Inheritance of Lies

So, I waited until I found out the whole family was dining at an upscale restaurant before making my move.

With so many people around, they wouldn't dare kill someone outright.

On top of that, I had worked all kinds of part-time jobs to make money in the past. I knew a few people on the restaurant staff, so getting inside was easy.

When I deliberately walked past the Coxes with this face of mine, Gillian grabbed my arm excitedly.

"Wait. Are you from Dawnridge Children's Home?"

She was smiling, but my skin prickled all over. Still, I forced myself to look surprised.

"Yes. And you are…"

Orson and Gillian exchanged a look, then both stood up and warmly took my hands.

"You're here to reconnect with us, right?"

They explained the whole switched-at-birth story again.

Every eye in the restaurant turned toward us.

I stiffened and asked, "Are you really sure I'm your daughter?"

The two of them stared at my face, their excitement intense enough to be frightening.

"Sweetheart, it's so obvious! You look so much like me!"

Gillian even took advantage of a moment when I wasn't paying attention and yanked up the fabric at my lower back.

"You even have the birthmark. You have to come home with us tonight!"

That only made my fear spike.

I realized that after all this talking, they still hadn't clearly said I was the heiress. They just kept rushing to take me home.

I forced myself to stay calm, put on an eager expression, and asked again, "So you're deciding I'm the heiress based on just this?"

The hesitation on my face made their expressions sharpen.

"Silly girl," Orson said. "You came here to claim your family, and you have all the traits of our daughter. Why ask questions like that?"

I nearly frowned. Their answers were still vague and evasive.

I was about to press further when Gillian suddenly wiped at her eyes.

"It has to be you," she said softly. "Who else could it be? Let us take you home right now. We want to make up for the decades you suffered without us."

They looked at me with raw eagerness, their eyes shining with emotion.

I had grown up in an orphanage. No one abused me, but life was far from easy. Sometimes, I was so hungry that I had to fight stray dogs for food.

At school, I was bullied for not having parents.

I used to dream of having a family. They didn't need to be rich. I just wanted someone to stand up for me when I was treated unfairly.

So when Orson's people came to the orphanage, I had been thrilled.

I thought that if they were willing to give away a billion-dollar fortune, they must be my parents, and they really loved me.

But on the very night I went home, they pushed me off a high-rise without hesitation and killed me.

"How disgusting. You actually dared to impersonate our real daughter just so you could live well!"

"How dare an orphan like you covet something that was never yours! You really don't value your life, do you?"

Those painful memories made me eerily calm as I tried to analyze why they confirmed I was the heiress, only to deny it afterward.

Had I done something that made them misunderstand?

Suddenly, Gillian grabbed me and tried to drag me outside, knocking over the desserts on the table in her urgency without even caring.

Watching her like this, my pupils shrank. I suddenly felt like I knew the answer.

My voice trembled as I spoke. "The heiress actually…"

Before I could finish, Gillian cut me off.

"It's you!" Her nails dug into my arm, her gaze sharp and frightening. "What's there left to doubt?"