03

Watching them, the tension in me finally eased a little.

If they wanted to charge ahead like this, I wasn't going to waste any more breath trying to stop them.

So I picked up the pen and wrote, without a moment's hesitation:

I voluntarily give up reclaiming my birthright with the Henson family, and I will never interfere with Carly Fox taking my place.

But my foster father turned the paper over in his hands again and again, still not satisfied.

"This isn't enough."

"Who's to say you're not just pretending to give in, planning to sneak back to the Hensons behind our backs?"

My foster mother nodded along.

"Exactly. Lucy's the best at putting on an act. Nobody schemes quieter than she does."

Carly kept her eyes lowered, playing the sweet one, her voice soft.

"Right, it's not that I don't want to trust you, sis."

"It's just that a chance at a family like that is too precious. I really can't afford to gamble on it!"

"If she changes her mind in the night and slips off to Metropolis, I'm finished."

The very idea broke my foster father out in a cold sweat. He said, in a tone that left no room for argument,

"Lucy, you're moving up to the attic. You don't set one foot out of there without our permission!"

My eyes snapped up.

I could hardly believe what I'd heard.

"There's no need for that!"

"I've already signed the statement. I won't go back on it."

My foster mother let out a sneer and shoved me hard.

"Still putting on airs! Even now you've got that dead-fish look on your face!"

"Who's going to believe you'd just hand a chance like this to your sister?"

"Get up there, now! Don't make me hit you!"

And so they dragged me up to the attic and locked me in.

The cramped space was hot and airless.

It was crammed with everything the family didn't use anymore.

I curled up in the corner, close enough to watch dust drift through the air.

From dusk into the dead of night, not one of them came up with food.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, that familiar hunger burning in my gut.

But I was used to being treated this way by now. It hardly felt worth resenting.

Downstairs, meanwhile, the mood couldn't have been livelier.

My foster parents dug out the family's savings and took Carly out shopping through the night.

They were getting ready for the wealthy family, fussing over Carly, the hope in their eyes impossible to hide.

"My Carly's just born lucky. She was made for the good life."

My foster mother held an expensive silk dress up against Carly, beaming.

"Not like some people. Hand them a gift and they spit on it, turn their nose up at a fortune just to act all high and mighty."

My foster father sat off to the side, nodding, full of feeling.

"Once Carly's in with the Hensons, this family turns everything around. No more scraping by."

Carly studied herself in the mirror, greed all over her eyes, but her voice stayed gentle.

"It's all thanks to how well you raised me, Mom, Dad. I'd never be so ungrateful as my sister and throw a chance like this away."

"Sis is just too greedy. She wants everyone to flatter her, to beg her, before she'll accept anything."

"I'm different. I only want to hold on to this and take good care of you both from now on."

The little speech left my foster parents glowing, doting on her more than ever.

Leaning against the wall, I listened quietly to the laughter downstairs.

The pop-ups scrolled through my mind again.

【Dying, looks like the whole Fox family treats Carly like a walking jackpot, waiting to strike it rich overnight.】

【They have no idea the Hensons want a perfectly obedient tool. They're not giving Carly a cent!】

【The more smug Carly is now, the more miserable she'll be later.】

I closed my eyes, calm all the way through.

She chose this road herself.

I'd warned her, I'd tried to stop her. I'd done everything I could.

Early the next morning, the Henson family butler called.

He got straight to the point.

"Miss Carly Fox, the Hensons have agreed to let you go back and reclaim the birthright in Miss Lucy Fox's place."

"You may come to the old Henson estate on your own. The exact location has already been sent to you."

04

The Fox household boiled over with excitement.

Carly's hand trembled faintly around her phone.

She fought to push down the corners of her mouth, forcing on a look of anxious, dutiful humility.

"Thank you, sir. I promise I'll behave, and I'll never let the Henson family down."

Lucy's foster mother's eyes went red with emotion as she grabbed Carly's hand and reminded her over and over.

"Carly, once you're with the Hensons, you have to be good and obedient."

"Learn to keep the Hensons happy, and hold on to this fortune with everything you've got."

"From now on you're a young lady of a great house. You'll never have to suffer with us again."

Lucy's foster father added his own urging, his voice earnest.

"Don't forget everything we did to raise you. Once you've made it, you'd better pull the family up with you."

Carly nodded obediently, smugness she couldn't quite hide sitting in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Mom, Dad. I'll bring you wealth and comfort."

She turned to glance up at the attic, a cold sneer flickering deep in her eyes.

"I'm not like my sister. Even now she still has to play the noble one."

Hearing that, I gave my head a small shake.

The pop-ups started scrolling again, saying exactly what I was thinking.

【LOL! The Hensons don't care about her at all. Last time they sent the butler, this time they just made her come on her own!】

【Basically she's a tool, not worth the smallest bit of their attention.】

【And the Fox family's still bowing in gratitude, scrambling to latch onto money like that. Pathetic.】

They waited until dusk, when word came from the Hensons.

Only then did my foster parents confirm that Carly had reached the old Henson estate in Metropolis without a hitch.

They strolled up to the attic and yanked open the dusty wooden door.

"Come out."

I bore the pain and walked out of the attic without groveling or bowing my head.

But to them, that only looked like more fake pride.

My foster father's temper flared. He snatched up the few old bags that were all I had and hurled them onto the concrete outside the door.

Books and clothes scattered across the ground.

"Carly's a Henson daughter now. From here on we get to live in comfort and luxury."

"Don't you drag us down and ruin the good days coming to this family."

My foster mother stepped up right behind him, hands on her hips, not mincing a word.

"Aren't you the proud one? Too good for money and great houses, aren't you?"

"Then keep being proud. Get out of our house and never come back."

"We wore ourselves out raising you, and you don't have an ounce of gratitude, just that stuck-up act."

"Once Carly's flying high, you can regret it all you want. It'll have nothing to do with us."

I bent down and silently gathered everything back up, piece by piece.

"Don't worry. I won't bother you."

And so, between me and the Fox family, every tie was cut clean.

School was about to start anyway, so I went to check in at college on my own.

I applied to move into the dorms early and lined up a work-study job on campus.

A few days later, a trending item crossed my feed.

#Metropolis Henson Family Reunited With Long-Lost True Daughter#

There was a lavish reunion banquet, packed with all kinds of high society.

And there was Carly, in a haute couture gown, standing beside Mr. and Mrs. Henson and their fake heir.

She looked every inch the doted-on young mistress of a great house.

The comments were nothing but envy, everyone marveling at how lucky Carly was.

I calmly closed the news and went back to the work in front of me.

Then the pop-ups appeared again.

【Just wait. The more glamorous it looks now, the worse it'll end!】

【The Hensons' warmth and grace are all fake. Carly will find out soon enough!】

【Look at the fake heir's eyes, terrifying! It won't be long before Carly can't hold up anymore!】

But none of it had anything to do with me now.

A few more days passed, and I was finishing my part-time shift, about to head back to the dorm to rest.

The phone in my backpack started ringing.

An unknown number.

I hesitated for two seconds, then answered.

"Lucy! Help me! I want to come home!"

"I don't want to be with the Hensons anymore!"