Mom held her in her arms, her eyes red from crying, while Dad swore to make up for lost time: "My precious girl, whatever you want, it's yours." She just pointed at me, her face the picture of innocence: "I want my big sister to go back to her own home, too." She thought I was just some entitled villainess who had stolen her golden spoon. But she entirely missed how the color drained from my family's faces the moment those words left her mouth. [1] When I rushed back for the family dinner, I saw my mom clutching a scrawny girl, weeping as if her heart had been ripped out. Even my tough-as-nails dad was wiping away tears. Mom fussed over her, checking her from head to toe. "Mia, Mommy finally found you." "It's my fault I didn't keep a closer eye on you. You've suffered so much out there." The girl's identity was obvious. She was the biological daughter my parents had accidentally lost years ago. While I was still studying her features, she looked at me timidly. "Mommy, who is that?" She shrank deeper into my mom's embrace, looking like a frightened little deer. Mom gently stroked her hair and said softly, "Don't be scared, sweetheart. That's your big sister." Then she turned to me. "Chloe, this is your sister. Her name is Mia now." I nodded, but when I met her eyes, I caught a fleeting, inexplicable flash of hostility. She hesitated, acting as if she couldn't believe it. "Mommy, when did I get a sister?" Seeing my mom struggle for words, I stepped up and explained, "I'm adopted." Mia looked confused. Shaking her head, she muttered softly, "How can that be?" "You already have a child... so what does that make me?" Tears began to cascade down her cheeks, soaking into my mom's blouse. Mom panicked and immediately started coaxing her. "You are our precious baby, of course!" "Your sister is family, too. It just means there's one more person in this house to love you." Mia stared blankly at the hardwood floor, murmuring to herself. "You didn't want me anymore. You got another kid, so you definitely won't treat me well." Her pitiful demeanor, combined with the tragic backstory of living on the streets for years, wrung every last tear from my parents. Even I felt a little bad for her. I started to tell the truth, "Hey, don't cry. Actually, I'm—" Mia's wailing instantly drowned me out. "Maybe I shouldn't have come back! I'm just ruining your perfect family of three!" My parents were frantic. They swarmed her with comfort. "Mia, how could you say that?" "You are our flesh and blood. We prayed for this day for years. We are overjoyed! You could never be a burden!" Mia caught her breath, sniffing. "Really?" "Of course!" they nodded vigorously. Having gotten the validation she wanted, she finally smiled through her tears. She nuzzled against Mom's arm and cooed: "Does that mean I can have whatever I want?" "Anything!" But in the very next second, she pointed straight at me and dropped a bomb: "Then I want my big sister to go back to her own home, too." The atmosphere in the room instantly froze. She shook my mom's arm expectantly, but Mom awkwardly pulled away. Realizing things weren't going according to her script, Mia looked panicked. "Mommy, Daddy... did I say something wrong?" Dad cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm the luckiest man in the world to have two daughters. Let's just keep things as they are." Mom chimed in, "Exactly. You just got back. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask your sister." Mia hadn't expected her demand to be shut down so decisively. She instinctively shot a glare at me. I just gave her a sweet smile. "Sure." Then I turned on my heel and walked right out the front door. Behind me, I could hear Mom screaming in a total panic, "Chloe! Chloe, come back here!" [2] I got in my car and sped off, driving straight until I parked in front of a sprawling, magnificent estate. The butler politely opened the door for me. Just as Mia wished, I had gone back to my "own" home. The owners of this estate were nominally my aunt and uncle, but legally and biologically, they were my real parents. It was true that I was adopted by my current family. But strictly speaking, it was a family transfer. Years ago, when my adoptive dad lost his daughter, he nearly lost his mind. He begged my biological parents to let him adopt me to ease the grief. My bio parents refused at first, and my older brother cried, begging them not to let me go. But seeing my adoptive parents wasting away into literal skeletons from the heartbreak, my bio parents finally caved and let me live with them. Mia thought I was a cuckoo bird stealing her nest, basking in the love and luxury that rightfully belonged to her. She was the real heiress of that house, sure. But I was no peasant, either. My biological father's empire had exploded over the last decade. He was now sitting on billions of dollars in assets. If I hadn't been adopted out, my life would be a hundred times more lavish than it already was. Thinking back to the raw resentment in Mia's eyes, I couldn't help but chuckle. Looked like I wouldn't be having a peaceful life anytime soon. The private chef saw me come in and immediately got to work. By the time my adoptive parents rushed over from their tearful reunion, I was sitting at the dining table, leisurely eating fresh lobster. Mom ran over, frantically grabbing my hand. "Chloe, you drove way too fast! That was so dangerous!" Dad didn't waste a second either. He sat right down and started cracking lobster claws for me. "My poor baby, you must be so upset. Mia just got back and doesn't know how things work yet. Please don't take it to heart." I raised an eyebrow. "So I should just stay there and let her hate me?" Mom jumped. "Who dares to hate you?! I'll be the first one to put a stop to it!" Dad added, "You saying things like that is breaking our hearts, kiddo." I feigned a sigh. "She told me to go to my own home. I figured I'd stay here for a couple of days so I don't upset her further." "Absolutely not! Mom will be worried sick if you aren't home," she said, practically trying to pull me out of my chair. Dad placed a massive chunk of lobster meat on my plate, his voice impossibly soft. "You are our precious daughter. Please, come home with us." I chewed the lobster, nodding in satisfaction. I had tested the waters enough. It was clear they truly loved me. If they had ignored me the second they found their bio daughter, I would have just let them have their happy family reunion and stayed here. I made them patiently wait until I finished my meal before letting them escort me back. As my parents flanked me on our way through the front door, I casually glanced up. I saw someone glaring daggers at me from the second-floor balcony. I smiled. Mia, I still win this round. [3] Truthfully, I didn't have much ill will toward her. She was my adoptive parents' biological daughter, which made her my cousin. Blood is thicker than water. When we first met, I actually felt a lot of sympathy for her. But her behavior since stepping foot in this house completely killed that vibe. If she didn't want to acknowledge me as her sister, I wasn't going to bend over backwards to kiss her ring. But I severely underestimated Mia's ambition and her shady little tactics. Every single day, she tried to pull off some petty scheme to make me lose my temper, hoping to usurp my place in the household. She constantly played the "sweet, innocent angel" in front of Mom, looking at me smugly whenever she got a compliment. She went out of her way to do chores for the maids, trying to prove how "humble" and different she was compared to me. I just watched her coldly, refusing to take the bait. She was a girl who had grown up starved for affection, so she was desperate for the spotlight. I, on the other hand, had been showered in love since the day I was born. Her tacky little tricks were beneath me, and I couldn't be bothered to entertain them. But after the hundredth time she tried to pull a fast one on me, I finally got annoyed enough to call my biological dad, who was out of the country on business. After hearing me complain, he immediately threatened to fly back, legally transfer my guardianship back to him, and take me away so I wouldn't have to suffer. It took me half an hour to calm him down, and he ended up insisting on buying me a new sports car to make up for it. A few days later, the luxury dealership called. I headed over to test drive it, in a great mood. But the moment I reached the showroom doors, I saw Mia arguing with the staff, flanked by a squad of her new sycophant friends. I could hear her shrieking from fifty feet away. "You minimum-wage losers! Do you know who I am? How dare you block my way!" Her little minions echoed her: "Open your blind eyes! This is the eldest daughter of the Sterling family! Move!" "She's richer than your entire bloodline!" "Get your manager out here now!" I was still trying to figure out why she was even here when the general manager, Mr. Davis, hurried over with a warm smile to escort me to the VIP lounge. As I walked past Mia, she pointed at me and shrieked, "Why does she get to go in?!" I looked at her like she was the punchline to a joke. "Because I'm a Platinum VIP, sweetie. Of course I can go in." Mia bit her lip stubbornly, glaring at the stressed-out employee. "So what if it's a VIP card? How much is it? Ring me up for ten of them!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Mia, you can't just buy a Platinum VIP status here." Her friends obviously didn't believe me, crossing their arms arrogantly. "What stupid VIP rule is that? Our Mia is a billionaire heiress. She has infinite money." "If you have it, Mia can get it with a snap of her fingers!" Mr. Davis couldn't take the disrespect anymore. He cleared his throat. "Our Platinum VIP tier is by invitation only, exclusively for clients who have spent over thirty million dollars here consecutively over the past five years." [4] Mia's face instantly flushed beet red. Her eyes were a cocktail of jealousy, humiliation, and pure hatred directed at me. The allowance my parents gave her was generous, but nowhere near enough for her to burn thirty million on cars. Her friends tried to argue, but Mia stopped them, muttering bitterly, "Big deal. You just used my parents' money to buy those cars anyway." Seeing her choke on her own pride put me in a fantastic mood. I ignored her and followed Mr. Davis into the showroom. But just as I reached the custom Porsche my bio dad had ordered for me, Mia darted out from behind me and shoved me aside. "That's the one! I'm taking it!" My face turned to ice. I stepped between her and the car. "Who gave you permission to touch this?" Mia blinked her eyes, playing dumb. "Sister, why are you so mad?" "Are you saying this is your car?" She lifted her chin, puffing up like a proud peacock. "Of course it's mine. It's a welcome-home gift from my uncle." Her little squad immediately chimed in: "Only the real biological niece gets that kind of treatment. Keep crying about it!" "You're just a trashy squatter in a luxury penthouse! How dare you try to compete with Mia!" Seeing how confident they were, I honestly had a moment of doubt. Did my bio dad actually buy her an identical car to be nice? But this was a limited edition. There was only one in the entire state. Mia gleefully continued her victory lap. "If you don't believe me, call the butler! He just told me the car ordered for 'the Sterling daughter' arrived, so I came down to pick it up!" "Did you hear that? The Sterling daughter. Not the cheap knock-off!" The meanest girl in her group spat on the floor near my shoes. "Hear that, fake?! You shameless thief, you don't deserve to breathe the same air as Mia!" "You're like a rat, trying to steal everything you can get your claws on." I was trembling with rage. I pulled out my phone to call my bio dad, but it went straight to voicemail. Mia got even more animated. "I know Mom and Dad raised you, so they love you. I won't fight you for their affection." "But this car is a gift from my uncle to his actual blood relative. Are you really going to try and steal this from me too, Sister?" Mia had completely redefined the concept of shamelessness. She played the innocent victim at home, but turned into a tyrannical monster the second she stepped outside. Just as the standoff hit a boiling point, Mr. Davis walked over, holding a leather-bound folder. Mia's friends lit up and rushed over to intercept him. But Mr. Davis completely bypassed them. He walked straight to me. "Ms. Sterling, here are the keys and the final paperwork. Thank you again for your continued business." [4] The ownership of the car was suddenly crystal clear. Mia stared at the keys in shock, her eyes bulging. "Impossible!" "You must have made a mistake! I'm the real daughter of the Sterling family!" Her dumbest friend turned on Mr. Davis. "How could you give the car to this imposter?!" I ignored the screeching, flipping open the contract and pointing to the signature line. "Read it and weep. Client: Chloe Sterling." Mia shook her head, still refusing to accept reality. I simply pushed past her, climbed into the driver's seat, and left nothing but the roar of the engine echoing in the showroom. Not long after I got home, I heard muffled sobbing echoing from the living room. I walked out to find Mia buried in Mom's chest, crying a river, acting like she had just survived a war crime. I had to admire her acting skills. I clicked my tongue. "Give the girl an Oscar." Mia caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye. Sniffling, with red-rimmed eyes, she choked out, "Mommy, does Sister hate me?" "First, she had the staff at the dealership block me from entering, totally humiliating our family in public." "And then, even though Uncle bought that car for me, his real niece, she forced them to say it was hers." Hearing the words "real niece," Dad immediately perked up. "Chloe, what is going on with the car?" I calmly recounted the entire incident, leaving no detail out. When I finished, Dad looked directly at Mia and said bluntly, "Your sister is telling the truth. Your uncle bought that car specifically for her." "Daddy?" Mia looked at him in total disbelief. Mom tried to smooth things over. "Mia, sweetheart, stop making a fuss. That car doesn't belong to you. When your uncle comes back from his trip, I'm sure he'll buy you a nice gift too." Mia refused to drop it. She mumbled hesitantly, "But... that car was incredibly expensive." "Since Sister isn't really a blood member of this family, is it really appropriate for her to accept such a lavish gift from Uncle?" Before the words fully left her mouth, both of my parents' faces darkened. The room went dead silent. Mom dropped her gentle tone. "Watch your mouth. Chloe will always be a member of this family." Dad's face was ice cold. "Your uncle adores Chloe. He sends her a massive allowance every single month. Buying her a car is completely normal for him." Mia slumped over in defeat. Her face was a chaotic painting of shock, jealousy, and bitter resentment. It twisted her pretty features into something quite ugly. She thought that because she watched a few soap operas, she knew how rich families worked. She assumed they were cold-blooded monsters who only cared about DNA. But my parents had poured their hearts into raising me for twenty years. Plus, I literally shared their bloodline. How could a few cheap words break a bond like that? Mia clearly thought my parents were just taking pity on me, and that she was the "bigger person" for letting me have the car. She tearfully apologized, promising she wouldn't "fight" me anymore. Once she finally shut up, I turned to the butler standing quietly in the corner. "Thomas. You've served the Sterling family for many years. I think it's time you retired. Go collect your severance package and enjoy your golden years." The usually stoic butler snapped his head up in shock. "Miss, are you firing me?" I didn't answer. I just waited for my parents to back me up. Thomas looked desperately at them. "Ma'am! Sir!" Mom's tone was indifferent. "If Chloe says you should leave, then go pack your things." Dad walked over and patted my shoulder. "Chloe, don't let these people upset you." I swept a cold gaze over the rest of the staff. Every single one of them dropped their heads, terrified to meet my eyes. Perfect. People needed to learn how to read the room.
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