Anonymous Confession

I snorted at Chloe's stunned expression.

"Just kidding. Hurry up and eat."

"Lunch break's almost over, and I want to catch a quick nap."

Chloe shot me a playful glare and swatted at me.

I laughed and dodged away, casually dumping my unfinished salad into the trash can on my way out.

When I returned to the office, most of my colleagues were resting quietly at their desks.

I glanced at the nameplate on my workstation—"Skyler Reed"—and a wave of dissociation washed over me.

It had been three years, and I still hadn't completely gotten used to this name.

Skyler Reed... if you were still alive, would you be happy with this life?

Only silence answered.

No one could give me an answer.

The question followed me into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

Perhaps it was the day's trigger, or maybe some dark premonition, but the distant memories I had fought so hard to bury came flooding back.

...

My name is not Skyler Reed. I am Ava Whitmore—the same girl from Blair's post, the one who supposedly jumped off a cliff to her death.

I was different from her.

I grew up with my adoptive parents in a small Montana town.

We weren't wealthy, but life was stable and happy.

Until I turned twenty-one, when a luxury car whisked me away to a lavish estate in the Hamptons.

Only then did I learn how prominent my real family was.

My father was a business tycoon; my mother, an Oscar-winning actress.

My brother was a Hollywood A-lister.

Even my fiancé, betrothed to me since childhood, was the heir to New York's renowned Ashford Group.

I was supposed to have a perfect life.

But a cruel twist of fate had swapped my life with Blair's.

I hadn't even had time to process it all before Blair threw her first tantrum.

She cried and begged our family to send me away, threatening a hunger strike if they didn't.

Then she forged a medical report claiming she had depression.

To drive me out, she faked a depressive episode and jumped from the ground-floor terrace.

Though she only sprained her ankle, the entire family was frantic with worry.

They scrambled to get her to the hospital.

No one noticed me, the one Blair had actually pushed down the stairs.

In the end, it was the family's housekeeper, Maria, who helped me up.

She tended to my wounds and brought me food.

She comforted me gently, "Miss Ava, don't be sad."

"Miss Blair is just like that. She'll get used to you in a few days."

"The master and madam care for you in their hearts, it's just..."

It's just that people always have favorites.

Even though I was their biological daughter, all I could do was watch their perfect family from the outside.

Of course, they'd love the brilliant child they had raised.

So, when the kidnappers demanded they choose one of us, everyone chose Blair.

I should have seen it coming.

After all, in that house, the best room was Blair's, and the prettiest dresses were Blair's.

So of course, the one chance at life had to be Blair's, too.

What truly shattered my heart wasn't their predictable abandonment. It was that the housekeeper, Maria—the only person in that mansion who had shown me any kindness—was in on the kidnapping plot.

That night, with tears in her eyes, she cinched the ropes binding me.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ava, I didn't want to do this."

"They forced me. I have a child of my own to support."

"I can't lose this job over you. Just bear with it. Your family will definitely come save you."

That's what my father and brother said, too, when they came to pay the ransom.

They swept Blair into their arms and left without a single backward glance.

They only left me with one sentence.

"Ava, just hold on. The police will come for you."

But in reality, no one was coming for me.

Worried the kidnappers might hurt Blair, they had never called the police at all.

In this city, in that mansion, I was utterly alone.

All that awaited me was a dead end.