Chapter 2

Everyone began whispering.

"Charlotte? That name sounds familiar."

"Isn't that the adopted daughter the Leandro family took in a year ago?"

"I heard through the grapevine that Charlotte and Sophia were switched at birth—that Charlotte was actually the real daughter."

"Are you kidding? How could the Leandro family treat their biological daughter as an adopted daughter?"

I floated quietly behind the Leandro family members, a bitter smile crossing my lips.

They were right. I was indeed the real daughter.

Back then, Sophia's parents deliberately switched the babies so their daughter could enjoy wealth and privilege.

Sophia became the precious daughter of the Leandro family, pampered and adored.

And I spent eighteen years in a nightmare.

My adoptive parents were gamblers. Every time they lost, they came home and took it out on me.

Belt whippings, cigarette burns—they used whatever was handy.

My back was covered in layers upon layers of scars, new wounds overlapping old ones.

They never cared whether I lived or died. I survived by scavenging food from trash cans.

As I gradually grew up, my adoptive father's gaze toward me became more and more lecherous.

Until one day, he cornered me in my room. I stabbed him with scissors, but I was accused of deliberately seducing him.

The couple beat me half to death. I was barely breathing when neighbors who heard the commotion rescued me.

With police intervention, my true identity was finally revealed, and I returned to the Leandro family.

I thought my suffering had finally ended.

But Sophia cried in front of me, saying that now that I had returned, she should leave.

The Leandro family held her tenderly and comforted her for a long time, then looked at me with displeasure, saying Sophia was also a victim.

She was so young back then. Her parents' crimes couldn't be blamed on her.

To keep Sophia from falling into the hands of wolves, they decided to drop the lawsuit.

Instead, they gave that couple a large sum of money to buy out custody rights and kept Sophia with them.

When they made that decision, no one asked me how I had spent those years.

I remembered the cold look in Christopher and Martha's eyes,

"Over the years, we've already treated Sophia as our biological daughter. Publicly revealing your identity would hurt her too much."

"So we've decided to temporarily claim that you're our adopted daughter."

Now, hearing my name mentioned,

The Leandro family members first showed blank expressions, then complex emotions churned across their faces.

"How could it be her?"

Liam's eyes filled with deep hatred,

"To save her own life, she could abandon even her own mother. Someone like her would never be willing to die."

I was already dead.

Yet my hollow soul still felt a stab of pain in my chest.

Martha was silent for a long time, her eyes gradually reddening before she finally spoke,

"I don't have that daughter. My only daughter is Sophia."

The venue erupted into chaos. Countless eyes turned toward the Leandro family.

Liam sneered coldly and, facing everyone's confusion,

Told them about what happened that year.

"That day was supposed to be Sophia's birthday, but Charlotte insisted on making a fuss, forcing my mom to go out with her."

"My mom, trying to appease her, canceled all her plans to take her skiing. We didn't expect to encounter an avalanche."

"My mom's leg was crushed and she couldn't move. And Charlotte—"

He paused, his eyes poisonous,

"She didn't look back once. She just ran away by herself."

"If Sophia hadn't arrived in time and brought the rescue team to find my mom, my mom might not be here today."

Liam's voice grew colder and colder.

"She constantly targeted and bullied Sophia at home. We turned a blind eye to that."

"But she harbored resentment. To save her own life, she ignored even her own mother. After the incident, she disappeared without a trace. Someone like her doesn't deserve to be my sister."

At that moment, the host suddenly spoke,

"So you haven't seen Charlotte since then?"