The day my brother, Dominic, arrived at the orphanage
to claim me, my boyfriend, Ethan, coldly spat a warning:
“If you acknowledge them, we’re over!” I knew his pride
ran deep, his inability to accept class disparities
profound. For him, I bravely. abandoned the family
reunion just within reach. For decades thereafter, I
toiled relentlessly, saving every penny to propel him to
success. Before I reached fifty, I lay dying in a hospital
bed, ravaged by years of overwork. On the television,
Ethan, freshly crowned with the highest research award,
tearfully thanked another woman: “For years, I felt
unworthy, as if I could never measure up to Ms. Felicity
Sterling. Today, with this award, I can finally begin to
articulate a love decades overdue.”
The Ms. Felicity Sterling he spoke of was the fake
heiress, swapped with me at birth. The camera zoomed
out, showing a perfectly preserved Felicity Sterling
blushingly accepting the trophy. “Though I’ve waited
decades for you, matters of marriage still need my
brother’s blessing, of course~” Dominic, now the head
of the Sterling family, watched her, his eyes brimming with a doting affection mixed with a hidden current of
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emotion. “Handing me over to our uncle’s family was
always to protect Felicity. My life’s mission is to ensure
the Sterling family’s sole princess remains happy.”
It was then, on my deathbed, that a horrifying truth
slammed into me: my seemingly selfless choice, the one
I thought I’d never regret, had been a calculated trap,
orchestrated by two men to protect Felicity. Consumed
by rage and despair, I died, my eyes wide open. When
I next awoke, I was back. Back to the day Dominic
came to claim me. I swept past the two men frowning
at me, their gazes a mixture of disdain and impatience,
and resolutely slid into the car. “Take me home.” In this
life, I swore, I would force every single person who
stood in the wrong place to crawl back to the rotten
mire where they belonged!
:
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“Elara, I’m telling you! If you let your vanity get the
best of you and go back to being a rich girl, we’re
done!”
“Save me from everyone saying I’m after your money,
Miss Heiress! I, Ethan, may be poor, but I have my
dignity!”
Just like in my previous life, Ethan, whose arm I had
desperately clung to for advice, violently shook me off.
The dull thud as my elbow hit the wall sent a jolt of
pain, making me realize–I was reborn! Reborn on the
day Dominic came to claim me!
Dominic, with his aristocratic bearing, frowned at his
watch, his face a mask of indifference and impatience.
“If you’re not accepting, don’t waste my time. It’s been
so many years, anyway. My parents aren’t really that
bothered…” He was clearly rushing through this
formality, eager to return to Felicity.
In my past life, he had deliberately used that haughty,
dismissive tone, leaving me, a twenty–two–year–old
orphan, feeling not an ounce of familial warmth, only
apprehension. Coupled with Ethan’s threat to break up, I
had rejected my birth family without even meeting my
true parents.
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Now, listening to Ethan’s impatient complaints beside
me: “Elara, can you make up your own mind for once?!
Don’t ask me about everything!” I spoke, my voice firm
and clear: “I accept!”
Two words, short and powerful, left both men stunned.
Dominic frowned, as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“You… what did you say?” This twenty–two–year–old
body now housed a fifty–year–old soul, hardened by
life’s trials. In my eyes, they were merely callow youths.
I met Dominic’s gaze. “Didn’t the family send you to
pick me up? Let’s go. Don’t keep my parents waiting.”
It was only on my deathbed in my previous life that I
learned Dominic wasn’t my biological brother. He was
merely an adopted son, brought in by my parents from
a distant relative’s family to accompany and protect
their “only daughter,” Felicity. Yet, he, an adopted son,
had put on such airs in front of me, their true
daughter.
As I moved to get into the car, Dominic, still far from
the cunning old fox he would become, instinctively
glanced at Ethan, his eyes filled with silent reproach for
Ethan’s “failure“-they had indeed known each other all
along. These two seemingly unrelated men had
conspired to ruin my entire life for the sake of a fake
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heiress!
06:28
The next second, Ethan violently grabbed my arm.
“Elara, are you crazy?! Stepping your muddy shoes into
a million–dollar luxury car? If you scratch it, can you
afford to pay?! Don’t let your emotions get the best of
you and cause trouble. I won’t be cleaning up your
mess!”
I was adopted by my Nana from Maplewood and named
Elara. My family and Ethan’s were both struggling in our
small town, but he always acted superior–just because
my affection had granted him that privilege. I loved
Ethan, following him like a shadow since childhood. He
excelled academically, came from poverty but refused to
be humbled, and never once called me “the stray.” After
Nana passed, he became my sole anchor in the world.
Despite both of us getting into high school, I dropped
out to work and fund his tuition. When he said city kids
found famous tutors, I risked my life climbing thirty
miles of treacherous mountain roads to gather rare
medicinal herbs from cliff edges, borrowing money to
pay for his classes.
It wasn’t until I lay in that hospital bed in my previous
life, watching Ethan, then nearing sixty, blush as he
reminisced about meeting Felicity at a tutoring class: “I
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was insecure and poor then, but she never looked down
on me. I’d never seen such a wonderful girl. In that
moment, I decided I would spend my entire life trying
to catch up to her.”
The back I broke, desperately struggling on the cliff’s
edge, had become their stepping stone, a bridge to
their affair. He could trample my love, but he had no
right to use it to destroy my life! Seeing Ethan’s young
face again, all that remained in my heart was disgust.
“The car is here specifically for me. If I don’t get in,
who else will snatch my place?”
2
Ethan hadn’t anticipated my sharp retort. His eyes
widened, his throat bobbed. His face flushed as he
strained to conjure a few sarcastic remarks.
“Elara, are you really that greedy for money?! They
abandoned you for all these years and didn’t care!”
“Now, they just casually remember to ask, and you’re
already fawning over them!”
“So spineless! So shameless?!”
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In my past life, he habitually used such accusations,
such crushing words. If Ethan had questioned me like
that before, I would have been consumed by shame,
convinced I had indeed done something wrong. But I
had already endured a lifetime of hardship. On dreary,
rainy days, every aching, twisted joint screamed at me,
Why did you give up a golden opportunity within reach,
just to suffer pointlessly for a man who didn’t deserve
it?
I coldly shook off his hand. “Ethan, whether I’m fawning
or not, the Sterling family is my home.”
“And my family matters are none of your business,
outsider.”
With that, I didn’t spare him another glance and got
straight into the car. From Dominic’s disapproving gaze,
Ethan, unwilling to accept defeat, shouted from outside
the car:
“Elara! I’m giving you one last chance! Get out right
now!”
“Otherwise, we’re over!”
“And look at yourself! No class! No education! How can
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you be a Sterling heiress?!”
06:29
“When you get kicked out, don’t come crawling back to
me for another chance!”
I simply closed the window, blocking out his curses, and calmly instructed the driver without any hint of subservience. “Please take me home. To my parents.”
Despite knowing the Sterlings were wealthy, seeing the sprawling villa and luxury cars before me still left me stunned. Dominic sneered, dismissing my “uncouth”
reaction.
“This villa was a gift from the family to Felicity when
she turned eighteen.”
Felicity’s eighteenth birthday gift was an entire villa,
while on my eighteenth birthday, my hands were raw
from washing dishes in murky restaurant sinks, earning
money to support Dominic through his crucial final year
of high school.
“Felicity always said she was a little princess, so the
entire design mimics a European castle.”
Dominic’s lips curved into a smile as he recalled the
memory, but the moment he caught sight of me, his
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face returned to cold indifference. “Ms. Vance, since
you’ve chosen to come back, as the future heir of
Sterling Enterprises, I still have a few words for you.”
Felicity had shown no aptitude for academics or
business since childhood. Dominic, however, had entered
the company early. Though no one had ever officially
promised him the position, he clearly already considered
himself the “Crown Prince.”
“While you do share a bloodline with our family,
perhaps, as your boyfriend said, Mom and Dad only
remembered you on a whim.”
“But Felicity is different. She grew up in this house
since she was a baby. She has always been our family’s
little princess. Felicity was also swapped at birth. She
wouldn’t know anything about it. She is innocent. She
owes you nothing!”
Each arrogant word pierced my ears. I looked up at
him. “Thank you.”
Dominic’s eyebrow twitched, clearly confused. But I was
already striding forward. Thank you for telling me all
this. Now I know everything that should have been
mine! In my past life, after rejecting my birth family, I
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had actually wanted to secretly visit the Sterlings, not
for wealth or glory, but just to know where I came
from. But Dominic had stopped me at the gate.
“Ms. Vance, you decided to reject your family for a
man. Your parents are utterly disappointed in you.”
“Coming back to bother us now is simply pathetic and
undignified!”
“You’ve missed your chance. Please leave immediately!”
“After all, our entire family doesn’t wish for Felicity to
be disturbed. She’s about to have her birthday, and she
doesn’t know you exist. Ms. Vance, I ask you to be a
kind person and not hurt my sister.”
That day, Dominic’s bodyguards had shoved me aside
like a stray dog. Through the crack in the gate, I saw
Felicity, delicate as a flower, surrounded by my parents
in the garden. At the time, I didn’t know Dominic was
adopted, and I believed he spoke for the entire Sterling
family. But during my near–death experience, I learned
that in my previous life, my parents had indeed wanted
to meet me, but Dominic had ruthlessly blocked them.
He painted me as an unhinged, irresponsible girl,
claiming:
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“She said she wouldn’t contact the Sterling family
unless they all died off, so she could inherit everything.”
“Otherwise, she wouldn’t even deign to look at any of
us Sterlings.”
Humans are, after all, creatures of emotion. My parents,
who had no pre–existing affection for me, listened to his
words, then looked at the innocent and charming
Felicity. In the end, they were left with nothing but a
sigh.
In my past life, I only knew how to accept my fate. I
didn’t understand that if you weren’t born with a silver
spoon, you had to fight for what you wanted–be it
money or love. So, when I knelt before my parents,
crying uncontrollably, confessing my “longing,” they
embraced me, tears in their eyes.
“Our precious girl has suffered!”
“Mom and Dad will make it up to you a hundredfold!”
Leaning on my parents‘ shoulders, through tear–filled
eyes, I saw young Felicity.
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Even though she didn’t speak immediately, I quickly caught the flash of resentment in her eyes. Felicity looked like an innocent little rabbit, her eyes red, her
lips trembling, holding back tears.
“Mom, Dad, who is this sister?”
“Why is she calling you Mom and Dad too?” a
Just as my parents realized they had neglected Felicity and were about to comfort her, I quickly grasped
Felicity’s hand.
“This must be the sister who honored our parents in
my stead.”
“Just as my brother said, she’s a million times better
than me!”
“Even though sister’s birth mother swapped us and then
abandoned me in Maplewood to fend for myself, I know
my sister knew nothing of her eighteen years of
privilege in the Sterling family. My sister is innocent!”
“And my brother has already warned me that my sister
is the little princess cherished by the whole family,
unlike me, who never even met my birth parents…”
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I took a pendant from my neck. “I don’t have anything
presentable for our first meeting. This is the only
memento my Nana, who raised me, left me. I hope it
protects my sister and keeps her safe always.” Without
waiting for Felicity to refuse, I pressed the pendant into
her hand. The sharp corner of the pendant pricked
Felicity’s delicate palm. With a high–pitched shriek from
her, I preemptively recoiled two steps, falling backward
onto the floor. The pendant dropped and shattered into
fragments.
Under my parents‘ astonished gaze, I immediately knelt,
cupping the shards in my hands. My hands were soon
covered in blood, and tears streamed down my face as
I apologized incessantly. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t think this
through!”
“Even if this is my most precious possession, it doesn’t
compare to my sister, a Sterling heiress…”
My parents, their hearts aching, pulled me up. Their
voices choked with emotion. “Elara, what are you doing?
You’re Mom and Dad’s biological daughter!”
When our eyes met again, Felicity’s eyes held an
unconcealed resentment. Felicity truly wasn’t a clean
flower protected by the mud. This was perfect. It saved
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me from any useless guilt! From the moment I was
reborn, I had decided that whether Felicity was innocent
or not, I would take back everything that was mine.
Even if she truly knew nothing, I would still claim it.
Because these things were rightfully mine.
Felicity and I were swapped. Felicity’s birth mother,
pregnant out of wedlock, coincidentally gave birth on
the same day as my mother. Seeing my mother’s
expensive attire and lavish lifestyle, the woman, unwilling
to let her child suffer, stealthily swapped us when no
one was looking. She didn’t even intend to raise me;
she simply abandoned me in Maplewood. If Nana hadn’t
found me, I would probably have been nothing but
bones. Compared to Felicity’s privileged, mistaken life, I
was the truly innocent one. As for the jade pendant, of
course, it wasn’t an heirloom. It was just a cheap
trinket Ethan won from a street raffle years ago, the
only gift he ever gave me. A piece of worthless glass
that I had treasured for years. Now, it was perfectly
suited to pave my way.
My father frantically took the glass shards, calling for
someone to mend them, while my mother, heartbroken,
had the family doctor tend to my bleeding hands.
“Felicity! How could you drop your sister’s gift and
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push your sister?!”
06:29
“Is that what we’ve taught you all these years?!”
Unlike my daily humiliation and gaslighting by Ethan,
this was probably the first time Felicity had ever been
reprimanded in her life. Her face flushed with
indignation, her neck stiff, but she had no idea how to
defend herself. Dominic, who had been protecting her
from the start, finally spoke.
“Mom, Dad, you’re misunderstanding Felicity.”
“I was standing right there. I clearly saw Elara
intentionally fall and shatter the pendant herself.”
“While I don’t know why Elara would try to frame
Felicity right after coming home, I believe the house’s
surveillance cameras would have captured it.”
“After all, Elara is the kind of person who, to return to
the Sterling family, would heartlessly dump a boyfriend
she’d been with for years, her childhood sweetheart.”
With that, Dominic pulled out his phone. On the screen,
the footage clearly showed my conversation with Ethan-
the bits where I’d said “snatch my place” and “none of
your business, outsider,” edited cleverly to look
