Chapter 2

I flinched and immediately shook my head. "No! I didn't steal anything!"

My mother let out a cold laugh, as though she'd been waiting for me to say exactly that. "Then why don't you check what's in your pocket?"

I slowly reached into my pocket. My fingers closed around a packet of imported cookies.

For a split second, I froze. I stared at my mother in disbelief.

The corner of her lips lifted into a faint smile.

Only then did I realize what had happened. She had slipped the cookies into my pocket when she'd shoved me to the ground.

A sharp cramp seized my stomach. I doubled over as cold sweat instantly broke out across my body.

My mother merely snorted at the sight before turning to my father. "Call the police. If she steals today, tomorrow she'll be causing trouble outside the exam venue. She's jealous. She wants to ruin Sophie's future!"

The moment I heard the word "police," my mind went blank.

This was the only job I'd managed to find. I needed it to buy my pain medication. I couldn't afford to lose it.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed to the ground in front of my mother. "Please... I'm begging you. I really didn't steal anything. This is the only job I have... I'm sick... I just want to earn enough money to buy my medicine..."

Instead of softening, my mother's expression turned even colder. "Stop pretending to be pathetic just to make people feel sorry for you!"

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

Clutching the hem of her pants, I spoke through a voice so unsteady I could barely get the words out. "Mom... I'm not lying... I have stomach cancer..."

Before I could finish, my mother jerked away as though I'd touched her with something filthy. "I told you to shut up! Stop putting on this act! You need to learn your lesson today!"

...

About 15 minutes later, the police arrived.

The convenience store owner rushed over after receiving the call, sweat beading across his forehead. "Officer, there has to be some misunderstanding. She's always been honest..."

The police officer turned to me with a businesslike expression. "Your ID."

My entire body stiffened. I didn't have one. To be more precise, I had nothing.

When I escaped from those mountains, all I had worn was a tattered piece of cloth. Even my shoes had been woven from banana leaves.

The police officer frowned. "You don't have any identification?"

The owner's face turned even paler. "I felt sorry for her. Her leg was injured, so I let her work here for a few days first."

The police officer glanced at him. "Do you realize this constitutes illegal employment?"

The owner fell silent.

Meanwhile, a satisfied smile spread across my mother's face.

In the end, because the imported cookies weren't worth much, the police issued me a public warning instead of pursuing the matter further. They also warned the owner that he could no longer employ me.

I watched him nod again and again. The last glimmer of light in my eyes slowly faded.

"All right. Sign the incident report here."

A pen was held out to me.

I hesitated before taking it. No matter how hard I tried, though, my fingers refused to hold it properly.

Suddenly, I remembered the day my parents first left me in those mountains. They had handed the farming family a sum of money and told them not to spoil me.

After taking the money, they truly treated me like livestock.

During the day, I carried firewood, hauled buckets of manure, fed pigs, and worked in the fields. At night, I hid beside the pigsty and studied by the light of a single candle.

I believed that if I earned good enough grades, my mother and father would come take me home.

I studied with everything I had. In the end, I ranked first in the entire county. But the day before my parents were supposed to arrive, the farmer's wife brought me a bowl of soup.

Smiling, she said, "You're going back to the city tomorrow to enjoy the good life. Think of this as a farewell meal."

The moment I finished the soup, I blacked out. When I woke up, I had become the farmer's daughter, Ava.

She took my award certificate. She took my parents.

Before I could even finish a single sentence, my mother and father kicked me back into the mud.

Over the next five years, the farmer's family abandoned even the pretense of kindness.

They cursed me for occupying Ava's body while being nowhere near as capable as she was. They said that once Ava became successful in the city, she'd return and give them the comfortable life they deserved.

As for me, I was nothing more than a useless city girl who deserved to spend the rest of my life paying off her debts.

For five years, I endured endless torment. I never read another page. I never wrote another word.

My hands had grown so accustomed to gripping sickles and pig feed buckets that they had long since forgotten how to hold a pen.

Even now, after summoning every ounce of strength I had, all I managed to write was a single crooked horizontal stroke.

Then my mother's voice rang out beside me, dripping with disgust. "You can't even write anymore? How dare someone as useless as you claim to be my daughter?"