Chapter 3

In the dead of night, I slipped out of bed and quietly snuck into Owen's room, deftly unlocking his phone.

I had spent years as a ghost. This house held no secrets from me.

I copied a video from Owen's phone.

On my way back to my room, I unexpectedly spotted two figures huddled together in the garden.

It was Ethan and Ann.

I didn't expect things between Ethan and Ann to progress so quickly. It had been less than half a month since the Sear family received that anonymous letter and brought me back.

The next morning at breakfast, the table was once again laden with all of Ann's favorite dishes.

Ann exclaimed, "Wow. All my favorite dishes again today. Thank you, Mommy Penny.

"With two mommies doting on me, I'm the luckiest girl in the world."

Ann deliberately put on an exaggeratedly sweet tone, all the while sneaking glances at me.

I didn't say a word and quietly sat down to have my breakfast.

After breakfast, I got dressed and stepped out of my room.

Just then, Ann deliberately smashed an exquisite crystal swan figurine onto the ground right in front of me.

With a crash, the crystal sculpture shattered into pieces.

Right after the crash, Ann let out a dramatic shriek. "Yvette! What are you doing?"

"What happened?" May asked, rushing over.

"Mommy, it's the birthday present you gave me, my absolute favorite." Ann's voice quivered with fake tears. "I was just trying to share it with Yvette, but she smashed my little swan to pieces."

May shot me a look.

I couldn't be bothered to explain.

The same thing happened in my previous life. No matter how hard I tried to explain, May was convinced that Ann, who grew up by her side, would never lie, let alone frame someone.

Only an uncouth country bumpkin like me, fresh from the backwoods, would do things like vandalism and lying.

Though May never said it outright, those repeated suspicious glances stabbed deeper into my heart than any words could.

Since explaining had never worked before, I couldn't be bothered to waste my breath this time around.

Ann wailed, "That little swan was just like you, Mommy.

"Whenever you were too busy to be with me, I just held my little swan, and it felt like you were right here with me.

"I was going to take it to ballet class today, but now that it's broken, what am I supposed to do?"

As soon as May heard this, her heart broke instantly.

She comforted Ann. "There, there, Ann. Mommy will go with you.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. Mommy will go with you, and later we'll get you another little swan just like the one you had, all right?"

"B-but Mommy, didn't you promise last night to take Yvette shopping for clothes?" Ann asked.

"It's okay. Yvette, you're such an understanding girl. You won't be upset about this, will you?"

May turned to look at me. "Yvette, darling, how about we go shopping this afternoon instead?"

"Fine," I replied flatly.

I returned to my room and changed out of the outfit I'd prepared for the outing.

At noon, I ate lunch alone at home.

Evening came, and I was still alone.

It wasn't until well after eight that May finally came home with Ann, both of them cheerfully hauling piles of shopping bags.

May froze at once when she saw me, a flicker of guilt crossing her face.

"We were just going to pick up a little swan for Ann and head straight back," she explained, "but then we spotted some nice clothes in the store and..."

"Yvette, we actually got you something too," Ann said, pulling out a dress with a poorly faked look of guilt.

It was that frilly pink princess style, totally Ann's taste, and obviously the wrong size for me.

I wasn't the least bit surprised. This exact scenario had already played out in my previous life.

The difference was that, in my previous life, I had foolishly waited around all day.

The birthday party for Ann and me was going to be held the next day. At the party, the Sear family would acknowledge me as their real daughter and Ann as their adopted daughter.

Nevertheless, because of this trick of Ann, I had no choice but to squeeze into Ann's ill-fitting dress at the birthday party, making a complete spectacle of myself.

But this time, I wouldn't wait like a fool again.