Chapter 2

It was my "dear sister", Anna Pedersen.

"Joanne!" she gasped, rushing up at the sight of the blood streaming from my hand. Her eyes glistened with tears as she cradled it. "Calvin, don't treat her like this. It's my fault for coming back."

Calvin pulled our hands apart, drawing her into his arms. "You're too kind, Anna. She doesn't deserve your sympathy."

Anna playfully swatted him, then turned back to me. "By the way, Joanne, don't forget to join me at tomorrow's charity gala. You're coming with me, right?"

I let out a cold laugh. At every such event, Anna insisted I, the false heiress, play the foil to her radiance. The Pedersens used these occasions to flaunt their magnanimity, even toward a fraud like me.

"Why should I go?" I shot back.

Her face soured at my defiance, and Calvin sulked, "What's with that attitude?" Anna is your sister! You stole her life for twenty years. Accompanying her to a gala is the least you can do. The Pedersen family raised you, and this is how you repay them? You're an ungrateful wretch!"

His eyes burned with disgust, but my lips curved into a smirk. "Fine, I'll go. Let the world see how my fiancé is tangled with my sister."

"Don't even think about it," Calvin scoffed, his gaze dripping with contempt. In one swift motion, he gripped my throat. "But I'll make you watch and see who's the swan and who's the duckling."

The next day, as I stepped out of the house, someone struck me from behind, and darkness claimed me. Rough hands shoved me into a car trunk, and I was driven to the charity gala.

They forced me into a coarse black gown that chafed my skin. Guests sneered at my shabby appearance.

Anna approached, a radiant smile on her face. "Joanne, you made it!"

Her haute couture gown, sparkling with crystals, stood in stark contrast to my drab attire. My gaze fell on the jade bracelet adorning her wrist, and nausea churned in my stomach.

Years ago, Calvin, drowning in gambling debts and too proud to ask his family for help, had sold his grandmother's heirloom bracelet to settle them.

He'd wept in my lap, calling it his only keepsake from her. To save it, I'd knelt before the casino boss, begging. Thugs had surrounded me, and without a timely police call, I might not have escaped unscathed.

Now, that same bracelet gleamed on another woman's wrist.

Anna feigned surprise. "Joanne, why are you dressed so plainly? I know you're frugal, but you can't embarrass us at an event like this."

Whispers of judgment rippled through the crowd. I clenched my teeth, forcing a smile. "How could I steal your spotlight? I wear what you give me."

Her mother, Deborah Pedersen, approached with a wine glass, her tone gentle but laced with authority. "Enough, Joanne. This is an important occasion. Be sensible and let Anna shine."

She patted my hand, her jeweled nails scraping my skin painfully.