Chapter 1

Harper's POV

"Have you lost your mind, Harper? Go help Ramona get her necklace back! You're truly from the sticks! You have absolutely no manners! Who gave you the right to just throw away someone else's stuff?" My mother Megan Campbell's shrill voice rang out nearby.

I finally realized what I had just done when the shock of being reborn had only just passed. I looked around and found myself in the same familiar backyard of the villa.

In my past life, years of being passed from place to place had left me timid and overly sensitive. I was afraid my biological parents would resent me, so even though I knew Ramona was trying to humiliate me, I still jumped into the freezing lake.

I spent ages searching for the necklace, and by the time I climbed out, I had a high fever. They, on the other hand, didn't even leave me a single box of medicine. They left on a vacation to Solara with Ramona instead, supposedly to help her unwind.

Ramona was standing right in front of me now, dressed in a new Chanel dress and wearing a pitiful expression. "That necklace was a birthday present from Mom and Dad, so it means a lot to me, Harper. How could you just throw it into the lake? I'll forgive you as long as you go into the water and retrieve it for me."

Ramona didn't bother hiding the smugness and mockery in her eyes.

I was the actual heiress of the Stone family, yet Ramona had lived the first 16 years of what should've been my life. It was clear that blood relation meant nothing against the 16-year bond the three of them shared. I felt like a complete outsider, locked out of their world.

"Have you gone deaf, Harper? Ramona is talking to you!" Megan rushed over and raised her hand to slap me.

I raised my hand and caught her wrist in a tight grip.

Megan was stunned.

In the two years I had lived with the Stone family, I had always put up with everything. I never fought back when they hit me or answered back when they insulted me. I wouldn't even raise my voice. Yet now, I was gripping her wrist so tightly that she couldn't pull free.

Megan's face flushed. "L-Let go of me!"

I released her wrist and looked at her coldly. "You want me to go into the water and get her necklace? Why don't you tell her to get it herself? Is there something wrong with her hands and feet?"

Megan shook with rage. "You're the one who threw it in, so of course, you're the one retrieving it! Ramona's always been sickly since she was young! How could she compare to someone like you, raised out in the wild countryside?"

I scoffed. "She destroyed the competition project I had spent six months making just last week. She tripped me and sent me rolling down three flights of stairs last month. She even took the tablet I bought with my own summer job money without even asking last year.

"Why didn't you ever make her apologize or compensate me when she broke my things or injured me?

"Do you plan on making excuses for her again, telling me 'it was just an accident'? If that's the case, throwing her necklace was an accident too. Why are you all making me wade through nasty lake water for her?"

Megan was rendered speechless. Her carefully pampered skin flushed crimson from embarrassment and rage.

Noticing the shift, Ramona immediately put on her typical fake, helpless front. "Is Harper still mad at me, Mom? I honestly didn't do it on purpose..."

She even forced out a couple of tears, making Megan feel sorry for her.

Megan turned to me, and her eyes were brimming with rage. "Do you see what you've done to Ramona? What the hell is wrong with you today, Harper? You threw her necklace away, and now you're even getting physical! Have you lost your mind?"

Just then, a deep, middle-aged voice came from the villa's back entrance. "What's all the shouting about? I was on a conference call in my study, and I could hear you yelling from two floors away!"