On her eighteenth birthday, my sister received company shares, a luxury car, a villa... And I received a paternity test proving we shared no blood relation. My mom smiled coldly. "Chloe, since you aren't our biological daughter, you'll have to pay us back for the cost of raising you these past seventeen years." My dad sneered. "Starting today, you're the maid in this house. We'll credit you a hundred bucks a month to pay off your debt. Room and board are not included." I didn't ask them how it was possible that my twin sister—who looked practically identical to me—could be their daughter while I wasn't. Instead, I calmly nodded. Because last night, standing outside their door, I heard: My sister, holding our parents' hands, whined, "Mom, Dad, my birthday wish is to be the only child of the Jenkins family. I want to enjoy your exclusive love. Let my sister be a maid for a year, please?" My dad's face was full of doting affection. "Alright, whatever you want." My mom agreed with a smile. "For this year, Mom and Dad will belong only to our precious Mia." After everyone had dispersed, I looked at the leftover cake on the table, stuck a candle in it, and made a wish: I want to leave the Jenkins family. Not for a year, but for a lifetime. ... My sister, Mia, covered her mouth and gasped. "Sister, no wonder you're so ugly! You don't look like Dad or Mom. Turns out you really are a fake." Her shout was loud and exaggerated. As if she had completely forgotten we were twins and looked at least seventy percent alike. "Oh no, you're not my sister at all. You're just a wild bird from who knows where." My mom's expression was distant and cold. "Chloe, since the truth is out and you aren't a child of the Jenkins family, this birthday banquet is solely for our precious daughter, Mia. You have no right to attend." I looked up at Mia, whose face was full of smug satisfaction. She wore a custom-made princess gown and a tiara that cost as much as a house. Then I looked down at myself, wearing a faded, washed-out shirt and jeans, the cuffs frayed. I smiled bitterly. Right. I never possessed that right since I was a child. So how could I lose it? My dad raised his voice. "Starting today, you will move into the maid's quarters. For the sake of our past relationship, until you find your biological parents, you'll work as a maid here. I'll credit you a hundred bucks a month—no room and board—to pay back the seventeen years of child-rearing costs we spent on you." Whispers rippled through the crowd. Like a pathetic clown, amidst the mocking and derisive gazes, I bent down and picked up my backpack. Mia rushed over with blinding speed and yanked my backpack hard. The broken zipper, held together only by safety pins, burst open instantly, spilling my belongings all over the floor. Mia shrieked. "Aha! I knew it! You actually stole things from our house!" Among the scattered books on the floor lay a single, pink sanitary pad. My mom looked a bit uncomfortable. "Mia, forget it. It's just a pad." Mia immediately refused to let it go. "Mom, I am the only daughter of the Jenkins family now. What is she? She's freeloaded off our family for years, and now she's stealing our stuff! If I say she doesn't deserve it, she doesn't deserve it." Seeing her angry, my mom immediately began coaxing her softly. "Okay, okay, don't be mad, sweetie. You're right. You are Mom's one and only darling now. You can do whatever you want." Satisfied, Mia stomped on the pad, grinding her heel into it. "Alright, I don't want it anymore. It's yours." I stared at the sanitary pad, covered in footprints. My throat felt like it was stuffed with wet cotton—heavy and suffocating. Chapter 2 In the end, I bent down and only picked up my books. After the banquet ended, I was led to the storage room by the nanny, Martha. It was a space of about fifty square feet, containing only a wooden plank bed piled with junk and a rusted iron window. Martha stood at the door, hesitating before speaking. "Young Miss... Chloe. The Master and Madam remember your good deeds. When they come to their senses, you'll still be the eldest daughter of the Jenkins family..." Before she could finish, two cockroaches scurried out from a corner and disappeared quickly. I pretended not to see the embarrassment on her face. "Thank you. I know." Martha shook her head and left. I heard her mutter softly, "Looking so much alike, how could she not be... sigh..." I sat on the plank bed, staring blankly into the pitch-black night outside the window. It's okay. Just wait one more year, and I can leave forever. That night, my stomach cramped terribly. Without any pads, I had to use wadded-up toilet paper. Coming out of the bathroom, I heard my parents talking in hushed tones. "Honey, do you think treating Chloe like this will make her hate us? She is our biological daughter after all." My dad scoffed coldly. "It's her own fault for always bullying Mia. As the older sister, she never knows how to yield. Making her suffer a bit is for her own good." "In a year, when Mia has had her fun, we'll just find an excuse and say the paternity test was a mistake. When she regains her status as the eldest daughter of the Jenkins family, she'll be too happy to complain." My fingertips went cold. It felt absurd and laughable. What makes them think that after trampling me into the dirt, I would just obediently stand there and wait for them? The next day, I went out to buy sanitary pads. At checkout, I was told my balance was insufficient. But I clearly had forty dollars saved up on my card. Returning to the villa, I pushed open the door. The three of them were laughing and chatting at the dining table. A gift bag sat on the table. My mom fondly stroked a silk scarf in her hands. "Our Mia is such a sweet, caring girl. She even bought Mom a gift. Mom is so happy." My dad spun a plastic water bottle in his hands, unable to stop smiling. "Dad loves his too. That's my precious daughter." Mia pouted and leaned her head on Mom's shoulder. "But these two gifts only cost forty dollars. You won't blame me for buying something so cheap, will you?" My mom immediately shook her head. "Of course not! As long as my darling bought it for me, even if it cost two cents, it's a treasure to Mom." My dad didn't forget to put me down while comforting her. "Exactly. Not like your sister, who only knows how to spend the family's money. She's never bought us a single gift. Just an ungrateful wretch. How could she compare to my Mia..." Noticing my return, they immediately stopped talking. Mia tilted her head to look at me. Her smile was full of malice. That forty dollars. Was the living expenses I had saved up over two months. It was all the money I had. My entire body went cold. Something in my brain exploded with a massive bang. By the time I realized what was happening, I had already grabbed Mia and raised my hand to slap her. But before the slap could land. My dad kicked me hard. My spine slammed into the sharp corner of the coffee table. The pain was so intense my vision went black. Mia held up an arm with a tiny red mark. Crying as if the sky was falling. "Mom! Dad! It hurts so much! Is my arm broken?" My mom yelled anxiously, "Quick, call an ambulance!" My dad hastily replied, "Forget the ambulance, there's no time. I'll drive Mia to the hospital." Mia pointed at me, sprawled on the floor. "I don't want to ride in the car. This bastard hurt me. I want her to carry me all the way to the hospital on her back." Chapter 3 The nearest hospital from the villa was over twelve miles away. My mom looked at me with icy eyes. "You fatherless, motherless thing. We gave you the best food and a good life for over a decade, and you dare lay a hand on my biological daughter? Do as Mia says." Seeing that I couldn't get up for a long time, my dad simply grabbed me and yanked me up. "Stop faking it. You just bumped into it lightly. Hurry up and carry Mia to the hospital. If you delay my daughter's treatment, I'll throw you out of the Jenkins house." I believed him. But I couldn't leave just yet. I had no choice but to carry Mia on my back, stumbling my way toward the hospital on foot. My dad drove slowly, trailing right behind me. He kept yelling out the window, "Chloe, you better hold her tight. If you drop my precious daughter, I'll skin you alive." My mom complained from the passenger seat, "Walk faster, haven't you eaten? Don't delay my darling's treatment." Mia lay on my back, smiling smugly. "See? Nobody in this house loves you! You're just an unwanted, mangy dog." Words like that used to easily sting me. But now, perhaps because so much pain had accumulated, I was completely numb. Seeing I didn't react, Mia stopped talking too. But just as we were nearing the hospital. She pulled a safety pin from her pocket and stabbed it deeply into my back. I stumbled in pain and pitched forward, crashing onto the ground. My parents immediately pulled the car over, ran over frantically, picked up Mia, who had fallen on top of me, and ran toward the hospital. My mom, following behind my dad, turned back to look at my deathly pale face. She threw down an impatient remark: "We're already at the hospital. Go find a doctor yourself. We don't have time to deal with you." I never ended up going into the hospital. Because I didn't have any money. Having no strength left to walk back. I sat on the hospital steps until dark before finally returning to the villa. They had already returned. Standing in the living room were a middle-aged man and woman, looking cowering and disheveled. "You're back just in time." My dad pointed at the couple. "These are your biological parents. Go with them now." The air was dead silent. My mom walked over and took my hand, though she didn't dare meet my eyes. "Chloe, we were mother and daughter for a time, and I'm very sad too. But since your biological parents have been found, there's no reason for you to hang around the Jenkins family anymore." I had thought I wouldn't cry anymore. But tears still uncontrollably soaked my face. These were the parents I had placed above everything else in my heart for over a decade. Yet they weren't willing to let me stay in this house, even if just in a tiny corner. My mom felt guilty looking at my tears. She reached out to wipe them away, but Mia grabbed her arm. "Sister, congratulations! You're finally not a bastard without parents anymore." The middle-aged woman standing nearby immediately grabbed my hand upon seeing this. Her dirt-encrusted fingernails dug into my flesh as she began to wail dramatically. "Oh, my daughter! Mommy finally found you! Come home with Mommy!" The man claiming to be my biological father dragged me toward the door. "Yes, yes, let's hurry home. You've troubled Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins for so many years. You absolutely can't be shameless and refuse to leave." "Wait." Mia rolled her eyes, smiling mischievously. "Sister, finding your real parents is a huge event. It doesn't make sense not to kneel and kowtow to acknowledge them. Or are you disgusted because they're poor? Do you look down on them?" I froze and turned to look at my parents. "Do you also think I should kneel and kowtow to acknowledge them?" Chapter 4 They instinctively avoided my gaze. Mia kept urging, "Hurry up and kneel. We're all watching." I laughed. Something inside me, in that moment, shattered completely. I knelt down, but I kowtowed deeply toward my parents. "Our relationship as parents and child ends here. From this moment on, the Jenkins family and I have no further connection." My parents exchanged a look, both catching a glimpse of unease in the other's eyes. But I had already stood up and left with my 'biological parents'. My mom chased after us, shouting with false bravado, "It's not settled! Unless... unless you pay back all the money we spent on you over the past decade!" I stopped walking but didn't turn around. I replied softly, "Okay." They thought they had spent a lot of money on me over the years. But they forgot. The daughter who was favored, the one who had lots and lots of money spent on her to be raised in luxury, was Mia. And me? I had an allowance of sixty dollars a month. And I was constantly extorted by Mia, who received six thousand a month. If I didn't give it to her. She would go home and cry. Saying I rallied classmates at school to isolate and bully her. I was locked in solitary confinement countless times and forbidden from eating. Once, on a night with torrential rain. Because Mia said I was pushing her to the point where she couldn't go on living. I stood in the freezing rain all night. I ran a fever of 104 degrees, and no one cared. Since I was little. It had always been like this. A single word from Mia could determine my right and wrong, my happiness, my life, Even my dignity. My explanations, my tears, my grievances, Were utterly worthless in this house. Just like me as a person. Very cheap. That night, I moved into my 'biological parents'' rented room in the slums. Because there were no extra rooms or blankets. I had to curl up in the only bathroom for the night. The windows, patched with newspaper, were falling apart, constantly letting in cold drafts. The next day, I fell into a groggy, high fever. In my delirium, I heard the woman talking anxiously on the phone. "Mr. Jenkins, Mrs. Jenkins, the... the young miss has a high fever. It's already 104 degrees." "Then what are you waiting for? Get her to a hospital!" The phone was on speaker, and Mia's voice came through clearly. "Mom, Dad. My sister just left last night and she has a high fever today? There's no such coincidence. It must be a trick to test you. If you believe it, you're falling for it." After a long silence, my dad's cold voice rang out. "Don't bother with her. She said it herself: she has no further connection with us. Let this ungrateful wretch learn her lesson." My mom was full of impatience. "She's your daughter now. Don't call us if there's no real issue. We still have to take our precious daughter on a trip around the world. Hanging up." No one cared about me anymore. I was left in that forgotten, rented room. Fighting with my last breath to pry open the front door and crawl into the stairwell, I couldn't hold on any longer and passed out. When I opened my eyes again, there was only a nurse by the bed. "Little girl, you're finally awake. 107.6 degrees. If a kind passerby hadn't brought you to the hospital, ten minutes later, and you'd be in critical condition." "Alright, hurry up and contact your family to come over. And settle the medical bills while you're at it." I was silent for a long time. My voice was very faint. "I don't have any money. And I don't have any family." The nurse was stunned. I stared at the IV tube in the back of my hand and pursed my dry lips. "But, I have blood to sell." After the new semester started, I entered my senior year of high school. I started running errands for my classmates—buying their meals, delivering their packages. One run, twenty cents. I could save up four dollars a day. Chapter 5 One day, I had just gotten my food and was walking out of the cafeteria when I bumped into Mia halfway. She just crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Her little followers snatched my lunchbox and smashed it. The food mixed with muddy water, scattering everywhere. "Sister, seeing how pathetic you are, this meal is on me." They pressed my head down, trying to force me to eat the food they had stepped on. My homeroom teacher, Ms. Summers, happened to pass by and harshly scolded them. She pulled me up and wiped my face clean. She had heard bits and pieces about what happened at the birthday party and knew I was short on money. She didn't ask any questions and found me a tutoring job. But the condition was only half a day on weekends, and it absolutely couldn't affect my grades. I thanked her profusely. But I never expected that just because of one act of kindness from Ms. Summers. She would be reported and fired under the accusation of accepting bribes from a student's parent. And I was put up on the school bulletin board. Because of a photo of the parent of the student I was tutoring picking me up and dropping me off. I was labeled as having a sugar daddy. My 'biological mother', Brenda, rushed to the school. Without a word, she slapped me twice across the face. She viciously grabbed my hair, twisting and pinching it. "You little slut, you're barely of age and you're already spreading your legs for men? You might not have any shame, but I do!" My face was smacked to the side. In my peripheral vision, I happened to lock eyes with my parents, who were standing with the school administrators, looking at me like I was trash. And behind them, Mia, whose face was practically splitting from smiling so hard. My hair fell loose, blocking my vision, and also blocking the tears I couldn't hold back in time. I lowered my head and said calmly, "I'm sorry. I know I was wrong." That night, just after I took a shower at home, I was violently dragged into a room by a pair of large hands. My 'biological father', Dave, shirtless and with bloodshot eyes, lunged at me. "Instead of giving it away to some man outside for cheap, you might as well give it to me." The utility knife hidden in my sleeve slashed fiercely across his face. He was forced back two steps, panting heavily like a starving animal. "I'm still a student, and I don't want to spend my life in prison, so get out!" Living in the slums, I couldn't possibly be unprepared. Dave spat, wiped the blood from his face, bared his yellow teeth, and smiled. "You fucking wait. Your parents sold you to me. Sooner or later, I'll get what I want." The door closed. I slumped to the floor, drained of energy, trembling uncontrollably. Tears poured out. I bit down hard on the back of my hand to keep my sobs from escaping. My phone dinged. A message popped up in the family group chat. Mom: "Chloe, you willingly degraded yourself at such a young age. Just thinking about having been mother and daughter with someone as dirty and lacking in self-respect as you makes me sick." The next second, I was removed from the group chat by my dad. My mom stared at the group that now only had three people. A sudden sense of unease rose in her chest. "Honey, did we go too far? Didn't we investigate and find out Chloe was just tutoring?" My dad said angrily, "If she hadn't forced Mia to eat food off the floor, Mia wouldn't have cried until her eyes were swollen. Her only request was to kick her out of the group chat; that's letting her off easy." Thinking about it, his tone softened. "It's just for a year anyway. I've already transferred enough money to Dave. Chloe won't be mistreated. Once the time is up, we'll go pick her up immediately." One year later. On Mia and my birthday. My parents left the house early. My dad drove very fast. "You brought the real paternity test, right?" My mom nodded repeatedly. "I brought it. We haven't seen Chloe for a whole year. When she comes back, we must compensate her properly."
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "394626", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel