Chapter 3

"What the hell are you doing? Let go of me," Andrew screamed.

Charlotte never saw it coming. I suddenly went savage, slamming her face straight into the pillar. Blood burst from her nose, mixing with tears and snot, covering her whole face.

Seeing me dragging Charlotte's hair and about to slam her head against the pillar, Andrew rushed over and grabbed my arm. Then, with sharp force, he slapped me across the face. "Let go. Can't you hear me?"

His slap was so hard that I felt a rush of heat in my nose, and for a split second, I thought he'd broken my neck.

Without hesitation, I kicked him right in the balls. His eyes went wide, veins bulged on his forehead, and he doubled over, clutching his crotch in agony.

The humiliation from my previous life completely ignited the last shred of reason I had. Seeing him writhing in pain on the ground, I swung my leg and kicked him right in the face, knocking him backward.

Everything happened so fast that before our parents could even react, the three of us were already brawling.

Richard and Helen, shocked, rushed over and forcefully separated us.

In the living room, Charlotte had an ice pack pressed to her forehead, her nose swollen and red like a circus clown.

She was curled up in Helen's arms, tears streaming down her face, looking so pitiful, like a wounded little lamb.

Andrew's nose was swollen, a glaring shoe print stamped right on the front of his pants. He stared at me with pure hatred, like I was his mortal enemy, not his sister.

I had two wads of tissue jammed up my nose, my eyes sharp as knives as I glared right back at him.

Richard and Helen looked at the three of us, no more of the indiscriminate scolding from my previous life; now, all they could do was sigh in defeat.

Mia, the maid, still half-asleep, wandered over with four cups of coffee and set them down in front of everyone. When she got to me, though, she gave me a look that screamed pure disdain.

Back in my previous life, it was Mia who always knew I was allergic to onions, but she'd go out of her way to sneak them into every meal.

Every time I came home, she'd go off on me for messing up the floor she'd just cleaned, even if I was wearing slippers.

She'd barge straight into my room to tidy up, never bothering to knock, and would shoot me a dirty look, calling me blind for not knowing any better.

Seeing her still ignoring me, I grabbed a cup of scalding coffee and threw it right at her. "What the hell is this? Five people, but only four cups? You think I'm a pushover, huh?"

Then I swept my arm across the coffee table, knocking every single cup to the floor. "If I can't have any, then nobody gets any."

Seeing me go off like that, Richard, even though he felt guilty about me, switched into full-on dad mode. "Enough, will you ever quit it?"

He slammed his palm down on the coffee table, veins popping on his forehead like they might explode any second. "First day back and you're already beating up your brother and sister.

"Do you have any idea what decency even means? You're making the Carter family look like a joke."

I let out a cold laugh. "You all call yourselves Carters, but I'm not one of you. I took my helper's last name. Your family's reputation means nothing to me.

"When you were feasting and living in comfort, did you ever once think about me?"

I added, "When you chose to adopt a daughter instead of bringing me home, did you ever care what kind of hell I was living through in that orphanage?

"When Wade ripped my clothes off and pinned me to the bed, where were you? Why didn't you come save me?

"Now that the Carter family's reputation is trashed, suddenly I matter to you? How are you any different from that bastard?"

I snapped, "You say you searched every orphanage in the whole country, but somehow missed the one right under your nose in this city? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Helen just looked defeated. "We've been searching for you all this time. Who would've thought you were kidnapped and never even left the city? If we'd known, we wouldn't have spent so many years looking everywhere else.

"You're our daughter, the flesh and blood I carried for ten months. How could we ever turn our backs on you?"

I snorted, my eyes landing on Mia, "If you really cared about me, why would you let a maid treat me like dirt? You're not blind.

"She didn't even bother to give me coffee, and that look she gave me just now, like I was trash. Would she dare act like that if she didn't have you backing her up?"

Helen turned to Mia, who was standing there looking nervous. "Mia, you're fired. Pack your things and get out of here right now."

After dealing with Mia, she turned to me. "I've fired the maid. Are you satisfied now?"

I reached out and grabbed Charlotte by the hair, yanking her so hard she screamed in pain.

"And what about this phony? Now that the real deal is back, shouldn't she be the one packing her bags and getting out of this house?" I demanded.

"If you plan on keeping her here just to piss me off, don't blame me if I start getting rough with her," I warned.