Chapter 1

I compared the two people before me three times over. They were practically carbon copies of each other. My long silence made the voice on the other end turn mocking again.

"What's wrong, Gabriella Shaw? Got exposed and now you've got nothing to say?"

I replied, "I'm right outside. Open the door so we can talk face to face."

At that, Mom froze in disbelief. Only when she noticed the boxes of supplements in my hands did she finally step aside and let me in.

"Well, at least you came to apologize. Maybe you're not a lost cause yet. You had better give up sooner rather than later.

"I know you're always trying to outdo Emi, but the Lehman family is a prestigious household. A trashy influencer like you has no business trying to latch onto them."

Our family and the Lehman family had been close for generations. An arranged marriage between our families had been in place since the two people involved were children.

On the very first day I reunited with my family, the Lehman family sent word that they would only recognize Emily Burk as their future daughter-in-law.

They had even treated me with open disdain and avoided me entirely when they heard I was an influencer.

"Well then, sorry to disappoint you."

I raised my hand to show the five-carat diamond ring on my finger.

"The family I'm marrying into is far wealthier. As for the pretentious Lehman family, I honestly couldn't care less about them.

"And I'm not here to apologize. I'm here to deliver wedding invitations. My fiance, Caleb Ingram, cares a lot about proper etiquette. He practically begged me to come, saying that he didn't want us to have any regrets.

"But now, it honestly seems like there's nothing here to miss."

I turned to leave, but Emily suddenly rushed over and grabbed my hand before placing it side by side with hers.

The two diamond rings were identical.

She barked, "Seriously? You even copied my engagement ring? You really went all out just to make me sick! You even deliberately made the wedding invitations identical! How long are you going to keep obsessing over me?"

Breaking down in tears, she ran into Mom's arms and cried, "Do I not deserve happiness just because I'm not your real daughter?"

Seeing Emily crying so miserably, Mom could no longer take it.

With a crisp smack, my cheek stung with a bright red palm print. "If I'd known you were such a shameless lunatic, I would never have acknowledged you!"

I clutched my face, fighting to keep the tears from falling so hard that I could barely breathe.

I originally started out as a livestream host. Because I was the spitting image of the actress Leah Hester when she was young, the internet kept egging me on to go do a "family reunion" with her.

At first, it was just meant to be entertainment for the stream. But after someone curious started digging around, I learned that I was actually Leah's biological daughter. Emily and I had been mistakenly switched at the hospital when we were born.

Riding the massive wave of attention from the reunion story, my mother, Leah, returned to the big screen.

Emily also benefited from the whole "deep sisterly bond" narrative with me. She gradually built up her own social media presence, siphoning off my audience and brand deals along the way.

At the time, I thought I had finally found a family who truly cared about me, so I didn't mind.

But everything changed the moment I got into Blackford University for my graduate studies, spurred on by Emily's encouragement.

I began being labeled a scheming copycat who only knew how to imitate others. No matter what I did, online trolls would swarm in, accusing me of being a pathetic imitator.

Because of that, I stepped away from the spotlight for a long time and almost left the industry.

Gritting her teeth, Mom pointed an accusatory finger at me. "If you still want to call me your mother, delete that post immediately and apologize to Emi. Then I'll pretend that none of this ever happened."

I lifted my head in defiance. "I'm your daughter too. Was there ever even a moment when you wanted to believe me?"

Perhaps my desperation made her falter as her eyes lost their edge for a moment.

Emily started crying even harder. "Stop your act! How could there possibly be two people who look exactly the same in this world?"

I agreed. If I hadn't grown up with Caleb since childhood, I might have even suspected that the Lehman family's son had teamed up with Emily just to mess with me.

Caleb had always cared about proper etiquette. He had been insisting on meeting his future in-laws, but I kept refusing. But now, the time had come.

"Whether you believe me or not, Caleb will visit in three days."

Looking Mom directly in the eyes for the first time since I stepped in, I asked, "When the time comes, will you apologize to me?"