Suffering for Her Own Blessings

I shoved the leftover gifts at Jacob beside me, muttered some excuse, and yanked Shirley out of the private room."Charlene… How do you have this much money now, Lene? Were those all your friends back there? How'd you even know them?"She kept going, not giving me a second to breathe. "We've been tight since we were kids. You owe me the full story. Did you find your real parents?"I stopped short and smirked. "Not yet. But I'm getting close."Shirley and I were raised in the same orphanage since we were kids. I knew she was tied to some kind of trade system. I could hear her talking to it.The cruel part? I was the only one she could use for these swaps. The only small mercy was that the system capped her at three.The first one happened when we were 13. Shirley was born with a heart defect, so she swapped hers for mine.She left the hospital completely cured. Me? I collapsed from acute heart failure and spent a week in intensive care. Even now, I haven't fully bounced back.Th

I could tell this must've been so exciting for Shirley.That night, my phone blew up with her texts—questions about what to wear to the party, what gift to bring, even prying into the backgrounds of the friends I'd invited.But I kept my answers vague and distant, never letting her think we were close. Most people would've taken my aloofness as snobbery and backed off.But Shirley was different. Determined to get out of the life she was stuck in, she was ready to claw her way up by any means necessary, grabbing hold of every rare opportunity that came her way.She probably took my indifference for the quiet confidence only rich people have.…The next morning, Shirley was the first one at my house."You're here this early?" I glanced at her, surprised by how polished she looked, and asked out of politeness, "Did you eat yet?""Yeah, I already ate."Shirley handed the cake she was holding to the maid nearby, her movements a little stiff. When she thought I wasn't looking, her e

Becoming part of the Zeller family had been easier than I thought. But only when I sank into that plush bed did it really sink in—I was rich now.Karl and Emma had clearly put effort into designing the room, proof of how much they'd missed their daughter. I took a quick photo and posted it on Instagram with the caption—"I'm finally home."Shirley and Zach both liked the post. She even messaged me directly. "Lene, are you back with the Zellers now?""Yeah, my parents are throwing a party soon to introduce me to everyone. You should come," I texted back.Silence lingered on Shirley's end for a long time.I was just about to turn off my phone when Zach called. I didn't even pause before hitting decline and blocking his number. I wasn't interested in hearing a single word from him.I'd been living with the Zellers for over two weeks and had met almost every relative in their extended family. Gifts kept showing up nonstop, all for me.Karl and Emma were still weighed down by guilt ov

The security guards rushed over and dragged Shirley away as she stood there, completely stunned. She didn't notice anything was off until they hauled her out of the room."Charlene! Was this you?" Shirley shrieked, lunging at me with her face twisted in rage, her eyes burning. She kept babbling wildly, "No… It can't be! I swapped it… This wasn't supposed to happen! Wait, I'm the real Zeller heiress! Me!"I watched with a faint smile as the guards tightened their grip and hauled her out. My silence told her everything.Shirley had been behind the swap, but eventually, I came out on top.Karl and Emma were worried I might be upset because of the misunderstanding, so they quickly tried to reassure me. "Lene, don't take it to heart. We'll throw another party for you in a few days. Don't worry. You won't have to go through something like this again.""It's okay, Mom and Dad. The truth is all that matters."I smiled at them, grateful for their warmth.From then on, no amount of proof

The day Jacob and I got engaged, it drizzled steadily outside. But indoors, the air stayed warm like spring, and we swapped engagement rings with everyone's well-wishes around us.That very same day, Shirley died. Harold's knife had gone too deep, damaging her organs. She spent days in the ICU but never pulled through.Police arrested Harold as he tried to escape. Zach got nabbed, too, for his past fraud. Both of them wound up in jail, trading their old lives for prison uniforms.They got exactly what they deserved, in every way."Lene, what's on your mind?" Jacob gave my shoulder a light pat. "Everyone's waiting for us.""I was just thinking about what comes next." I turned to him, my voice bright. "I'm going back to study art. It's time to chase my dream, finally."Outside, the rain had stopped without me noticing. Pale sunlight broke through the clearing sky, stretching across the horizon, and a rainbow arched overhead.Once, my life lost all its color when I was forced to tr