Chapter 3

I didn't just keep up my grades from my previous life, I went all out in music, painting, piano, even tea ceremony. Whatever I touched, I made sure I mastered it.

Just to please them, I became a top-notch cook, always coming up with new ways to make their favorite dishes for every holiday and family gathering.

But no matter how hard I tried, they still kept thinking about Charlotte.

"I wonder what Charlotte's doing right now. Is she cold out there?"

Whenever they saw my study overflowing with trophies, they'd sigh, "If Charlotte were here, she probably would've won all these too"

I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh in my heart.

No way. She spent years in the Evans Family pretending to be me, but she never got any of these trophies.

The only thing she could do was play that one piano piece, but somehow that was enough to make everyone focus on her, leaving me empty-handed, trampled beneath her spotlight.

I couldn't stand it, so in this life, I pushed myself to be the absolute best at everything. I had to outshine her a hundred, a thousand times, even if I hated playing piano or painting.

But deep down, all I wanted was for them to love me.

Even though that love should've been mine from the start.

In my previous life, Charlotte was all smiles and kindness in front of me, but behind the scene, she'd rally her clique to freeze me out.

When she found out I'd made the preliminary list for the Lyle International Finance Scholarship, she dropped the act completely. She secretly used Peter's phone to text me, asking me to meet up.

That night, I was drugged and knocked out. Charlotte had some random guy lie next to me and snapped some photos.

By the time I woke up, those photos had already gone viral in our circle.

"A set of Cartier jewelry was all it took to snag the Evans Family's real heiress!"

The Evans Family was disgraced, and the Blake Family was so furious they threatened to call off my engagement to Peter.

My phone was flooded with nasty messages and ridicule.

"How could you betray someone as good as Peter? You're just trash!"

"Just a set of jewelry and you made a fool of yourself in Riverdale! Figures, you're just some low-class girl from the sticks!"

Right after, my scholarship spot was revoked, my engagement was canceled, and my real parents started fighting and regretting everything.

"If only we'd found her sooner, or maybe never found her at all..."

"Emily was never raised by us. How could she ever be like Charlotte?"

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't insisted on working instead of staying home when you were pregnant... Now the Evans Family is a joke!"

*****

After all that, crushed and hopeless, I swallowed a handful of sleeping pills.

When I was gone, it felt like everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The real heiress, the one nobody wanted since the day she came back, was finally out of their lives.

As I drifted away, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. 'If only they'd found me sooner, maybe they would've loved me too.'

'Guess I was just born unlucky.'

We swapped lives, and from then on, our destinies went in completely different directions.

The hospital room slowly fell silent.

Then, the sound of high heels clicking closer and closer echoed through the room, and Charlotte's familiar voice reached my ears.

"Emily, let me tell you a little secret. When you were twelve, the Evans Family had already found that little village. But I just faked a minor illness, and they all rushed back to be with me."

"Oh, and that message you got that day? It wasn't from Peter, it was from me. So you don't have to keep blaming yourself for trusting and drinking that wine. Nothing actually happened." Charlotte continued.

"Emily, you can rest easy now. I'll take everything from the Evans Family. Your parents, your brother, your fiancé, and all their money."

With that, she smiled and walked out of the room.

And my soul, once quiet, suddenly twisted with rage.

So the first thing I did when I got back to the Evans Family was threaten to end my life, taking advantage of my parents' guilt.

I forced them to send Charlotte away, back to the mountains. I wanted her to suffer every bit of the pain I'd gone through.

*****

On my twenty-first birthday, I planned to invite Peter over and announce my scholarship win to everyone.

And honestly, I wanted to finally tell him in person that my feelings for him had lasted through two lifetimes.

Not long after I sent the message, Peter replied. He said he was away on business and couldn't make it back.

His assistant showed up at school as usual, dropping off a birthday present, a Cartier necklace.

It was the exact same bouquet as last year, with a card he'd written himself.

"Emily, happy birthday!"

I glanced at the date on the card, it was written two days ago.

He must've known ahead of time he wouldn't be here, so he made sure everything was arranged in advance.

Feeling empty, I brought Peter's gift home. The house was silent, with only an unfamiliar housekeeper around.

She looked apologetic. "Miss Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Evans decided to go on vacation. I heard it's your birthday today. Is there anything you'd like to eat? I can cook for you."

I stood there, stunned.

The little bit of hope I'd been holding onto just drained away, leaving nothing behind.

I calmly set down my things, my voice flat and emotionless.

"Whatever you want. Anything's fine," I said.

Standing in the huge living room, I watched the housekeeper bustling around and suddenly asked, "Where's Auntie May? Is she sick?"

The housekeeper's back stiffened, a hint of panic in her movements.

"Uh, Mrs. Evans is used to May's cooking, so she took her along on the trip," she stammered.

I was taken aback.

My real mom never cared for May's cooking. The only one who ever loved it was Charlotte.

A crazy thought suddenly jumped into my mind.

My hands shook as I grabbed the car keys from the table, walked out, and drove straight to a villa complex in the suburbs.

In my previous life, the Evans Family bought Charlotte a villa there as a birthday gift.

*****

Outside the villa complex, I showed the security guard a photo of me with my parents and brother, putting on my best polite smile.

"It's my sister's birthday party today. I'm running late," I said.

The guard let me in without hesitation.

"So you're Ms. Evans's eldest daughter! All these years, I've only ever seen Ms. Evans, her husband, and Miss Evans's brother come by. I always thought they only had one son and one daughter. They're already here," the guard said.

My legs went weak, and I nearly lost the strength to stand.

'Well, all these year...'