"I'll give you some time. Mr. and Mrs. Cox will personally come to pick you up in three days."

Yvette left, but she kept a photocopy of the billion-dollar property transfer agreement behind.

Who wouldn't want to inherit that much money?

Still, you had to live long enough to enjoy it.

The four of us, who usually spent our days tripping each other up, fell silent. In the end, we sat down together, as if by unspoken agreement, ready to talk things through properly.

They had all seen the birthmark on my lower back. Laurel had even dug the heiress's heirloom necklace out of my suitcase before.

On top of that, there was my face.

Who the heiress was really wasn't up for debate.

That was why they couldn't understand.

"So even after the DNA test confirmed you were related to the Coxes, they still killed you?" Rebecca said.

I snapped back irritably, "Did you forget? You couldn't even tell what was left of me when you went to collect my body! So what are you still unsure about?"

Laurel let out a long sigh. "I remember. You were basically mush. I had nightmares for days after that."

Vita frowned. "We're not doubting whether you were killed. We're just not sure how you still got labeled a fraud when you're the real heiress."

Who the hell knew?

The four of us put our heads together and still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Laurel started sniffling.

"What do we do now? The only ones whose ages match are the four of us. There aren't any other candidates. With that psycho family, I honestly think if no one reconnects with them in three days, they might just kill all of us."

Obviously, none of us wanted to die.

After thinking hard, I offered a suggestion.

"Mason has records on every kid who's ever been through this orphanage. Maybe we can comb through them carefully and see if something was missed. Like maybe the heiress was actually adopted out already, and me looking like Mrs. Cox is just a coincidence."

With our lives on the line, we decided to go all out and headed to the orphanage director's office.

Laurel was always Mason Lane's favorite. A little sweet talk, and we got permission to look at the files.

We went through every single record, including kids who had been adopted and kids who hadn't. We checked them all.

Unfortunately, the only ones whose ages matched were indeed just the four of us.

Mason also said that when we were left at the orphanage gate, we were only a few months old. There was no way the ages were wrong.

Not only that, Mason revealed something else.

Orson was certain the heiress was in the orphanage because the nanny who had swapped the babies had confessed in person.

I felt a wave of despair. "So the heiress really is one of us!"

Rebecca was quick to distance herself. "More accurately, it's you."

I let out a cold laugh. "You think you can escape?"

Everyone's face went pale.

All four of us had been brutally killed by the Coxes before, for the exact same reason. The other three had been killed almost immediately after going to claim the family.

None of us dared to gamble on whether nothing would happen if no one stepped forward.

I clenched my teeth.

"There's one more option."

Under their puzzled stares, I enunciated, "I'll personally go meet Mr. Cox and see what secrets they're hiding."

The three of them were so moved that they promised they would pray for my soul after I died.

That really wasn't necessary.

I wasn't sacrificing myself for anyone else. I just couldn't accept it. I couldn't understand why I, of all people, was labeled a fraud.

If they didn't want to acknowledge me, they could've pretended nothing ever happened.

Why go through all this trouble, lure me back with a great fortune, and then kill me?

In those fake-heiress stories, no matter how biased the parents were, they never played games this twisted.

Given how ruthless the Coxes were, I really didn't dare walk straight up to their door.

So, I waited until I found out the whole family was dining at an upscale restaurant before making my move.

With so many people around, they wouldn't dare kill someone outright.

On top of that, I had worked all kinds of part-time jobs to make money in the past. I knew a few people on the restaurant staff, so getting inside was easy.

When I deliberately walked past the Coxes with this face of mine, Gillian grabbed my arm excitedly.

"Wait. Are you from Dawnridge Children's Home?"

She was smiling, but my skin prickled all over. Still, I forced myself to look surprised.

"Yes. And you are…"

Orson and Gillian exchanged a look, then both stood up and warmly took my hands.

"You're here to reconnect with us, right?"

They explained the whole switched-at-birth story again.

Every eye in the restaurant turned toward us.

I stiffened and asked, "Are you really sure I'm your daughter?"

The two of them stared at my face, their excitement intense enough to be frightening.

"Sweetheart, it's so obvious! You look so much like me!"

Gillian even took advantage of a moment when I wasn't paying attention and yanked up the fabric at my lower back.

"You even have the birthmark. You have to come home with us tonight!"

That only made my fear spike.

I realized that after all this talking, they still hadn't clearly said I was the heiress. They just kept rushing to take me home.

I forced myself to stay calm, put on an eager expression, and asked again, "So you're deciding I'm the heiress based on just this?"

The hesitation on my face made their expressions sharpen.

"Silly girl," Orson said. "You came here to claim your family, and you have all the traits of our daughter. Why ask questions like that?"

I nearly frowned. Their answers were still vague and evasive.

I was about to press further when Gillian suddenly wiped at her eyes.

"It has to be you," she said softly. "Who else could it be? Let us take you home right now. We want to make up for the decades you suffered without us."

They looked at me with raw eagerness, their eyes shining with emotion.

I had grown up in an orphanage. No one abused me, but life was far from easy. Sometimes, I was so hungry that I had to fight stray dogs for food.

At school, I was bullied for not having parents.

I used to dream of having a family. They didn't need to be rich. I just wanted someone to stand up for me when I was treated unfairly.

So when Orson's people came to the orphanage, I had been thrilled.

I thought that if they were willing to give away a billion-dollar fortune, they must be my parents, and they really loved me.

But on the very night I went home, they pushed me off a high-rise without hesitation and killed me.

"How disgusting. You actually dared to impersonate our real daughter just so you could live well!"

"How dare an orphan like you covet something that was never yours! You really don't value your life, do you?"

Those painful memories made me eerily calm as I tried to analyze why they confirmed I was the heiress, only to deny it afterward.

Had I done something that made them misunderstand?

Suddenly, Gillian grabbed me and tried to drag me outside, knocking over the desserts on the table in her urgency without even caring.

Watching her like this, my pupils shrank. I suddenly felt like I knew the answer.

My voice trembled as I spoke. "The heiress actually…"

Before I could finish, Gillian cut me off.

"It's you!" Her nails dug into my arm, her gaze sharp and frightening. "What's there left to doubt?"

Orson gently pushed Gillian aside, his face full of kindness.

"Your mother just missed you too much. That's why she got so emotional. Don't be scared. I've already contacted a lawyer. Once you come home with us, you can sign the papers right away and inherit our billion-dollar inheritance. Consider this our way of making it up to you."

The fear inside me hit its peak.

I quickly pulled out a strand of my hair and shoved it into their hands.

I made up an excuse about waiting for the DNA results before going back with them, so there wouldn't be any false hope, and then I bolted without hesitation.

The restaurant was crowded, so they didn't chase after me.

When I got back to the orphanage, the other three immediately surrounded me.

"So what actually happened?"

I said hesitantly, "I don't know."

All three of them looked like they were falling apart, eyes empty as they muttered.

"Between the four of us, we can't even scrape together enough for a single train ticket. We don't even have the option to run. Maybe we should just end it ourselves. Suicide has to be better than being killed by someone else."

Though they said that, none of them could bring themselves to do it.

Laurel grabbed everyone by the wrist. "How about this? We put sleeping pills in water and drink them together. Wouldn't that hurt less?"

I hurried to calm them down.

"There's still a way. I'll go and reconnect with the Coxes."

The three of them looked at me like I was an idiot.

"You already know you'll die if you go. What's the point?"

"Are you really that greedy? You want money more than your life?"

Memories of how the three of them had died horribly before came flooding back.

Mouth torn apart. Skin slashed all over. Thrown into a mastiff cage.

Any one of those deaths was unbearable.

I hadn't had it any better.

When I fell, I hadn't died right away. I had endured the agony of every bone in my body shattering, feeling my life drain away bit by bit.

That billion-dollar estate was nothing more than a ticket straight to hell.

I picked up the photocopied agreement, my tone firm.

"Yes, I know going back is walking into death. But it's also our only chance to live."

They couldn't understand.

"Why?"

I looked at the three of them and didn't explain further.

I wasn't sure I could actually expose the truth, so it was better not to say anything. Even if I failed, I could still buy them time to escape.

I took out all my savings and handed them over.

"Just use this to buy tickets and leave as soon as possible."

Laurel burst into tears. "You don't really have a plan, do you? You just want to buy time for us to run!"

Rebecca snapped, "How did I never realize you were this self-righteous? Don't even think about it!"

Vita slammed her hand on the table. "We're already being watched. There's no way we can run. Just tell us how we can help you!"

I was surprised and a little moved.

After all, the four of us had been competing since we were kids. None of us could stand to see the others doing well.

But thinking about it, none of us had ever really hurt each other.

My biological parents, on the other hand, had killed me without hesitation and let me die in agony.

Seeing how loyal they were, I stopped hiding it.

"When Mrs. Cox was desperate to drag me home, she knocked over a dessert. That's when I realized the truth. The heiress really is in our orphanage, and it's someone all of you know…"

Under their expectant gazes, I gave them the answer.