced at me, his voice dry. "I just got news about the company’s key project for the first half of the year. Our competitor intercepted it. There’s no room for negotiation." I shook my head, feigning sympathy. [Dad and Carter barely came home for six months working on that deal. Now it’s all down the drain. Carter is going to get mocked by the rival CEO’s son for ages because of this. How embarrassing!] Instantly, two intense gazes locked onto me. I watched Mom’s hand hover over the bracelet she was preparing to remove, acting nonchalant as I sat to the side. Now things were awkward. Mom didn't know whether to take it off or leave it on. She just froze there. Hailey, however, noticed Mom’s hesitation. She stepped forward eagerly, practically yanking the jade bracelet off Mom’s wrist, ignoring the flash of pain on Mom’s face. "Mom, are you giving this to me?" Hailey held the bracelet by two fingers, hugging Mom and acting coquettish. "When I was little, you said you’d save all the best things for me. You’re the best, Mom!" Hailey didn't see the tension in Mom’s eyes. She made a show of putting it on. Then, the accident happened. The bracelet that was just in Hailey's hand suddenly hit the floor. The emerald, cherished by Mom above all else, shattered into pieces. Mom’s face couldn't help but twitch violently. "Oh no, Mom!" Hailey pouted, feigning horror. "My hand slipped. You won't blame me, right Mom?" As she said this, a flash of smugness crossed her face. She was certain their love and guilt for her would outweigh a piece of jewelry. But when she looked up, expecting comfort, she found Mom holding back a scolding and my brother, Carter, looking undisguisedly shocked. "Crap!" Carter’s face suddenly went pale. He grabbed his phone and rushed out, presumably to call his girlfriend. "Mom, Dad, are you mad? Hailey really didn't mean to." Seeing their expressions weren't right, Hailey’s big eyes immediately misted over, and she began a pitiful apology. [Here we go again. She’s going to play the victim card. She’ll talk about how miserable her life was after being kidnapped... Poor Mom and Dad are so soft-hearted, they’ll give her a huge compensation check. Little do they know, she spent all her money on male escorts!] Sure enough, the next moment Hailey’s tears began to fall. She cried about how much she missed them, how she was beaten constantly, claiming her body was covered in scars that would never heal. She said she slept in a dog cage, ate moldy food, and was almost sold to a trafficking ring. "Mom, Dad, seeing you again... I finally feel so happy!" 2 I absentmindedly picked at my nails. [Hailey is about to show off her so-called "scars." But she cut those herself, just to fish for sympathy.] Mom took the bait. She pulled Hailey's wrist, examining the scabbed wounds, her voice trembling. "Hailey, these wounds... did they do this to you?" Hailey flinched, her eyes shifting, but she nodded and choked out, "Yes... they hit me. They said I was a money-loser, hard to sell..." She hugged Mom tightly again. "It’s okay now that I’m back. Mom, I missed you so much." I curled my lip. [Her foster parents treated her better than their own bio kids. They gave her a massive allowance every month, yet she throws them under the bus. Disgusting. She blew all that cash chasing after idols.] Mom and Dad exchanged a look, their faces grim. Dad patted Mom’s hand and stood up. "I need to make a call to the office." I watched Dad’s retreating back, raising my hand to fix my hair to hide the smirk on my lips. Only I knew that Dad wasn't calling the office. He was sending people to investigate what really happened to Hailey all these years. Dad was a suspicious man; after hearing my inner voice predict so much, how could he blindly trust Hailey like before? After Dad left, Hailey performed even harder, weeping about how she was starved and forced to do manual labor in her new home. Mom, however, wasn't as emotional as she was in my past life. She just lightly patted Hailey's back, comforting her with a distracted air. I watched the scene without expression. 3 In my previous life, young Hailey and I went out to play. I only turned away to buy ice cream, and my sister willingly followed a wealthy-looking trafficker. I chased after them but couldn't catch up. When my parents and brother found out, they blamed everything on me. Even I believed I was a sinner. I endured thirteen years of torture and verbal abuse from them, living a life worse than a dog's, walking on eggshells every day. When I was twenty, Hailey was found. Her return instantly garnered the family's total adoration. I thought it would alleviate my guilt. But Hailey pointed at me and said: "I only got lost because Harper sold me to the traffickers. She said I was the extra child and everyone would be happier if I disappeared!" The moment she said that, my family's faces changed. They believed their beloved, lost princess instantly. They took turns slapping me, forcing me to kneel and kowtow to Hailey for forgiveness. My life became a living hell. Not a single day of peace. Before I was finally tortured to death, Hailey smugly revealed the truth to me. "I really do have good luck! We were poor back then, and I didn't want to suffer, so I left with the trafficker. I ended up with rich parents." "Too bad they went bankrupt right when I turned eighteen. Luckily, I saw in the papers that Dad and Mom struck it rich, so I came back. Otherwise, you would have enjoyed all this wealth alone!" I hadn't realized Hailey was so calculating and vicious. I died filled with resentment, only to open my eyes and find myself reborn on the day of her return. And I discovered I could project my inner thoughts and choose who heard them. I looked at Hailey, snuggled in Mom’s arms, unable to hide the smirk on her lips. I wanted to laugh, too. In this life, I wanted to see how Mom, Dad, and Carter would maintain their doting love for Hailey after seeing her true colors! 4 When Dad pushed the door open after his call, his face was iron-gray. Hailey was still crying like a pear blossom bathed in rain. I lowered my eyes. I knew Dad now knew exactly what happened after Hailey got "lost." [Sigh. Next, Hailey is going to try to grab the spotlight by framing me for her kidnapping.] Hailey didn't disappoint. As soon as Dad entered, she sobbed, "Dad, actually... when we were little, Harper pushed me toward the bad guys when I wasn't looking! She said I was extra, and you’d be happy if I was gone." Hailey looked up at them, eyes red, voice trembling. "Is that true?" If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed Mom pulling her hand away from Hailey’s back, and Dad frowning deeply. I shrank back, my eyes instantly reddening. Dad’s tone was heavy. "Hailey, your sister would never do such a thing." Mom chimed in, "That's right. Harper has always been a well-behaved, obedient child." Obedient? I thought they didn't know! Hearing this praise, I felt a wave of irony. Two lifetimes, and this was the first time I’d heard them compliment me. I thought they truly saw me as a jinx, a disaster, a nuisance. I sniffled, looking wronged. "Hailey, how can you frame me like that? Clearly, you disliked how poor we were back then and left with the trafficker on purpose... What does that have to do with me?" After saying it, I covered my mouth in horror, as if I had accidentally spilled a secret. Hailey’s face changed drastically. She blurted out, "How did you know?!" The room went silent. Mom and Dad’s faces turned ugly. Hailey realized she had slipped up. She tried to explain frantically, but only dug herself deeper. Seeing Mom and Dad’s faces turning as black as ink, Hailey gritted her teeth, rolled her eyes back, and fainted straight away.
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