Chapter 3

Barrett fainted dead away at Oliver Pruitt's words.

I didn't explain.

Eighteen years ago, the old Mrs. Pruitt had brought me home to the Pruitts, an orphan from the moment I was born, and handed Narelle over to a kind couple to raise.

The Pruitts rose to become one of New York's elite families on the strength of the luck I carried.

Narelle, raised outside the family, had not suffered for it.

The old Mrs. Pruitt had still groomed her as the Pruitts' eldest daughter, only she never got the chance to bring her home herself.

And in my last life, Narelle came back early.

To save her life, I burned through every scrap of my own good fortune, and in the end I came to a wretched death.

Seeing I stayed silent, Oliver's mouth curled.

"Marian Pruitt, don't think that talking Barrett into playing along with your little act is going to fool any of us."

"What kind of feudal superstition is this, in the modern world? If there really were such a thing as a lucky charm's blessing, the one who carried it would be Narelle."

Narelle sniffled.

"I don't want any lucky charm's blessing. I only want to be beside Mom and Dad and my brother."

Oliver and Cicely closed protectively around Narelle, and Donald stepped to the front, shielding her.

Watching them, a dull ache pressed at my chest.

This kind of love from family had once been mine.

For as long as I could remember, Donald had stood in front of me as my brother and taken every blow meant for me.

And Oliver and Cicely had doted on me like a little princess.

In my last life, the moment they learned I wasn't their blood, they rushed home to comfort me.

Even Oliver's stern face had reddened, a rare thing.

"Marian, you'll always be a child of this family. You're our daughter."

Cicely had held my hand tight.

"Blood or no blood, you're the daughter I watched grow up."

Donald had gently ruffled my hair.

"Marian, I'll always be the brother standing in front of you, keeping you safe."

Once, I truly had loved them.

Even when they lost their trust in me over Narelle, even when they scolded me, I never once thought of giving them up.

Not until they got me killed. Then my heart went cold for good.

"Marian Pruitt, what are you standing there for? Changed your mind about coming off the family's records?"

Donald's voice pulled me out of the memory.

Looking at the ice in his eyes.

I spoke slowly.

"Fine. Let's go do it now."

I got in the car with them and rode to the records office.

Barrett, come to again, watched us go and bowed his head with a sigh.

"Madam, I'm sorry. In the end I still couldn't keep the Pruitts safe for you. It's fate, I suppose."

At the office.

The Pruitts pulled a few strings, and it was done in no time.

Narelle looked at her own name on the Pruitt household register, her whole face lit with joy.

"This is wonderful. Now I'm really family with Mom, Dad, and my brother."

Someone in the group chat posted the family register.

My name was struck from the ledger, and Narelle's was written in.

The relatives crowded the chat with congratulations.

"Welcome home, Narelle!"

"Can't have the family bloodline all muddled up. Good thing it's been set right."

The next second, the system showed I'd been removed from the group.

Narelle threw me a taunting little smile.

I glanced at her.

And laughed coldly inside.

If she was in this much of a hurry to dig her own grave, I couldn't be bothered to stop her.

I was just about to leave.

Narelle suddenly caught my arm.

"The Pruitts are throwing me a family-recognition banquet tonight. Everyone who's anyone in New York's elite circle will be there. You should come too."

"You can tell them all, in front of everyone, that leaving was your own choice. That no one forced you."

"So people won't say Mom and Dad turned their backs on family and threw you out. Wouldn't want it hurting the Pruitt name."

Cicely was touched.

"Narelle, you always think of everything."

I pulled my arm back.

"I'm not going."

Donald gave a flick of his eyes, and two bodyguards were on me at once, pinning down my shoulders.

"This is about the family's face. You're going whether you want to or not."

He gave the order.

"Get Marian Pruitt in the car. Keep an eye on her. Take her to the banquet hotel now."

The lounge.

Narelle stood there in a couture gown, her eyes glittering with triumph.

"Marian Pruitt, so you hogged eighteen years of my life. What of it? In the end you're handing all of it back to me anyway."

Something seemed to come back to her, and her voice turned to a grind of teeth.

"I really don't know what got into that old woman, insisting I be raised out in the countryside. When I was the one who should have had everyone fawning over me."

"Good thing she's finally dead. She doesn't get to call the shots in this house anymore."

I fixed my eyes on her, cold as ice.

"The old Mrs. Pruitt's death had something to do with you?"