Chapter 3
She didn't say anything, but I instantly caught the flash of hatred in her eyes.
Isabelle looked like a helpless little rabbit—eyes brimming with tears, lips trembling as she tried to hold back her pain.
"Mom, Dad, who is she?
"Why does she get to call you Mom and Dad too?"
Just as my parents realized they'd been ignoring Isabelle and moved to comfort her, I took Isabelle's hand.
I said, "So this must be my sister who's been with Mom and Dad in my place all these years.
"Just like Charles said—you're a million times better than me.
"Even though your mom swapped us and left me by the river to die, and you spent 18 years here with everything you could want, you never knew. None of this is your fault, Isabelle.
"And Charles already told me—you're the family princess. Me? I never even met my parents growing up..."
I removed a pendant from around my neck.
"I don't have anything fancy for our first meeting, but this is all my grandma left me. I hope it keeps you safe."
Before Isabelle could refuse, I pressed the pendant into her hand.
The sharp tip dug into Isabelle's palm. As she yelped, I stepped back and dropped to the floor.
The pendant hit the floor and shattered.
My parents stared in shock as I fell to my knees, scooping up every shard with my bare hands—blood smearing across my palms. Tears filled my eyes as I apologized over and over.
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it through!
"Even if this is the most precious thing I own, it's not good enough for Isabelle..."
My parents rushed over and pulled me up, their voices thick with concern.
"Emily, what are you doing? You're our real daughter."
When Isabelle and my eyes met again, her resentment was unmistakable.
She was no innocent bystander.
Good. Now I didn't have to feel guilty about her.
From the moment I was reborn, I decided—whether Isabelle was innocent or not, I was taking back everything that was mine.
Even if she truly had no idea, I was still taking it back.
Because all of this was rightfully mine from the start.
Isabelle and I were switched at birth.
Isabelle's birth mother got pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth at the same hospital as my mom on the same day. Seeing my mom's wealthy lifestyle, she couldn't bear the thought of her own child suffering, so when no one was looking, she swapped us.
She never planned to raise me—she just left me on the riverbank without a second thought.
If Grandma hadn't taken me in, I would've died.
Who was the innocent one? Not Isabelle, with her privileged life. It was me.
As for that pendant, it wasn't Grandma's legacy.
It was just cheap glass Ryan won at a street fair one year—the only thing he ever gave me. I'd kept it for years, treating it like treasure.
Now it was finally useful—paving my way forward.
Dad frantically called someone to fix the shattered pendant, while Mom, worried sick, summoned the family doctor to treat my wound.
"Isabelle! How could you break your sister's gift and even shove her?
"Is this how we raised you?"
Unlike me, who endured Ryan's manipulation daily, this was probably the first time Isabelle had ever been scolded.
She flushed red with frustration, her neck stiffened, unable to defend herself.
Charles, who'd been backing her all along, finally spoke up.
"Mom, Dad, you've got it wrong.
"I saw everything—Emily threw herself down and smashed the pendant on purpose.
"I don't know why Emily came back just to frame Izzy, but I'm sure the security footage caught it all.
"I mean, Emily didn't even hesitate before ditching her childhood sweetheart to get back into the Stone family."
As he spoke, Charles pulled out his phone and played a perfectly edited clip of me telling Ryan, "Let someone else take my place," and "This is none of your business."
Sure enough, my parents frowned.
Charles leaned in close and whispered in my ear, "Bet you've never seen high-tech surveillance before, huh?"
Back then, security cameras were brand new—most families didn't even know they existed.
Charles grinned smugly.
"I warned you—Isabelle's innocent, so don't mess with her!
"But since you had to play dirty, when your schemes blow up in your face, you only have yourself to blame!"