In my past life, my sister Sophia was adopted by a wealthy couple, while I was taken in by a scrap metal dealer. Ten years later, she was cast out by her rich family, while my adoptive father and I had built Ashton City’s number one steel company. Reborn into this life, Sophia wanted to walk my path, begging the scrap metal guy to take her instead. But she didn’t know that without me, there would be no Johnson Steel, the company that would become famous throughout Ashton City. 1 I was representing Johnson Steel, one of Ashton City's top ten businesses, making a donation to the group home where I used to live. As the donor, I was invited to attend the ceremony. At the charity gala that evening, I stepped out of a Maserati, dressed stylishly, drawing everyone's attention. Old friends from the group home rushed to greet me, and Ms. Evans, the director, stood nearby, praising my success. The stark contrast between me now and my sister Sophia, who was currently working as a cleaner at the home, inevitably led to hushed whispers. "Sophia was so clever back then, getting herself adopted by Mr. Miller and leaving her own sister to go home with some junk dealer. Look at her now." "Who would've thought Mr. Miller's biological daughter would show up? They don't want Sophia anymore." "Chloe really hit the jackpot. The junk dealer's kid is now the steel heiress. Sophia must be sick with regret." Eyes darted towards Sophia, who was sweeping the floor nearby. She was looking at me too, her eyes bloodshot, gripping the broom handle so tightly her knuckles were white, the wood creaking. After the gala ended, Sophia found me and asked if I could get her a job at the steel plant. She seemed humbled, her small, thin frame shivering in the wind. My heart softened, and I agreed. But then Sophia grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the staff housing area. "I knew you still cared about me, sis. Come help me pack my stuff. I can't stand another second in this place." But once I stepped inside her small room, Sophia's expression changed. She shoved me hard into the room, locked the door from the inside, and tossed a lit match into a wooden cabinet. Flames spread rapidly. Thick smoke choked me, making it impossible to scream. Sophia frantically pinned down my hand as I tried to open the window. "Chloe Johnson! You became the steel heiress thanks to me, so what gives you the right to pity me now?" "If my life sucks, you don't get to live either!" "Since you're my dear sister, let's just burn to ashes together! Hahahaha..." But she had no idea how many life-and-death situations I had survived to get where I was. Sophia's figure blurred in the flames. Darkness overwhelmed me, and I collapsed. 2 When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on my cot in the group home, waking from an afternoon nap. Ms. Evans burst into the room, excitement in her voice as she woke us all up. "Quick, tidy yourselves up! Two families are here looking to adopt!" All the kids in the room jumped up, getting dressed neatly, combing hair, washing faces. It was a habit we’d developed over the years; fall behind, and you get left out. An older kid who’d scouted outside came back, buzzing with news. "One family looks really fancy, loaded with money! But they probably won't want someone my age." "What about the other one?" "Uh, the other one's just a guy. Looks kinda like a junk dealer." These kids had already learned to size people up, kissing up to the rich and looking down on the poor. They started mocking the idea of a scrap metal guy adopting anyone. Sophia scoffed, shaking her head with a look of pity, as if disappointed in their short-sightedness. She came over, took my hand sweetly, "Chloe, let's go check them out too." She radiated a calculating maturity far beyond her years. In that moment, I understood. She had been reborn too. If I was right, her target this time was the man the others were sneering at – Carl Johnson, the scrap metal guy standing not far off. Sophia had always been charming, knowing exactly how to win over adults. As soon as Ms. Evans saw Sophia approach, she beamed and introduced her to the wealthy couple, the Millers. "Sophia here is sharp and well-behaved, always so polite. She's a good kid." The Millers listened to Ms. Evans, looked at Sophia's delicate features, and nodded in satisfaction. But the supposedly polite Sophia reacted with horror, yanking her hand away as Mrs. Miller reached out to touch her. "Don't touch me! I don't want to go with you!" Sophia ran over to Carl Johnson, the man the other kids scorned, and threw her arms around his legs. She burst into tears, snot mixing with teardrops, acting as if she’d found a long-lost relative. "Mister, I just feel a connection with you! Please, take me with you!" Carl Johnson froze for a second, then his face lit up with joy. It was the first time anyone had ever chosen him so decisively. Mrs. Miller, clearly unprepared for such a scene, stood with her hand awkwardly suspended in mid-air, staring helplessly. Mr. Miller turned angrily to Ms. Evans, demanding an explanation. Ms. Evans grabbed Sophia, who was sobbing dramatically on the floor. "Are you crazy? What are you doing?" Sophia struggled, shouting, "Leave me alone! I want to go with this man!" She pushed Ms. Evans away and clung to Carl Johnson's leg again, muttering under her breath, "Nobody's stealing my fortune this time." Ms. Evans threw up her hands in exasperation, utterly disappointed, and decided to let her be. Having gotten her way, Sophia ran back to the Millers, suddenly reverting to her sweet, well-behaved persona. She pulled me forward, introducing me with a sugary smile, "Mr. and Mrs. Miller, I'm sorry. I just felt a special bond with that gentleman, that's why I couldn't go with you." "This is my sister, Chloe. She's smart and well-behaved, just like me. Taking her would be just as good." Sophia wanted me to walk her path from the previous life – enjoy a brief period of wealth and luxury before being thrown out and ridiculed. Ms. Evans noticed me then and chimed in, "Chloe is just a bit quiet, but she's a very good girl." After the shock Sophia had just given them, the Millers decided they preferred a quiet, obedient child. And just like that, they took the silent me home with them. 3 That very day, Mrs. Miller took me shopping and bought me lots of new clothes. At the mall, near the dumpsters by the service entrance, I saw Sophia helping Carl Johnson collect trash. Carl pointed towards the stockroom door, instructing her, "When the guy comes out, go ask him nicely if we can have the trash." "Heh heh, this is all high-grade cardboard. It'll sell for good money." Sophia stared intently at the stockroom door, poised for action. Just then, her eyes met mine as I stepped out of a dressing room. Caught looking so grubby, Sophia flushed with embarrassment and charged at me furiously. "Chloe Miller! Are you laughing at me?!" She raised her hand to hit me. A sales clerk quickly stepped in, pushing Sophia aside. "Where did this little beggar come from?" Sophia gritted her teeth, about to lunge again, but Carl Johnson hurried over and pulled her away. He dragged the struggling Sophia with one hand while apologizing profusely to the clerk with the other. Getting banned from the mall would mean losing a significant source of income for him. The next day, Mrs. Miller dressed me up like a little princess and sent me to school. Sophia showed up still wearing the same dirty clothes from yesterday, looking completely disheveled. Several classmates were also from the group home, and they had already spread the story of what happened yesterday. Sophia used to be the teacher's pet because of her sweet talk, strutting around school like she owned the place. Many kids already disliked her. Megan was the first to strike. Pretending to walk by, she "accidentally" knocked over Sophia's desk, sending books scattering everywhere. Sophia gasped, pointing at Megan, about to yell, "Are you crazy?!" Megan pinched her nose, looking at the pile of books on the floor. "Why does it smell like garbage?" The whole class erupted in laughter. Instead of getting angry, Sophia called them all idiots. "You don't know anything! I'm going to be a steel heiress someday! Don't underestimate me just because I'm down on my luck now! When I make it big, you'll all be begging me for favors!" The laughter stopped, then burst out even louder. "Has she lost her mind?" "I thought she was crazy yesterday when she ignored the rich couple and begged that scrap guy to adopt her." "Steel heiress? Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England." Sophia stood amidst the scattered books, looking down on her laughing classmates with pity in her eyes. She casually ordered me, standing nearby, "Chloe, pick up these books for me." I didn't move. Sophia got furious and grabbed my arm. "Have you no conscience? Look at yourself, all dressed up! It's because I gave you my precious opportunity!" I frowned. "Gave? Or wasn't satisfied with just stealing? You're just hoping I'll repeat your last life, aren't you?" Sophia froze for a moment, muttering, "You're reborn too?" "Well, then." She pulled me close, whispering mockingly in my ear, "They might not know, but you do, don't you? Chloe Miller, just wait. This time, I'll be the one grinding you under my heel." I pulled my arm away, correcting her, "We'll see about that. And by the way, it's Chloe Miller now." From observing them these past couple of days, I realized the Millers were genuinely kind people. Sophia being kicked out of their house in the past life must have had other reasons. She was just too impulsive, always judging things by appearances, never reflecting on her own role in how things turned out. 4 Sophia followed my old path, helping Carl Johnson collect scrap after school every day. Because her dramatic display at the group home had genuinely touched Carl, she had it easier than I did initially. She mostly avoided the dirty, heavy work. Her skin got a bit darker, but she didn’t have the cuts and scratches I accumulated. But Sophia couldn't even stand this small amount of hardship. She cornered me in the girls' bathroom, shaking me and screaming hysterically. "When will this miserable life end?! When did you guys start the steel plant? Tell me, damn it!" Her time collecting scrap had clearly made her stronger; her grip on my shoulders actually hurt. Megan came out of a stall, saw what was happening, and quickly kicked Sophia away. "She's a total psycho." Sophia really did seem crazy. One moment she was furious, the next she was giggling eerily. "It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. The suffering I'm going through now is only temporary." "But you, Chloe Miller," she sneered. "Enjoy your fancy life while it lasts. Soon enough, you'll be homeless again." Yeah, right. This time, I was definitely going to cherish the opportunity. In my past life, I hadn't even finished school before Carl forced me to drop out and collect scrap with him full-time. Even later, after we started the company and hired many highly educated professionals, I always regretted my unfinished education. It wasn't that I was unwilling to tell Sophia when the steel plant started. The truth was, given the current situation, I couldn't guarantee there would even be a Johnson Steel. Back then, shortly after Carl had forced me to quit school, there was a huge construction project starting on the south side of Ashton City. Carl took me there to collect scrap. I quickly noticed a lot of discarded steel among the debris. I found the foreman and asked him to sell the scrap steel to us cheap. The stuff was useless to them anyway, so the foreman was happy to get paid for it. But Carl thought I was wasting money. I had to use my own pocket money, saved from my time at the group home, to buy a small amount of scrap steel and beg him to haul it home. Later, after spending a lot of time researching, I contacted a steel mill in a nearby city up north and managed to resell the scrap. Even though we didn't have much that first time, Carl made a significant profit. From then on, he started trusting my judgment. He went back to the foreman and bought a huge load of scrap steel to flip. We used the profits from flipping scrap as our initial capital. We traveled all over, hustling and taking risks, and that's how Johnson Steel eventually came to be. Carl had no business sense himself. Collecting the steel, buying it, finding warehouses, building the plant, sourcing equipment – I handled everything. We attracted a lot of jealousy and faced retaliation many times. There were near-death experiences. Only someone who lived through it could understand how incredibly difficult that period was. Now, Sophia was just sitting around, waiting for Carl to magically conjure up a steel empire for her. She was basically daydreaming.
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