Chapter 1

The sound of the door opening echoed, and Brice Decker walked in from outside. Following behind him was Amber Warner.

He cast a brief glance toward the dining table, and the smile vanished from his face, replaced by a stern expression.

Instead of searching for me, he called out my name in a commanding tone. "Violet Humphrey, didn't I tell you I was bringing Amber home for dinner? Where's the food?"

I hurriedly poked my head out from the kitchen upon hearing this. "Sorry, honey. Let me cut some fruit for you two to snack on first. The food will be ready soon," I said with an ingratiating smile.

Hearing this, Brice frowned uncharacteristically.

I knew why he was frowning. It was because I was different from before.

In the past, I couldn't bear to even hear Amber's name, much less allow Brice to bring her home for a meal.

Yet now, here I was, wearing an ingratiating smile. Far from being angry, I even urged them to have some fruit first to stave off their hunger.

Amber was also taken aback by my reaction, but she quickly composed herself and said, "It's alright. I'll help you."

With that, she walked into the kitchen and picked up the scalding hot pot from the stove.

However, she wasn't careful enough. The moment she lifted the pot, her hand slipped, and it instantly fell to the floor.

The boiling water inside splashed all over me, and my skin turned bright red in an instant.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that," Amber said apologetically.

Upon hearing the commotion, Brice immediately rushed into the kitchen. But his first concern wasn't to check how badly I was hurt. Instead, he turned to Amber and asked, "Are you okay?"

At his question, Amber seemed to snap out of a daze. "Brice, I didn't mean to… I was just trying to help…" she stammered, her eyes reddening.

Perhaps fearing that I would blame Amber, Brice didn't wait for me to speak before quickly scolding me. "Violet, Amber didn't do it on purpose. If anyone's to blame, it's you for being so careless!"

Then, turning back to Amber, he immediately comforted her softly, "Violet won't be upset. I know you didn't mean it. Just ignore her!"

I couldn't help but find Brice's words laughable. After all, how could I not be angry?

The only reason I wasn't was because the person standing before him wasn't truly me, but my twin sister, Indigo.

Indigo and I might look identical, but our personalities had been different since we were young. I was always obedient and kind, while Indigo was rebellious and aloof from an early age.

Our lives unfolded along parallel but opposite lines.

I followed the path Mom and Dad laid out—studying, growing up, meeting every expectation—while Indigo dropped out of high school. She even ended up in jail for fighting, which infuriated our parents to the point where they disowned her.

After she was released from jail, Mom and Dad gave her just ten thousand dollars and cut all ties with her, declaring that she could fend for herself.

Since then, I never saw Indigo again.

After graduating from college, I worked for a few years before marrying Brice.

Indigo didn't attend the wedding.

I had never even mentioned to Brice that I had a twin sister, so he had no idea that the person standing before him now was actually Indigo pretending to be me.

The next time I saw Indigo was on the day I was stabbed to death by a criminal.

That day, I lay bleeding on the ground in an alleyway, the attacker long gone.

My phone had run out of battery, and I was trying to call out for help when someone happened to walk by.