: Rebirth

2

Now, I've been reborn.

I decided that in this life, I would no longer yearn for the bonds of family.

The tragedies of my past life—this time, they can all just back off!

I, Gia Crestwell, am The True Heiress. No one is taking what's mine.

As expected, the moment I arrived at the Crestwell home, I ran into The False Heiress.

She was in Mrs. Crestwell's arms, and as soon as she saw me walk in, tears started rolling down her little face again.

"Mom..."

"Mom, so this is my sister, Chloe? Why is she crying? Is she not happy that I'm back?"

'The most powerful trick in a green tea's playbook is making herself the center of attention.'

'So I'll beat her to the punch and seize the advantage.'

I remembered how in my past life, she had deliberately cried the moment I walked in, sobbing as she spoke.

"You're back, big sister. I'm sorry. If you don't want me to stay, I'll leave."

"Big sister, it was my birth mother who had you switched, not me. Please don't be so unwelcoming."

The result was that I had barely set foot in the house before I was branded with the crime of bullying my sister.

Now, hearing me say those words first, The False Heiress froze, seemingly unable to believe the tables had turned like this.

"That's not what I meant, big sister. It's not like that."

With that, she put on an innocent look and threw herself back into Mrs. Crestwell's arms.

Mrs. Crestwell looked extremely troubled. She stared at me, wanting to speak but holding back.

After what felt like an eternity, the awkward atmosphere was making me drowsy.

Finally, Mrs. Crestwell seemed to find an excuse and quickly said,

"Gia, don't be scared. Chloe didn't mean it like that. It's all a misunderstanding. She's just afraid..."

She trailed off, but everyone present knew what she was going to say.

Leo Crestwell must have sensed how awkward things were, because he cut in decisively.

"Mom, has Mrs. Stone finished with dinner? Why don't we eat and talk?"

"Yes, yes."

Mrs. Crestwell stood up. Although she took my hand, The False Heiress was right behind her.

On the way to the dining room, she would deliberately block my view whenever I tried to look over, as if she were afraid I was going to bully her.

: Braised Pork

3

"Sister, you're so lucky to have such a wonderful father and Mrs. Crestwell, getting to eat so much delicious food every day."

The False Heiress spoke up after she saw me pick up a piece of braised pork with my chopsticks.

"Unlike my birth mother. She would never be willing to make me braised pork."

As soon as she said this, the other two people at the dinner table immediately looked at her with pity.

I scoffed internally. 'Weren't you the one swapped by your birth mother? You could eat this every day. Why are you playing the victim now?'

As I said this, I glanced over at my biological mother.

"This is my first meal at home. Can you do something about her? She never shuts up while people are trying to eat. I'm losing my appetite!"

"Wait, Sister, how can you talk to Mrs. Crestwell like that?"

"Sorry. I just reconnected with my biological mother. I'm a bit lacking in the 'motherly love' department, so maybe I'm just ill-mannered."

After that cold retort, I felt a sense of relief. When I lowered my head to eat, I found two pairs of chopsticks placing food in my bowl.

One was my biological mother, and the other, my biological brother.

And they both gave me braised pork. I was satisfied.

I accepted it with a smile and thanked them.

But the next moment, The False Heiress burst into tears, threw down her chopsticks, and ran upstairs.

As expected, the family dinner ended abruptly three minutes later.

It was evening when my biological father saw me.

The moment he saw me, he pulled me into his arms.

Feeling his chest heave violently, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't moved.

But I knew with absolute clarity that as long as The False Heiress was still here, the warmth of this family would never belong to me.

4

Just as I expected, before Dad could even say a few words to me, she came downstairs.

"Don't you love Chloe anymore, Daddy? Why are you only hugging her now that she's home?"

She cried as she spoke, shuffling over to Dad in tiny steps and pitifully tugging on the corner of his suit jacket.

'Her expression, her movements, her tone—it was all in the details.'

It was as if, before she even opened her mouth, everyone could sense that this was a poor girl on the verge of being abandoned by her father.

In response, all I could say was: SLAP!

That's right. I slapped her hand away.

"Gia, what do you think you're doing?"

Dad didn't seem to expect that I would do something like that.

The False Heiress seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "Sister, if you didn't want to share Dad with me, you could have just said so. Why did you have to hit Chloe?"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "But it's okay. I've already forgiven you for what you just did, Sister."

I laughed. After giving her a perfect smile, I turned to Dad.

"Oh, did that hurt, Chloe? I'm sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength."

I looked at Dad, then reached out and took the corner of his jacket that The False Heiress had been tugging into my own hand.

"I just thought Dad's jacket looks very expensive. Tugging it like that will cause wrinkles."

The False Heiress didn't believe me. "You're lying! You obviously just wanted to hit me!"

I watched as she fixed her big eyes on Dad, as if telling him that I wasn't an honest child.

'Do I care?'

'I don't care!'

"Dad, I've just never seen clothes like this before, so I subconsciously... I'm sorry, I..."

"Chloe, I may not like you, but I never lie."

The False Heiress was struck speechless, and I successfully concluded the battle by receiving a supplementary credit card from Dad.