Chapter 3

The imposter's expression stiffened briefly before she lowered her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm sorry if I did something wrong, okay?"

She was probably freaking out where I couldn't see her, trying to figure out how I learned about the orphanage fire she orchestrated.

Seeing her shrink back in fear, Mom shot me a fierce glare, her face darkening. "Cut your nonsense! Where are your manners? How could you talk to your sister like that? Just look at how scared she is!"

The more pitiful she seemed, the more curious I got.

Right on cue, the doorbell chimed.

Laura walked in with a girl. "This girl claimed that Ms. Lola Brooks had asked her to come over."

It was that twin-ponytailed girl from the orphanage. Her face was streaked with soot and dirt, like she'd just been through hell.

My parents were stunned, totally lost about what I was trying to pull.

I fixed my gaze on my fake sister. Her shoulders tensed, and her hand was trembling uncontrollably, almost dropping her fork.

None of them said anything. I stood up, walked over to the girl with the dirt-smudged face, and gently took her hand. "Mom, Dad, this is my real sister."

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Dad snapped.

"Exactly! That's outrageous!" Mom chimed in.

The impostor cried pitifully, her voice trembling as she put on her best wounded act. "Lola, if you really don't want me here, I'll just leave. But why would you bring in someone else to pretend to be me?"

Well, she'd got nerves of steel.

I let out a snort and pulled the girl over, standing her in front of my parents. Then, I pulled aside her collar.

There it was—a brown butterfly-shaped birthmark.

Dad shot up from his seat, his eyes wide with disbelief. "How could it be so coincidental?"

"Coincidence? Dad, do you really think this is just a coincidence?" I asked.

"I suppose, yeah. I mean, we already did a paternity test," Mom blurted out, jumping to her feet. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty, but in the end, she still chose to believe the sobbing imposter.

Normally, these two were absolute sharks in the business world, always scheming and outsmarting everyone. But right now? It was like their brains had short-circuited.

I shook my head with a soft chuckle. "Why not run another test? We'll know which one is my real sister soon enough."

Soon, the test results came out.

All the tension in my chest melted away, and I looked at Emma, my real sister, grinning from ear to ear.

*****

My parents stared at the two reports laid out in front of them, both left speechless.

When they looked at Emma, disappointment was written all over their faces, but when their eyes shifted to that imposter, there was nothing but regret and reluctance to let her go.

"Even though Emma... well, Sophie Quinn isn't my biological daughter, we just connected instantly. I really can't bring myself to send her away again..." Dad said.

I couldn't believe it. Even with the evidence laid out in front of them, they still insisted on keeping the imposter.

Mom glanced at Dad, and it was clear they were thinking the same thing. "Let's just keep Sophie around. From now on, we'll tell everyone she's our youngest daughter who's been overseas for medical treatment all these years and only just came back."

I raised my voice, refusing to back down. "No way!"

If we keep that walking disaster in the house, I would end up living in the same nightmare all over again.

Mom shot me a sharp look. "Silence! It's not your turn to make the call."

"But what if she's actually guilty of arson and murder?" I shot back.

"What?" Mom and Dad both froze.

I slammed a thick stack of evidence onto the table.

That day, after I got into the car, Sophie made up some excuse about saying goodbye to her friends and slipped out for a moment.

Emma, whom I'd secretly handed a phone to, trailed after Sophie and managed to record everything, catching her red-handed as she plotted with the orphanage director to set the whole place ablaze.

Afraid that the real Emma might one day track down her parents, those two decided to go all in and torch the orphanage, leaving nothing behind.

When I spotted the plane ticket in the video, it finally hit me: the director from my previous life hadn't just run off to the countryside in disgrace. She'd masterminded her own escape and jetted off to Australia, leaving everyone in the dark.

Every month, Sophie would take the allowance my parents gave her and wire it straight to her biological mother. She lived the high life overseas, without a care in the world.

There were no security cameras at the orphanage, and none of the kids had phones, so those two completely let their guard down. They never imagined they'd get recorded.

Fortunately, Emma uncovered their plot in time, and the fire never happened. Without even knowing it, she ended up saving countless kids at the orphanage.

"Mom, Dad, even after all this, are you still going to protect her?" I asked.

Dad pressed his lips together, his brow furrowing even deeper as he stubbornly said, "This is probably just a misunderstanding. Besides, the fire didn't even happen, right? Why do you hate Sophie so much?"

A flicker of shame flashed across Sophie's tear-streaked face. "Mom, Dad... no, I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, that's not me in the video... I'll just go. I don't want to be a burden."

Mom smiled as she gently wiped away Sophie's tears, "Silly girl, from now on, call us Mom and Dad. Just stay here and make yourself comfortable."

My parents were fussing over Sophie, not even sparing a thought for Emma, their real daughter.

Across the table, Sophie shot me a look and flashed a knowing, triumphant smile, but Mom and Dad never noticed it.

She didn't have to say a word—her smugness was obvious.

And there was my real sister, standing awkwardly by the sofa, fidgeting with the edge of her shirt.

No one so much as glanced her way, and she didn't even have the courage to sit down. Honestly, it was just absurd.

I always thought that on the day the truth finally came out—when I exposed Sophie as a fake—my parents would finally wake up and stop playing favorites like they did in my last life.

But this absurd scene gave my heart a jolt. I knew Sophie wasn't just an ordinary girl, and I had to find out more about her.