Micah's POV

“Well, well… long time no see, little sister,” Mallory slowly greeted and sat down beside me, her eyes sweeping over my outfit from head to toe.

“This look must’ve cost at least, what, a few grands?” She smirked, then pointed at the bracelet on my wrist. “And that one? At least tens of thousands, right? Gavin’s really generous with you, huh.”

She then let out a long, dramatic sigh. “You’re living the dream now, while I’ve been suffering overseas for the past two years.”

I smiled faintly. “Didn’t you say before that as long as you could be with your boyfriend, you’d live on scraps and never complain?”

“Boyfriend? What boyfriend? You don’t have a brother-in-law!” she snapped.

She leaned closer, her tone sharp and deliberate. “Let’s not waste time. I came back to reclaim what’s mine. Starting today, you’ll go back to being you, Micah, and I’ll be Mallory again. After dinner, take off that designer dress and all the jewelry, and I’ll return to the Roarkes in your place. We’ll switch back.”

I almost laughed at how shameless she sounded. “Wow, you really are something else. You think I’ll just hand over everything I’ve built these past two years? I worked hard to earn Gavin’s trust, to secure my place in that family, and you think I’ll just give it to you?”

Mallory slammed her hand against the table. “Gavin was supposed to marry me! You stole my place and enjoyed my life all this time. Did you really think you could keep it forever?”

Standing my ground, I countered, “You didn’t want to marry him back then. You almost got the whole family killed because of your cowardice! But I took your place and saved you. If anything, you should be grateful to me. And for your information, the reason I became Mrs. Roarke, the woman he dotes on, is because I earned it. You think just showing up means you can replace me?”

Fed up, Mallory shot up from her seat and shouted, “You’ve gone too far! I already let you live under my name for two years. That was mercy! If you don’t switch back now, I’ll go straight to Gavin and tell him everything!”

“I’ll tell him that you were jealous of me, that you pushed me into the river, that you caused my amnesia. Once he knows, you’ll lose everything. He’ll punish you himself, and you’ll wish you were dead!” she hissed.

Slowly, I rose from my chair, my voice calm but cold. “Go ahead. Tell him. But when you do, I’ll play the recording of that day, the one where all of you begged me to take your place and marry Gavin. Let’s see how he reacts when he hears that. If I go down, we all go down. The whole family, together.”

Before Mallory could reply, my mother stormed toward me and slapped me across the face.

“You’ll switch with your sister today, or I swear I’ll die right here in front of you!” she screamed.

I clutched my cheek, tears stinging my eyes despite my efforts to hold them back.

“Mom,” I whispered, my voice trembling, “until I saw Mallory again, I honestly believed that somewhere in your hearts, you and Dad still cared about me. But now I see clearly. You’ve only ever had one daughter, and it’s not me.”

I straightened my shoulders and added, “I’m not switching back. Not now, not ever. So, stop dreaming.”

Then I turned to leave. I wanted to get out of that house, out of their lies, before I lost control.

But just as I stepped toward the door, something slammed into the back of my head.

Pain exploded through my skull, and the world tilted sideways. I hit the floor hard, my vision blurring, blood trickling down the back of my neck.

Through the haze, I saw Mallory clutching a ceramic bear, the one I’d given her years ago for her birthday.

With a trembling voice, Mom panicked, “Mallory! That was too hard! You didn’t kill her, did you?”

Mallory looked down at me, saw my eyes still open, and exhaled in relief. “She’s still breathing.”

Then she crouched beside me, patted my cheek, and said in a low, cold voice, “See, Micah? This is what happens when you don’t know your place. If you’d just agreed to switch with me, none of this would’ve been necessary.”

My head throbbed violently. Darkness crept at the edges of my vision.

But even as everything started to fade, I clenched my teeth and fought to stay awake.

Micah's POV

Mallory kept talking as if she owned the room. “I even lost twenty kilos and copied your haircut so we’d look identical. Once I wear your clothes, even Mom and Dad won’t be able to tell us apart. Gavin definitely won’t recognize the difference. From now on, you play the part of Micah and do as you’re told. Otherwise, don’t blame your sister for being ruthless.”

As my parents started taking off my clothes, someone knocked at the door. The whole house went taut with tension.

“Who is it?” Mallory asked.

“It’s me.”

It was Gavin.

I was about to shout when Dad clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me back into the room.

"Mallory, why haven't you opened the door yet?" Gavin demanded.

Finally snapping back to her senses, Mom yanked the carpet to cover the bloodstain on the floor. Only then did Mallory walk to the door and open it.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I happened to be passing by and thought I’d pick you up.” Gavin frowned when he saw her. “You weren’t wearing that outfit when I left.”

“I dirtied the other one, so I changed into this old dress,” she lied. “Perfect timing, you can take me now.”

From inside the bedroom, I could hear everything. If Mallory walked out, then the past would repeat itself. She’d never let me live, for only the dead could keep her secret.

Dad glared at me, mouthing for me to stay silent. I nodded in response but reached for the chair beside me.

In one motion, I shoved it, and it crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

Dad snapped, grabbed my hair, and slapped me hard.

“What was that noise?” Gavin stopped and turned toward the bedroom.

But Mallory stepped in front of him. “Nothing. Probably the cat knocked the chair over.”

Despite her reason, Gavin still hurried to the doorway. He bent down and touched the dark red pool on the floor. “This is blood.” Then he tried the bedroom doorknob and found it locked.

Heart thumping, Mallory made up some lies again. “This blood’s probably from our cat being in heat and leaving stains on the floor. It’s filthy. Come on, let’s get your hands washed.”

She also tried to pull him away while saying, “Dad’s drunk and sleeping inside. Let’s not bother him. Let’s go clean up.”

While Dad was distracted by them, I slipped off my bracelet and hurled it at the door. The metal hit with a clanging sound.

Hearing that, Gavin’s expression went icy. He took a step back and kicked the door open.

What he saw froze everyone. I lay on the floor, covered in blood, and Dad was over me, whipping me with his belt.