Chapter 1
I was the fake heiress, the one who got swapped at birth in a rich family.
When the real heiress was finally found, I had just closed a huge deal at an international conference.
My rich parents said they owed the real heiress after all these years and wanted me to make it up to her.
I scoffed.
They were the ones who owed the real heiress, not me. So now they were trying to dump their family obligations on me?
*****
When I got Flora's call, I had just finished an international conference.
It was a collaboration with Meridian Group.
There'd be at least 150 million in net profit.
I pulled it off.
I crashed into my chair, exhaustion washing over me, but my mind was still racing with excitement.
Just then, my phone started ringing.
Seeing Flora's name on the screen, I hesitated for a couple of seconds before picking up.
"Claire, Lily's about to get home. When are you coming back?" Flora asked.
Her voice was practically bursting with excitement.
It made sense.
After more than twenty years apart, they finally had their real daughter back. Of course, they were over the moon.
Flora kept going, "Lily's just about to get home, and she'll surely feel out of place. You need to be kind to her and try to be more understanding."
She'd been saying stuff like this ever since about two weeks ago, when the Jennings family found out the girl they'd raised for over twenty years wasn't really theirs by blood, and that Lily, who'd spent her whole life in a small county town, was actually their real daughter.
After hearing it so many times, it was hard for me not to get annoyed.
I was always busy with work and barely ever stayed at the Jennings residence.
Lily had just been brought back. Shouldn't she be spending time with her parents?
Honestly, we'd probably hardly ever cross paths all year.
If anyone should be looking after Lily and cutting her some slack, it was her real parents, not me, the sister with no real connection to her.
I hung up on Flora.
I didn't head straight back to the Jennings residence. Instead, I went to my apartment and took a shower first.
It just felt rude to show up looking like a total mess, so I decided to freshen up first.
When I got back to the Jennings residence, I could already hear laughter and happy voices before I even opened the door.
From the living room, the three of them kept bursting into laughter together.
Guess Flora's worries were for nothing.
Lily was fitting in just fine.
The warm family moment froze the instant I walked in. Felix's expression immediately hardened. "Didn't I tell you Lily was coming home today? Why are you only showing up now?"
His words blindsided me. I just stood there, a bit stunned.
Lily tugged at Felix's sleeve, trying to smooth things over. "Dad, don't blame Claire. I know she didn't do it on purpose."
I was born an hour before Lily, so the Jennings family decided I'd be the older sister and she'd be the younger one.
Lily came over to me, her dress clearly one of Flora's choices.
"Claire, Dad's just really worried about me. You're not mad at me, are you?" she asked.
Lily really took after Felix and Flora.
When she smiled, her eyes curved up like crescent moons.
Lily and I were born on the same day, in the same hospital.
My real mother used to be the Jennings family's nanny. Out of envy for their money, she swapped us when we were just newborns in the incubators.
So that was how it went down.
I grew up with the Jennings family, getting all the best they had to offer. Before I even hit my twenties, I was already running the family business as CEO.
Lily, on the other hand, was taken back to my mom's hometown and grew up there.
Life in that small town was nothing like it in Westbridge City, and my birth mom was awful to Lily. If Lily did anything wrong, she'd get hit or screamed at.
Things got so bad that, right before the truth came out, Lily was nearly forced into marriage.
I'd admit that Lily's life was seriously tragic.
Just as I was about to take Lily's outstretched hand, she suddenly yelped and dropped to the floor.
"Claire, I know you're upset that I took Mom and Dad's love, but... but how could you push me?" Lily sniffled, her voice shaky.
Tears shimmered in her eyes. "I just wanted to come back home, to be with my real parents. Is that such a bad thing?"
The atmosphere in the room turned icy in a heartbeat.
Felix and Flora jumped up and hurried to help Lily to her feet.
Felix snapped, "Claire, is this what all those years of raising you have taught you? Guess you really can't change what's in your blood. You're just the nanny's daughter, after all."
Flora frowned at me. "Claire, that's not right. You're the older sister. It's your job to take care of Lily. How could you do something like that?"
Honestly, I almost burst out laughing from how ridiculous this was.
"Seriously, Lily, is this what Margaret spent twenty-four years teaching you?" I shot back.