Crowned in Her Own Name のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 8

The second the call ended, a new message from Winston popped up on my phone.To make Louise happy, he had decided to throw a big welcome dinner in a couple of days, introducing her as his fiancée. It wasn't just a celebration for her return; it was his way of announcing their engagement to everyone in their circle.He added, [You have to be there. Apologize to Louise properly.[You're her brother. Your mom's gone, and your dad's seriously ill. You're the only family she has left. You need to stand up for her and give her support, make this look good.[If you don't come, you're disrespecting me. We're done as friends.]Done as friends?I stared at the screen, my fingers going cold.He hadn't even mentioned this to me beforehand, let alone asked. He just made the call on his own, stepping right over me, the actual Anderson, to back up that fake Louise.Memories surged up, one after another.All those nights over the past ten years, Winston would sling an arm around my shoulders,

Josh Moore hurried up to the stage with a flash drive in hand and plugged it into the computer.The massive screen in the ballroom flickered to life.The first image was a close-up of an old, faded photograph.Five-year-old Louise had a distinct pink birthmark on the inside of her arm. I walked up to the woman on stage, grabbed her wrist, and turned her arm over, exposing smooth, unmarked skin."Where's your birthmark, Louise?"Her expression darkened, but she didn't panic. She shook me off with clear irritation, then gave a subtle signal to a nearby server, who quickly brought her handbag over.She calmly pulled out a document, unfolded it, and held it up for everyone to see.Her voice carried just the right hint of lingering fear, her eyes shimmering with tears."When I was 15, not long after I arrived in Winderton to study abroad, I was in a serious car accident. My arm was badly injured. That was when the birthmark was destroyed. These are my medical records from back then,

Randolph's hand froze midair.His cloudy eyes finally landed on me. He stared, unblinking."Y-You…"His lips trembled, but nothing came out.I looked at his sorry state and let out a quiet, mocking breath, my expression flat and cold."This whole idea of having Darlene pretend to be Louise… That was yours, wasn't it?"You taught me how to write when I was a kid. Every stroke, every shift in pressure, every detail. No one knows my handwriting better than you. Without you guiding her, she never would've managed to copy it."You were planning to wait until you had full control of the Andersons. Then you'd bring Darlene back, make it official, and let her replace Louise."By then, you'd be the one in charge, the final authority. I wouldn't have had a say."Clicking my tongue softly, I pulled out the chair beside the bed and took a seat."Too bad you didn't expect to get this sick, this fast. You ran out of time, so you took a risk and had her pretend to be me. You staged this who

Winston didn't give up.In the days after the funeral, he started awkwardly trying to work his way back into my life. Or rather, into the version of "Louise" he had built in his head.He would show up outside Anderson Corporation late at night when I was still working, carrying a thermos like it meant something. He tracked down old vinyl records I had once been obsessed with as a teenager and had people deliver them to my office. He even staged "coincidental" run-ins at cafés and restaurants.It felt like he was trying to make things right with the Louise he imagined, not the one standing in front of him.A month later, the Anderson estate went under renovation. They had to move the sycamore tree in the backyard.The butler said the workers found a rusted cookie tin buried under it.Something about that pulled at me. I asked Winston to meet me there.There were no toys inside. Just a folded, yellowed sheet of notebook paper.Back then, my mother had said she was taking me t