Chapter 1
The Lubitz family had just brought me home. At the dining table, my younger sister, Yolanda, placed her empty shrimp shell on my plate.
"Chiara, you just got back. You're probably still weak. Come, eat this for some extra calcium," she said sweetly.
The whole family looked at her affectionately as if she had done something incredibly virtuous.
But my inner thoughts echoed throughout the dining hall.
[The Lubitz family is an ultra-rich family, for goodness' sake. What's going on? Are they running out of cash? Do they have to resort to eating garbage to get their calcium?]
The whole family's smiles froze on their faces.
The long, luxurious dining table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, and the light from the crystal chandelier streamed down.
Every piece of silverware gleamed under the light.
I, Chiara Lubitz, was sitting in this home, yet I felt like an outsider.
For eighteen years, I had been living a totally different life out in the boonies.
Just three days ago, they sent someone to fetch me, claiming I was the Lubitz family's rightful daughter.
Sitting across from me was Yolanda Lubitz, who had occupied my place in this family for the past eighteen years.
She wore a pink princess dress, her skin was fair, and her eyes were curved, like a delicate porcelain doll.
She had just elegantly finished eating a huge shrimp and then used the serving fork to pick up the empty shell and place it on the plate meant for bones in front of me.
"Chiara, you just got back. You're probably still weak. Come, eat this for some extra calcium," she said sweetly.
Her words were sweet and innocent, tinged with a naive charm that betrayed her lack of worldly experience.
My father, Garibald Lubitz, gave her an approving smile.
My mother, Lana Quant, also gazed at her with so much tenderness it seemed as if tears might spill from her eyes.
And my older brother, Zeffrey Lubitz, looked at me with an expression that said, "You should be grateful."
It was a truly harmonious family scene depicting loving and respectful relationships between siblings and elders.
But all I felt was a churning in my stomach.
Then, my inner thoughts resounded throughout the entire hall without warning.
[The Lubitz family is an ultra-rich family, for goodness' sake. What's going on? Are they running out of cash? Do they have to resort to eating garbage to get their calcium?]
The voice was sharp, sarcastic, and unforgiving.
The atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Garibald's smile vanished instantly, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Lana's gentle gaze turned to bewilderment, then shock.
Zeffrey frowned deeply and looked around, as if searching for the source of the sound.
Meanwhile, Yolanda's serving fork, still holding the shrimp shell, froze in midair. Her sweet expression had crumbled.
Everyone looked at one another, their eyes filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
'Was it my imagination?' That was the thought on everyone's mind.
I lowered my head and stared blankly at the reddish, empty shrimp shell on the plate.
But my heart was pounding wildly in my chest. What was happening? Did they hear what I was thinking?
After a brief, awkward silence, Lana was the first to turn on me.
Her expression had changed from shock to anger, and her impeccably maintained face was now set in a frosty glare.
"Chiara! What kind of attitude is that? Yolanda was just being kind and caring towards you. Even if you don't appreciate it, how can you talk about her like this in your heart?" she chided me.
Her words cut deep into my heart like a poisoned blade.
She didn't even ask a single question before condemning me.
It turned out that a biological mother's favoritism could be so blatant.
I raised my eyes and looked at her calmly.
"I'm sorry." All I could do was apologize. What else could I do?
But internally, I was seething with rage.
[This is a classic textbook example of the villain crying foul first.]
[Doesn't she have any idea what kind of person her own precious daughter has grown into?]
[Using trash to humiliate others and then calling it kindness. This family's values have utterly blown my mind.]
My innermost thoughts, one after another, echoed clearly throughout the dining hall.
Lana's face instantly turned from livid purple to deathly pale.
She clutched her chest and pointed at me. Her lips were trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word.
She heard it. She had heard it again.
This time, it wasn't just her imagination.
Zeffrey jumped to his feet, causing his chair to scrape jarringly across the floor.
He pointed at my nose, his face contorted with rage. "Chiara, you've gone too far! Yoyo is a naive girl. She doesn’t know anything. How could you think of her like that!"
He was like an enraged lion, doing everything in his power to protect the perfect younger sister he held so dear.
Naive? Looking at Yolanda's tearful, pitiful face, I almost sneered.
[Naive? Last year she pushed a classmate down the stairs and caused that fellow to have a mild concussion.]
[After that, you guys paid someone else to take the blame. Do I need to help you recall that?]