Chapter 2

The next day, I had someone deliver a Patek Philippe watch to Peter as a gift for his promotion to VP.

He texted back right away: "Emily, I got the gift. Thanks."

He was still as polite and distant as ever, just like the one in my previous life.

He knew the Evans Family would never let me show up at his party.

And of course, he wasn't about to invite me himself.

Looking back, the two of us were even more distant than casual acquaintances.

Every time I took first place or brought home another trophy, I'd excitedly share it with him.

But his reply was always the same: "Emily, congratulations."

On my eighteenth birthday, tipsy from a few drinks, I asked him, "Peter, do you even like me?"

He just gave me that cool, unreadable look. "Emily, you're a good person."

So in Peter's eyes, I was good enough to be his wife, just not the one he actually wanted.

But I knew the truth. I'd seen the photo he kept hidden in his wallet.

It was a picture of him and Charlotte as kids, both of them smiling so bright and carefree.

That kind of happiness only comes from being truly loved and cherished by your family.

I was spacing out in my study when my phone buzzed again.

This time, it wasn't Peter. It was a message from my mentor, coming with a list attached.

It was the Lyle International Finance Scholarship list. And there it was my name, right at the top.

"Emily, congratulations! You're the only student from Riverdale to make it. Your parents must be so proud."

The Lyle International Finance Scholarship was a huge deal in our world. Anyone who got it was guaranteed a spot at Lyle Finance Academy, no questions asked.

Every rich kid in Riverdale dreamed of winning that scholarship.

It wasn't just proof of anyone's talent, it was a golden ticket for anyone fighting for their family's inheritance.

Even Peter, as outstanding as he was, got cut in the second round back then.

I gripped my phone tight, letting out a long, shaky breath.

This time, with Charlotte out of the picture, nothing could hold me back. I finally got what I deserved.

*****

In my previous life, when I was eighteen, every time Charlotte got into trouble, my parents just thought she was being cute and mischievous.

Whenever she happened to do something well, they'd be over the moon, showering her with praise.

She was a natural in the social scene, her sweet smile making her instantly likable to everyone around her.

But me? I was always the clumsy, awkward one.

Whenever I reflexively picked up food that had fallen onto the table, my parents would frown in quiet disapproval, and Charlotte would shoot me that barely-there, mocking smirk.

Andrew never bothered to hide his contempt. "Emily, this isn't anywhere of destitute anymore. The Evans Family doesn't need you to be so stingy, you should bear to throw the meat that falls on the table away."

I turned bright red with shame, wishing I could just crawl under the table and disappear.

Back then, I didn't get it.

To them, I was like a broken doll they had to keep around, something they saw every day, couldn't fix, but also couldn't throw away. In the end, I was just that one awkward piece of bones on the Evans Family's luxurious dinner table, impossible to ignore and impossible to like.

I thought maybe I just wasn't good enough.

So in this new life, I desperately clung to every opportunity I could find.

Thanks to what Charlotte let slip in my previous life, I pinpointed the exact day the Evans Family would come to the village.

When I heard a commotion at the edge of the village, I deliberately provoked my drunk foster father until he went after me, swinging and shouting.

I ran for my life and collapsed right at Mrs. Evans's feet.

She'd just gotten a call saying Charlotte was sick, her face full of anxious worry. But the moment she looked down and saw me, she froze.

I looked so much like her.

I made it back to the Evans Family six years earlier than the previous life, and those six years were enough to change everything.

I finally had a real place to study, no more slaving away in the fields all day, then burning the midnight oil just to finish my homework and cram vocabulary.

I could eat my fill and stay warm, no more trudging to school in winter with nothing but a pair of sandals.

I actually had money now, no more scraping by, filling out form after form just to get a measly two hundred dollars a month.

I was dead set on beating Charlotte at everything.

'So this time my family will love me, right?' I thought to myself.