True Classics Review Novels & Stories

On the first day I reunite with the wealthy Holloways, as soon as I step into the villa, I'm instantly whisked into a car with tinted windows. The fake heiress, Kate Holloway, cuts my ID and bank card with a pair of scissors right in front of my biological parents. She grins smugly at me the whole time. "You see, Rosalie, I've offended that one person who must not be offended at all costs in Ravenfield. You should go kneel in his estate for a few days. Think of this as your way to repay the Hollways for giving birth to you in this world." My heartless parents even tell the driver, "Make sure that she doesn't escape. It all depends on her whether or not our family will be able to survive this crisis." The journey to the mysterious man's estate is bumpy. But the scenery outside the window becomes more familiar as time passes. Finally, the driver stops right outside a well-guarded estate. He reports in a frightened tone, "W-We are here to deliver the girl to Mr. Whitethorn." Mr. Whitethorn? As in the powerful man who is prone to mood swings and can easily make families such as the Holloways go into bankruptcy with just a twitch of his finger? Wait, isn't that Dominic Whitethorn, my adoptive father who has doted on me since I was a little girl? The Holloways have chosen to make me the scapegoat in order to protect Kate. They probably never would've thought that the fearsome Mr. Whitethorn, who's capable of determining their survival, has scoured the entire city for me because I didn't come home last night.

I was the heiress switched at birth by a nanny. It was not until I turned eighteen that my biological parents finally found me, and traded me back for the girl they had raised and loved as their own. However, fate played a cruel joke that very same week. My parents died in a car accident. The family business collapsed. In one night, I lost everything. My older brother survived, but his kidneys failed. I did not hesitate. I gave him mine. However, grief broke something in him. Blaming me for our parents' deaths, he spiraled into madness. "You killed Mom and Dad! Why wasn't it you who died instead?" he screamed. I gave up college and took on three jobs a day just to pay for his treatment. Years passed. One day, while cleaning a mansion as a housekeeper, I saw her, the "sister" I was traded for, gliding through a lavish party, dressed in designer clothes and dripping in jewels. I froze when I heard the voices I had long thought silenced. My parents, alive, speaking to her as gently as ever: "Jasmine, you're so compassionate… agreeing to end Helen's punishment early." My brother, the one who should still be seeing a therapist, frowned and objected. "No. Not even a day less. Just because she suffers a little doesn't mean she deserves to live." I glanced down at the medical report still warm in my hands. For the first time in years, I smiled. "Perfect," I whispered. "Now I can finally die like I wanted to."

I got into a car crash with my adoptive sister. The first person to rush to the scene was my childhood sweetheart, Jay Porter—the guy I'd been secretly seeing for two years. But Jay went to her first. He didn't even look my way as I sat there, bleeding heavily on the side of the road. I grabbed his hand, desperate to tell him I was pregnant. He just shook me off. "Sorry, Emma. Julia's delicate. I have to get her to the hospital now. Just wait here for the paramedics." By the time the rescue team got me to the hospital, I was out of immediate danger. But my baby... was gone. I wanted to confront Jay, to demand an explanation. Instead, I overheard him talking to a friend. "You played Emma this whole time, just for Julia's sake. Don't you think that's going too far?" Jay's reply was cold. "So what? Julia's just the Bourne family's adopted daughter—she's never been as protected and cherished as Emma, the precious heiress. That's exactly why it has to be me. I'll protect Julia. For her, I'd do anything." So it was all a lie. Every bit of love he'd ever shown me was just an act. After I was discharged, I went straight home and called my father. "Dad, can you make it so I never existed here? Erase all my records from this country."

I jump off the seventh floor on my wedding day. Why? Because everyone has abandoned me to pick up a fake heiress from the airport, my fiancé included. I expect to see them riddled with heartbreak and regret after my death. However, my father merely shakes his head stoically and looks at my body while saying I was too willful. My mother bites her lip and sighs in relief. My fiancé, Magnus Gilmore, shields the fake heiress. He's afraid she'll see the horrible state of my body. The fake heiress is scared to tears at this, and everyone crowds around her to console her. No one cares whether I'm still breathing while lying in a pool of blood. I'm stunned when I see this, but I soon laugh self-deprecatingly. When I open my eyes again, I've been brought back seven years in the past. It's the day I've just stepped foot at home.

When I'm scouring for food in the dumpster, I get recognized and taken home by the richest man in the city, Maverick Clark. As soon as I get home, Camila Clark, the fake heiress who has taken my spot for many years, asks our parents with an aggrieved look, "Mom, Dad, now that the actual heiress is home, does that mean I have to leave now?" Upon noticing the frowns on my parents' faces, I quickly sink down on my knees and begin pleading to them pitifully. "Mom, Dad, if you don't like me, I'll just go back to the alley you found me at." Camila Clark, you stole my identity and the affection meant for me by pretending to be frail and weak in the previous life. That was how I ended up dying on the streets from starvation. This time, not only will I kick you out of the Clark family, but I'll also take back the assets and identity you've swindled from my parents by playing the pity card! Aren't you the most skilled in acting pitiful? Let's see who's better at tricking the Clarks into voluntarily giving away their assets and social standing on a silver platter!

The ninety-ninth time my Alpha mate blocked our mind-link, I was in the final stages of Wolf Spirit Decay. I dragged my broken body into the Council Hall. The cold marble steps grated against the soles of my feet, and with every step, a tearing pain ripped through my chest. "I am here to petition to leave the pack." The council official studied my pale, thin form with a pitying gaze and asked softly, "Are you certain, Miss? You would be giving up the pack's protection." Since childhood, my wolf has been unstable, making me frail. Ever since my father brought home my adopted sister, Lydia, when I was ten, my parents have treated me like a disgrace to the family. Despite being his marked mate for years, Caleb never promised me a Luna ceremony. He rarely even took me to pack gatherings. As a result, hardly anyone in the pack knew who I was. "It doesn't matter," I said, my voice calm despite the effort. "I will be dead in three days."

The Lombardos' long-lost son turned out to be some "scam-busting" influencer. He stormed into the company with my fiancée, cut me off mid–quarterly report, pointed straight at me, and went live. "Drop a comment if you're watching. Blow this up. I'm exposing a fake heir who stole someone else's life!" His crew dragged me offstage, ripped my suit, and shoved me into a neon vest stamped with "FAKE." "A fake's always fake. Never real. I'm ripping off your mask. If you're smart, get on your knees, hand over the CEO seat, and get lost!" I glanced at his parents—faces drained—and gave him one warning. "You don't get to call me a fraud. For their sake, apologize now, and I'll let it go." The room buzzed. Everyone thought I'd snapped, waiting for the "fake heir" to crash and burn. They had no clue. I wasn't the fake. I was the one the whole family answered to.

On the very first day I'm welcomed back into the Morcant family, my grandfather announces to the public that I am the future successor of Morcant Group. My father handpicks three potential marriage candidates for me, but all of them only have eyes for the fake heiress, Eliana Morcant. The three of them go out of their way to isolate and embarrass me in public—except for Keanu Strathmore, who always comes to my defense. Somewhere along the way, I fall for him and decide to choose him. Before our engagement, Eliana threatens to jump off a building. I rush to the scene, only to find Keanu kneeling before her, vowing, "You're the only one I love. Once I help you take back your family's inheritance from her, I'll kick her to the curb!" Her two childhood friends chime in, "Keanu has made so many sacrifices! He put himself on the line time and time again just to make her fall for him." It dawns on me that all the humiliation I endured is part of Keanu's plan. When my grandfather asks me one last time, "Marriage is no trivial matter. Are you sure he's the one you want?" "I don't want Keanu anymore," I answer with a smile.

After Iris Miller ditches me at the altar for the seventh time just to be with her childhood sweetheart, Aaron Trent, the Millers personally show up on my doorstep so that they can apologize to me properly. "We'll add on another 11 pounds of gold, three buildings in the south-western district, and nine stores located in prime locations of the city center on top of the current list of wedding gifts in order to make it up to you." Before Daniel Miller is done speaking, Iris, who's listening to the conversation from her phone, lets out a light scoff. "As if Jasper deserves all these gifts. Believe me when I say I'll have him eating out of the palm of my hand with just a pebble I randomly pick up on the street. Grandpa, I might as well invest these wedding gifts in Aaron's art gallery." Daniel quickly ends the call before looking at me in embarrassment. Soft mocking laughter rings out around me. Everyone is waiting for me to quietly endure all the humiliation, just like before. But I've already received such compensation six times in the past. I'm no longer interested in them. Heck, I'm no longer interested in Iris as well. After thinking for a moment, I glance at the crowd with a raised brow, where I find myself staring at Taylor Miller, Iris' most hated half-sister due to her illegitimate lineage. "Mr. Miller Senior, you mentioned that whoever I marry will become the future heiress of the Miller family. This promise still stands, right?" It's fine if Iris refuses to marry me. Plenty of women are dying to marry me anyway.

When my boyfriend told me he had failed the college entrance exams, he begged me to apply to a vocational college with him. I was about to say yes when a barrage of floating comments suddenly appeared in front of my eyes. [The male lead deserves an Oscar. Since when is 680 considered a bad score? He was literally touring Kingston University with the real heiress just moments ago.] [Don't fall for it! You're the top scorer in the entire state! He only wants to drag you down so the real heiress can shine.] [There's no point warning her. She's completely blinded by love. A provincial champion wasting her future at a vocational college... she'll end up abandoned by her family, framed into debt by the real heiress, forced to drop out, and stuck running a roadside stall for the rest of her life.] My hand froze midair. In an instant, all the blood drained from my body.