The world is one giant makeshift stage.
And I am unbelievably useless.
My dad is a financial tycoon, yet I can't even do basic arithmetic.
My mom is a gorgeous movie star, while I'm… painfully average.
My brother held his own art exhibition at four, while at five, I was still following him around going "goo-goo a-a".
Even our housemaid, Auntie Wang, and our butler, Uncle Chen—one's a retired big shot, the other a hidden master.
Luckily, they all dote on me immensely.
And gradually, I made peace with it…
Until one day, a genius girl—everyone's talking about online—showed up at our door.
She demanded I give up my place as the "real daughter" of the family.
Well, great.
That anxious little heart of mine that had been hanging in suspense all these years?
Finally… just dropped dead.
1
Ever since I was little, I've felt out of place in this family.
My dad is a finance tycoon; my mom, an international movie star.
But I've got an average brain and ordinary looks.
You'd think extremes would balance out, right?
Yet my brother excelled in every way—morally, intellectually, physically, artistically, you name it.
He held his own art exhibition at four, entered the elite youth program at Tsinghua and Peking University by eight, and made the top ten most handsome faces in the world by fifteen.
I wanted to be jealous. Wanted to writhe. Wanted to crawl through the shadows.
But in the end, I made peace with myself.
After all, you can't expect the ancestral graves to keep smoking with good fortune forever…
So I just coasted along, living an idle life.
Until one day, a genius girl who'd gone viral online showed up at our door…
["The nurse from the delivery room admitted it herself—they accidentally switched us at birth! I'm the real Montegreco family daughter!"]
["Someone as plain as you could never be Mom and Dad's real child!"]
["Today, I'm taking back everything that belongs to me!"]
Harper Sloan came alone, but she carried the energy of a whole crowd.
So sure of herself that she got our whole family—no, me and the other family of three—deep in thought.
Cold Dad: ["Switched?"]
Glamorous Mom: ["How would I know? After giving birth I was too busy counting my stretch marks. I handed the baby to Jun."]
Expressionless Brother fell silent for three seconds, then coldly uttered: ["I was only three."]
Glamorous Mom paused, then kept deflecting:
["But you loved holding your little sister! You kept asking if such a fun 'toy' could be shared with your little girlfriend, Ann."]
["Ann wasn't my girlfriend."]
["But every time she saw me, she sweetly called me Mom…"]
I was on pins and needles.
Harper Sloan didn't look so great either.
Watching Mom and Brother veer further off-topic, she couldn't take it anymore and cut in:
["Dad, Mom, Brother—look at my face, then look at hers. Don't I look more like part of this family?"]
She pointed straight at me on the couch.
I touched my own thoroughly average face and nodded in agreement.
All my life, the praises my brother got included but weren't limited to:
["So handsome,"] ["Good-looking,"] ["The spitting image of your dad."]
When it came to me, it was always just one phrase:
["This girl looks… so blessed."]
It was depressing.
["Plus, I've always been a top student, excellent in character and grades. But from what I know, she's been dead last her whole life—she even bought her college diploma!"]
Harper Sloan continued laying out her evidence.
Hearing that, I lowered my head a little ashamed.
Ever since starting school,
it was a given that my brother would come first every time.
It was undisputed that I would be last every time.
My teacher refused to believe it and gave me extra tutoring.
Then she ended up in the ICU with intracranial hypertension…
In her delirious state, she gripped my hand and kept asking:
["What exactly is their relationship…"]
Full of remorse and determined to change,
the night before an exam I hit the books like never before—literally tying my hair to the ceiling and stabbing my thigh with an awl to stay awake.
I memorized the entire math textbook.
And this time, I became the first person in school history to fill the exam paper with formulas… and score a zero. I went viral campus-wide.
Thinking of that, I turned to my parents and brother with a grave expression:
["Is it possible… that maybe… you guys are actually the real family?"]
Mom and Dad fell deep in thought.
Big Bro looked intensely serious.
Harper Sloan was still pleading:
["Mom, Dad, don't you believe I'm your daughter? I've been wandering alone for 18 years—how can you not believe me now that I've finally come home?!"]
Just as the tension was reaching its peak,
Wang Mom, who'd been standing in the shadows all along, spoke up:
["Sir, Ma'am, Young Master, Miss… actually, isn't there a thing nowadays called a paternity test?"]
2
The paternity test itself went smoothly. The results would be ready in a month.
Harper Sloan was not happy. She started arguing with the staff.
[Why do I have to wait a whole month for the results?]
[Because you wait your turn like everyone else.]
[Do you know who I am?]
[A citizen.]
[Who gave you the courage to talk to me like this?]
[The state. This is a state-run institution.]
The staff member's face was completely blank. Harper Sloan was hopping mad. I was cringing hard enough to dig a mansion with my toes.
A crowd was gradually gathering. I couldn't take it anymore and went over, pulling at her sleeve to劝说: [Maybe just wait? It's only a month...]
Before I could finish, Harper Sloan shook me off.
[You shut up! You'd obviously love to squat in my nest for one more month! But I absolutely will not give you that chance!]
She shoved me away, then immediately grabbed the white lab coat of the young staffer, projecting her voice with full force:
[I order you to produce the results TODAY, or you'll face the consequences!]
3
The consequence was that Harper Sloan was rewarded with three days in detention.
Three days later, Harper Sloan showed up at our door again.
She demanded to move into the house, stating she wanted to experience the warmth of a family she'd missed for so many years.
Cold Dad said: ["Wang Mom, prepare a room."]
Tears welled up in Harper Sloan's eyes, overcome with emotion.
["You've already accepted me in your hearts! This is truly wonderful. From now on, I'll stay by your side and make up for all the lost time."]
She shot me a挑衅 look and announced loudly:
["I'm going to make up for all the companionship I missed!"]
I turned away, struggling to keep a straight face.
Companionship?
As far back as I can remember, I woke up every day in a 500-square-meter bedroom, had breakfast at an 8-meter-long dining table, and the only permanent members of the household were Wang Mom, Uncle Chen, my brother (who came home on weekends), and the two Dobermans in the yard.
Loneliness and emptiness were the hallmarks of my childhood.
When I was younger, my favorite thing was gazing up at the sky at a perfect 45-degree angle, flawlessly embodying the angst of teen drama novels.
My social media posts were all stuff like:
["Money can't buy love or companionship,"]
["Those who get it, don't need to ask; those who don't, why bother?"]
Of course, that phase ended abruptly during one New Year's Eve dinner, when my brother screenshotted my posts, blew them up to full size, and put them into a PowerPoint slideshow that played on a loop at the table.
I have no desire to relive that mortifying memory ever again. I silently shed a tear of sympathy for Harper Sloan.
Her dream was destined to be shattered.
However, my dazzlingly gorgeous mom was beaming, clapping enthusiastically and exclaiming with excitement:
["How wonderfully said! I'd also love to make up for what we missed! You're so pretty—I must dress you up as a breathtaking little princess!"]
A breathtaking little princess?
Hearing that, my brother and I almost simultaneously took a step backward.
We opened our mouths to speak, then stopped, then wanted to speak again.
But watching our mom pulling Harper Sloan along, giddy with excitement like a schoolgirl, my brother and I exchanged a glance.
We closed our mouths, and said nothing.
[I have so many beautiful clothes that have never been worn. Now I've finally found a model—this is wonderful!]
[Mom, if you're willing, I'd love to be your model forever!]
[Really? Oh, you're so sweet! I'm so touched I could cry. It's so good to have you here!]
Harper Sloan was swept up in the flattery.
A moment later, she glanced toward me out of the corner of her eye.
[Mom, didn't you ever dress up older sister before?]
[But then again, that makes sense—since she's not your real daughter, of course you wouldn't be as close…]
[Just like those two dogs out in the yard—that kind of deep bond only exists between a real mother and daughter. A fake could never become real!]
Harper Sloan went on and on, getting more and more blunt:
[Look how they snuggle together—it's like a reflection of our family…]
I couldn't help but interject:
[Loki and Tank are both male.]
Harper Sloan's smile froze.
I added:
[They were neutered over a decade ago.]
Harper Sloan's face turned a spectrum of colors.
But soon, her expression shifted back to triumph.
My mom eagerly pulled her upstairs, and as she left, Harper Sloan still made sure to shoot me a victorious look.
What she didn't notice was the pity in my eyes.
Wish her luck.
4
Lunchtime.
There were still four of us at the table.
Me, my brother, my mom, and her—dressed up like a dopamine doll.
Luxurious gown, exquisite jewelry, and a top hat.
Not haute couture clothing—just… really tall.
I looked at Harper Sloan, her head topped with what looked like an eight-tier cake decoration, her face painted like a medieval ghost, and felt nothing but overwhelming pity.
Ever since I was little,
my mom, the international movie star, has been dedicated to creating the most beautiful living doll.
Unfortunately, I was born underwhelming and prone to slacking, which always made her back off.
And while my brother was born exceptionally good-looking, he perfectly inherited my dad's finance-tycoon aura—mastering the art of the killer glare since toddlerhood, shutting my mom down every time.
But I knew that even though she'd quieted down, she never gave up.
She collected piles of dolls, and even used my dad's name to order life-sized custom ones.
It once even made the tabloids as a "rich family scandal."
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked at Harper Sloan, who was so tightly laced she couldn't even sit—she had to eat standing.
Every time she reached for a dish, the eight-tier cake on her head wobbled perilously; every time she looked down, lead-based powder from her face fell into the bowl.
My brother broke the silence:
[Didn't realize it was Christmas already. Who put up the tree?]
"lantern slide—"
I don't usually laugh—unless I can't help it.
My mom wasn't having it:
[Isn't she pretty? Just like a doll…]
Her peach-blossom eyes blinked innocently.
My brother fired back:
[Dolls don't need to breathe. She's about to suffocate.]
Mom suddenly looked guilty and glanced worriedly at Harper Sloan.
But I have no idea what was going through Harper Sloan's mind—by now her face was turning purple from lack of air.
Facing my mom's rare show of emotion, she forced herself to perk up and squeezed out a smile even uglier than a scowl:
[I'm… fine, really.]
[Don't push yourself.]
I kindly reminded her.
But she wasn't having it, answering with sarcasm:
[You just don't understand. A parent's love is as weighty as a mountain. This isn't a cage—it's the heavy love of a mother!]
Just as she uttered "heavy love," a crisp "crack" echoed in the air.
Harper Sloan's expression twisted. Her body began to tremble.
Then, under the weight of the eight-tier cake topper, her entire form tipped backward—
and landed with a deafening THUD.
What followed was pure chaos—people stumbling, things falling.
Sure enough.
A parent's love is indeed as heavy as a mountain.
5
When Harper Sloan returned from the hospital, my father had also come back. I watched as she—wrapped up like a mummy—was escorted upstairs by my parents, then silently lifted my head and gazed up at the sky at a perfect 45-degree angle, lost in thought.
"Miss, don't overthink it. You've been part of the Montegreco family for eighteen years, after all." Auntie Wang walked over, draped a blanket over my shoulders, and spoke in a comforting tone.
I straightened up, slowly turned my gaze to her, and said with complete seriousness:
"Auntie Wang, I've figured it out."
"That nurse who swapped me and Harper Sloan back then… she was a master."
Auntie Wang stared blankly, her expression complicated.
I raised my hand, placed it on her shoulder, and continued:
"She foresaw that Harper Sloan and the Montegreco family were not spiritually compatible."
Auntie Wang's mouth fell open.
"She's been like this after just two visits. If she'd been living here all eighteen years… would she have even survived? There must have been a mastermind who switched me in to take the blow for her!"
6
After a few days staying at our house, Harper Sloan finally began to sense that something was off.
At the dinner table, she confronted me:
[Why is it that I see you here every single day?]
[Because it's not the weekend,]I said, serving myself a bowl of soup without looking up. [On weekends, you get to see one more person.]
[What about Mom and Dad?] she pressed, frustrated.
I took a sip of soup, thought for a moment, and replied:
[Turkey, France, Tokyo, or maybe Paris…]
Her face darkened. She snapped that I must be sick in the head, reciting lyrics for no reason.
I shrugged, expression helpless.
I was telling the truth.
After all, finance tycoons are always flying around the world, and international movie stars are constantly hopping between countries.
But Harper Sloan couldn't accept it. She stared at me intently, and then her eyes welled up with tears.
She looked utterly pitiful, almost exactly like Tank when he was little.
When I first found him, he had that same wronged and wounded look—but all it took was one toy ball to make him bounce cheerfully all over the yard.
Though that ball had been with Tank for years… if I brought it to her now…
Would Tank mind?
Pursing my lips, I tentatively asked:
[Maybe… you could just tag along with me?]
Harper Sloan burst into tears outright…
7
Harper Sloan must have used some method because that very evening, Mom, Dad, and my brother all actually came home.
All five family members, plus the two staff and the two dogs, crowded into the living room for what was, in my long life, the very first family meeting I'd ever witnessed.
Harper Sloan kicked things off.
[Dad, Mom, I want to become your real daughter in every way!]
My parents glanced at each other.
[Did the test results come out?] Mom asked, even picking up a calendar to check. [Has it really been that long? I feel like I just left the house yesterday…]
Cold Dad frowned and started scrolling through his laptop emails.
[We still haven't secured the South District project after three months? The planning department is full of useless idiots.]
Expressionless Bro stated: [3 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes.]
My dad and mom put down what they were holding and sighed in unison, relieved.
Harper Sloan looked even more wronged.
[Dad, what I mean is… I've finally come home. I want to take on the responsibilities befitting a daughter of the Montegreco family—not like her, just coasting through life aimlessly at such a young age…] She pointed straight at me.
My brother understood. [You want to be the heir?] His tone was icy, his narrow eyes fixed on her with an insight that made her shrink back slightly.
Harper Sloan straightened up solemnly.
[Every child of the Montegreco family is equal. I just want to share the burden, to become a source of pride for Mom and Dad, just like you, Brother!]
[Dad, believe in me just this once. I've always looked up to you as my role model! I've always aspired to be like you! Please give me a chance to prove myself!]
"lantern slide—" I couldn't hold it in and quickly covered my mouth.
[Ahem, ahem.] Wang Mom and Uncle Chen coughed pointedly behind me.
I hurriedly retracted my poorly hidden grin and quietly tried to make myself invisible again.
Harper Sloan continued, talking about all her years of loneliness and her desire to finally find a place to belong. She cried real tears.
Mom was moved. [Luca Sebastian Montegreco, the child just wants a sense of belonging. Maybe we should…]
Dad was still frowning, his aura all business tycoon.
Then, my brother spoke up.
[I have no objections.]
Hearing this, my dad finally relented.
[Fine. Uncle Chen, arrange a curriculum for her starting tomorrow.]
Harper Sloan was ecstatic. She looked at me with utter superiority.
I lowered my head and sighed deeply.
Young lady… she has no idea what she's getting herself into…
Day One of the Scheduled Lessons
Harper Sloan was crying again.
Staring at the stacks of books and workbooks so tall she couldn't see over them even on tiptoe, her mind practically short-circuited.
Uncle Chen stood calmly beside her, expression unchanged:
[Miss, starting today, I have arranged one-on-one tutors from various fields for you. Everything follows the same standard as the Young Master's training—though he began his studies from early childhood, so his progress will naturally be ahead of yours...]
[But there's no need to worry. I've designed a systematic learning plan to ensure you catch up quickly.]
[Today's curriculum includes finance, management, market analysis, strategy, piano, German, Arabic, Spanish, astronomy...]
[Wait!]
Harper Sloan couldn't take it anymore. Her lips trembled; tears seemed moments from falling. Clinging to a last shred of hope, she asked:
[Why do I need to learn astronomy?!]
Uncle Chen:
[Not only that. You will also study home management. Every child of the Montegreco family is expected to excel in all areas—versatile and exceptional.]
Harper Sloan:
[But she's just lazing around!]
Harper Sloan pointed excitedly in my direction.
I looked up, confused, a chip halfway to my mouth while binge-watching my drama. Meeting Harper Sloan's reddened eyes, I answered with unshakable confidence:
[Yeah, 'cause I coast through life.]
Harper Sloan's face flushed deep purple.
8
From then on, Harper Sloan began a routine of waking up at 5 a.m., washing up, having a simple breakfast, then practicing the yangqin for an hour, followed by an hour of German lessons. After that, she'd dive into a full day of professional finance courses, with an additional hour of piano practice squeezed in between, all lasting until 10:30 p.m.
The next day, it would start all over again...
Well, now things were different.
She used to complain that I was the only one she ever saw at home all day.
Now, she saw plenty of people—everyone, in fact, except me.
She also no longer had the time or energy to talk about "staying by their side enjoying family time."
She was practically already on her knees—from exhaustion.
9
In the end, the incident concluded with Harper Sloan—exhausted and having collapsed onto the floor—sustaining further damage to her already fractured ribs.
She lay in bed, her face deathly pale, her breathing faint as a whisper.
I stood by the bedside, trying to comfort her out of kindness:
[Where there's a will, there's a way… but sometimes it's okay to give up.]
She stared at me, her eyes glowing with something fierce and green.
I broke off a piece of spicy strip and offered it to her.
She cried tears of emotion.
Except she couldn't speak.
Her chest heaved violently for what felt like forever; all I could hear was a rough, wheezing "hkk… hkk…" from her throat.
My arm was getting tired holding out the snack.
Just as I was considering pulling it back, my notoriously stoic brother actually walked in.
[Brother…]
The moment Harper Sloan saw him, she started crying—
tears streaming down like rain from a pear blossom.
Even I, a very straight girl, felt moved by the display.
But my brother acted like he didn't even see it.
Hands in his pockets, he delivered the most emo line in the iciest tone imaginable:
[Heavy is the head that wears the crown.]
Harper Sloan completely broke down.
Watching her lie there looking utterly defeated, I couldn't bear it. I cleared my throat lightly, trying to ease the tension.
[What are you doing back?]
[Log in.]
My brother was characteristically brief.
Thankfully, I understood exactly what he meant—though my face was full of refusal.
I was just about to clutch my stomach and make a run for it (bathroom excuse!), but he cut off my cast:
[Now.]
My eye twitched.
Well, little sisters exist to be their big brothers' gaming sidekicks.
Even I wasn't exempt from this fate.
So, under my brother's freezing-cold-can-kill-with-a-look gaze, I resigned myself to putting down the spicy strips, pulling out my phone, and trembling as I opened the Honor of Kings app.
[Playing with friends or randoms? Play safe or all-out aggression?]
I'd accepted my fate.
But just as the "timi" startup sound chimed, Harper Sloan's voice cut in:
[Brother, are you gaming? I play too—can you carry me?]
I looked up in disbelief, staring straight at Harper Sloan.
If I could have, I would've struck the classic "Erkang hand pose" and screamed at her not to cause trouble.
But Harper Sloan had already pulled out her phone in front of us, opened the game, and with a clear "timi", plastered a smug look on her face.
[I have a great win rate, brother—I'm King tier with Support Yao. I can totally carry. My skills are way better than… some people's.]
My hands shook against the edges of my phone.
Seeing that neither my brother nor I responded,
Harper Sloan's eyes instantly reddened again, her voice choking up with sobs.
[Brother, I'm your sister too. Even if we didn't grow up together, blood is thicker than water…]
[I don't want to break up this family—I'm here to join it.]
[Can you… please not shut me out…]
Listening to her, my heart felt tangled with all kinds of emotions.
10
Ten losses in a row.
My heart was utterly calm—I was used to it by now.
Years of experience have given me a bone-deep understanding of the man that is my brother.
Outwardly, he looks cold and unapproachable.
In reality, he's cold-blooded and impossible to get along with.
He's maxed out his toxic verbal buff, and he's got one fatal flaw:
He's cursed.
Extremely cursed.
You can't say his skills are bad.
You can't say his positioning is wrong.
But if you queue up with him, you're looking at a ten-loss streak, minimum.
Eventually, I could only blame it on that mouth of his—equipped with a turbocharged engine of insults.
Every match, he trash-talks until our own teammates go AFK and the enemy team goes berserk.
[If you're missing maternal love, I can give it to you. No need to baby the enemy like a devoted mother.]
[What's that support item? A shroud for the dead?]
[Throw some rice on your phone—a chicken would have better positioning than you.]
[Are you half-paralyzed or fully paralyzed? Even playing as a support, you're dancing on your own team's graves.]
On the phone screen, the player playing "Yaoyao" was already wandering lost around the map, utterly disoriented.
My brother shot a cold glance toward the bedside.
Harper Sloan's face was ashen.
Holding my phone, I quickly backed out of the room.
If he's already roasting her today… hopefully he won't come for me next.
11
I knew Harper Sloan was trying every trick in the book to win over Mom, Dad, and Brother.
Unfortunately.
She failed. Miserably.
She texted Mom:
[Mom, your new hit show where you play the strong female lead is absolutely amazing! I wrote a 30,000-word essay analyzing your character online—every scene is a highlight!]
And just like that, that essay became ammunition for anti-fans to attack Mom's character portrayal. Mom got dragged onto the hot search list the very next day.
She organized Dad's study:
[Dad, I've been working so hard lately, studying all the documents you left in your study every day. I even cleared out a lot of the old papers you didn't need!]
Soon after, several of Dad's key projects collapsed due to missing reference materials.
She made lunch for Brother: handmade mango curry beef brisket rice.
Not long after, Brother—who is allergic to mangoes, curry, and beef brisket—was rushed to the hospital by ambulance.
Cold Dad: [How much longer until the paternity report comes out?]
Glamorous Mom: [It's only been a month and fifteen days.]
Deadpan Brother: [I didn't think I was that hard to get rid of.]
That only strengthened my belief:
Maybe what that nurse who switched us really wanted to protect wasn't Harper Sloan—but the other three members of the Montegreco family.
In the end, after some serious reflection, the trio decided that regardless of the test results, they would arrange for Harper Sloan to study abroad.
In Argentina.
The country farthest from China.
The day she got the news, Harper Sloan cried bitterly. Pointing at me, she raged:
[Then what about her!]
She cue me, nearly screaming herself hoarse:
[Aren't you going to kick her out?!]
That's when my dad, my mom, and my brother looked utterly confused.
Glamorous Mom: [Why would we kick An'an out?]
She stared at Harper Sloan, completely puzzled.
Seeing this, Harper Sloan became even more unhinged. Stomping her foot in fury, she yelled:
[She's not your daughter! I am! Now that I'm back, she should leave! Only one of us can stay!]
Glamorous Mom, baffled: [Only children make choices. Can't adults have both?]
Cold Dad, icy gaze: [Both are registered in the Montegreco household.]
Deadpan Brother, smirked: [The Montegreco family can afford it.]
I was genuinely moved.
I'd always thought ordinary me could never truly fit in this family…
But now, they were firmly choosing me!
Just as my eyes welled up, on the verge of tears, I heard my mom say:
[She's so simple-minded, and we're the ones who raised her to coast through life without a care. If we kicked her out, could she even survive? We have to take responsibility!]
The tears that were about to fall were instantly forced back.
So that's where my brother's sharp tongue came from.
Now I know the source.
But Harper Sloan couldn't accept it. She pointed at me, demanding my parents choose one of us—or else she'd cut ties with them.
Cold Dad: [Are you threatening us?]
Glamorous Mom: [If we cut ties, can you still be my model?]
Deadpan Brother: [One less person fighting over the inheritance.]
Harper Sloan froze. It seemed she hadn't expected my parents to react so coldly. In her mind, they should have been full of regret and panic—if not immediately agreeing, at least torn over the dilemma.
But only I understood.
In wealthy families, emotional bonds are often thin.
Rumor has it that to secure his position, my dad even schemed against his own younger brother.
My brother and I grew up in the Montegreco household seeing the nanny more often than our parents. To them, their careers have always mattered more than we did.
So all I can say is—Harper Sloan took herself way too seriously.
12
And now, the clown was herself all along.
A call from the testing lab ended up saving Harper Sloan.
They notified us that the results had been prepared ahead of schedule and asked us to come pick them up.
Dad, Mom, and my brother went in one car.
I, experiencing a wave of do-gooder impulse, chose to ride with Harper Sloan.
But little did I know… that this surge of misguided sympathy would lead to trouble…
13
Harper Sloan and I had been kidnapped.
By Wang Mom.
Harper Sloan was stunned.
So was I.
What stunned me wasn't that Wang Mom had kidnapped me—but that ordinary, unremarkable Wang Mom, at nearly fifty years old, had taken down over twenty of the Montegreco family's bodyguards… with a spatula.
[Wang Mom…] I called out, my eyes reddening.
Wang Mom stiffened slightly and looked at me with a complicated expression.
[I'm sorry, Young Mistress. I'm under orders. Don't… blame me…]
[You were this skilled all along? That year when I was ten and we chased after my brother together, you couldn't even help me push through the crowd to get an autographed photo!]
Wang Mom: [I'm sorry. I had to hide my abilities.]
[Traitors go to hell!]
Harper Sloan finally snapped:
[Are you both insane?! Is this really the time?! Wang Mom, why did you kidnap me? Weren't you the one who told me I'm the real Montegreco family daughter?!]
Hearing that, Wang Mom's face turned cold again. She glared at Harper Sloan, who was tied tightly to a chair, and said through gritted teeth:
[Years ago, Luca Sebastian Montegreco killed the man I loved. I swore I'd make him pay!]
[So I switched the newborn you with the daughter I had with my beloved man. I waited for the right moment to reveal the truth and make Luca Sebastian Montegreco's whole family suffer!]
[You have no idea how long I've waited for this day!]
Harper Sloan and I fell into a rare, unified silence.
Her grand revenge plan was to endure hardships for years as a maid in her enemy's home, secretly swap her lover's child with Luca Sebastian Montegreco's biological daughter, then pick the perfect time to reveal the truth… and have the real daughter show up to claim her place?
The world had been flipped upside down in a way I couldn't comprehend.
I hesitated, then cautiously asked:
[Wang Mom… right now… are you feeling even a little bit of that sweet revenge? Just a tiny, little…?]
Wang Mom broke.
She yelled at me:
[How was I supposed to know Luca Sebastian Montegreco's family doesn't care one bit about blood ties?! So I kidnapped both daughters! Let's see which one he chooses!]
The air went silent for three seconds.
I carefully reminded her:
[But… aren't I the daughter of your beloved man?]
Just as Auntie Wang was rendered speechless,
Dad, Mom, and my brother arrived. Along with Uncle Chen.
[Don't come any closer! I've strapped bombs to all of them!]
Auntie Wang stared fiercely at him, unleashing years of hatred.
[Luca Sebastian Montegreco! You're heartless—you didn't even spare your own brother! If it weren't for your schemes, Mateo would never have boarded that doomed flight!]
My father frowned.
[You're doing this… to avenge Mateo Alexander Montegreco?]
Auntie Wang: "That's right! All those years ago, to get back at you, I switched your children. The daughter you've raised for eighteen years should actually call you Uncle! Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? You schemed against Mateo, but ended up raising his daughter!"
My mom was terrified into tears:
[The child is innocent, Auntie Wang. The grievance has its source, the debt its owner—if you want revenge, take it on him!]
She pulled my dad forward.
My brother shot her a look:
[You really know how to cut out the middleman.]
I wanted to laugh, but holding a bomb rather limited me.
So I could only try again:
[Auntie Wang, look at me. I am the only living legacy your beloved left in this world.]
Auntie Wang hesitated for a second, then her eyes hardened again.
[I can see it—you have hardly any feelings for your own biological daughter! Instead, you care more about the one you raised for eighteen years!]
[So today, I'm going to kill her right in front of you! I'll make the rest of your lives a living hell!]
As Auntie Wang spoke, she was about to press the button on the detonator.
[Wait!]
At the critical moment, Uncle Chen spoke up.
[Wang Qing! Look at me—do you recognize who I am?!]
14
The world had finally descended into a madness I could no longer comprehend.
My parents weren't my parents—they were the real heiress's parents.
My brother wasn't my brother—he was the real heiress's brother.
Auntie Wang wasn't a housemaid—she was my family's enemy.
Uncle Chen wasn't the butler—he was my… nominal second uncle? Or my biological father?
The moment Uncle Chen performed what seemed like a magical transformation and revealed a completely different face, I began to doubt my lifelong commitment to materialism.
Then, in the very next second, Auntie Wang cried out in disbelief:
[Brother Mateo …]
Uncle Chen was my second uncle—the one I'd never met, the one my father had supposedly cruelly schemed to death.
But according to my so-called "second uncle," he wasn't actually betrayed all those years ago. He'd just grown tired of the family's endless intrigue, so he and my father staged an elaborate fake death.
After living freely for a few years, he returned under a new identity and became the butler—"Uncle Chen"—working right under my father's nose.
Auntie Wang was stunned.
[So… there was no vengeance?]
[None.]
[Then… what was the meaning of my scheming for eighteen years?]
[It meant you were lovesick out of your mind.]
15
With the kidnapping resolved, there was one more important matter to address.
The Montegreco family living room.
[So… I'm your daughter?]
I looked at Uncle Chen—or rather, my nominal second uncle—sitting on the sofa.
Seeing that face beneath the mask, even more handsome than my dad's, I didn't dare get any closer. Once again, I felt utterly inadequate.
Second Uncle:
[No, you're not my daughter. You are my elder brother's daughter.]
I was stunned.
Just then, my brother brought out the paternity test results and dangled them in front of me and Harper Sloan.
I clearly saw the line that showed a 99.95% DNA match between me and Luca Sebastian Montegreco.
[You are my sister.]
My brother's tone was cold as ever, his glance sweeping over me with familiar disdain:
[Though, I'll admit, you really don't look the part.]
Wang Mom reacted with disbelief.
[How is that possible?] she insisted. [I really did switch the babies back then!]
[But I switched them back again,] Second Uncle interjected calmly.
Mystery solved.
According to Uncle Chen's explanation, after Wang Mom had swapped the babies, he had secretly switched them back. All these years, he had remained silent to protect her.
Harper Sloan stared, a mix of shock and palpable bitterness in her eyes—as though the thought of being just the housekeeper's daughter was unbearable.
[So then… I'm your daughter?]
Second Uncle sighed.
[No. You aren't mine either.]
Harper Sloan's face stiffened again.
[My wife had been unfaithful long before that. When I faked my death, she lied about you being my posthumous child to claim more of my inheritance.]
He added gently, [So whose child you are… I truly don't know.]
[Of course, if you'd like, you can call me your godfather.]
Harper Sloan stood frozen as if struck—eyes wide, lips trembling slightly.
A long silence followed. Eventually, I couldn't bear to watch anymore and stepped forward, offering a soft word of consolation:
[It's okay to cry.]
And then—
[Woo—!] she broke down completely.
16
Wang Mom was taken away by Second Uncle. Harper Sloan agreed to study abroad in Argentina.
As for me, I returned to my usual life of leisurely underachievement.
But the atmosphere at home wasn't quite the same as before.
Aloof Dad no longer spent all his time flying around the world.
Glamorous Mom stopped sleeping in hotels every night.
Stone-Faced Brother even switched from boarding school to being a day student.
We were missing Wang Mom and Uncle Chen, but now we had my dad and mom around more.
And surprisingly, my dad even took the initiative to organize a family picnic.
Confused, I said: [You really didn't have to come back home just for me.]
Stone-Faced Brother replied: [We did some reflection. This whole situation made us realize we haven't made you feel secure enough.]
I mumbled: [It's really okay…]
He cut in: [Don't think I didn't know. You had your bags packed and ready to run even before the results came out.]
I froze, looking at them, and swallowed hard.
[You knew?]
Knew that I'd been secretly packing all my things, ready to bolt at any moment.
[Ann, deep down, even if you were ordinary, we always believed you were our biological daughter,] my mom said, turning to me with a tenderness I'd never seen before.
She added: [I never once doubted it.]
My heart felt like it had been hit by something.
The moment Harper Sloan showed up, I was sure I was the impostor—after all, I never fit in with this family.
They were like dazzling white swans, and I was just… an unremarkable ugly duckling.
[I thought…]
I don't know why, but my nose started to sting.
I was just about to say more when the man in the driver's seat spoke up.
[After all, no family's ancestral graves keep smoking with good fortune forever.]
I closed my eyes.
Well, great.
That heart of mine that had been hanging in suspense?
Still ended up dead.