Chapter 1

In my previous life, I hated my adoptive parents for stealing me away, making me, someone who should have grown up as a rich girl, spend my childhood out in the sticks.

After reuniting with my real parents, I cut off all contact with my adoptive parents because my birth parents insisted on it.

I thought my life would finally get better, but then my older sister ran away from her arranged marriage, and I was forced to marry in her place. For decades after that, not a single day truly belonged to me.

I died full of regret, but when I opened my eyes again, I was back in my childhood.

"This kid was born frail. Even if we took her back, Dad wouldn't be happy. Just leave her here and let her fend for herself." My birth parents' voices were cold and emotionless.

They dumped me in the snow, scooped up my sister in their arms, and turned around, leaving without a second thought.

My little face was turning purple from the cold, and my cries grew softer and softer.

"Who in their right mind would dump a kid out here in the dead of winter." Ruth, my adoptive mother, hurried over and scooped me up into her arms.

Gerald, my adoptive father, blocked the icy wind with his body, rubbing his hands for warmth. "Whoever left her out here in this freezing weather clearly didn't want her to survive."

"Honey, why don't we just take her home and look after her? We can't just leave her here to freeze," Gerald said.

Ruth gave him a sideways glance. "Of course we're taking her home. We can't just ignore her now that we've found her."

I was still reeling from the shock of being abandoned by my birth parents when I suddenly found myself pulled into a warm, comforting hug.

Ruth held me close, her eyes brimming with concern and tenderness as she looked at me. "Poor thing, come home with us."

They hurried me back to their house, worried I might freeze, and quickly coaxed some hot soup into me to help me warm up.

I was starving, so I gulped down the soup, not making a sound or causing any trouble.

Gerald watched from the side, looking amazed. "She's so well-behaved. Seriously, how could anyone abandon a kid like this?"

At the mention of my birth parents, my hand paused mid-air, and I ended up choking on the hot soup, coughing hard.

Ruth shot Gerald a reproachful look. "Don't jump out like that. You're startling her."

Gerald grinned and scratched his head. "My bad, my bad. I'll keep my voice down."

Ruth didn't respond to him. She gently wiped my mouth and murmured softly, "Anyone who brings a child into this world and then abandons them doesn't deserve to be called a parent.

"It's fate she ended up with us. From now on, she's part of our family."

Gerald's eyes lit up with excitement. "Looks like our family's complete now, with both a boy and a girl."

"Honey, what should we name our daughter?" Gerald asked.

Ruth smiled and gently pinched my cheek, her eyes soft with affection. "Let's call her Hailey Henderson," she said.

I stared up at her, wide-eyed, soaking in her smile and the gentle warmth in her eyes.

As I looked at her, a sudden ache of sadness welled up inside me.

In my previous life, after my birth parents took me back, they told me that when they came here to visit relatives, my birth mother accidentally went into labor early.

After my sister and I were born, they rushed to take my frail mother home to recover, only realizing I was missing when they were already on the way.

They claimed my adoptive parents saw how wealthy they were and deliberately took me, raising me just so they could later demand gratitude or favors.

My birth parents and grandparents all said the same thing, but I never believed it.

I spent eighteen years with my adoptive parents, and I remember all the kindness they showed me, clear as day.

I gave them a frosty look and told them to cut it out. When they saw I wasn't buying it, they just pulled up some security footage.

"Whatever else happened, they did bring you up," my birth mother said.

"Since they treated you okay, we let it go. We even gave their family some money," my birth father added.

In the footage, Gerald rushed into the bank, grabbed some cash, and hopped into a car.

My face shifted a little, but the voices around me kept on.

"If only you'd seen how happy they were when they got that money. They looked like they couldn't wait to wash their hands of you," my birth father sneered.

I refused to believe it. I called Ruth and Gerald behind their backs, but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't reach them.