Chapter 3

The party downstairs was still going strong, with music drifting up faintly through the floor.

I slipped down the side staircase, hoping to avoid the crowd.

But as I rounded the corner, I nearly bumped into two people.

Sophie and Olivia were there.

They were standing close together, whispering about something. When they saw me, they both stopped talking.

Sophie spoke first, her voice gentle, "Nina, are you leaving already?"

I didn't reply.

Olivia eyed the battered suitcase in my hand, raising an eyebrow. She asked, "That's all you're taking? Nina, what about your Hermès and Chanel stuff? Not packing those?"

"They're not mine, so I'm not taking them," I replied calmly.

Olivia snorted. "Wow, suddenly you've got principles. Who are you trying to impress? Still think you're the Anderson family's princess?"

"Olivia, please don't say that," Sophie tugged at her sleeve.

"Sophie, you're just too kind," Olivia said, patting her hand before turning to me with a sneer. "Nina, honestly? I've been fed up with you for ages. If you weren't the Anderson family's golden girl, who would bother pretending to like you every day?

"You really think you're so special? Well, now that Sophie's back, it's time for you, the imposter, to get out.

"Oh, and by the way," she waved her Cartier bracelet at me, "do you still want it? If not, I'll just keep wearing it."

I held her gaze for so long, until Olivia's smug expression started to falter.

Then I smiled.

"Keep it," I said. "It suits you."

Olivia didn't get it. "What?"

"I said," I enunciated each word, "a fake bracelet for a fake person—couldn't be more fitting."

Olivia's face turned livid.

Sophie's gaze wavered, and she spoke softly, "Nina, please don't be upset. Olivia was just sticking up for me. It's just these past twenty years have been really hard for me."

"That's not my problem," I looked at her and suddenly asked, "When did you find out the truth about your background?"

Sophie froze. "I..."

"Three months ago, right?" I said, thinking back. "That's when the Anderson family suddenly started digging into hospital records from twenty years ago, saying they wanted to build a family health archive.

"I always wondered why they were suddenly so serious about it.

"So for the past three months, you've been quietly studying me—every habit, every preference, every relationship I have.

"And then you chose my twentieth birthday to reveal yourself in front of everyone.

"Sophie," I smiled, "are you really as innocent as you look?"

Sophie's face turned pale.

Her lips moved, but she couldn't say a word.

I stopped paying them any mind and pulled my suitcase down the stairs.

Olivia's angry voice echoed behind me. "Who are you trying to fool? Just a fake, still think you're—"

I didn't catch the rest of what she said.

And I didn't want to.

As I stepped out of the Anderson estate, the night air was biting cold.

I stood on the curb in my thin dress, gazing at the house, its windows glowing with light.

That used to be my home.

But it wasn't anymore.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Robert: [Your bank account is frozen. The car keys are in the mailbox by the door. From now on, you're no longer part of the Anderson family. Take care of yourself.]

It was brief and icy, like he was discarding an old file.

I smiled and deleted the message.

Then I opened my contacts and blocked everyone from the Anderson family.

Olivia and Alex, too.

Once I was done, I tilted my head back and stared up at the sky.

There were no stars; the moon was swallowed by clouds, and the city's neon glow lit up half the night.

What now?

I only had less than three hundred bucks in cash, some money I had tossed in my wallet earlier.

My bank card was frozen.

Friends? All of them were only around because I was the Anderson family's daughter. Now they were probably all laughing at me.

Rent a place? I couldn't afford the deposit.

Stay in a hotel? Even the cheapest hotel would cost one hundred bucks a night, and I'd burn through my cash in no time.

Get a job? I hadn't graduated from college yet, zero work experience, and honestly, all I was good at was wasting time and having fun.

How pathetic, Nina. I told myself, "Twenty years, and this is all you've got.

"It is a castle built on sand; when the tide goes out, everything falls apart."