Chapter 2

Margaret Carter was my birth mother.

Lily had already been helped up, her eyes a little red, looking all pitiful. "You know she never liked me. No one ever taught me anything, not when I was growing up, not ever."

Her words managed to stir up those family feelings all over again.

A poor kid who looked like she needed her parents to protect her. Nothing worked better to boost a parent's sense of authority than that.

Felix glared at me, eyes blazing. "Claire, is this how I raised you after all these years?

"Lily's had a tough life, and she's younger than you. Why can't you just let her have her way for once?"

"So you saw she fell herself, didn't you?" I scoffed. "Not only are you covering for her, but you're both trying to blame me."

My emotions were all over the place.

I couldn't even tell when things started getting so strained between me and Felix and Flora. Whatever family bond we had reached its breaking point the moment it came out that their real daughter was someone else.

Felix's face stiffened at my words.

Flora quickly tried to smooth things over. "We're all family, aren't we? Why argue over this? Blood is thicker than water, after all."

I gave Flora a cold look. "That only applies to the three of you. I'm not included."

I never felt any real connection to them.

As soon as I said that, Felix's and Flora's expressions shifted. Finally, Flora reached for my hand.

She said, "Don't talk like that, Claire. We've raised you all these years. To us, you and Lily are the same. We've said before that you're both daughters of the Jennings family. No one's more important than the other."

While she spoke, Flora gave Felix a look, and he just grumbled under his breath and dropped it.

Flora pulled Lily and me over to the dining table. "Come on, let's have dinner."

The table was filled with special homemade dishes. I could tell they really went all out for Lily's homecoming.

Flora served me some food first, and then turned to Lily on her right.

The meal was harmonious.

But... I stared at the piece of egg in my plate, and any last shred of hope I had just fizzled out.

I'd always been allergic to eggs, ever since I was little.

It never mattered to them.

To welcome Lily back, Felix and Flora decided to host a party to let everyone know they now had another daughter.

Oh, and Lily Hughes had changed her name, too.

She was Lily Jennings now.

The party was packed. Almost every big shot from the business world in Westbridge City showed up.

No one ever talked openly about the Jennings family drama, but everyone pretty much knew the whole story.

Flora had dressed Lily up to the nines.

She showed up arm in arm with Felix and Flora, looking every bit the fairy tale princess in front of the whole crowd.

I hung back in the crowd, quietly watching the three of them work the room together like the perfect family.

As for me, I was just like an outsider.

I turned with a drink in hand and walked off to a quiet corner where no one else was around.

I didn't really like these kinds of events.

But a couple of days ago, Flora came to me with a serious look. "Claire, this party isn't just for Lily. It's also for the Jennings family's reputation.

"If you don't show up, people will start gossiping about us. I know you never care about this stuff, but just this once, do it for me, okay?"

In the end, I agreed.

After all, they did raise me.

After all, we were family.

I decided to sit in the corner for a while and then slip out. There was still work waiting for me at the office.

Then Lily showed up. "Why are you hiding out here all alone, Claire?"

My moment of peace was interrupted by Lily.

I turned to look at her. "What do you want?"

Lily smiled sweetly. "Mom and Dad introduced me to so many people tonight. Now everyone knows I'm their daughter."

She was obviously showing off.

She was rubbing it in that she was the true heiress of the Jennings family, while I was just the outsider, a wannabe trying to play the part.

I said, "Those people you just met? I knew them long before you ever showed up. Trust me, they knew me way before they ever knew you."

Lily sneered, "You were just a cuckoo in the nest, stealing someone else's spot. Now everyone knows you're just the nanny's kid."

I scoffed. "But your dear mom and dad, the whole Jennings family, and even Jennings Group still consider me as the heiress, blood or not."

My words shattered Lily's composure. She couldn't hide her frustration anymore.

What really burned her up was that I'd been living the good life for years. Now that the truth was out, she thought I should be sent packing back to that poor county town, just like she was.

And I should be married off to some middle-aged guy who could barely read, all for a bride price, and trapped there forever.

Lily hated me. She hated that I'd stolen the life she should've had, hated that I got to live the glamorous days she could only envy, and hated that I never had to face any consequences, even though I was the nanny's daughter.

She couldn't understand why I got everything.