Chapter 2

Sophie's POV

Whispers rippled through the room.

“Sophie Sanders? That name sounds familiar.”

“Isn’t she the adopted daughter the Sanders family took in a year ago?”

“I heard through the grapevine that Sophie and Lily were switched at birth. Apparently, Sophie is the real Sanders heiress.”

“Are you kidding? How could the Sanders family treat their own biological daughter like an adopted one?”

I floated quietly behind the Sanders family.

A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

They were right.

I was the real heiress.

Back then, Lily’s parents had deliberately switched us at birth so their own daughter could grow up surrounded by wealth and privilege.

Lily became the beloved daughter of the Sanders family, cherished and spoiled like a treasure.

And I spent eighteen years in a nightmare.

My adoptive parents were gambling addicts.

Every time they lost money, they came home and took their anger out on me.

Belts, cigarette burns, whatever they could grab.

My back was covered in layers of scars, old wounds buried beneath new ones.

They never cared whether I lived or died.

I barely survived by digging through trash for food.

As I got older, the way my adoptive father looked at me became more and more disgusting.

Then one day, he cornered me in my room.

I stabbed him with a pair of scissors to protect myself, but they accused me of trying to seduce him on purpose.

The couple beat me so badly I almost died.

A neighbor finally heard the commotion and saved me when I was barely breathing.

With the police involved, the truth about my identity finally came to light.

I returned to the Sanders family.

I thought my miserable life was finally over.

But Lily burst into tears right in front of me and said that since I had come back, she should leave.

The Sanders family held her in their arms, comforting her for a long time.

Then they looked at me with disappointment.

They said Lily was a victim too.

She had been so young back then.

They said I couldn’t blame her for what her parents had done.

To keep Lily from being sent back into that nightmare, they decided not to press charges.

Instead, they gave that couple a huge sum of money to cut off their custody rights.

And they still kept Lily with them.

When they made that decision, not one of them asked me how I had lived all those years.

I still remembered the cold look in Mr. and Mrs. Sanders’s eyes.

“We’ve raised Lily as our own daughter all these years. If we suddenly announce your real identity, it’ll hurt her too much.”

“So we’ve decided to introduce you as our adopted daughter for now.”

Now, the moment my name was mentioned, blank confusion crossed the Sanders family’s faces.

Then complicated emotions surged beneath their expressions.

“How could it be her?”

Simon’s eyes filled with deep hatred.

“She abandoned her own mother just to save herself. Someone like her would never be willing to die.”

I was already dead.

And yet, my hollow soul still felt a sharp ache in my chest.

Mrs. Sanders stayed silent for a long time. Her eyes slowly turned red.

At last, she spoke.

“I don’t have a daughter like her. My only daughter is Lily.”

The entire room erupted.

Countless eyes turned toward the Sanders family.

Simon let out a cold laugh. Facing everyone’s confusion, he told them what had happened back then.

“That day was supposed to be Lily’s birthday, but Sophie insisted on causing trouble. She forced my mother to go out with her.

“To calm her down, my mother canceled everything and took her skiing. No one expected an avalanche.

“My mother’s leg was crushed. She couldn’t move. And Sophie...”

He paused, his eyes venomous.

“She ran away alone without even looking back.

“If Lily hadn’t arrived in time and led the rescue team to my mother, my mom might not be alive today.”

Simon’s voice grew colder and colder.

“She spent her time at home targeting Lily and bullying her. We turned a blind eye to it.

“But she was so full of resentment that when danger came, she abandoned her own mother just to survive. Afterward, she disappeared without a word. Someone like that doesn’t deserve to be my sister.”

Just then, the host suddenly spoke.

“So after that day, none of you ever saw Sophie again?”