One week ago, the real daughter of the Sterling family showed up at our doorstep. That was when I found out I was a fraud. A placeholder. But my biological parents were long dead, so the Sterlings decided to keep me on as a charity case. The newly returned heiress, Harper, seemed to have a bone to pick with me. Not only did she reclaim the attention of Mom, Dad, and my older brother, but she also set her sights on the fiancé who was supposed to be mine. I didn't really care. I just wanted to survive and keep a roof over my head. But when I tried to return my fiancé to her, the usually gentle Liam showed a dark expression I’d never seen before. He gripped my waist tight, looking down at me with a suffocating intensity. "Chloe, I’ve known since we were kids. You can only be mine." Just then, Harper pushed the door open. She blinked, flashing a smile that showed off her cute canines. "Liam, didn't you promise Mrs. Vance you'd have dinner with me?" Weirdly, I suddenly heard a roar echoing from her soul. — "Get away from the female lead, you psycho protagonist! She belongs to the second male lead, you absolute trash bag!" 1. I’ve become weird. Normal people can’t read minds, but apparently, I can. Specifically, I can only read Harper’s mind. Harper is my sister in name, but she’s the true Sterling bloodline, and I’m the fake. The day she was brought back, Mom, Dad, and my brother Ethan held her and cried their eyes out. I stood off to the side, clearly an outsider looking in. From that day on, I knew my place. No more acting spoiled. No more willful demands. I just needed to be a quiet piece of furniture in this house. The whole world started revolving around Harper. Harper hated me, the imposter, which I understood. I had lived a life of luxury in her place for nineteen years while she suffered out there. I accepted my fate. I was pretty chill about it. Mom, Dad, and Ethan were hers. My childhood fiancé, Liam Vance, should also be hers. Harper had been visiting the Vance estate a lot lately. She’d come back and flex in front of me about how nice Mrs. Vance was to her, how polite and gentle Liam was, and how lively the house was with her around. My brother, usually close to me, looked like he wanted to say something but held back. Finally, Mom came to me. "Chloe, Harper has really taken a liking to Liam. She’s knitting scarves, baking pastries... If Harper hadn't gone missing, she would have been the one engaged to him..." Before she could finish, I cut in. "Mom, as long as my sister is happy, I’m happy." Mom breathed a sigh of relief, then seemed to feel a delayed pang of guilt. "Good child. Mom will keep an eye out for a great guy for you in the future. We won't mistreat you." I nodded obediently. But everyone knew how awkward my position in the Sterling family was now. Any 'great guy' would probably avoid me like the plague. Whatever. I never planned on relying on a man anyway. 2. Liam must have heard the rumors. He walked into my room casually, just like he did when we were kids. We grew up together; he used to love lounging in my room while I played house, forcing him to eat 'fried rice' I made out of Play-Doh. But this was the first time since we grew up that he barged in without knocking. "Liam..." I barely got his name out before he yanked me up from the sofa by my wrist. His grip was rough. I realized standing in front of him that I only reached his chest. Through his thin white dress shirt, I could see the definition of his muscles rising and falling. There was a dangerous, wild edge to him. He was mischievous as a kid, but grew up to be gentle and calm. I’d never seen this side of him. My wrist throbbed. I wanted to curse him out like I used to, but then I remembered—this guy was about to become my brother-in-law. Let it go. But when I stayed silent, he escalated. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tight against him. Even though we were engaged early on, we had never been this intimate. "Liam, are you crazy?" I couldn't help but snap, trying to struggle free. "Shh," his voice was low and raspy, right in my ear. "Be good. Let me hold you for a second." I struggled harder, but against his absolute strength, it was useless. He held me for a long time, then suddenly looked down at me. His eyes were dark, like they wanted to swallow me whole. "Chloe, I’ve known since we were kids. You can only be mine." His predatory gaze made my skin crawl. The childhood friend I knew had turned into a wolf that had been lying in wait. 3. When Harper walked in, Liam didn't let go. I was standing in the middle of a total nightmare scenario, scalp tingling with awkwardness. But Harper, clearly a girl of deep schemes, didn't even flinch at the scene. She just smiled. "Liam, didn't you promise Mrs. Vance you'd have dinner with me?" At that exact moment, her lips didn't move, but I heard a roar full of primal rage. It hit the room like a thunderclap. — "Get away from the female lead, you psycho protagonist! She belongs to the second male lead!" Liam’s expression didn't change. I thought I was hallucinating. But then came another line. — "Toxic male, get your ass downstairs and eat. Don't bother the heroine." — "Or I swear to God I’ll send you to prison myself!" Me: ? I looked at Harper, who was smiling innocently, and felt my worldview shattering. She had no idea I could hear her screaming internally. — "Big sis is here. I won't let you hurt the heroine." — "Got it?" 4. From then on, I kept hearing these bizarre rants coming from Harper’s mind. Like the day she came back from dinner with Liam and started bragging to me as usual. "Liam is so sweet. He heard I hate de-boning fish, so he picked all the bones out for me. He said there’s this amazing seafood place he wants to take me to next time. I’m totally going to love seafood~" In reality, her mind was spewing profanity. — "Eat sht!"* — "Liam, that son of a btch. Who was he showing that long face to during dinner? It’s not like I kidnapped him!"* — "He wants the heroine but also wants the Sterling family's political backing to secure his place in the Vance empire." — "Trash. Absolute societal garbage." — "Useless except for his face." — "I sincerely hope he has a micropenis." — "Three-second wonder." Me: ... Me: "Pfft." Harper instantly looked at me, her fake bragging expression cracking. Her inner voice fired up again. — "? What’s she laughing at?" — "Sigh, her mental state. She must be driven crazy by me." — "Hope she’s okay." — "But short-term pain is better than long-term suffering. Stay away from this cheating psycho and you’ll be happy for eight hundred lifetimes." Harper walked past me up the stairs, then suddenly turned back and gave me a provocative smirk. "Sister," she said. "Liam... I’m going to win him, you know." She strutted away like a peacock fanning its tail. Accompanied by her excited inner thoughts. — "Yessss!" — "I’m amazing." — "I should go get an Oscar." 5. My brother Ethan came back from a business trip in Chile. He brought gifts. Harper and I each got a crystal bracelet. She got an extra pair of pearl earrings. I got an extra jar of artisan chocolates—I’d specifically asked Ethan to bring them. He knew I didn't care much for jewelry but loved sweets. Harper eyed my chocolate. She wanted the whole jar. Ethan couldn't handle her whining and soft-soaping. He turned to me. "Chloe, Harper has never had these before. Her old family couldn't afford them... How about you give the chocolate to her this time? I’ll buy you more later." I never realized before how good my family was at making empty promises. The moment I handed the chocolate to Harper, a hurricane raged in her mind. — "Wow. Just wow." — "If he’s so good at selling dreams, why doesn't he go into marketing? Spineless coward." — "Useless trash man. His brain fell out somewhere over the Pacific." — "Heroine, please give up on this loser already." — "If this guy gets a wife later, he’s just going to let her bully you too." — "Now he asks you to 'tolerate' giving up chocolate. Later, if his wife slaps you, he’ll tell you to 'tolerate' that too." — "Heroine! Wake up!" — "There aren't that many things in this world worth tolerating!" I looked up at her, stunned. There aren't that many things in this world worth tolerating. I don't know why, but that sentence hit a nerve. Snap. Two tears rolled down my face.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386380", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel