Chapter 1

The day my birth parents found me, I had been putting screen protectors on phones at a phone repair kiosk.

A well-dressed couple walked up and grabbed my hands. Their fingers trembled with excitement.

"Sweetheart, we have finally found you. Please, come home with us."

I looked at them, then at the phone in my hand. Half its screen still bubbled under a botched protector. I had to wonder.

Was this scam supposed to be this obvious?

I believed them only after they pulled out a DNA report and wired 7 figures into my account on the spot.

I really had been the lost daughter of a wealthy family.

I thought my life was about to become one of those fairy-tale comeback stories. On my first day home, I realized I had walked straight into the nightmare version.

Allegra Ainsworth, the fake heiress, had thrown the welcome gift my mother gave me into the toilet.

"Do not think that just because you are back, there is a place for you in this family."

She held her chin so high it looked ready to punch through the ceiling.

"You are nothing but a stray who rolled in the dirt for 20 years. I can smell the poverty on you. It is disgusting."

I did not dare speak. Tears pooled in my eyes.

There it was again, that pathetic spinelessness of mine.

The sight of me only made her smile wider.

"In my entire life, nobody has ever dared to challenge me. Take a good look. What happens to this bracelet is exactly what will happen to you."

She pressed the flush handle, and the diamond bracelet spiraled down and vanished.

I stood there, gutted. That had been a 7-figure diamond bracelet.

Spineless as ever, I crept back to my room, shut the door, and cried where no one could see.

I had thought coming home would mean a better life. If this was what that looked like, I would rather not live at all.

I could not outfight her. I could not out-argue her. Dying and starting over sounded like the easier option.

I picked up the ornate letter opener from the desk and dragged it across my wrist without a moment of hesitation.

Warm blood pooled out, and for the first time, I felt free. My vision blurred, and I was ready to let go. A piercing scream tore through the house from downstairs.

"No. Cedric. Cedric, what is wrong with you?"

It had been Mom's voice. She had not been calling my name.