The Ms. Felicity Sterling he spoke of was the fake
heiress, swapped with me at birth. The camera zoomed
out, showing a perfectly preserved Felicity Sterling
blushingly accepting the trophy. “Though I’ve waited
decades for you, matters of marriage still need my
brother’s blessing, of course~” Dominic, now the head
of the Sterling family, watched her, his eyes brimming with a doting affection mixed with a hidden current of
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06:28
emotion. “Handing me over to our uncle’s family was
always to protect Felicity. My life’s mission is to ensure
the Sterling family’s sole princess remains happy.”
It was then, on my deathbed, that a horrifying truth
slammed into me: my seemingly selfless choice, the one
I thought I’d never regret, had been a calculated trap,
orchestrated by two men to protect Felicity. Consumed
by rage and despair, I died, my eyes wide open. When
I next awoke, I was back. Back to the day Dominic
came to claim me. I swept past the two men frowning
at me, their gazes a mixture of disdain and impatience,
and resolutely slid into the car. “Take me home.” In this
life, I swore, I would force every single person who
stood in the wrong place to crawl back to the rotten
mire where they belonged!
:
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06:28
“Elara, I’m telling you! If you let your vanity get the
best of you and go back to being a rich girl, we’re
done!”
“Save me from everyone saying I’m after your money,
Miss Heiress! I, Ethan, may be poor, but I have my
dignity!”
Just like in my previous life, Ethan, whose arm I had
desperately clung to for advice, violently shook me off.
The dull thud as my elbow hit the wall sent a jolt of
pain, making me realize–I was reborn! Reborn on the
day Dominic came to claim me!
Dominic, with his aristocratic bearing, frowned at his
watch, his face a mask of indifference and impatience.
“If you’re not accepting, don’t waste my time. It’s been
so many years, anyway. My parents aren’t really that
bothered…” He was clearly rushing through this
formality, eager to return to Felicity.
In my past life, he had deliberately used that haughty,
dismissive tone, leaving me, a twenty–two–year–old
orphan, feeling not an ounce of familial warmth, only
apprehension. Coupled with Ethan’s threat to break up, I
had rejected my birth family without even meeting my
true parents.
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06:28 C
Now, listening to Ethan’s impatient complaints beside
me: “Elara, can you make up your own mind for once?!
Don’t ask me about everything!” I spoke, my voice firm
and clear: “I accept!”
Two words, short and powerful, left both men stunned.
Dominic frowned, as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“You… what did you say?” This twenty–two–year–old
body now housed a fifty–year–old soul, hardened by
life’s trials. In my eyes, they were merely callow youths.
I met Dominic’s gaze. “Didn’t the family send you to
pick me up? Let’s go. Don’t keep my parents waiting.”
It was only on my deathbed in my previous life that I
learned Dominic wasn’t my biological brother. He was
merely an adopted son, brought in by my parents from
a distant relative’s family to accompany and protect
their “only daughter,” Felicity. Yet, he, an adopted son,
had put on such airs in front of me, their true
daughter.
As I moved to get into the car, Dominic, still far from
the cunning old fox he would become, instinctively
glanced at Ethan, his eyes filled with silent reproach for
Ethan’s “failure“-they had indeed known each other all
along. These two seemingly unrelated men had
conspired to ruin my entire life for the sake of a fake
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heiress!
06:28
The next second, Ethan violently grabbed my arm.
“Elara, are you crazy?! Stepping your muddy shoes into
a million–dollar luxury car? If you scratch it, can you
afford to pay?! Don’t let your emotions get the best of
you and cause trouble. I won’t be cleaning up your
mess!”
I was adopted by my Nana from Maplewood and named
Elara. My family and Ethan’s were both struggling in our
small town, but he always acted superior–just because
my affection had granted him that privilege. I loved
Ethan, following him like a shadow since childhood. He
excelled academically, came from poverty but refused to
be humbled, and never once called me “the stray.” After
Nana passed, he became my sole anchor in the world.
Despite both of us getting into high school, I dropped
out to work and fund his tuition. When he said city kids
found famous tutors, I risked my life climbing thirty
miles of treacherous mountain roads to gather rare
medicinal herbs from cliff edges, borrowing money to
pay for his classes.
