Chapter 1

"Please, let me make one phone call. My parents said they'd come get me in three months. Something must have delayed them…"

In an isolation room at the psychiatric hospital, Sophia Russell gripped the iron door, her voice hoarse as she cried out toward the entrance.

She wore a tattered hospital gown. Her arms were covered in bruises and cigarette burn scars. Her head had been shaved, leaving behind a long, jagged scar.

"What are you yelling about? Looking for another beating?" A nurse walked over impatiently, jabbing at Sophia roughly with an electric baton.

Sophia screamed and collapsed to the floor, eyes rolling back, body convulsing, white foam spilling from her mouth.

She'd endured this kind of torture for half a year.

Seeing Sophia lose strength, the nurse cursed and turned to leave—but felt her pant leg being grabbed.

Sophia fought through the searing pain from the electric shock. She could barely speak, but she forced the words out anyway. "My parents… will come… get me…"

Before she could finish, mocking laughter rang out above her head. "Oh, Sophia, still dreaming, are we?"

Sophia looked up and saw a familiar figure slowly approaching.

She recognized her—it was her younger sister, Brielle Russell. Hope flared in Sophia's eyes. She grabbed the iron bars desperately. "Brielle, you came to get me, didn't you? Where are Mom and Dad?"

Brielle smiled contemptuously, looking at her like she was an idiot. "Sophia, the moment you were sent to this psychiatric hospital, you should've realized—they've completely abandoned you."

"No… that's not possible!" Sophia shook her head frantically. "Mom and Dad promised they wouldn't leave me! They said they'd come get me in three months!"

She'd grown up in the Russell family. At sixteen, she was told she was the wrong daughter—a fake heiress. The real heiress, Brielle, had returned. After that, her adoptive parents grew colder and colder toward her. Sophia could only desperately try to please them.

Until three months ago, when Brielle drunkenly hit and killed an old man with her car. Her adoptive parents begged Sophia, tears streaming, to pretend to be mentally ill and take the fall for Brielle. They promised they'd find a way to get her out in three months.

Sophia believed them. She became a psychiatric patient, locked away in this sunless place, injected with sedatives daily, beaten and scolded by nurses, bullied by other patients.

But she held onto the belief that her parents loved her. After all, so many years of affection couldn't just disappear.

"How else would you willingly take the fall for me?" Brielle pulled a piece of paper from her bag and tossed it through the bars. "See for yourself."

Sophia picked up the paper with trembling hands. It was a public notice—a statement severing the Russell family's ties with Sophia.

At the bottom were the signatures of the Russell couple: Heath Russell and Amara Cooper.

The date was two months ago.

In other words, just one month after she was locked up, her adoptive parents had wasted no time cutting ties with her.

"No! This isn't real!" Tears poured from Sophia's eyes. Her hands shook violently. "You're lying! You're all lying!"

Her mind shattered completely. She stared at Brielle, shaking the iron door frantically. "You're the one who killed someone! You're the one who hit that old man! Why do I have to be locked up here for you?"

Brielle's smile grew even more triumphant.

"So what if I killed him?" She leaned closer to the bars, lowering her voice. "Who told Mom and Dad to love me and not you? You deserve to suffer in my place."

"Brielle! You bitch!" Sophia screamed, tears blurring her vision.

Brielle stepped back, brushing off her sleeve in distaste. She said casually, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you—I'm about to marry Henry. Too bad you won't be able to attend our wedding."

That sentence was a blade driven straight into Sophia's heart.

Henry Lawson was her boyfriend. Before she was locked in the asylum, Henry had held her hand and promised he'd wait for her to get out.

Sophia felt her entire world collapsing.

She couldn't say anything. She just slumped to the floor, tears streaming silently.

Seeing her break down, Brielle smiled with satisfaction. Then she clapped her hands.

Three sleazy, pot-bellied men emerged from the shadows of the hallway, eyeing Sophia lewdly.

Brielle said to them, "This sister of mine used to be a high-society heiress in Silverlight City. Smooth skin, delicate—lucky you."

"Thank you, Ms. Russell." The three men chuckled obscenely, slowly approaching the iron door.

"No… don't…" Sophia realized what was about to happen. She backed away in terror.

The nurse opened the iron door. The three men rushed in.

"Come here, sweetheart." One of the bald men reached for Sophia's arm.

Sophia screamed and dodged, retreating frantically until her back hit the window.

She glanced outside. It was a ten-story drop onto concrete below.

As the men closed in, their filthy hands tearing at her clothes, Sophia refused to be violated. She bit down hard, turned, and jumped out the window.

Excruciating pain spread through her entire body. Blood pooled beneath her.

If I could do it all over again, I would never be the Russell family's daughter. I would never beg like a dog for their approval.

Sophia's vision blurred until her eyes finally closed completely.

"Sophia! We're talking to you—what are you spacing out for?"

A sharp voice pierced her eardrums. Sophia's eyes snapped open.

Blinding sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes—and noticed her hand was clean and smooth, without a single bruise.

Sophia looked down sharply. She was wearing a light blue dress, not that filthy hospital gown.

Everything around her was too familiar. This was clearly the living room of the Russell Villa.

Sophia froze in place.

Wasn't she dead? Why was she back at the Russell Villa?

Slowly, she raised her head. Sitting on the sofa were four people: her adoptive father Heath, her adoptive mother Amara, her brother Victor Russell, and the Russell family's real daughter—Brielle.

This scene… why was it so familiar?

That's right. This was the day Brielle had just been brought back to the Russell family.

Sophia's head began to buzz. A wild, audacious thought took root.

Had she been reborn? Had she returned to the day her biological parents sent someone to take her back?

In her past life, she'd been too reluctant to leave her adoptive parents. She'd cried and refused to go back to her biological family. In the end, her adoptive parents reluctantly agreed to let her stay—and that was the beginning of her nightmare.

"Sophia." Amara frowned, her tone helpless. "If you don't want to go back to your biological parents, you can stay. But you'll have to give your room to Brielle, and we'll have to cut your allowance in half to give to her."

Yes. That was the exact line.

Sophia remembered. In her past life, Amara had said the same thing. She'd cried and agreed, grateful that her mother was willing to keep her.

Now she saw it for what it was—the beginning of her ruin.