
272 readers · 9 chapters · 3 free
I was the real daughter, switched at birth. In my past life, I died in a carefully orchestrated car accident. In the final moments before everything went dark, I saw her through the shattered window. Lin Youwei stood there in the distance, the girl who'd lived my life for eighteen years. That's when it all clicked. I'd swallowed every insult and endured every slight, desperate for the family love I thought I deserved. I convinced myself their favoritism toward her was normal, that I just needed to try harder. Every time she set me up, I told myself it was a misunderstanding. I believed my patience would eventually win them over. What a joke. I was the only one who believed in that fairy tale. Now I'm back, and here they are again. My biological parents stand at my door wearing the same guilty expressions, saying the exact same words they did before. "Nina," my father said, his voice heavy with remorse. "We're your parents. We've come to take you home." I smiled and slid the ledger across the table toward them. "Sure, we can talk about that," I said. "But first, let's settle the bill. My adoptive parents raised me for eighteen years. Childcare expenses, education costs, emotional damages. The total comes to 790 thousand dollars." I looked up at them and asked, "Cash or transfer?"