Chapter 2

After Rosalie was expelled from university, she had come crying to me, begging me to take her in. I had handed her that emerald bracelet, which was a family heirloom, and a letter asking Grandpa to help arrange a job for her.

Who would've known she would use the bracelet to impersonate me?

I couldn't deny that she was a beautiful woman and indeed had the air and charisma of a wealthy heiress.

When Rosalie scoffed, Jake instantly understood her meaning and stepped forward to threaten me.

"Right here at the gates to the Gardner residence, what I say goes."

It seemed like Grandpa had given him quite a lot of authority, allowing him to deal freely with anyone he found suspicious.

If he had bothered paying a little more attention, he would have noticed the stark similarities between my features and Grandpa's. Then again, Jake was only responsible for guarding the outside of the residence, so he hardly ever got to see Grandpa.

"What are you all waiting for? Don't tell me that you're genuinely cowed by her threat?"

With that command, Jake's subordinates leaped into action. They were leagues behind Jake in terms of skill, but that didn't mean they were ordinary or weak.

In no time at all, I found myself unable to fight back anymore. As I was pinned to the wall, Jake waited for me to beg for mercy.

I could only glance at Rosalie from the corner of my eye. Rage bubbled in me, causing me to hiss, "Rosalie Gardner, did you ever think about the consequences of impersonating me?"

Nevertheless, Rosalie ignored me, merely leaning over to say something to Jake with her hand covering her mouth.

In the next moment, Jake pushed his subordinates aside and personally seized me.

"You're here to assassinate Mr. Gardner Senior while he's weak, aren't you? What a wicked outlaw you are! With the Gardner family's extensive influence, no one will look into your death even if I kill you."

He had me by the collar in a grip so tight that I could hardly breathe.

I yanked the necklace around my neck free and shoved the pendant hanging from it in his face. The pendant was carved in the shape of the Gardner family's crest.

Grandpa had personally put it on me at my coming-of-age ceremony, saying that the pendant was a family heirloom and that whoever held it was the heir to the family.

I knew that Jake definitely recognized the pendant, as the first lesson he received after Grandpa took him in was how to recognize me using various items.

As I expected, upon seeing the pendant, Jake stared at it in disbelief and muttered to himself, "The heir pendant?"

He glanced at Rosalie, a hint of suspicion creeping into his gaze.

Clenching her fists, Rosalie said coldly, "Jake, I've been coming and going in the Gardner family's car and staying in the Gardner residence to take care of Grandpa. If I weren't the heir, would I have received such treatment? You would rather believe in a fraud's pendant than what you've seen with your own eyes?"

After a moment of thought, Jake chose to believe Rosalie. He twisted my arms behind my back before pinning me against the car door.

Immediately, Rosalie came over to snatch the pendant from my grasp. She toyed with it idly, commenting, "I was wondering where I dropped the pendant. Turns out that you had it."

Her words only confirmed Jake's belief that she was the true heiress.

"Do you have any idea what the consequences of pissing me off are? You aren't afraid at all, huh?"

His response was to slam me against the floor hard, the gravel leaving shallow cuts all over my face.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I managed to press the doorbell and shout for the butler, "Mr. Warren, there are some people causing trouble at the gates! Come quickly and save me!"

Then, I said to the crowd around me, "Mr. Warren watched me grow up, so once he comes, the truth of who's the real heiress will come to light. He'll definitely recognize me at a glance."

Rosalie visibly panicked at my words. Stuffing the pendant into her pocket, she instructed Jake, "Toss her onto the railway tracks."

The men had hardly finished tying me up when a pair of slender legs appeared in my sight.

"Hold it."

I instantly recognized the voice as belonging to my boyfriend, Michael Liese, who had returned to the country ahead of me.

Michael took out the strip of cloth gagging my mouth before tenderly stroking my cheek. In a gentle voice, he said, "You men are too rough. Don't you know how to treat a lady with care?"

"Michael, you're finally here!" I cried out in relief.

Michael was one of the three boys that Grandpa had adopted back then.

Since we were similar in age, he had volunteered to go abroad two years ago to study with me. During our time there, he confessed his feelings to me, and we ended up becoming a couple. If nothing had gone wrong, he and I would be married now that we were both back in the country.

"Michael, quick, tell them that I'm the real heiress to the Gardner family."

To my shock, he quirked his lips into a smile, then moved to stand beside Rosalie. Bowing at her respectfully, he said, "Ms. Gardner, you must have had quite the scare."

Immediately, I was thunderstruck. Why would he do this? Especially when we had still mutually expressed our love for each other right before I came back.

"Michael, just what benefits did she offer you? Back when you were first brought into the Gardner family, you would cry day and night. I was the one who personally sewed you that tiny rabbit, allowing you to finally sleep peacefully every night.

"Then there was that time you fell into an ice lake when we were abroad. I jumped in without a care to rescue you, only to fall into a coma. You wept as you told me not to leave you!

"What about the couple rings we had custom-made for us?"

However, when I looked at his hand, I saw that the ring on his finger was a completely different one from the one I had expected.