The world is just one big, hastily assembled stage, and everyone is faking it. And me? I’m shockingly mediocre. My dad is a Wall Street tycoon, yet I can barely do simple addition. My mom is an Oscar-winning actress, and I look like the definition of "plain." My brother held his first solo art exhibition at age four, while at age five, I was still chasing him around drooling. Even our housekeeper, Mrs. Higgins, and our butler, Mr. Chen, were secretly retired legends in their fields. Luckily, they all spoiled me rotten. I eventually made peace with my mediocrity... Until one day, a viral "genius girl" showed up at our door, demanding I hand over my spot as the real heiress. Great. The other shoe I've been waiting for my whole life finally dropped. Chapter 1 I’ve always felt like an alien in this family. My dad, Richard Sterling, is a financial shark. My mom, Isabella Sterling, is an international movie star. But me? Average brain, average face. They say extremes breed opposites, and my brother, Ethan, is proof. He’s the complete package: launched his art career at four, joined MENSA at eight, and by fifteen was voted one of the "Top 10 Most Handsome Faces" globally. I wanted to be jealous. I wanted to crawl in the shadows and hiss. But in the end, I chose self-acceptance. After all, the gene pool can’t always produce winners. I was living my best "eat, sleep, do nothing" life. Until she showed up. The viral genius, Luna Davis. "The nurse at the hospital confessed on her deathbed! We were switched at birth. I am the true Miss Sterling!" "Look at you! You're so... ordinary. How could you possibly be their daughter?" "Today, I'm taking back everything that belongs to me!" Luna stood alone in our foyer, but she had the energy of an entire army. Her confidence was so overwhelming that my whole family—no, me and the other family of three—fell into deep contemplation. My cold, distant Dad: "A switch?" My glamorous Mom: "How would I know? I was too busy counting stretch marks. Didn't we hand the baby to Arthur?" My stoic brother, Ethan, stayed silent for three seconds before coldly dropping: "I was three." Mom paused, then tried to deflect again. "But you loved holding the baby! You kept asking if you could share your 'new toy' with your little girlfriend, Nana." "Nana wasn't my girlfriend." "But she called me 'Mom' every time she saw me..." I was sitting on pins and needles. Luna didn't look too happy either. Seeing Mom and Ethan getting sidetracked, I stood up. "Dad, Mom, Ethan, look at my face. Then look at hers. Don't we look more like a family?" I pointed at myself. I touched my painfully average face and nodded in agreement with Luna's assessment. Growing up, Ethan got compliments like "Handsome," "Striking," "A carbon copy of Richard." Me? I got: "She looks very... healthy." Depressing. "And I've been a straight-A student my whole life! Top of the class! But from what I hear, she has always been at the bottom. She even bought her college degree!" Luna continued presenting her evidence. I lowered my head in shame. Since kindergarten, Ethan was always undeniably first. I was always indisputably last. One teacher didn't believe I was hopeless and tried to tutor me privately. She ended up in the ICU with a stress-induced migraine. In her delirium, she held my hand and whispered: "What is the relationship between X and Y...?" I felt guilty. So, the night before the next exam, I stayed up all night memorizing the entire math textbook. The result? I became the first student in school history to fill the entire exam paper with correct formulas but get a score of zero because none of them applied to the questions. I went viral for a week. Thinking back on this, I looked at my parents and brother with a heavy heart. "Is it possible... that maybe you guys really are a family?" Dad fell into deep thought. Mom looked pensive. Ethan's gaze turned heavy. Luna was still shouting: "Mom, Dad, don't you believe me? I've been suffering out there for eighteen years! Now that I'm back, how can you not believe me?" Just as the atmosphere reached a boiling point, Mrs. Higgins, who had been standing in the shadows, spoke up. "Sir, Madam, Ethan, Miss Mia... actually, there is a technology called a DNA test." Chapter 2 The DNA test process was smooth. The results would take a month. Luna wasn't happy. She started arguing with the clinic staff. "Why do I have to wait a month?" "Because you have to wait in line like everyone else." "Do you know who I am?" "A citizen." "Who gave you the nerve to talk to me like that?" "The Constitution." The clerk was deadpan. Luna was hopping mad. I was cringing so hard my toes curled. A crowd started to gather. I couldn't watch anymore, so I went over and tugged her arm. "Let's just wait. It's only a month..." Luna shook me off. "Shut up! Of course you want to squat in my nest for another month! But I won't give you the chance!" She grabbed the clerk's lab coat. "I order you to get the results today, or face the consequences!" Chapter 3 The consequence was Luna getting a three-day detention for disturbing the peace. Three days later, she showed up at our door again. She demanded to move in, claiming she wanted to feel the "warmth of family" she had missed for years. Cold Dad: "Mrs. Higgins, prepare a room." Luna cried tears of joy. "Mom and Dad have already accepted me in their hearts! This is wonderful. From now on, I'll be by your side every day." She shot me a provocative glare and announced loudly: "I'm going to make up for all the lost time!" I turned away, trying to keep a straight face. Make up for lost time? Since I can remember, I woke up every day in a 5,000-square-foot mansion and ate breakfast at a 20-foot-long table. The only consistent members of the household were Mrs. Higgins, Mr. Chen, Ethan (on weekends), and the two Dobermans in the yard. "Lonely, Cold, and Empty" were the tags of my childhood. As a teenager, my favorite hobby was looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, posting melancholic updates like "Money can't buy love" on Instagram. That stopped the year Ethan screenshotted my posts, blew them up to poster size, and played them as a slideshow during Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to relive that social death. I felt a pang of sympathy for Luna. Her dream was doomed. But my glamorous Mom laughed delightedly, clapping her hands. "That's wonderful! I also want to make up for lost regrets! You're so pretty; I'm going to dress you up like the most stunning princess!" Stunning princess? Ethan and I simultaneously took a step back. We looked at each other, wanted to speak, but decided against it. ... "I have so many beautiful clothes that no one wears. Finally, I have a model!" "Mom, if you want, I'll be your model forever!" "Really? Oh, you're so sweet. I'm going to cry." Luna was basking in the attention. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "Mom, didn't you ever dress up... her?" "I guess not. Since she's not your real daughter, you wouldn't be as close..." "Just like those dogs outside. Only a real mother and child have that bond. Fakes can never be real!" Luna was waxing poetic. "Look at how the dogs lean on each other... it mirrors our family..." I couldn't help it. "Rex and Buster are both male." Luna froze. Me: "And they were neutered ten years ago." Luna's face went through a rainbow of colors. But soon, she recovered her smug expression. Mom excitedly dragged her upstairs. Before leaving, Luna gave me a victorious look. She didn't notice the pity in my eyes. Good luck, girl. Chapter 4 Lunchtime. Four people at the table. Me, Ethan, Mom, and... Her. She looked like a walking explosion of dopamine dressing. A massive ballgown, heavy jewelry, and a towering hat. Not high fashion—just high. I looked at Luna, who was balancing an eight-layer cake decoration on her head and painted white like a Victorian ghost. My sympathy reached new heights. Growing up, Mom tried to turn me into a doll. But my mediocrity and laziness always defeated her. Ethan inherited Dad's "death glare," which shut Mom down instantly. Mom had suppressed her urge for years. Now, the dam had broken. I watched Luna, who couldn't sit down because of her corset, trying to eat while standing. She tried to take a bite, and lead powder from her face fell into her soup. Ethan: "It's not Christmas. Why is there a tree at the table?" Pfft. I laughed. Mom pouted. "Doesn't she look beautiful? Like a doll..." Ethan: "Dolls don't need to breathe. She looks like she's about to pass out." Mom looked guilty and checked on Luna. I don't know what possessed Luna, but facing Mom's concern, she forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "No, I'm fine." "Don't force it," I advised kindly. She didn't appreciate it. "You wouldn't understand. A parent's love is heavy like a mountain. This isn't a burden; it's the weight of their love!" As soon as she said "weight of love," a crisp crack echoed in the room. Luna's expression twisted. She started to shake. Finally, the weight of the eight-layer hat won. She toppled backward with a deafening crash. Chaos ensued. Indeed. Parental love is heavy as a mountain.
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