Chapter 4

At three in the afternoon, the whole family got ready to attend the wedding ceremony.

My brother Tyler fumbled with his tie, grinning like an idiot. "Blair's got it made. Grew up over there, now she's marrying back in."

"Damn, wish I was the one they swapped at birth. Could've been a rich kid too."

"Shut your mouth." My mother shot him a look. "Polish your shoes."

I sat quietly on the couch, saying nothing.

Blair was different from the other babies. The other babies were passively switched.

Only she was actively abandoned.

The day my mother gave birth to her, she didn't even pay the hospital bill, left the baby on the bed and snuck out.

She never imagined that the daughter she discarded would be switched into the Astor family and raised as their precious princess for all these years.

When Blair first came back, she cried every single day.

When no one else was around, I told her the truth.

"Biology doesn't trump upbringing. They never wanted you in the first place. These bloodsucking parasites aren't worth keeping as family."

"You've had an elite education at the Astors' for years. You can stand on your own two feet."

Her eyes were red, so I thought she understood.

Until Sterling showed up at my door, his face dark.

"Blair says you told her to move out. That you think she's a burden. That you look down on her."

"Harper, I let it slide when you targeted her before, but now you share the same blood. Are you really going to push her out like this?"

I stood there stunned.

What he said had nothing to do with what I meant.

But I wasn't surprised.

This had happened too many times before.

Back when Blair was still "Blair Astor," she pulled the same tricks.

The first time I met his parents, she spent the whole dinner piling food onto my plate with a smile.

My plate filled up with foods I was allergic to.

I didn't want to embarrass her, so I forced down a few bites but still left half the plate untouched.

Afterward, I rushed to explain to her that I was allergic to those foods.

She smiled and said she understood. Then turned around and cried to Sterling.

Told him I looked down on the food she picked for me.

Another time, the three of us went out to eat. She leaned against Sterling, acting coy, making him cut steak and feed her.

When the server brought our dishes, she smiled and said, "Your girlfriend and you make such a sweet couple."

I set down my knife and corrected her. "They're siblings."

The next day, Sterling showed up again, his tone weary. "She cried for hours last night. Why were you so quick to clarify our relationship? Do you not like her?"

After enough incidents like that, I stopped explaining.

I just tried to show him through my actions that I didn't have the ulterior motives his sensitive little sister claimed I did.

Now they weren't biologically related anymore and his accusations came flooding back.

I wanted to explain.

But when I saw that look in his eyes—that "here we go again" expression—I suddenly didn't want to say anything at all.

Did he really not know what kind of people my parents were?

Did he really not understand why I told Blair to move out and support herself?

He knew but he just didn't care what I thought.

Over the past two years, I'd seen Blair curled up in bed with Sterling in nothing but a thin nightgown, reading together.

I'd seen him hold her in his arms and wipe away her tears.

Every single time, I wanted to scream.

But every single time, I told myself to wait. Just wait until they each got married to other people.

Then, the night before the wedding, he sat me down and seriously discussed marrying her instead, and I finally understood—

Even after marriage, nothing would change.

My hand drifted unconsciously to my stomach.

This was the only thing in the world that was truly, completely mine.

Growing up, I got beaten, screamed at, starved. I had no choice in that.

But this child was different.

I couldn't let it grow up being weighed, measured, and always at risk of being discarded.

When it was just me, I could endure any suffering.

Bloodsucking family. A boyfriend with no boundaries. A future sister-in-law who targeted me at every turn.

But now that I had this baby, I couldn't do it anymore.

My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts.

It's a reminder about tonight's flight.

I stood up, ready to leave.

My mother's face changed. "Where do you think you're going? Didn't we already say you don't need to attend the wedding ceremony?"

Before I could answer, she started in on me.

"You're pathetic. Couldn't keep your man, and now you want to crash your sister's wedding and cause a scene?"

"Give it up. They've been inseparable since childhood. Now they've found out they're not related by blood. What makes you think you ever had a chance?"

"I'm not going." I cut her off.

She froze, clearly not believing me.

After staring at me for a long moment, something strange crossed her face.

"Sterling was right about you after all."