The True Heiress Is the Top Hacker

At a hacker competition in my past life, the fake daughter of my family submitted a program that was identical to mine.

With a pitiful expression, she pleaded, "Sister, I've returned our parents to you. Why are you still copying my code?"

Our wealthy parents cried out, "It's all our fault for losing our child back then. This is why she has no upbringing and resorts to plagiarism!"

My older brother was furious, "Had I known this sister was so morally corrupt, we should never have brought her back. Now she's embarrassing us and tarnishing the family name."

Their harsh words crushed me. I became the target of online harassment, and the wealthy parents kicked me out of the house. I was now a pariah, hunted by everyone.

Meanwhile, the fake daughter used this competition to get close to a wealthy heir from the elite circle. The wealthy heir, seeking revenge for his beloved wife, vowed to tear me apart.

But then I was reborn—back to the day before I submitted my program. Without hesitation, I packed my bags and decided to travel the world.

However, my usually gentle wealthy mother called me in a rage, "You ungrateful little brat! If you don't come back and work on your programming, do you want our whole family to starve?"

——

As I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by the lavish decor of this grand house. I glanced at my wristwatch and saw it was already 2 AM.

The entire family was silent, so I quickly shut down my computer and prepared to go to bed.

Suddenly, the nanny appeared behind me. "Emma, going to bed so early today?" she asked.

I jumped in surprise and patted my chest. "Yeah, I'm just tired today."

The nanny nodded and stepped back, allowing me to continue tidying up before heading to sleep.

Just then, Mrs. Smith rushed down in a silk nightgown. "Emma, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Mr. Smith followed closely behind her from upstairs. "I'll call the family doctor right now! You can't be sick before the competition, Emma!"

I couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Growing up in an orphanage, I had longed for the warmth of a family. When I was first recognized by them, they took great care of my health, and I naively thought how wonderful it was to have a family that cared for me.

But everything changed during the hacker competition when the fake daughter, Sophie, presented a program identical to mine. That was when I realized that my family's decision to bring me back was part of a scheme.

Sophie had cried on camera, looking pitiful as she said, "I've returned our parents to you, sister. I don't understand why she still wants to copy my code."

She even produced snippets from previous forum posts to prove that every step she took was done independently.

Mrs. Smith rushed out in tears, pleading with the judges, "Please give Emma another chance! She's been lost for so long, growing up alone in an orphanage. It's normal for her to have such behavior; she's still young. I'll take her home and raise her properly."

Kyle Smith was furious. "I knew from the start she was a jinx! We should never have brought her back. With her moral corruption and plagiarism, she's brought shame upon our family!"

"But I didn't plagiarize at all..."

Before I could finish my defense, Mr. Smith slapped me across the face.

"How dare you argue? We shouldn't have brought you back! You think you can act like our true daughter and steal Sophie's code? Get out! We Smiths will never allow someone like you in our family!"

I was stunned by the slap and momentarily at a loss for words. I even started to doubt whether I had actually copied Sophie; otherwise, how could our codes be identical?

But then I noticed Sophie leaning against Mrs. Smith's shoulder with a provocative look in her eyes. It all became clear.

This was Sophie's scheme. She resented me for coming home and taking away her family, but everything that belonged to them originally belonged to me.

With my biological parents and brother's words echoing in my mind, I felt crushed; everyone believed I was the one who plagiarized.

Online harassment intensified against me as people wrote hateful comments like: [Look at how pitiful Sophie is crying! Is it because she's not biological that she's destined not to be loved? After living together for so many years, isn't that enough?]

[This Emma really is ungrateful; how heartless of the Smiths to abandon their daughter they raised with care just because they want this morally corrupt person!]

[Maybe it's the Smiths who made Emma copy Sophie's code; after all, Emma is the true daughter!]

In the end, the entire internet demanded that the Smiths kick me out.

Mrs. Smith clung desperately to my legs, begging Mr. Smith not to do this, but he replied coldly, "Having such a child is misfortune for our family!"

Finally, Kyle pulled Mrs. Smith away while several servants threw me and my belongings out onto the street.

Because of this plagiarism incident, I faced insults and stones thrown at me while walking down the street; finding a job to support myself became impossible.

Eventually, with no other options left, I had to hide under a bridge begging for food until Sophie's fiancé—a wealthy heir from an elite circle named Ehan—found me.

To appease his little darling Sophie, he planned to dispose of me at the border.

Now that fate has given me another chance at life, I hurriedly packed my things and prepared to escape once more.