When the real heiress returned, James and I had been married for three years. She looked at our clasped hands, her eyes reddening with grievance. “So all those childhood promises to marry me were lies.” As soon as she spoke, James, who was usually calm and composed, instantly lost his rationality. I watched their tightly embracing silhouettes and silently prepared the divorce papers. The real heiress had returned, so it was time for me, the fake one, to exit the stage. But James tore up the divorce agreement and forcefully kissed my lips: “Lily, don’t overthink it. I only see her as a sister.” That day, the stars in his eyes were especially dazzling. I thought, perhaps he really belonged to me. But it wasn’t until the very end that I understood – what didn’t belong to me never would. In the Bennett family’s private clinic, Claire was banging her head against the stark white wall like a madwoman, until it was dotted with blood stains. This act was solely to keep James from leaving. “Go ahead and leave! If you go, I’ll kill myself. Then there will finally be no one left to interfere with you and that fake’s lovey-dovey act.” Claire cried heartbrokenly, her swollen red eyes fixed on James as his hand touched the door handle. “Claire, I haven’t been home in three days already.” Though he said this, James’s hand had already fallen away from the door. “James, please, we’re begging you. Stay with Claire a bit longer, alright?” “This child has had such a hard life. She finally made it back home, only to suffer another shock. We’re really afraid something might happen to her.” Mr. and Mrs. Bennett earnestly tried to persuade him to stay with Claire longer. They had completely forgotten that I was James’s wife. I looked at James without a shred of hope. Because I knew he would choose to stay. As I expected, he sat back down by the hospital bed, allowing Claire to clutch his hand as she wept. Perhaps out of guilt, he personally tended to the wound on her forehead, as if they were the married couple.
Not long after, Claire fell asleep. James took the opportunity to extricate his hand and hurriedly left the hospital. I instinctively followed him, watching as he repeatedly dialed my number, but no one picked up. “Throwing another tantrum, are we?” James’s brows furrowed, his voice thick with displeasure. This was already a precursor to his rage. But before Claire returned, he had never once been angry with me. Seeing he couldn’t get through, James drove home. Pushing open the door, the inside was deathly quiet. “Lily Sinclair? Come out.” He called for me, searching everywhere for any sign of me, but found nothing. He dialed the phone again, but there wasn’t a sound in the house. He realized I wasn’t home at all. “Beep beep beep.” He made several more calls, but still no one answered. Finally, he lost his patience. [Lily Sinclair, have you had enough of this tantrum?] [You were clearly in the wrong this time. What are you sulking about now?] The voice messages were sent, but sank like a stone. I wanted to say I wasn’t throwing a tantrum, and I hadn’t done anything wrong. But I was dead, and James couldn’t hear me. “If you’ve got the guts, then don’t come back! Let’s see how long you can hold out!” He gripped his phone, grabbing whatever was nearby and hurling it. There was a crisp “crash”, and he turned to look, but his phone rang again. The screen lit up with “Wife”, and he answered the call, his tone cold: “Finally remembered to call back?” But it wasn’t my voice on the other end. That number belonged to Claire now. “James, come back quickly and check on Claire. She’s climbed up to the roof again.” The anxious voices of the Bennett couple rang out, interrupting James’s train of thought. Hearing that Claire was about to jump off the building, his expression turned panicked. He hurriedly grabbed his coat and rushed back to the hospital.
Watching James’s anxious retreating figure, my heart began to ache sharply. I wanted to stop following him, but I couldn’t control my soul from chasing after him. He walked very quickly, running almost every red light along the way. This was a side of him I had never seen before. James had always been steady, but I didn’t know – did he get this anxious every time he heard Claire was jumping off a building? How many times had Claire tried to jump now? I lowered my head in thought, realizing this was already the sixth time. Yet James had never grown impatient with her antics. But when I asked him to stay with me a while when I was sick, he exploded in anger. By the time I came back to my senses, I had already seen Claire. She stood on the roof of the hospital, her expression vacant, tears in the corners of her eyes, like an abandoned child. James ran up to the roof breathlessly, calling out to her cautiously: “Claire!” “Why did you come? Wouldn’t it be better to let me die?” “I have nothing left, everything’s been stolen by her.” “You promised you would marry me. Why did you lie?” Claire saw James and her tears fell more violently. Her eyes gradually reddened, as if she had suffered a great injustice. I clenched my fists, my heart unbearably sour. He didn’t just lie to you. The one who was deceived… was me too. I was the one who married James. She was the one who smiled and gave her blessing after being rejected. But later, she jumped off buildings again and again, went crazy again and again, and pulled James away from my side again and again. She always said I stole her things. But I didn’t gain anything either, except for James. And that was already in the past. The James of now no longer belonged to me. From beginning to end, the one who had nothing was me.
I originally had birth parents. But they called me Daisy, wouldn’t let me go to school, and always beat and scolded me. Later when they had a son, they sold me. That day, I was cleaned up and sent to the Bennett family. They said I was lucky to be chosen by a wealthy family, and told me to please them so they could benefit. But how could the Bennetts not see through their true nature? So they were driven out of the city. I looked timidly at the elegant lady before me, not daring to speak. “Child, let mommy hug you.” She embraced me, holding me tightly in her arms. It was the first time I felt such warmth. Just as I was about to respond, I heard her choke out “Claire”. But I wasn’t Claire, I was Daisy. At that moment, I lowered the hand that wanted to hug Mrs. Bennett back. Afterwards, they gave me a new name. Lily Sinclair. Pretty, isn’t it? But later I learned they only adopted me because my features resembled their kidnapped daughter. Lily, thinking of Claire. The name I had longed for was just their way of coping. I tried calling them “Mom and Dad”, but was scolded. They wouldn’t let me live in their house, instead setting up a small attic for me not far away. My purpose was just for them to look at when they missed their daughter. They would hold birthday parties for me every year, but carve Claire’s name on the cake, and not let me eat a bite. I didn’t have a birthday, because I didn’t know when it was, and no one cared. All these years, I never touched Claire’s room or any of her things. I didn’t steal anything from her, not a single bit. Only after meeting James did I develop selfish desires. But he was Claire’s childhood sweetheart. I couldn’t have him, and didn’t dare to.
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