Chapter 2

"I'll give you some time. Mr. and Mrs. Cox will personally come to pick you up in three days."

Yvette left, but she kept a photocopy of the billion-dollar property transfer agreement behind.

Who wouldn't want to inherit that much money?

Still, you had to live long enough to enjoy it.

The four of us, who usually spent our days tripping each other up, fell silent. In the end, we sat down together, as if by unspoken agreement, ready to talk things through properly.

They had all seen the birthmark on my lower back. Laurel had even dug the heiress's heirloom necklace out of my suitcase before.

On top of that, there was my face.

Who the heiress was really wasn't up for debate.

That was why they couldn't understand.

"So even after the DNA test confirmed you were related to the Coxes, they still killed you?" Rebecca said.

I snapped back irritably, "Did you forget? You couldn't even tell what was left of me when you went to collect my body! So what are you still unsure about?"

Laurel let out a long sigh. "I remember. You were basically mush. I had nightmares for days after that."

Vita frowned. "We're not doubting whether you were killed. We're just not sure how you still got labeled a fraud when you're the real heiress."

Who the hell knew?

The four of us put our heads together and still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Laurel started sniffling.

"What do we do now? The only ones whose ages match are the four of us. There aren't any other candidates. With that psycho family, I honestly think if no one reconnects with them in three days, they might just kill all of us."

Obviously, none of us wanted to die.

After thinking hard, I offered a suggestion.

"Mason has records on every kid who's ever been through this orphanage. Maybe we can comb through them carefully and see if something was missed. Like maybe the heiress was actually adopted out already, and me looking like Mrs. Cox is just a coincidence."

With our lives on the line, we decided to go all out and headed to the orphanage director's office.

Laurel was always Mason Lane's favorite. A little sweet talk, and we got permission to look at the files.

We went through every single record, including kids who had been adopted and kids who hadn't. We checked them all.

Unfortunately, the only ones whose ages matched were indeed just the four of us.

Mason also said that when we were left at the orphanage gate, we were only a few months old. There was no way the ages were wrong.

Not only that, Mason revealed something else.

Orson was certain the heiress was in the orphanage because the nanny who had swapped the babies had confessed in person.

I felt a wave of despair. "So the heiress really is one of us!"

Rebecca was quick to distance herself. "More accurately, it's you."

I let out a cold laugh. "You think you can escape?"

Everyone's face went pale.

All four of us had been brutally killed by the Coxes before, for the exact same reason. The other three had been killed almost immediately after going to claim the family.

None of us dared to gamble on whether nothing would happen if no one stepped forward.

I clenched my teeth.

"There's one more option."

Under their puzzled stares, I enunciated, "I'll personally go meet Mr. Cox and see what secrets they're hiding."

The three of them were so moved that they promised they would pray for my soul after I died.

That really wasn't necessary.

I wasn't sacrificing myself for anyone else. I just couldn't accept it. I couldn't understand why I, of all people, was labeled a fraud.

If they didn't want to acknowledge me, they could've pretended nothing ever happened.

Why go through all this trouble, lure me back with a great fortune, and then kill me?

In those fake-heiress stories, no matter how biased the parents were, they never played games this twisted.

Given how ruthless the Coxes were, I really didn't dare walk straight up to their door.