Chapter 1

The moment Lucy Lane returned as the true heiress of the Sinclair family, she threw all my stuff out without a second thought.

"I'm the real daughter of my parents. You're just an imposter, so get lost," Lucy sneered.

"And before you leave, pay back all the money you've spent at my place for the past twenty years. Let's call it 150 thousand dollars a year, so three million dollars total. Transfer it directly to my card," she added.

Hearing that, I handed her a QR code for the real daughter identity verification online queue.

"Alright, Miss Lane, but first you need to join the online queue and wait for your identity check," I replied.

Lucy slapped the QR code away.

"Claire Sinclair, who the hell do you think you are? You really think you can stop me from reuniting with my family?" she snorted.

I shrugged helplessly. "I didn't stop you. You just need to wait your turn."

But Lucy was in such a rush to reclaim her place in the Sinclair family that she wouldn't listen to a single word I said.

"How dare you make me queue up? Just wait till I find my parents, you fake will be kicked out," Lucy snapped.

However, what Lucy didn't realize was that before her, 499 people had already come to claim family ties. My parents were so swamped that they had handed the whole process of verifying the real daughter over to me.

*****

Lucy then cornered my mom, Amelia Sinclair, right at the elevator entrance, just after my mom finished the board meeting.

"Mom!" Lucy directly fell to her knees. "I am your biological daughter!"

Amelia didn't even spare her a glance.

Jenny Parker, the assistant, immediately stepped forward. "Miss, if you want to verify your identity, please make an appointment online."

Lucy burst into tears right on cue. "Mom! Please look at me! I've suffered so much all these years."

Amelia finally looked her way.

Then she glanced at her watch. "Thirty-six seconds. That's five seconds slower than the one last month. You didn't break the record, Miss."

Lucy was stunned. "What?"

Amelia took out her tablet and scrolled through it. "YM37, Lucy Lane, twenty-two years old.

"Lives in an old complex in the east of the city, lost both parents, and put through college on financial aid."

Lucy's face changed. "You looked into me?"

Amelia patted her on the shoulder. "Miss, your acting's not bad, but your lines are way too cliché.

"Maybe check out 'True Heiress vs. Fake Queen Bee'. That actress did it way better than you."

With that, she walked away.

At three in the afternoon, my dad, Liam Sinclair, went to inspect Department Store of Sinclair Group.

Lucy showed up again.

This time, she tried a different approach.

"Dad!" Lucy held up a photo in front of him. "See? I looked just like you when I was little."

Liam took the photo and gave it a quick look.

"Nice Photoshop work," he said. "But next time, make the ears smaller. Nobody in the Sinclair family has ears that big."

Lucy got flustered. "This really is me when I was a kid!"

Liam shook his head. "Miss, last year someone even tried to claim family ties with an AI face-swap video.

"Honestly, that was way more convincing than your Photoshop job."

He handed the photo back to her. "Go find Claire. She handles this kind of thing."

Lucy stomped her foot in frustration. "Dad! Are you really this cold?"

Liam didn't even look back. "Call me Mr. Sinclair."

By 8 PM, my grandma, Zoe Sinclair's plane touched down.

Lucy had been waiting in the VIP lane the whole afternoon.

"Grandma!" Lucy cried, dropping to her knees and kowtowing right there. "I am your real granddaughter!"

Zoe had just gotten off the plane and was still jet-lagged.

She squinted. "Which number are we up to this year?"

The bodyguard replied, "Fifty-seventh."

Zoe nodded and asked Lucy, "Did you make an appointment?"

Lucy looked dumbfounded. "No, I didn't."

"Sorry, that's not how it works." Zoe waved her hand. "Last year, a lady knelt at the airport for three days before we finally let her skip the line."

She motioned for the bodyguard to help Lucy up and slipped her a card. "This is my granddaughter's contact info. You'll need to make an appointment first."

Lucy glanced down at the card.

It read: [Claire Sinclair, Head of the Real Heiress Verification Project.]

Her face turned green with embarrassment.