1: 1

The fake heiress and I had just graduated college, and to celebrate the two of us graduating together, my parents said they'd take her and me on a trip overseas.

I put together everything for it. I even crammed on the local customs, and I brought along the money I'd earned working part-time all these years, thinking I could take a little of the burden off Mom and Dad.

But I never expected that the moment I picked up my luggage, before I'd even left, my father would call.

"Melinda Dickerson, your sister and I are already on the plane!"

"Your dad got busy and forgot. I never booked your ticket or sorted your passport!"

"Just stay home and take good care of yourself!"

"You're used to being on your own anyway!"

I listened to my father's words on the phone, and to my mother pushing him along in the background.

"Hurry up, we're about to take off!"

"I don't want her along anyway. Our Abby is so sweet, not like that one. No matter how you look at her, she doesn't seem like my child at all!"

The call cut off in a rush.

And I smiled.

Of course. From the moment they claimed me as theirs, they'd recoiled from me, always feeling like I wasn't their child.

I picked up my phone and dialed my mentor.

"The project you mentioned. I've decided to go."

1

On the other end, my mentor told me that once the project began, I'd have to cut off all ties, and I wouldn't be able to come home for years.

"Melinda, are you sure you want to do this?"

I smiled. "You've forgotten. On my paperwork, it says I'm an orphan."

"I don't have any family."

My voice was ice cold as I said it.

All my life I'd lived alone. I'd never even imagined having family.

Until two years ago, when my biological parents found me.

They said I was their daughter.

I thought I'd found the family that would love me.

But it wasn't until after we'd claimed each other as family that I understood. They didn't love me at all.

From beginning to end, they'd never once intended to bring me home to their house.

Only I had been foolish enough to think of them as my family.

Every time, I did everything I could to please them.

And all it ever earned me was more distance.

My father was always taking Abigail Gilbert's hand, saying Abby was his most adorable little princess.

Even my mother would sigh that only Abigail seemed like their child.

I smiled. If that was how it was, then from today on, the tie between them and me could be cut for good.

My mentor told me he'd file it for me, and that from that moment on, everything about me would be classified.

Listening to him, I nodded, glad for it.

I knew this was where my future belonged.

As for that home that didn't even have a room for me, I never needed to give it another thought.

I hung up, packed everything, and took one last look at the place I lived, a tiny room I'd gritted my teeth to afford renting.

After graduation, I'd tested the waters once, asking my parents whether I could move out of the school dorm and live with them.

But what met me were the cold eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert.

"Melinda, you're grown now. You need to be independent!"

"You can't keep living with your mom and dad. How are you ever supposed to grow up that way?"

"Besides, we only have so many rooms at home. Your sister turned one into a study, and another is her piano room. There's simply nowhere for you to stay!"

The moment they said those words, my heart had already gone dead.

And now, even bringing me along on a trip felt like an embarrassment to them.

They never once stopped to think that everything I'd been through all these years was the result of Abigail's mother swapping me out back then.

And now they thought everything I'd suffered was something I'd brought on myself.

If that was how it was, then this home had long since meant nothing to me at all.

2: 2

2

I packed everything up and told the landlord I was giving up the lease.

Then I called my mentor.

He told me that from now on I would be absorbed into a classified unit, and after that no one would be able to find any record of me.

I agreed, of course.

After all… my presence had never once made them comfortable, so there was no reason left to worry about them.

I opened my phone and happened to see the photos Abigail had posted online.

"On a trip with Mom and Dad!"

"The three of us, the most loving family there is!"

Reading her caption, I smiled a little.

Right. They were the family of three.

And me, I was only the extra one.

So why had I done so many humiliating things just to win their approval?

After giving up the lease, I called my mentor.

He told me the project was short-staffed right now, and I could start immediately.

"Melinda, are you sure? No one you need to say goodbye to?"

His voice came through the phone. "You have to understand, once you enter this classified unit, for several years your family and friends won't have any contact with you at all."

"Sir, I'm an orphan, and I didn't really make any friends while I was studying."

"So there's no one I need to say goodbye to."

The moment I finished, he told me he'd already booked my flight.

As for my records, they would be hidden automatically the day I started.

I understood exactly what that meant.

"All right. Thank you, sir."

I said it and hung up right away.

That same day he sent me a plane ticket, and I took it straight to the airport.

Once I got there, my phone rang, abrupt and jarring.

I glanced at the screen. It was Belinda Gilbert calling.

"Melinda, Mom knows you feel wronged."

"But you have to think about Abby too."

"She's innocent."

"Ever since you came back, Abby's been so unhappy, so all we could do was take her on a trip to help her clear her head."

"And your side of things, your dad and I will make it up to you."

She said it so gently, and I smiled.

Abigail had been the heiress for twenty-some years. Her mother swapped me for her, and Abigail was the one who felt wronged.

And me?

Thrown into an orphanage as a baby, and I wasn't allowed to feel wronged.

It wasn't that they thought Abigail had been wronged. It was that their hearts had leaned her way a long time ago.

"All right, I understand."

My voice stayed flat. "Mrs. Gilbert, enjoy your trip."

The moment I finished, Belinda fell silent on the other end.

"Melinda, is this how you speak to me?"

"I knew it. No home training from the start, so you never even learned how a person should talk."

She gave a cold snort. "Take a good look at yourself."

"When we're back, we'll teach you some manners properly."

I listened to her and smiled.

All I'd said was "Mrs. Gilbert," and to her that meant I had no manners.

While Abigail could throw a screaming fit at home and feel perfectly righteous about it.

"No need, Mrs. Gilbert. From now on, you'll never get the chance to teach me any manners."

3: 3

3

On the other end of the line, Belinda went quiet for a beat, then said, "Melinda, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Mrs. Gilbert, enjoy your trip."

I said it and hung up.

I'd given up on them a long time ago.

A moment later the boarding announcement came over the terminal, and I picked up my one small suitcase and hurried upstairs.

Once I'd checked in and boarded, I looked out the window and lost myself for a second.

It was my first time on a plane.

I was an orphan. I'd never had the money.

And from the day the Gilberts found me, they'd promised me over and over that they'd take me flying somewhere, on a trip.

I'd thought this would be that trip, all of us together as a family.

It never occurred to me that from start to finish, there was no place for me in their trip at all.

Even when I'd carefully asked to move my household registration under theirs, they'd turned me down without hesitation.

"Mel, from now on it's enough that we know you're our child!"

"Abby is so sensitive. If your registration moved in, it would scare her!"

And now my records were hidden. I had nothing to do with them anymore.

I closed my eyes and slept.

When I woke, the plane had already landed.

My mentor had come to meet me himself.

"Melinda, I'll go handle your onboarding paperwork first."

"Once you're officially on, your information will be sealed."

"Don't worry, the terms are all settled. This project runs three years, and after three years you'll be free to leave the team."

I nodded to show I understood.

He led me into the project team, and just seeing how many people stood outside its doors, I understood that from now on I was truly cut off from them.

I took out my phone and glanced at it, and a message from Abigail had just come in.

It was a photo of the three of them at the beach.

In it, the Gilberts were smiling sweetly, each holding one of Abigail's hands, close as could be.

I still remembered the day I was taken back into the family. I'd wanted to hold Belinda's hand, since I had never once known what it felt like to hold my mother's hand.

But the moment I took hers, she yanked it away.

Then she quickly pulled out a wet wipe and scrubbed her palm.

She explained that she had a thing about germs.

I believed her.

Now, though, I could see it for what it was. That was never a germ phobia.

Belinda simply couldn't stand me.

She could hold Abigail's hand and dote on her.

The two of them could kneel in the sand together, letting it run through their fingers.

Before, I was too naive to see what this family really thought.

Now I would never turn back again.

I switched off the phone and tossed it straight into a locker.

I knew that now that I'd started here, I hadn't needed any of it for a long time.

And my work was classified. I would never cross paths with them again.

The team had arranged a dorm for me, a private room, and sitting in that bright, spacious room, I smiled.

It was so much better than the place I used to rent.

Now I had a place of my own to land.

That night I slept unusually well.

Because I knew I didn't need to lean on the Gilberts, and I would never hold them in my heart again.

And now I had a life that was mine.

I just wondered how the Gilberts would feel once they heard the news about me.