Chapter 1

When the bell signaling the start of the exam rang, I turned and walked away from the examination hall. After tearing up my admission ticket, I found a sheltered spot out of the wind and called my homeroom teacher, Lori Decker.

"Ms. Decker, I've decided to accept the overseas study opportunity the school has arranged for me."

On the other end, Ms. Decker couldn't be more thrilled. "That's wonderful, Aster! You've finally come to realize that your own future is what matters the most. I know your background and understand how hard it must be to leave your family behind.

"Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to help you apply for opportunities to return home for visits."

I shook my head and let out a bitter laugh. "That won't be necessary. They'll do just fine without me."

Before that day, I had always clung to the fantasy that my family loved me.

When I was five years old, I was kidnapped by Dad's rival and abandoned in a remote mountain village. For ten years, I endured abuse and hunger.

But when I finally made it back home, relying only on fading memories, there was no tearful reunion as I had imagined, nor the joy of a long-awaited return.

Dad smoked a cigarette while looking at the paternity test report, while Mom eyed me with a look of pity that couldn't quite hide the disdain behind it.

My brother, William Gentry, on the other hand, didn't even glance at me. Instead, he was busy chatting and laughing with another pretty young woman around my age.

Dad told me that after I went missing, Mom fell into severe depression. And that was why they adopted another girl, whom they named Selene Gentry.

In that moment, guilt washed over me completely. I had always believed that my disappearance was what cast a shadow over the entire family.

In the three years after returning home, I constantly tried to give everything I could, just to make up for the time and affection we had lost between us.

But Mom, Dad, and William remained distant toward me, even resentful. Mom and Dad refused to acknowledge me publicly as their long-lost daughter. Instead, they told others I was a relative's child.

They strictly controlled every expense of mine, and any purchase over 50 cents had to be approved in advance.

Mom and Dad explained this by saying that true character was forged in hardship, and that everything they were putting me through was a test.

I believed them wholeheartedly, so I studied relentlessly and eventually earned the only nationwide scholarship for studying abroad.

That time, Mom and Dad held me in their arms and cried for the first time. They said that I was their long-lost precious daughter, so they couldn't bear to let me go.

They also told me that if I was willing to stay in the country, they would throw me a grand 18th birthday party and formally introduce me to everyone as their biological daughter.

My longing for familial love made me give up the chance to study abroad without hesitation, and I turned my focus to preparing for the SATs.

To give Mom and Dad a result they could be proud of, I slept only three or four hours a day, pushing myself again and again to improve my exam scores.

Then came the day of the SATs. Seeing the dark, overcast sky, I remembered that the villa was 18 miles from the exam venue. Thus, I decided to ask Mom and Dad for 100 dollars to cover the Uber fare.

I naively believed that they, who had always wanted me to succeed, would agree without a second thought.