I knew my true identity: the real heiress of an elite family. So I hurried to find my parents After the DNA test, Mom and Dad immediately announced my return to the public. Even Seraphina, the adopted daughter, didn’t make things difficult for me; instead, she tried everything to help me blend into our new upscale life quickly. But I was still unsatisfied, constantly stirring up trouble and making our home uncomfortable. Finally, after I hit the nanny, Mom couldn’t hold back anymore. Her voice cracked, “What exactly do you want?!” I pointed at Mrs. Davis. “She keeps comparing me to your other daughter. Says I’m an ugly duckling.” Then, I turned my finger to Seraphina. “Since I’m back, why are you still keeping her around?” Mom and Dad exchanged glances, trying to reason with me. “It wasn’t Seraphina’s fault that the babies were switched.” Yes, it wasn’t her fault. But was it my fault? “I refuse to live with her. It’s either her or me—one of us has to go!” “Stella, you…” Mom reached out, trying to grab me, probably hoping to say something soft and smooth things over like she used to. But I batted her hand away without a second thought, glaring at her fiercely. Dad immediately scolded me. “What kind of attitude is that?” “Is that how you treat your mother? So disrespectful?” I clutched my hair, screaming hysterically. “She’s not my mom, and you’re not my dad!” “You two are Seraphina’s parents! What am I? Just some random person who popped up out of nowhere? You probably wish I’d just died out there, didn’t you?!” As I yelled, my peripheral vision caught sight of the catalyst for this outburst. A box of strawberries that looked… less than fresh. Almost rotten. I snatched the strawberries from the table and hurled them to the floor. Then, I stomped on them with my shoes, crushing them until juice splattered everywhere. “With me and your precious daughter in this house, one is a princess, and the other is a beggar!” “She wants strawberries, and the nanny gives her the freshest, the best.” “I want them, and I’m only worthy of eating ones that have been sitting for a week, already going bad.” “When have you ever treated me like your own? Why does no one here respect me?” I always knew what the nannies whispered about behind my back. But I held it in. After all, what they said was true. If I kept causing trouble, I’d probably just earn the family’s annoyance. But the more I tolerated, the more they just sneered. “Someone who’s unloved? What good things could *she* possibly get to eat?” “These strawberries cost a thousand dollars for just five or six. Even rotten, she’s lucky to have them.” That’s when I finally realized the “delicious” big strawberries I’d been happily eating. They were actually Seraphina’s leftovers, the “trash” she didn’t want because she didn’t like them anymore. Why? I was the *real* daughter of this family! I screamed and cried relentlessly. But Mom and Dad just tried to calm me. “We’ll fire her immediately. If you want strawberries, we’ll take you to buy the best, the freshest ones right now.” Seraphina bit her lower lip, her voice surprisingly calm. “I didn’t know about any of this.” “I…” She said, trying to approach me. But I pushed her away without thinking. “You thief, why are you pretending to be a good person? You stole my life for so long, and you’re still putting on airs?” Seraphina fell to the floor, her head hitting the corner of the table, and blood started gushing. I froze in shock. Seeing this, Mom collapsed to the ground, utterly weak. Dad’s face showed clear anguish. Watching that scene, my hatred surged even more. Without a second thought, I bolted towards the balcony, straddling the railing…
They pulled me back. Mom and Dad grabbed hold of me. But I kept struggling, trying to throw myself off. “Let go of me! Either I die, or she’s out!” Only one thought consumed my mind. Get rid of Seraphina. Get rid of this thief, this robber who stole everything from me. Mom was crying uncontrollably. Yet, she still wouldn’t concede, wouldn’t agree to make Seraphina move out. It was Seraphina herself, clutching her bleeding head, who walked to the balcony and slowly knelt before me. “I’m so sorry. I’ll leave right now.” “I’m so sorry for taking your place for so long.” She looked pathetic. Blood streamed down her face, making her appear utterly disheveled. It was a blatant display of misery. But I knew she wasn’t faking it. She had always wanted to move out. It was Mom and Dad who wouldn’t let her. This time, Dad didn’t try to stop her; he just sighed helplessly. And Mom and Seraphina embraced, weeping together! That very night, Seraphina vanished from the house. A huge weight lifted off my chest, and a secret thrill coursed through me. Even when the nannies looked at me with strange eyes, I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, right in front of them, I took every single strawberry from the fridge and tossed them into the trash. “Strawberries are what I hate most.” “From now on, I forbid any trace of strawberries in this house. No, not just strawberries—anything connected to Seraphina is gone!” The nannies in the mansion didn’t dare to defy me anymore. They cleared out Seraphina’s belongings at top speed. This made me feel incredibly triumphant. After all, ever since I returned to this elite family. They had always looked at me with mocking eyes. Whispering behind my back about how I wasn’t as good as Seraphina. Whatever Seraphina told them to do, they did. For me, they just brushed me off! After I got rid of Seraphina, I felt great for a while. But then I saw how unhappy Mom and Dad were, and a slow unease crept into my heart. So, I tried to imitate Seraphina’s behavior, hoping to please them. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with trying to be like Seraphina. If I had grown up in this house, those things would have been *my* duties, not hers. I thought I could replace Seraphina. And I worked tirelessly towards it. Whether it was making coffee just the way Dad liked it. Or arranging flowers, Mom’s favorite pastime. Plus, all my regular lessons. I slept less than six hours every night. But all of it was just an illusion. And what shattered that pathetic fantasy was a house purchase agreement… Ever since I returned to this elite family, I’d gained many “enemies.” Those other socialites looked down on me, constantly mocking me. Seraphina’s rival, Veronica, was the worst of them. She’d sneer, “Though I’ve always hated Seraphina’s high-and-mighty act, compared to someone as low-class as you, dragging down our standards…” “I’d rather have her as the heiress.” I’d always been furious. So, after I drove Seraphina away. When Veronica came to provoke me again, I gloated about Seraphina being gone. “No matter what, fake is fake.” “Is some illegitimate child really better than the real thing?” But she just laughed and told me another truth. My parents had bought Seraphina a luxurious penthouse apartment. And whenever they said they were busy with business trips and wouldn’t be home overnight, they were actually at that apartment, spending time with Seraphina. “Idiot, you think you drove Seraphina away?” “But all you did was give her a huge apartment for free. That place is worth tens of millions!” “Do *you* have that?” “Oh right, your parents are gone; they’ve started a new family elsewhere.”
I didn’t believe it. But reason told me it was highly likely to be true. When I found the purchase agreement in my Dad’s study, clearly marked with Seraphina’s name. My rationality completely exploded. And I immediately went to their door, like I was catching them cheating. When Seraphina opened the door, I pushed past her first, storming into the apartment. Sure enough, Mom and Dad, who had told me they were out of town on a business trip, were right there. It was so cozy. My elegant biological mother was wearing an apron, holding a steaming dish. My father was at the table, reading the news. But when they saw me, their faces instantly paled. I ground my teeth together, a grating sound. “Did I interrupt your little family get-together?” A crushing wave of injustice washed over me. “Tens of millions for a house? How generous!” “Didn’t you say she’d go back to where she belonged?” Dad coughed heavily several times, then spoke to me with a very serious expression. “We had no choice.” “You lived in that place for over a decade. You know what it was like.” “If Seraphina went back, it would be no different from falling into hell!” Hell? I sneered. “That’s because she was *born* in hell.” “Like I give a damn?” “I know you think I’m not as graceful, gentle, or kind as her.” “I’m crass, petty, selfish, and have all the flaws of someone who suddenly got rich.” “But did I ever have a chance to grow up like her?” My foster parents, Seraphina’s biological parents. They were the laziest couple in the entire village. They wouldn’t work, wouldn’t earn money. They lived entirely off their elders’ money. When their children grew up, they’d leech off them even more. At four years old, I was already learning from my older foster sister how to collect recyclables to earn money for food. When I got a bit older, I went out to work, tirelessly doing handicrafts day and night. I often had to argue bitterly with people over a few dollars. I couldn’t afford to lose even a penny. I was sixteen this year, but my height was barely five feet. Even my periods had only just started. The family doctor said I was severely malnourished, and my body was severely weakened. I probably won’t grow any taller in this lifetime. “You feel sorry for her. So why don’t you feel sorry for me? That place you call hell, I lived there for sixteen years!” Even if Seraphina were sent back, she would still have a better life than I did. After all, my parents wouldn’t just leave her with nothing. And Seraphina was already grown; she’d just have to tough it out for two more years, get into college, and then she could escape those parents. Seraphina bit her lower lip, repeatedly saying “I’m sorry” to me. Mom finally couldn’t take it anymore. “What more do you want?!” “Yes, yes, you’ve suffered. You’ve been wronged.” “But whose fault is it?” “Do you think I *wanted* my own child to suffer out there? Do you think I *wanted* to raise someone else’s child?” “God played a cruel joke, letting you come out of my womb only to suffer a harsh life. Maybe I gave birth to the wrong child back then? Maybe Seraphina was destined for a good life, and you were destined…” She trailed off, her lips trembling. And I finished her sentence, asking, “Born worthless, right?”
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