Riccardo Exposito

The director had barely finished introducing the two households when Vera threw herself into Mrs. Miller’s arms.

“Mom, take me home. I want to be your daughter.”

Mrs. Miller froze for a few seconds, then hugged her, visibly touched. Beside her, Mr. Miller began to smile.

They were both human. He worked in maintenance at the academy, and she was a cleaner. They had dressed for the occasion, but their worn cuffs and work-roughened hands still showed years of hard labor.

Across from them, Count Ashford wore a perfectly tailored suit. His wife was immaculate from head to toe.

They were pureblood vampires. Their family owned the city’s largest business group and was the academy’s biggest donor.

Their only son, Sebastian, stood by the window, looking utterly uninterested in the meeting.

In our first life, Vera had taken one look at the Ashfords and chosen them.

Now she clung to Mrs. Miller as though this were the life she had always dreamed of.

The director looked surprised.

“Vera, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She answered immediately, then looked at me over Mrs. Miller’s shoulder, barely hiding her triumph.

I knew what she was thinking.

Now that she had claimed the Millers, I would have to go with the Ashfords.

Sure enough, the countess turned to me.

“And you?”

I glanced at Vera.

“I’ll go with the Ashfords.”

The Millers were applying to adopt a child. The Ashfords were participating in the Vampire Council’s guardianship program for human orphans. They would provide housing and an education, while presenting themselves to the public as a noble family willing to welcome a human into their home.

Vera hadn’t cared about the distinction in our first life.

All she had seen was the Ashfords’ wealth and the heir standing by the window.

Sebastian finally looked up.

His gaze lingered on me for a few seconds. There was nothing welcoming about it.

I didn’t care.

In my first life, I had already seen how gentle he could be. I had also died after that supposed happy ending.

Whether he liked me this time no longer mattered.

Once the paperwork was finished, we left the orphanage together.

Vera linked her arm through Mrs. Miller’s, acting as though they were already close. She asked Mr. Miller about his work at the academy and assured them she could do all kinds of chores and would help around the house.

The Millers clearly liked her.

Mrs. Miller stroked her hair and told her several times what a thoughtful girl she was.

Vera’s smile grew wider.

She probably thought this was everything I had been given in my first life: a poor but loving family, followed by Sebastian noticing my hard work, falling in love with me, and marrying me into vampire nobility.

What she didn’t know was that my years with the Millers had been nothing like the life she imagined.

When my adoptive father got drunk, he searched my schoolbag for money. I had to find ways to hide every scholarship payment I received.

They only became warm toward me after Sebastian started pursuing me.

Once they learned he intended to marry me, they began taking a serious interest in my “future” for the first time.

Vera had never seen any of that.

She had seen Sebastian bringing me home, the Millers smiling as they invited him to stay for dinner, and the lavish wedding that followed.

She thought poverty was just a little hardship at the beginning of a happy story.

All she had to do was get through it, and someone would come to save her.

When we reached the parking lot, Vera let go of Mrs. Miller and walked over to me.

She lowered her voice.

“This time, he’s going to fall in love with me.”

Then she turned and ran toward the Millers’ old car.

The Ashfords’ driver had already opened my door.

Sebastian stood on the other side of the car and gave me a cold look.

“My family can support you. Just don’t start thinking that makes you an Ashford.”

He had given Vera the same warning in our first life.

He hated people approaching him for his family’s money or status.

I got into the car without answering.

Through the window, I watched Vera chatting happily with the Millers.

She thought forcing me into the Ashford household meant handing me the nightmare she had lived through.

But I had never intended to make it my home.

I wanted the education they could give me, and the time to use it.

As soon as I could support myself, I would leave.