After a grueling century in the spirit realm, I finally wrested a genius’s destiny from the hands of Fate itself. But the moment I was born, I overheard my mother talking to someone else: “Let’s switch them. *This* child is a true prodigy, blessed from above.” A shiver ran through me. Memories of my last life—being replaced, failing to get into my dream university, and ultimately dying from sheer frustration and resentment—all came flooding back. Not this time. No one, absolutely no one, is going to steal what’s mine again! I’d toiled for a hundred years in the spirit realm, paying my dues, just to get one word from the Ruler of Fate. “Next life, you’ll have a top-tier mind. Smooth sailing, all the way.” When I opened my eyes again, I was the youngest daughter of the Blackwood family. My dad, Richard, was the CEO of a listed company, and my mom, Eleanor, was a well-known artist. I also had an older brother, Julian, who was three years my senior. This setup, coupled with my genius brain? It was literally a dream start. I smacked my lips in satisfaction, ready to comfortably cruise through life, winning at everything. But then, the next second, I heard hushed whispers beside me. “Eleanor, the nurse just went to get the formula. Now’s our chance.” A woman’s voice, high-pitched and sharp. Another voice, soft and trembling, was Eleanor’s, my mother in this life. “Brenda, are we really going to do this? Aspen… she…” “Oh, my dear sister, what’s there to hesitate about? The babies are only a day apart, who could tell the difference if they don’t look closely at the wristbands? My girl, a fortune teller once said she’s a child genius, blessed for greatness! Switch her with yours, and she’ll be the pride of your Blackwood family!” Brenda’s voice was like a hypnotic spell. “Just look at the one you’re holding, sleeping like a log. Doesn’t seem very sharp, does she? Listen to me, make the swap. I guarantee she’ll make your family incredibly proud!” My heart dropped. Oh, no, not this again. The classic baby swap. In my last life, that’s exactly how I was replaced. The fake heiress took my name, used my parents, and went to the best schools. As for me? I was raised in an ordinary family, constantly compared to “the perfect kids next door,” and in the end, I missed out on my dream university and wasted away from pure injustice and frustration. For a hundred years in the spirit realm, I replayed that hatred every single day. And now, reborn, this same old script wants to trap me again? I felt a pair of hands reach for me, trying to lift me out of my mom’s arms. Dream on! I mustered every ounce of strength a newborn had, opened my mouth, and let out a piercing scream that was anything but baby-like. “WAAAAAH—!” My mother and the other woman flinched, startled by my cry. “W-what’s wrong with the baby?” “I don’t know, she was fine a moment ago!” My cries grew louder, drawing the nurse from down the hall. “What’s going on here?” Nurse Miller hurried over, immediately spotting Brenda holding me, even though the baby ID bracelet on her wrist clearly showed someone else’s name. Nurse Miller’s face changed instantly. “Which room are you from? What are you doing with the baby from Room 302?” Brenda’s face instantly went sheet white. Eleanor also panicked, her mouth opening and closing, unable to utter a word. Nurse Miller snatched me from Brenda’s arms, looked down at my wristband, then up at the nameplate on Eleanor’s bedside table. “Mrs. Blackwood, could you please explain why this woman was holding your baby?” Caught red-handed. In the end, Brenda was “escorted” out of the hospital by security and put on the visitor blacklist. Nurse Miller gently placed me back into Eleanor’s arms. Eleanor held me, repeating just one sentence over and over. “Aspen, I’m so sorry. Mommy was so foolish… Mommy will never let anyone hurt you again.” I closed my eyes and fell asleep in her embrace. I knew this was just the beginning. My life, Aspen Blackwood’s life, I wouldn’t yield an inch.
Eighteen years flew by. I lived up to the brilliant mind Fate had granted me. In the competition circuit, the name Aspen Blackwood was synonymous with excellence. I had so many trophies there wasn’t enough room to display them. A spot on the national team for the training camp was already mine, and I was just one step away from a guaranteed scholarship to a top-tier university. Thanks to my genius, the Blackwood family’s reputation soared in their social circle. As for Brenda Hayes, who tried to swap me, and her daughter Serena Hayes, it was like they’d vanished into thin air. I never saw them again. I thought that whole incident was long behind us, until my eighteenth birthday. The birthday party was grand, with many guests. I was about to cut the cake when the ballroom doors burst open. Under the harsh lights, Brenda, pulling a girl who looked around my age, stormed in. The girl wore a faded school uniform, her complexion wasn’t great, but her eyes were fixated on me. Her face, surprisingly, bore a striking resemblance to my mom, Eleanor—about seventy or eighty percent. The entire room erupted in murmurs. Brenda fell to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face. “Eleanor! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry to the Blackwood family! Eighteen years ago, I was blinded by greed. I switched your daughter!” She trembled, pointing at the girl beside her, feigning a tearful performance. “Serena, *she* is your biological daughter! Aspen Blackwood, the girl you’ve raised for eighteen years, is *my* daughter!” At her words, a wave of whispers swept through the crowd. I watched the farce with cold indifference, wanting nothing more than to laugh. Serena slowly walked towards me, her gaze never leaving my face. “Aspen, you’ve stolen eighteen years of my life. Now it’s time to pay it back.” Before my parents could react, she turned and walked to the large screen in the center of the ballroom. She picked up a marker and quickly wrote a complex formula on the whiteboard next to it. It was the most challenging problem from the International Olympiad. She tossed the marker down, her eyes full of provocation as she looked at me. “Some genuine talent can’t be bought with family money.” My mom immediately, almost instinctively, let go of my hand, her gaze shifting to Serena. Watching my family’s indifferent reaction, my heart turned to ice. Even after I’d brought them eighteen years of “prestige,” it still couldn’t outweigh the simple, powerful words: “biological daughter.” I took a breath, met Serena’s gaze, and slowly spoke. “You say I’m fake?” “Where’s your proof?”
The birthday party ended abruptly. The DNA test results came back quickly. Unsurprisingly, Serena was indeed a Blackwood by blood. I became a stranger in this home. My position became incredibly awkward. Brenda daily recounted, with floods of tears, how “regretful” she’d been all these years. She claimed she’d been blinded by greed, which led her to make such a terrible mistake. She also insisted Serena had been frighteningly clever since childhood, but her poor family circumstances nearly held her back. “My poor girl, she suffered so much with me…” Brenda cried, yet never forgot to glance at my parents from the corner of her eye. My mom, Eleanor, was already inconsolable, embracing Serena and calling her “my daughter” over and over. My dad, Richard, sighed and instructed the staff to give Serena the best room in the house. After that, their gazes towards me changed, growing stranger by the day. There was sympathy, and guilt, but mostly a polite distance, like one would show a stranger. Only my brother, Julian… He was still the same. He would still bring me a cup of warm milk when I stayed up late studying, and gently say: “Aspen, don’t be afraid. No matter what happens, you’re my sister.” The whole family had turned cold, but he was the only one who still offered a glimmer of warmth. I naively believed he was the only person who would never change. That was until one week before the national physics competition finals. The final training camp roster was announced, and both Serena and I were on it. But our school only had one spot for the actual competition. The night before the training camp, my parents called us all into Richard’s study. The moment I stepped into the room, I felt an oppressive atmosphere. “Aspen.” Eleanor spoke first, her voice hesitant, as if she didn’t know what to say. “You see, Serena… she’s been through so much hardship, and she finally has this opportunity…” My heart sank. I immediately understood what she was implying. But just as I was about to speak, Julian, who had always stood firmly by me, suddenly chimed in. “Dad, Mom, I think… that spot should go to Serena.” I sharply looked up, staring at him in disbelief. Julian avoided my gaze and continued: “Aspen’s grades are excellent; even without the scholarship, she could easily get into a top university through regular admissions. But Serena is different. This is her only chance to change her fate. We owe her.” He paused, then delivered the final blow that shattered my illusion: “Maybe we should send Aspen abroad for a prep program first, let her cool off and not compete with Serena.”
The temperature in the study seemed to plummet instantly. My dad and mom exchanged glances, a hint of relief in their eyes. So this, this was their true intention all along. “No matter what, you’re my sister”—that was just a fantasy I’d held onto. In the face of undeniable blood ties, eighteen years of siblinghood meant absolutely nothing. I watched the barely suppressed triumph on Serena’s face, then my parents’ guilt-ridden, hesitant expressions. Finally, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Alright.” Hearing my nonchalant tone, everyone froze. I stood up, my gaze sweeping across the three people who were my family in name only, my voice strangely calm. “Since my brother has said so, what else can I say? I’ll give up the spot. Whatever you owe her, you can pay it back with my future.” I didn’t look at their expressions, simply walked out of the study. As the door clicked shut, I thought I heard Eleanor’s tearful voice from inside. “Aspen, this child… why is she so understanding? It just makes me feel worse…” Worse? Entering my room, I leaned against the cold door, smiling silently. In my last life, it was precisely because I was too “understanding” that I died from sheer frustration. This life, I only understand one thing—no one will ever take anything from my hands again. You think I’ve given up? Will I lose?
In the days that followed, the atmosphere in the Blackwood house became eerily strange. Serena became the center of attention. My mom, Eleanor, took her to all the luxury boutiques, and my dad, Richard, hired the best nutritionist to improve her health. Julian even personally drove her to and from school, tutoring her hands-on for her final competition sprint. The three of them — chatting, laughing, looking like a truly happy family. And I? I became an outsider in this house. Their overly polite behavior seemed designed to make me understand my place. The paperwork for studying abroad was processed incredibly fast. My dad didn’t even ask which country I wanted to go to, simply had his assistant apply for a prep program in the UK. He handed me a sleek black card, the kind reserved for VIPs, but his eyes never met mine. “Aspen, Dad knows we’ve wronged you. The password is Serena’s birthday. You… don’t suffer once you’re over there.” I stared at the cold card, barely suppressing a laugh. A bank card with your biological daughter’s birthday as the password, given to your adoptive daughter… This was truly unprecedented shamelessness. I took it with a straight face and thanked him politely. “Thank you, Dad.” Meanwhile, Serena, having officially gained her “rightful” status, grew increasingly smug. She began to brazenly move into my room, using my things. She even wore one of my favorite custom-made designer dresses, parading back and forth in front of me. “Sister, can I have this dress? Mom says it looks better on me than on you.” She stood before me, her arrogant demeanor brimming with boastfulness. I leaned back on the sofa, flipping through my physics textbook, couldn’t even be bothered to lift an eyelid. “It’s an old dress I’ve worn before. You can have it.” Her face instantly froze, the smile congealed on her lips. “You!” “Me what?” I raised my eyelids, my gaze sweeping over the dress she was wearing. “Oh, right, a reminder: the questions in the national finals are much harder than that one you solved at the birthday party. Don’t embarrass yourself by not even being able to hold a pen when you get on stage.” With that, I turned and left. “You just wait!” I heard Serena stomp her foot behind me, furious. “I’ll win the gold medal! I’ll prove I’m a hundred times better than you!” A hundred times better? I smirked inwardly. Someone who can even copy an answer incorrectly has the nerve to claim they’ll win an award? That problem at the birthday party, she solved it quickly, but there was a fatal logical flaw in her process. Everyone present was fooled by her “genius from poverty” persona, too stunned to notice it. But I did. A true genius would never make such a basic mistake. Unless… the answer wasn’t her own doing at all. What exactly had she been through these eighteen years? How did Brenda Hayes, an ordinary working-class woman, manage to cultivate a “fake genius”? How did someone with no money and no background discover her daughter was a prodigy? There had to be other secrets. The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Back in my room, I opened my laptop, my fingers flying across the keyboard, typing lines of code. The mind Fate had granted me didn’t just make me a bookworm. Masking my IP, I silently infiltrated the city’s education system database. The first thing I found was Serena’s file. The file was unnervingly clean. Average grades from childhood, no competition awards whatsoever. Her “genius” seemed to have been conjured out of thin air on my birthday. The trail seemed to end there. Unwilling to give up, I started tracking Brenda Hayes. What secrets could an ordinary woman possibly have? I hacked into her bank account, watching rows of transaction records scroll by. But they were all trivial—utility bills, shopping expenses. Just as I was losing heart and preparing to give up, a transfer record from three months ago pierced my eyes. A massive sum: five hundred thousand dollars! It came from an unfamiliar company account, deposited into Brenda’s personal account. And the name of that company was all too familiar. It was my dad’s biggest rival—the Davis Group. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This whole thing was far more complicated than I’d imagined. This was absolutely not a simple family reunion drama. What were they trying to do? Have Serena replace me, snatch the scholarship, then publicly spread a scandalous “true and fake heiress” story to make the Blackwood family the laughingstock of the entire business world! All to attack my dad’s company in the media, then seize the Southside development project we were currently bidding for! What a brilliant move to undermine us at our core! As I was thinking, my phone vibrated on the table. It was a text from an unknown number, just a brief message. “Ten tonight, coffee shop behind the school. Don’t let anyone know.” The sender was Julian. I stared at the text, my heart pounding uncontrollably. A moment later, another text arrived. “Don’t let anyone but me know about your investigation.” Clearing my browsing history, I immediately put on a hat and mask and arrived promptly at the unassuming coffee shop.
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