I was the rightful heiress of the Blackwood family, but when the girl who took my place, Chloe, and I were caught in a storm at sea, my family chose to abandon me.

They chose to save Chloe, letting the crew push me off the wrecked yacht to be swallowed by the waves.

By some miracle, I was saved by a fisherman, but I had lost all hope in them.

Afterward, however, their attitude took a complete one-eighty.

My parents, who’d once despised me, suddenly started catering to my every whim. My brother, who had once framed me, suddenly started sending me luxurious sports cars. Even my fiancé, who looked down on me, began to plan our wedding.

To say I was confused would be a gross understatement.

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1

With an old canvas bag slung over my shoulder, I was about to leave the mansion when Eleanor and Chloe strolled in. Servants followed behind them, carrying their shopping bags, while the two of them linked arms as if they were the closest mother and daughter in the world.

When she saw the canvas bag in my hand, Chloe feigned shock and asked, "Sloane, you aren't running away just because Mom forgot to get you a present, are you?"

I set down my bag, my gaze turning to ice. "No, I've already received your birthday gift, remember? On my eighteenth birthday, you chose to let me fend for myself in the freezing ocean. Honestly, what more could I ask for?"

Hearing my sarcasm, Eleanor’s face twisted with familiar annoyance as she scoffed. "That was an accident in the chaos, Sloane. The storm hit, we had to choose, and you can't expect us to watch Chloe die. Besides, you didn't die anyway."

I was rescued by a fishing boat, but I still had to spend a full week in the hospital before I could walk again. And during that time, not a single one of them came to visit me.

This was my family.

I was their biological daughter, but I had been switched at birth by Chloe's real parents. For fifteen years, I endured neglect in a blue-collar home, never knowing a single moment of warmth or peace.

Still, the Blackwoods doted on Chloe, the girl who had lived my life for fifteen years. They blamed me for the most trivial things, accusing me of having ulterior motives.

At first, it broke my heart, but now, I had become completely numb to their cruelty.

I had already found a place to rent and had saved up enough money to leave for good.

I was determined to live life on my own terms and build a good future for myself.

I adjusted the strap of my canvas bag, reached for my luggage, and faced the two of them. "You couldn't let Chloe die, but I wanted to live. Since you chose her, from now on, just consider me dead. I won't be your problem anymore."

Hearing my words, a flicker of glee crossed Chloe's face, and she was about to put on a show when Eleanor cut her off with a cold snort. "Fine, have it your way. Don't even think about setting foot in this house again, not even if you come back kneeling and begging!"

I nodded, her words sliding right off me. "Don't worry. I'd rather die out there than ever come back."

"How can you say that, Sloane? Have you thought about how sad Dad and Blake will be?" Chloe stood close to Eleanor, playing the part of the perfect, obedient daughter. "Everyone was caught off guard by what happened, that's all. Besides, hasn't the Blackwood family been supporting you all these years?"

She pretended to be comforting me, but every word was a reminder that I was an outsider. Of course, this was a well-practiced trick of hers.

In the past, I would have exploded, demanding to know why I, the real daughter, couldn't receive a single shred of their love or concern.

Chloe lived in a luxurious, spacious room, waited on hand and foot.

I, on the other hand, was confined to a cramped storage room in the attic, a space so small that I couldn't even fit a desk. Only when the sun was at its peak would a few slivers of light filter through the small window onto my bed.

I was their biological daughter, yet I was forced to struggle for survival like a rat in a sewer.

This time, however, I had no expectations left.

"You call that supporting me?" I asked, staring straight at Eleanor and Chloe. "I lived in a dark, cramped attic and ate the leftovers the chef was about to throw away. You never bought me a single piece of clothing. I worked to pay for my own tuition and living expenses; you haven't spent a single cent on me in three years, and you made me tend the garden like a servant... God, now that I think about it, shouldn't you be paying me a salary?"

"That's enough!" a stern voice called from outside.

Richard and Blake climbed out of their car, their faces grim with disapproval. "In the end, all you want is money, isn't it? Chloe is never as materialistic and greedy as you... I should never have acknowledged you as my daughter in the first place!"

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but laugh. "Your daughter? When did you ever acknowledge me as your daughter? How many people in this city even know I am? So I'm materialistic and Chloe isn't? Right. Maybe that's because she's never had to ask for anything in her life; everything is just handed to her on a silver platter! And me? My dear brother framed me for cheating on an exam."

At the mention of him, I glanced at Blake, a wave of nausea churning in my stomach.

When I first returned to this family, Blake was the only one who showed me any kindness. He’d help me with my homework, and I was naive enough to mistake it for genuine affection.

"I'm your brother; it's my duty to take care of you."

I thought he was being good to me, so I accepted all his help without a second thought.

Shortly after, Blake reported me for stealing the final exam answers. I was shamed in front of the entire student body and suspended.

I desperately tried to explain that I’d been framed, but my mother just slapped me across the face. "How can you be so shameless? Blake helped you with your studies, and you turn around and frame him? Besides, the answers were on his desk. If you didn't steal them, who did?"

I fell to the ground, staring at Blake in stunned silence. In that moment, it all became clear—Blake was already the star quarterback of the school's football team, the chosen heir to the family fortune.

If he truly cared about me, why would he let me live in that tiny attic? How could he stand by and watch me get hurt time and time again, only choosing to interact with me when no one else was around?

Later, Blake admitted everything. It was he who had deliberately led me to see those so-called "review materials," and his "help" even included secretly switching my ADHD medication so I couldn't concentrate, all to ensure my grades would never surpass Chloe's.

"To be honest, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted my sister to be happy... It's just that Chloe is my only sister!"

And just like that, at sixteen, my heart was viciously torn apart by the one family member I had allowed myself to trust.

Looking back, I had to laugh at my own naivety for clinging so stubbornly to a futile hope for their love.

Now, after everything, I finally understood that my own life was the only thing that truly mattered.

The love they offered was like sugar-coated poison, alluring yet deadly.

Snapping back to reality, I completely lost interest in continuing this pointless entanglement with them.

"You know what, you were all right about one thing. Me coming back here was a mistake... so just let me go, and everything will go back to the way it was."

Ignoring their reactions, I strode out the gate without another word.

The moment the gate closed behind me, I felt a chain that had been constricting my heart shatter. I hummed a tune, practically skipping to my new rented place.

It wasn't large, just a one-bedroom apartment, but it was several times bigger than the attic I had been trapped in.

After unpacking my things, I lay down on the bed, exhausted.

Just as I was about to drift off, the sudden ringing of my phone jolted me awake. I answered it immediately, and Nolan's irritated voice came from the other end. "What kind of stunt are you pulling this time, Sloane? Hasn't Chloe been good enough to you? Do you really have to threaten her by running away? What happened to the obedient, kind Sloane?"

"She's dead," I said, sitting up in bed, my voice calm. "You were the ones who abandoned me, weren't you? Besides, didn't you always want me to leave the Blackwood family? So who is this concerned act for?"

Nolan and I went way back. It started when I saved his life during a community service event.

He was the only son of the new-money Prescott family, and his hot temper had landed him in a brawl. I happened to be passing by and pretended to call the police, scaring off the thugs who had surrounded him.

After that, he transferred to my school, saying he wanted to repay me, and even kept me company while I worked my part-time jobs. I taught him how to experience the life of an ordinary person, and he protected me from bullies, even getting hurt for me once.

But his attitude changed the instant he found out I was the true Blackwood heiress.

He berated me for not considering Chloe's feelings, calling me selfish.

I couldn't understand why he would think that, so I confronted him. "They are my parents, and the life she's living now was supposed to be mine! Her parents switched us, and they abused me time and again. Is it wrong for me to want back what's rightfully mine?"

It wasn't until later that I learned he had known my identity from the very beginning.

Our first meeting had been orchestrated by him. The Prescott and Blackwood families had a marriage alliance, and if his parents found out I was the true heiress, they would never let him marry Chloe.

He wanted to find an opportunity to convince my parents to send me to a "troubled teen" boot camp in Utah, all to preserve Chloe's status as the true heiress.

What he hadn't anticipated was that I would discover the truth before his plan could succeed and confront the Blackwoods directly.

After that, I tried multiple times to break off our families' engagement, and even Nolan once threatened to kill himself, saying I could never compare to Chloe. Despite all that, Mr. and Mrs. Prescott refused to call off the engagement.

Perhaps that was why he didn't hesitate for a second when he chose to save Chloe instead of me on the yacht.

That day was the closest I had ever come to death. By some twist of fate, I survived.

But even so, what was I living for?

My parents, my brother, and even my fiancé all cared more for Chloe than for me, even complaining about why I hadn't just drowned on the spot.

Even after Chloe's identity as the fake heiress was exposed, she was still loved and cared for just as before.

"I've cut ties with the Blackwoods, so our engagement is off by default. Stop bothering me." After saying that, I immediately hung up the phone.

After the best, most peaceful sleep I'd had in ages, I got ready for school.

After returning from the hospital, I had just over a month left before the SATs. If I aced them, I could get a full scholarship to college.

My teachers knew my potential, so they had printed out a special stack of study materials for me to catch up on everything I had missed.

Freed from the shackles of the Blackwood family, my complexion improved, and even my classmates said I looked radiant.

One day, I stepped into the classroom and was met with the inquisitive gazes of my classmates. Before I could ask what was going on, my deskmate, Maya, came over and asked, "Sloane, the teacher said someone claiming to be your brother came to see you... When did you get a brother? He's a fraud, right?"

Her question opened the floodgates, and everyone immediately gathered around.

"Yeah, she's right!"

"No one cared about you for all these years, and now that they know you're a top student, they just want a piece of the pie!"

"Don't be scared, we won't let you get bullied!"

"Right, you're totally smart enough to be a National Merit Scholar!"

Seeing everyone standing up for me, I couldn't help but smile. "It's fine, probably just some lunatic. My parents passed away years ago, and I lost touch with my relatives."

It reminded me of when I first discovered my true parentage and rushed to the Blackwood mansion in a frenzy. The blue-collar family that raised me had tried to stop me, and I’d cut ties with them, too.

Hearing my words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Maya stood up, saying, "Then I'll go tell the teacher to kick those frauds out!"

Just then, another voice called out, "Sloane."