I was the real daughter of the Sinclair family, yet I was the one abandoned when their fake daughter and I were kidnapped and taken to the top of a building.

They were given a choice between the two of us, and they chose to save the fake daughter, letting me be pushed off from the eighteenth-floor balcony.

Even though I survived, I was completely disappointed in them.

Then, their attitudes changed overnight.

My parents, who despised me, started asking me about my likes and dislikes. My brother who wished me dead, started suddenly giving me precious jewelry. Even my fiancé, who always claimed I was nothing compared to the fake daughter, started to prepare for our wedding.

To say I was confused was an understatement.

I was on my way out of the estate when Mrs. Sinclair came in the door with Clarisse. They were followed by maids that helped them carry their bags, and their arms were linked, as if they were the closest mother and daughter in the world.

When she saw the luggage I was holding, Clarisse acted shocked, and asked, "Aria, are you running away just because Mom forgot to bring you a gift?"

I put down my luggage and looked at the two of them nonchalantly. "What? No! I've already gotten a birthday gift from you lot, remember? On the day of my eighteenth birthday, you chose for me to be pushed from an eighteenth-floor balcony. Honestly, what else could I ask for other than that?"

Hearing my sarcastic tone, Mrs. Sinclair's expression morphed to the annoyed look I was familiar with, and she tried to brush me off. "That was just an accident, Aria. The kidnapper wanted us to pick between you two, so how could you expect us to just watch Clarisse die? Besides, you didn't die, anyway."

Even though I landed on a mattress that day, I still ended up being hospitalized for three months before I could even walk. In all that time, none of them even bothered to pay me a visit.

That was how my family was.

I was their flesh and blood, yet I was swapped out for Clarisse by her birth parents. For fifteen years, I endured beatings and hunger, not having a single moment of warmth and respite.

Even then, the Sinclair Family was still entirely biased towards Clarisse, the girl who had taken my place for all those years. They'd blame me for the most trivial of things, and even accused me of having ulterior motives.

I was saddened by this at first, but now I've become completely unfazed by the way they treated me.

I'd already found a good place to rent, and I had enough money for me to leave this place the very moment I could.

I was determined to live on my own terms and have a good life in the future.

Adjusting the strap of my bag, I reached for my luggage and looked at the two of them. "Clarisse couldn't die, but I wanted to live, too. Since you chose her back then, just treat me as if I were dead from now on. I won't cause you any more trouble."

Glee flashed across Clarisse's face as she heard what I said, and she wanted to put on a show right there, but she was cut off by Mrs. Sinclair, who scoffed. "Fine, be that way. You'll never be able to step in this house again, even if you kneel and beg us to let you in!"

I nodded, unshaken by what she said. "Don't worry, I won't ever come back here, even if I die!"

"How could you say that Aria? Have you thought about how sad Dad and Kevin would be?" Clarisse stood close to Mrs. Sinclair, the very picture of a good daughter. "Everyone was taken off guard by what happened back then, that's all. Besides, hasn't the Sinclair Family raised you all these years?"

She acted like she was trying to console me, yet she was reminding me that I was an outsider with every word. Of course, this was hardly new coming from her.

In the past, I'd have an outburst, questioning them why I didn't get the slightest bit of love and care when I was their birth daughter in the first place.

Clarisse got to live in luxury, with her own big room and people tending to her every need.

Meanwhile, I could only live in the narrow storeroom under the stairs, in a space that wasn't enough to accommodate a single table or a wardrobe. I'd only get the slightest rays of sun on my bed when the sun was at its brightest.

I was their birth daughter, yet I had to struggle to survive like a rat in the sewers.

This time, however, I didn't have anymore expectations toward them.

"You call that raising me?" I asked, staring straight at Mrs. Sinclair and Clarisse. "I lived in the dark and narrow storeroom, eating only leftovers you were going to throw away. You've never even bought a single piece of clothing for me…

"I paid my own school tuition and living expenses, and you haven't spent a single cent of money on me all three years, and asked me to do quite a lot of chores… Gosh, now that I think of it, shouldn't you pay me a salary?"

"That's enough!" A stern voice sounded from outside.

Mr. Sinclair and Kevin got out of the car, and looked at me disapprovingly. "So money's all you want at the end of the day, isn't it? Clarisse has never been as materialistic and greedy as you… I shouldn't have ever acknowledged you as my daughter!"

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard what he had to say. "Your daughter? Since when did you acknowledge me as your daughter? How many people in this city know that I'm your daughter?

"I'm materialistic and greedy, while Clarisse isn't, huh? Well, maybe that's because she's never had to ask for a thing in her life when everything is handed to her on a silver platter! Meanwhile, my own brother accused me of stealing from him."

On the mention of him, I glanced over at Kevin, and I could feel my stomach churn in disgust.

Back when I first joined this family, Kevin was the only person who treated me well in any capacity. He'd worry about me when I fell, ask about my grades, and give me candy when no one was around.

"I'm an older brother, so I should take care of my little sister."

I thought that he treated me well, so I accepted a bracelet from him without much thought.

Soon after, Kevin called the police, saying that the bracelet he gave Clarisse disappeared, and they found the bracelet in mention after searching my room.

I tried my best to explain that it was a gift from Kevin, which got me a slap to the face from my mother. "How could you be this shameless? Kevin's never talked to you at all, so why would he give you anything? Besides, he had that bracelet custom-made for Clarisse in the first place!"

I was struck onto the floor, and I looked up dumbstruck at Kevin, and that was when I had a sudden epiphany—Kevin was already put in charge of matters at the company and was our parents' chosen successor.

If he really was so protective of me, how would he have let me stay in that tiny room? How could he have stood by and watched as I was hurt time after time, and only chose to interact with me while no one was looking?

Later on, Kevin told me all about what he did. He was the one who ordered for me to be shoved to the ground, and the pieces of candy he gave me were mixed with drugs that would make me feel lethargic, so that I would never get better grades than Clarisse.

"To be fair, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted my little sister happy… But it's a shame that Clarisse is my only little sister!"

And so, poor sixteen-year-old Aria was stabbed in the heart by the one family she thought loved her.

Thinking back, I couldn't help but ridicule my naivety in stubbornly holding onto the fruitless attempts for familial love.

Now, after all I had been through, I had come to the realization that nothing was more important than being alive.

Their love was like candy laced with poison, as tempting as it was deadly.

Shaking back to reality from my reverie, I completely lost any motivation to continue interacting with them at all.

"You know, there's something you all were right about. Me returning here was a mistake… So let me go, and everything will go back to normal."

Without caring for their response, I left the door without another word.

As the doors shut behind me, I felt a chain that had been strangling my heart shatter. With a hop and a skip, I hummed as I entered the new home I rented.

It wasn't a large place, with only one living room, one bedroom, and one toilet, but it was leagues bigger than the storeroom I was trapped in.

After I was done tidying up my things, I lay on the bed tiredly.

As I was about to doze off, I was shaken awake by a sudden ringing from my phone. I accepted the call immediately, and Jasper's annoyed voice came from the other side. "What are you acting up for this time, Aria? Hasn't Clarisse been nice enough to you? Why'd you have to threaten her by running away from home? Where did the obedient and nice Aria go?"

"She's dead." I sat up from the bed, and continued in a calm tone. "You were the ones who abandoned me, no? Besides, hadn't you always wished that I'd leave the Sinclairs? What's with the crocodile tears now?"

My acquaintance with Jasper started a long time ago, when I saved his life.

He was the only son of the Chase Family, and because of how rebellious and prideful he was, he got in a fight with others. I had just been kicked out of the house that day, and I acted like I called the police to scare off the hooligans that were ganging up on him.

After that, he transferred to my school, saying that he wanted to repay me, and even kept me company while I was at work. I taught him how to do his homework, and he protected me from being bullied, even getting hurt because of me.

Even someone like him changed immediately when he found out I was the real daughter of the Sinclair Family.

He admonished me for not caring for Clarisse's feelings and called me materialistic.

I didn't understand why he thought that way, so I questioned, "They're my parents, so the life she's enjoying should have been mine in the first place! Her parents swapped her for me and abused me time and time again. Is it so wrong to want what's rightfully mine?"

It was only later that I found out that he knew my identity from the beginning.

He was the one who orchestrated our meeting, too. The Chase Family had arranged a marriage with the Sinclair Family, so if his parents found out that I was the real daughter of the Sinclair Family, they would have never let him marry Clarisse.

He wanted to find a chance to make me leave this city, so as to preserve Clarisse's position as the real daughter.

What he didn't expect was for me to find out about it before his plans came to fruition, and for me to go straight to the Sinclairs.

After that, I tried multiple times to annul the engagement between our families, and even Jasper tried to threaten them with his life, saying that I was nothing compared to Clarisse. Even then, Mr. and Mrs. Chase still didn't agree to breaking the engagement.

Perhaps that's why he didn't even have the slightest bit of hesitation when he chose for me to be pushed off the balcony instead of Clarisse.

That day was the closest I'd ever come to death in my entire life, and the heavens pitied me enough to save my life.

But even then, what would I live for?

My parents, my brother, and even my fiancé cared so much more about Clarisse, and even grumbled about how I didn't just die on the spot.

Even after Clarisse was exposed as the fake daughter, she was still loved and cared for like she always was.

"I've already cut relations with the Sinclairs, so our engagement's naturally annulled too. Stop bothering me." After saying that, I immediately hung up the call.

After one of the best nights of rest, I got ready to go to school.

After being hospitalized for three months, there was only a bit more than one month until the national exams came around. If I could get first place in our prefecture, I'd be given a scholarship to continue education in university.

My teachers knew my potential, so they printed a special batch of study notes for all I had missed in the last three months for me.

The lack of hindrance from the Sinclairs showed in my complexion, and even my classmates told me that I looked like I practically glowed.

One day, when I stepped into class, I was greeted by the inquisitive gazes of my classmates. Before I could ask them what happened, my deskmate Denise came up to me and inquired, "Aria, the teacher said that your brother came to see you… Since when did you have a brother? Is it a scammer?"

Having her come up to me seemed to open the floodgates, and everyone immediately surrounded me.

"Yeah, she's right!"

"No one cared about you all these years, and now they're trying to reap the rewards now that they know you've got good grades!"

"Don't worry, we lot won't let you get bullied!"

"Yeah, you're going to be first place in our prefecture after all!"

…

Seeing everyone stand up for me like this, I couldn't help but chuckle. "It's fine, it's probably just some crazy person. My parents passed away in an accident three years ago, and my relatives have stopped contacting me ages ago."

When I found out about my identity, I immediately made a mad dash for the Sinclair Family. My adoptive parents tried to stop me once they knew I found out, but they ended up crashing off a bridge because they were driving too fast, dying on the spot.

Hearing what I said, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, while Denise stood up and said, "I'll go tell the teacher to kick those scammers out then!"

That's when another voice spoke, "Aria."