Chapter 2

Joanne froze.

I forced a smile that probably looked worse than crying.

“You told me that no matter what I looked like, you’d always recognize me.”

“You said you only had one little brother, and that would always be me.”

Joanne’s pupils contracted.

But the next second, she looked away.

“Asher, stop overthinking things. Once you get your body back, I’ll take you on an island vacation.”

“Julian already feels terrible about what happened to you. He’s having a hard time too. I’m going to keep him company.”

With that, she turned and walked over to Julian.

“Come on. I’ll take you to pick out the new Rolex you wanted.”

Julian cheered and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Watching them walk away side by side made my eyes sting.

I went back to the servants’ room and collapsed onto the hard bed.

So they really had fallen in love with Julian a long time ago.

All those sweet promises had been nothing but lies meant to placate me.

They just wanted me to stay quietly trapped in this body and stop getting in the way of their happiness.

But I only had three days left.

Not long after, Julian made a post and even went out of his way to make sure I saw it.

The photo showed him gently slipping a diamond ring onto Serena’s finger while Joanne stood beside them, smiling and applauding.

【With my sister here to witness it, my princess and I finally made it official.】

The comments were full of envy.

【Damn, Asher, you’re one lucky guy. Serena’s an absolute catch.】

【Childhood sweethearts really are the sweetest. I’m calling dibs on being a groomsman!】

But none of them knew that the man in that picture wasn’t me at all.

Blood rushed to my head.

My hands shook as I typed a comment.

【How can you call it yours when none of it belongs to you?】

I hit send.

Almost immediately, my phone started vibrating nonstop.

Serena and Joanne were both calling.

I was too angry to answer.

Less than ten minutes later, tires screeched outside the house.

Serena and Joanne stormed in with grim expressions.

Julian followed behind them, his eyes red and swollen from crying.

Joanne’s voice was icy with disgust.

“Asher, apologize to Julian. Now.”

I almost laughed at how ridiculous this was.

“What exactly did I say that was wrong? I reminded him not to think he could replace me.”

Serena snapped, “You don’t need to stake your claim like this or make passive-aggressive comments just to hurt Julian!”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“Who do you two actually love? Me? Or him, as long as he’s wearing my face?”

Julian’s tears fell even harder. He clutched his chest, his voice trembling.

“Asher, I know you hate me. If my existence makes you this miserable, then maybe I should just disappear!”

He lunged for the fruit knife on the coffee table.

“Maybe if I die, the system will stop working and you’ll get your body back!”

Joanne went white with terror and threw her arms around him.

“Julian, no!”

Serena immediately stepped between him and me.

“Look what you’ve done!” she shouted. “Will you only be satisfied once you drive him to kill himself?”

Julian broke down sobbing.

“Asher’s right. I’m just a fake. What right do I even have to keep living?”

Joanne’s eyes reddened with heartbreak.

“Asher, when did you become so vicious? Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Don’t you disgust yourself?”

She didn’t notice the flash of displeasure that crossed Julian’s face as soon as the words left her mouth.

Then Joanne’s expression hardened.

She turned to one of the servants.

“Bring me the punishment whip.”

My entire body stiffened.

The last time anyone had used it on me was when I was sixteen.

I’d secretly taken the car out while trying to cheer Joanne up and nearly gotten us into an accident.

Dad had given me three lashes.

Mom had cried the entire time, even as she told me I needed to learn my lesson.

Joanne’s voice was cold.

“The Harper family has one rule above all others. Never do anything that harms yourself or someone else.

“You deliberately pushed Julian to hurt himself. You deserve ten lashes.”

Serena gently kissed the tears from the corner of Julian’s eyes, then took the whip.

“I’ll do it.

“If you admit you were wrong and apologize, I’ll reduce it to five.”