While I was at the hospital getting my wounds treated, a text from Ethan came through.

[What are you pretending for? If you don't hand the company over to me right now, worst case I'll just wait until you die and then take over the company.]

[Hand the company over to me right now. When the time comes, I'll see you to your grave. Otherwise, I'll make sure you die without a place to be buried.]

Don't get mad. I can't get mad at trash like this.

I immediately called HR.

I told them to remove Ethan from his position effective immediately.

All of my mom and dad's positions, my older brother's, and Linda's—all removed.

These people held nominal positions at my company and collected hefty salaries. I treated them like family, so I gave them special consideration.

But they had never treated me like family.

Then they shouldn't expect another dollar from me.

As soon as I hung up, my phone started blowing up.

Ethan had told the family group chat.

It exploded. They came at me hard.

[Gracie, it's not that your second aunt is criticizing you, but what does a woman like you need a company for? This is old Dickerson family property. How can you be so immature?]

[Gracie, your third uncle has to say a couple words too. Was it easy for your mom and dad to raise you? Back then, your mom almost died giving birth to you. Is this how you repay them?]

My third uncle's words were like a knife to the chest.

This was also the family's trump card for controlling me.

[Back then even the doctors said you couldn't be born, the risk was too big, but your mom couldn't bear it and took the risk to give birth to you. She says a couple words to you and you still throw a tantrum.]

The group chat piled on around this point.

That hard heart of mine shattered bit by bit.

This life really was given by my parents. I fell silent for a moment and made a decision.

There was no way I could give the company to Ethan. With someone like him, once the company got into his hands, it would go under in less than two days.

I planned to go back and have a proper talk with the family. No matter what, he was still my biological nephew. I couldn't watch him go down a dead-end road.

I had to pull him back onto the right path. It could also count as making a contribution to the Dickersons.

"That money-losing thing will definitely come back. Just with the story that I almost died giving birth to her, I can control her for a lifetime."

"Grandma, she's really not biological, right?"

"Of course not. She was labor that your grandpa and I bought back then. How could our family have a white-eyed wolf like her."

"Grandma, she looks pretty okay, and she's not getting married anyway. How about when she comes back, we knock her out and let me try her, see if she can get pregnant."

"You little punk." My older brother's voice came through. "You don't learn anything good at all."

"What do you mean not learning anything good? This is called working hard for the continuation of the Dickerson family line." The mom I'd been calling Mom for more than thirty years praised her grandson's idea.

The conversation in the room made my whole body ice-cold.

It wasn't until more than an hour later that I pulled over. That conversation was still echoing in my ears.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that I calmed down a bit.

I immediately made a phone call.

"Help me do a paternity test. If my parents and I aren't related by blood, help me check how I ended up with the Dickersons."

As soon as I hung up, my second uncle's call came in.

"Gracie, today is Little New Year. As a junior, how can you be so heartless?"

"Hurry back and apologize to your mom and dad."

Just now, my second uncle and the others were all gathered there too. They all knew I wasn't biological—only I was kept in the dark.

To avoid alerting them, I chose to stay silent and hang up.

After that, I left the family group chat and called HR again to remove my second uncle and the other relatives from their positions.

When my second uncle and the others called again, I blocked them directly.

More than two hours later, the flight took off. I'd changed my ticket to an earlier flight to Miami Beach.

I needed to find a quiet place to sort out my emotions.

Before I knew it, New Year's Eve arrived. I sat by the ocean watching fireworks.

A knot that had lived in my chest for years finally came undone. The results were confirmed—I wasn't their biological child.

It wasn't that I couldn't earn my parents' approval. They weren't my parents at all.

I was kidnapped as a child. The people I called Mom and Dad were the ones who took me.

The investigators I hired are still gathering evidence. After the new year, I'll personally see them sent to prison.

"With genes like theirs, they could never have raised someone like me."

I lifted my face to the dazzling fireworks, and tears slipped down.

I missed my real mom and dad—two people I had no memory of at all.

They must have been frantic too, right?

I'm searching for them. I just don't know if I'll ever be lucky enough to find them.

"Look, that's her, isn't it?"

Someone raised their phone and pointed at me. A crowd gathered fast.

The influencer who'd been livestreaming the fireworks nearby rushed over, camera aimed straight at my face.

"Everyone, you seeing this? This is that ungrateful wretch, Grace Dickerson."

"Her mom's in the hospital waiting for money to save her life, and she's out here on vacation. Shameless."

"She scammed her brother out of his money and his company, and she doesn't care if her own mother lives or dies. How does trash like this even exist?"

The insults around me grew louder.

"Look at her—acting all innocent. Disgusting."

"Give the company back to your brother!"

"Bitch, give it back!"

The crowd pressed closer. When someone looked ready to grab me, I called the police.

Only after the cops arrived did I piece together what had happened.

The Dickersons had exposed me online, and they were still livestreaming.

My so-called parents had testified personally, claiming I'd schemed my way into stealing my brother's company and now refused to help them.

The old lady wore heavy makeup and lay in bed looking frail, telling the world she had cancer.

She needed money to survive, she said. Not only had I taken my brother's company—I wouldn't pay a single cent.

The cop showed me the livestream. Mom and Dad were crying, voices breaking.

"Gracie, it wasn't easy for Mom and Dad to raise you. It wasn't easy for your brother to build that company."

"The family's never treated you badly. You can't abandon us just because you found a man."

"Gracie, your brother said he won't make you return the company. But can you at least give back the money he invested to start it?"

"Your mom needs this money to live. Gracie, I'm begging you as your father."

Dad dropped to his knees on camera, and the comments exploded.

The crowd on the beach stared at me with ice in their eyes.

If the cops hadn't been there, they might have attacked.

So this is how you want to play it?

"I'll go home right now to give you the money. Don't end the stream—let the whole country watch."