Chapter 3

After Ryan left, I finally got three days of peace.

The whole fake heiress drama kept blowing up online, and netizens dug up my real identity.

People from my hometown came forward, saying my adoptive parents had been abusing me for years.

"That poor girl, she was barely tall enough to reach the stove and already had to cook for the whole family..."

"The Grants were heartless. They'd beat her, yell at her, even burn her with cigarette butts. We tried to talk some sense into him, but all he'd say was, 'She's my daughter; I'll treat her however I want. None of your damn business.'"

My college classmates came forward, talking about how hardworking and inspiring I was. Most of them thought I was all alone in the world, just an orphan with nobody.

Claire's dirty laundry got aired out too.

Photos of her bullying classmates in high school surfaced, and some netizens dug up proof that she cheated in college. There were even pics of her rocking jewelry worth ten million dollars at a charity dinner for underprivileged kids last year.

Every news post about her got hundreds of thousands of comments, with people roasting her in every way imaginable.

Big data really knows what I like. My feed was full of it every day. I'd scroll through and hit like on the harshest comments.

Sure, I might act like I didn't care, but if it meant watching them go down, I was all for it.

Thanks to all this drama, the Evans family's stock price dropped by 40%.

Saturday morning, my doorbell rang.

I peeked through the peephole and saw Dan and Serena standing outside.

Ten years later, they looked almost the same, still polished, like nothing had changed.

I just leaned against the door, not moving.

The doorbell rang again.

"Emily." Serena's voice came through the door, thick with tears. "I know you're home. Please, open the door; let Mom see you..."

Dan spoke up too. "Emily, we wanted to come see you. We were wrong back then, and we're here to apologize."

"Yes, Emily." Serena started sobbing again. "I was wrong; I really was. Please, just open the door, okay?"

I didn't open the door, but across the hall, my neighbor's door creaked open a bit.

I took a deep breath and opened my own door.

But I only opened it a crack, not all the way.

Serena's eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately tried to push her way inside. "Emily..."

"Let's just talk here," I said, blocking the doorway. "It's small, can't really fit more people."

Serena's face went stiff.

Dan looked a little awkward for a second, but quickly composed himself. "Emily, how have you been these past ten years?"

"Honestly, I would've been better off if you'd just stayed away," I replied.

"Emily," Serena's tears started falling again, "please don't say that. It hurts so much. We were confused back then; we shouldn't have only listened to Claire, but we raised her for over twenty years.

"We loved her. We thought if everyone just went back to their place, it'd be best for both of you..."

"Back to where we belonged?" I laughed. "Mrs. Evans, are you sure you've got that right? There was never any 'going back to where we belonged.' Claire stole my life, and you were all accomplices."

"That's not true." Serena grabbed the doorframe. "I know you're angry, but we're your real parents. Blood is thicker than water. How can you be so heartless?"

"Heartless?" I looked at her. "When Claire framed me for stealing, did any of you ever ask me what really happened? When she said I pushed her down the stairs, did any of you ever bother to check the truth?

"When she claimed I was bullying her, did any of you ever believe me?"

"We..." Serena was at a loss for words.

"You never even thought about checking, did you?" I said softly. "Because if you did, you might've found out Claire was lying. And you couldn't bear to see the daughter you raised for over twenty years get hurt, so you just dumped it all on me."

Dan spoke up, "Emily, we didn't think things through back then. But Claire, she's been with us for so long; we just couldn't bring ourselves to let her go."

"So I'm the one who gets thrown away?" I shot back. "Just because I only spent a month with you, my feelings don't matter, my innocence doesn't matter, and all the pain I went through means nothing, right?"

Dan was speechless.

See? Even now, they still couldn't bring themselves to admit they were wrong.

All they ever did was use blood ties to hold me hostage, standing on their moral high ground, judging me, trying to force me to bow my head and clean up their mess.

I said, "All you ever care about is Claire's feelings, always afraid she'll get hurt or upset. Me? I never mattered. But that's fine, because you mean nothing to me either. I hope today is the last time I ever see you."

Serena completely broke down.

She covered her face, sobbing so hard her whole body shook. "Emily, I'm so sorry."

Dan held her up and looked at me. "Emily, we'll make it up to you. Whatever you want: a house, a car, money. Just say the word."

I looked at them, already losing my patience.

They thought that if they just said sorry, tried to make up for it, shed a few tears, and threw some money at me, all the mess from the past would magically disappear.

"I don't want anything," I said. "I just want you to stop showing up."

Then I closed the door.

"Emily." Serena banged on the door from outside. "Open the door Let me see you"

Her sobs came in fits and starts.

Outside, the crying gradually faded. I heard Dan say something in a low voice, and then footsteps receded into the distance.

Finally, the world was quiet.

When I got to work on Monday, the office felt a little off.

A few of my coworkers kept sneaking glances at me, whispering together, and scattering as soon as I walked by.

I knew why. The story was everywhere, and everyone knew about it.

At noon, I went to a café near my office to grab some coffee. Just as I got my cup, I saw someone stand up from a seat by the window.

Lucas.

Claire's childhood sweetheart, and later, her husband.

I remembered him well. Back when I was with the Evans family, he came to find me once, just to warn me, "Emily, I only love Claire. You better keep your head down. Don't even think about bullying her, and don't get any funny ideas."

At that time, I had just been framed by Claire for stealing, and I couldn't defend myself, no matter how hard I tried.

Lucas looked at me like I was trash.

Ten years had passed, but he hadn't changed much.

He was still dressed in designer clothes and still carried himself like he was above everyone else. There were a few more lines around his eyes, and his complexion looked a little worse for wear.

"Emily," he said, stepping right in front of me. "Can we talk?"

I held my coffee and rolled my eyes. "Seriously, are you all nuts? Coming at me one after another. What is this, a boss fight? Is it fun for you?"

"Look, this is a public place. Don't make your office look bad by causing a scene. I just need ten minutes." Lucas frowned.

I thought it over and finally sat down. People nearby were already gossiping and staring.

The waiter came over, and Lucas ordered an Americano. Once the waiter was out of earshot, he leaned in and said, "Emily, state your terms."

I took a sip of my coffee and stayed silent.

"Just go public and say all those online rumors are fake," Lucas said, sounding like he was closing a deal. "Claire was framed.

"You two were always close, and the Evans family treated you well. Just tell me how much you want, or what kind of resources you need. I can get you whatever you ask for."

I let out a laugh. "Mr. Reed, do you even know how Claire set me up back then?"

Lucas's face darkened. "Claire would never do something like that."

"She would," I said. "And she's done it more than once. I'm not the only one she's hurt."

"That was just a misunderstanding." Lucas's voice got louder, making people nearby glance over. He tried to keep his cool. "Emily, that's ancient history.

"Now Claire's getting trashed online every day because of you, and the Reed family's business is suffering. Can't you help her out, for the sake of blood ties?"

"Blood ties?" I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Mr. Reed, are you seriously confused? Claire and I aren't related at all. She's your wife, not my sister."

Lucas stared at me, his gaze icy. "Don't make me force you."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of punishment are you threatening me with, Mr. Reed?"

"I can make sure you lose this job." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, threatening whisper. "You think being a public servant means your job is untouchable? Trust me, if I want to..."

"Mr. Reed," I cut him off. "My job comes from the people, from the country. You want to mess with me? Go ahead, but first, see if the law and the Party are cool with that."

Lucas's expression froze.

"And one more thing," I said, setting my coffee down. "Let me remind you. When you married Claire, did you know she was a fake heiress?"

"Of course I knew." Lucas blurted out. "I love her for who she is, not for her status."

"That's great," I said with a smile. "Now that she's getting exposed all over the internet, you can finally show everyone just how pure your love really is, can't you?"

Lucas's face went completely dark.

He stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. Everyone in the café turned to look.

"Emily," he said through gritted teeth, "you'll regret this."

"The only thing I regret," I said, "is not exposing the evidence of Claire framing me ten years ago. If I had, you wouldn't be sitting here talking crap right now."

Lucas glared at me, his eyes burning with rage, like he wanted to tear me apart.

But in the end, he didn't say a word. He just turned and walked away.

I stayed in my seat, slowly finishing my coffee.

It was bitter, but it woke me up.

I thought dealing with the Evans family drama was as bad as it could get.

Turns out, the real circus was just getting started.

Three days after I shut Lucas down, a news story rocketed to the top of the trending list. [Claire's Baby Swapped at Birth]