Chapter 2

That same day, word of the Pruitts' fake and true daughters raced through New York's elite circle.

Everyone knew the fraud, me, had been thrown out.

And the real one, Narelle Pruitt, was the toast of the season.

I didn't need to guess who was behind it. The Pruitts, of course.

It gave Narelle a solid footing in the circle, and it killed any notion I might have of coming back.

I dragged my luggage to the villa the old Mrs. Pruitt had bought me.

The servants who used to fawn over me now looked at me like something scraped off a shoe.

"She's not the Pruitts' eldest daughter anymore. How does she still have the nerve to live in a villa the old lady bought? What a thick skin."

"Born lower than a hired hand like me, probably, and she still wants to order us around?"

"If you ask me, we should send her packing. Wouldn't want to get kicked out ourselves once the young master boots her out again."

Two of them stood at the door, dripping sarcasm.

I gave them a glance, took out my phone, and pulled up the property deed and the payment records.

"First. This villa's title has my name on it, along with a signed deed of gift from the old Mrs. Pruitt."

"Second. Your wages are paid by me. Open your eyes and look carefully at who your actual employer is."

"Last. I don't keep servants who run their mouths. You're fired."

The color drained from their faces. They hadn't expected me to be so merciless.

"Miss, we were wrong."

"Please don't fire us. We'll never say another word out of line."

I ignored the begging and had the butler put them out of the villa.

In my last life, those two helped Narelle frame me. They were among the ones who got me killed.

The next day, around noon.

I sat at the dining table and ate every last bite in front of me.

My stomach was round and tight, and still I felt like I couldn't get full.

The hunger I felt before I died last time was still lodged in my head.

Then Barrett showed up at my door.

"Miss Pruitt, you can't leave the Pruitts, you just can't! For the old lady's sake, won't you set aside your grudge with the family and come home?"

I set down my water glass.

"Uncle Barrett, it's not that I don't want to go back. I can't."

"You must have heard what happened at the house. Narelle is back. There's no place for me there anymore."

His brow knotted, his face full of worry and strain.

"What are we going to do? The Pruitt family was the old lady's life's work. I can't stand by and watch it fall apart."

His gaze dropped to the shattered jade thumb ring on the table, and his steps caught.

"The old lady's jade thumb ring. How could it..."

I let out a soft sigh.

"Narelle smashed it on purpose. I didn't shield it."

That jade thumb ring was the Pruitts' treasure. It carried the fortune of generations of the family.

Even after they cast me out, as long as the ring stayed in my hands, the Pruitts' wealth and prosperity would hold.

They destroyed the family's own protective charm with their own hands.

Barrett swayed and nearly went down.

"Miss Pruitt, whatever it takes, you have to come home this time. I promised the old lady I would guard this family for her. I'm begging you..."

He started to lower himself to his knees.

Donald burst in and caught him before he could.

"Uncle Barrett, why are you begging her to come back? She was never one of us to begin with!"

Barrett's face went grave.

"Young Master, have you forgotten what the old lady said before she died?"

"The Pruitts rose to be one of the four great families of the city's elite in just eighteen years, and it was all because of Marian, because of her luck."

"If Marian leaves this family, then the Pruitt name in this city vanishes too."

Just then Oliver and Cicely arrived, Narelle with them.

"Donald, don't listen to his nonsense."

Oliver shot Barrett a glare.

"The children were never switched by accident back then. Your grandmother swapped them on purpose."

"All because that fraud of a fortune-teller said Marian's fate was good for this family, and that Narelle wouldn't live past twenty here."

"Barrett was your grandmother's man. Of course he takes Marian's side."

Then he lowered his voice to Donald.

"Last life Narelle made it past her twentieth birthday in this house too, didn't she? Nothing happened at all."

Narelle leaned into Cicely's arms, the picture of injured innocence.

"I'm the one who's Mom and Dad's real daughter. Why would Grandmother do this to me..."

Watching her play the victim, Donald's voice went cold.

"I'm not just throwing Marian out of the Pruitt family. I'm removing her name from our records and striking her from the family register!"

"I'd like to see exactly what happens to this family without her."