Even after the real daughter returned, my adoptive parents still favored me. When it came to choosing bedrooms, the real daughter merely glanced at my princess-themed room with curiosity. Mom frowned instantly. "That's Paige's room. She's lived there for eighteen years. You can't take it from her. Pick any other room on the second floor." At dinner, the table was piled high with my favorite dishes. Dad, Mom, and my brother kept comforting me. "Paige, you will always be our precious baby girl." They even wanted to transfer 20% of the company shares to me. The real daughter's eyes reddened on the spot. "If you don't like me, why did you bring me back?" 1 When Sarah, the real daughter of the Lawson family, started crying out of frustration, I was frantically trying to communicate with Mom using sign language. I wanted to tell her: I'm not important. You guys should take care of your biological daughter first. But I had only lost my voice two days ago, and my sign language was completely made up. Mom watched my chaotic gestures, confused, until a lightbulb seemed to go off. "Paige, calm down. Don't worry, you will always be our most precious daughter." Most precious? Then what about Sarah? My mouth twitched, and I gave Mom a speechless thumbs-up. Wow, great way with words, Mom. Sure enough, Sarah looked like she was about to crumble. But my parents' eyes were habitually fixed on me. "Paige, Dad knows you must feel insecure now that Sarah is back. I'm going to transfer 20% of the company shares to you right now so you can feel safe!" No! I don't want shares! I want you to look at your biological daughter! She looks like she's about to shatter! Seeing the despair in Sarah's eyes, I clutched my throat, rolling my eyes in panic. Good God. Why did I have to get my tonsils and adenoids removed right now? "N... no... ugh... hurts..." My throat felt like it was on fire. Every syllable was like swallowing glass. Seeing me struggle, my parents panicked. "Paige, don't talk! We understand!" You understand nothing... Looking at Sarah's increasingly pale face, I felt terrible. I rushed away from the table, sprinted up to my room on the second floor, grabbed my writing tablet, and hurried back down. As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard my brother, Lucas, yelling at Sarah. "You just have to compete with Paige, don't you? She's crying now. Are you happy?" Sarah screamed back. "Happy about what?" She stood up, scanning the faces of her parents and brother, and let out a cold laugh. "I haven't said a single word since I got here, and you accuse me of competing with her. I don't even have the right to speak in this house. What do I have to compete with? How dare I compete with her?" I felt like the most desperate person in the room should be me. I quickly scribbled a paragraph on my tablet and shoved it in front of everyone. [I wasn't crying. My throat hurts too much to talk, so I went upstairs to get this tablet.] Then, I pointed at the table full of food—abalone, king crab, lobster, and my favorite, spicy stir-fried intestines. I wrote furiously, my face serious. [Even though these are my favorites, I can't eat any of them right now. So you actually prepared these for Sarah. Why didn't you tell her? Why did Mom keep putting food on my plate?] Mom smiled sheepishly. "Sarah just got back, and we didn't know what she liked, so we had the chef cook your favorites. We were afraid you'd get upset and have an episode, so we served you first..." I rolled my eyes and kept writing. [If you don't know what she likes, you can ASK her! I stole eighteen years of her wealthy life. What logic is there in ignoring her to comfort me and revolving everything around me?] Seeing how serious I was, the room fell silent. Dad pulled out his phone, looking awkward. "In those 'Real vs. Fake Daughter' novels, doesn't the fake daughter usually throw a fit and become the villain? Plus, with your condition, we thought..." I facepalmed. Dad... please delete TikTok immediately. Mom held my arm, looking at me with heartache. "We were just so afraid you'd do something extreme! I raised you for eighteen years. You're no different from my own flesh and blood. I couldn't bear to lose you." Lucas laughed too. "It's fine if you take the shares. I'm not jealous. Keep the wealth in the family. When you grow up, I'll just chase you and make you my wife... I've watched you grow up. Aside from your illness, we know you're a good person." Me: "..." My heart felt warm, but I also felt a strong urge to roast him. Lucas and I are only two years apart. We used to bathe in the same tub as kids. How can he even think about that? He might be able to, but I definitely can't! [Brother, you will always be the best brother in my heart. I don't want the shares. This home is wonderful, and I love you all very much. But it's time for me to go back to my own home and return to the life that was meant for me.] Sarah looked at me with mockery and sneered. "Stop with the fake acting. If you were really willing to give up this luxurious life, you'd be packing your bags right now. Saying all this is just a tactic to make Mom, Dad, and Lucas think I'm forcing you out so they'll hate me even more." She looked at my parents with disgust, like she had nothing left to lose. "This house has no room for an outsider like me. The one who should leave isn't her. It's me." With that, she ran upstairs, eyes red, grabbed her suitcase, and came back down. 2 Her suitcase was still packed from her arrival. She didn't even need to organize. Seeing me still on the sofa digging for my charger and Switch, she scoffed again. "Dragging your feet. I knew you didn't want to leave. It's fine. If you won't go, I will." She turned to Dad, looking exhausted. "I don't want a penny from you in the future. I don't care about the shares. Just transfer my household registration back here. I want to get into Stanford, and I need the local residency status. As your biological daughter, is that too much to ask?" She stared at Dad coldly, looking like she saw right through him. Dad scratched his head, clearly having a headache. He ordered the butler. "Lock all the doors. Don't let either of them leave." Then he dragged Mom, who looked like a lost puppy, up to the third floor. "Come on, we need to figure out what to do. My head is splitting..." Mom looked sadly at Sarah and me. Clearly, neither she nor Dad wanted to give up either daughter. Lucas walked up to Sarah with a dark face, grabbed her suitcase, and carried it back to the guest room on the second floor. "What are you doing?" Sarah chased after him, furious. "This is illegal imprisonment! I'm calling the police!" Lucas threw the suitcase into the room, snatched her phone, tapped on it for a bit, and handed it back. Ding! My phone buzzed. It was a notification that Sarah had been added to the family group chat. Immediately after, I saw a transfer notification from Lucas to Sarah. $10,000. With a note: [Welcome home, Sarah!] That was his entire allowance for the month. I immediately followed suit and transferred her $10,000. [Welcome home, Sarah!] Then Mom and Dad sent a massive transfer. [Welcome home, Sarah! It was our fault we didn't realize our daughter was switched. We will protect and compensate you from now on.] They sent $5,000,000. I paused. Since when were Mom and Dad this generous with cash? Sure enough, Mom sent another message. [Considering you're young and don't know how to manage finances, once your registration is transferred, Mom will open a new account for you and put this money in a trust. You can withdraw the interest every month. We'll also give you an additional $10,000 monthly allowance. This is how we raised your brother and Paige.] Meaning, no favoritism. Sarah didn't reply. She didn't accept the money. She just glanced at Lucas and me. "Hypocrites!" Then she pushed Lucas out and slammed the door. Lucas looked at me, speechless. He saw me clutching my throat, slowly walking toward my room. "Paige, you're not really thinking of leaving, are you?" "Don't be silly. Your biological parents are a gambler and an alcoholic. Both have violent tendencies. When I grabbed her phone, I saw scars all over Sarah's arms. You've been raised like a princess for eighteen years. If you go back, you'll be beaten to death in days. Believe me?" "And if your illness relapses... sigh! Just don't be stupid..." Of course I knew going back would be hell. People who would swap their own baby for a rich one aren't exactly saints. [Brother, I will always love you.] Seeing that sentence, Lucas thought I had given up and let out a long sigh of relief. In the middle of the night, when the butler dozed off, I snuck out through the doggy door in the garden wall. Standing outside, I looked back at the elegant estate. The home I lived in for eighteen years. I wanted to cry. Dad, Mom, Lucas... I love you. If only I were really yours. But I'm not. I'm the reason your perfect family was broken. What right do I have to stay? Goodbye. 3 My biological parents lived in a dilapidated shack on the outskirts of City C. The shack was surrounded by a crumbling wall. Beyond the wall was a small forest and a creek. The other houses in the village were far away. It was like this family was intentionally isolated. Well! No wonder no one called the police despite Sarah being abused for years. In a place this remote, even if someone died, no one would know, right? 4 A large black dog lay at the entrance of the small courtyard. I got out of the taxi, clutching the address I stole from Dad’s study and the photo of the Lin family. The dog immediately bared its fangs and barked ferociously. "Woof! Woof!" "Who is it?" Hearing the dog, a young man with dyed yellow hair walked out. He was thin as a rail, wearing a red tank top, heavy eyeliner, and a neck full of cheap silver chains. His jeans were covered in studs. He stared at me for a second, looking weirded out. "Paige Lawson?" I nodded and forced out a painful greeting. "Brother... Dave?" Dave sneered. "Who's your brother? Didn't the Lawsons say they'd keep raising you? Why are you back? If you know what's good for you, hand over the money you got from them and scram back to your rich life. You’re lucky to have such soft-hearted foster parents." Yeah. How lucky am I to have lived with Mom and Dad for eighteen years? My throat hurt so bad. Speaking was torture. I looked down and scribbled on my tablet, my long hair hiding my expression. [I'm not going back! And I didn't take much money from the Lawsons.] To make Sarah feel secure, I decided to cut ties completely. I changed my SIM card and abandoned my old social media accounts. The substantial savings my parents gave me over the years were in fixed deposits, and I didn't bring the cards. "Didn't take much? Who are you kidding?" Dave scoffed, clearly not buying it. I wrote seriously: [I only took $3,000 cash. I need it for medicine. Anti-inflammatories and sedatives are expensive.] Dave rolled his eyes. "You lived with the richest family in City A for eighteen years, and you only have that much? Who'd believe that? You cheapskate, you need a lesson. Blackie, sic her! Bite her ear off!" The dog listened to Dave perfectly. It lunged at me, jaws wide, aiming for my ear. I had developmental delays as a child; I'm only 4'11". When the dog stood up, it was as tall as me. It opened its mouth, drooling stinking saliva onto my face. I got goosebumps from the disgust. Just as it was about to bite my ear, its eyes changed. It collapsed, convulsing in pain. "Whimper... whine..." It struggled for a moment, then stopped moving. Dave ran over in a panic. He saw blood gushing from the dog's chest. "Blackie? Blackie?" He looked up, startled, and saw me holding a bloody tactical knife. "Paige! Blackie has been with me for ten years! He's family! How could you be so cruel..." I ignored him. I calmly wiped the dog blood off the knife with a wet wipe. And off my face and clothes. Unfortunately, the blood spatter on my white dress wouldn't come off.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386271", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel