Chapter 1

I was famous around the village for having a big mouth.

Ever since I was little, I couldn't sit on a secret to save my life. Whatever I knew, out it came.

Other kids' first word was "Mama." My first word was "Money. Under the bed."

Which is how I helped my mom find my dad's secret stash.

By the time I was old enough for school, I'd become the most popular person there.

Because I didn't just have a big mouth. I loved a good scoop.

Whose wife in the village was cheating, whose husband had a kid on the side.

Whose daughter was some rich man's kept woman in the city, whose son had latched onto a wealthy older woman and was living off her without an ounce of shame.

I knew it all, chapter and verse, and I broadcast it to the whole world.

Nobody kept a secret from me. The people of that village suffered for it.

Until the year I turned eighteen, when the Fox family, the richest family in Harbor City, announced I was their real daughter, swapped at birth, and they wanted me back.

My eyes lit up on the spot.

01

And it wasn't just my eyes that lit up. The whole village lit up too.

Especially once word got around that my birth parents were too busy to come get me themselves and had only sent a driver. After that, people packed in around our house, layer on layer.

Harbor City. Richest family. A real heiress and a fake one.

Put those three things together and the imagination runs wild.

Pair after pair of hungry eyes fixed on me, like they were trying to stare a hole through my face.

A normal person would feel awkward here, exposed, desperate not to be gawked at.

But I'm not normal.

I stood in front of them, thrilled, and pressed both hands down through the air.

The noisy crowd went quiet at once.

I cleared my throat. "Ahem. Folks, my social media. You know what to do."

Instantly, every last one of them broke into a knowing grin.

That's right. I'd added every single person in the village.

No matter how much they hated me, not one of them ever blocked me.

Because when there was gossip, I really did post it.

Sometimes it happened to be about themselves, sure, but most of the time it was about someone else.

The whole village walked me almost a mile out. Watching the crowd in the rearview mirror refuse to thin, the driver couldn't help but remark, "Miss Gladys Henson, you're really well liked."

I just smiled and said nothing.

When we reached the Fox house, I was about to say something about how huge the place was, but the words never made it out. I walked straight into the fake heiress, Rose Fox, headed the other way with a suitcase in hand and her eyes rimmed red.

She spoke as she went. "I stole eighteen years of my sister's life. How could I have the face to stay in this family? Dad, Mom, Antony, I'm leaving!"

Mrs. Fox chased after her, dabbing at her eyes. "Rosie, you'll always be my daughter. Even with your sister back, we would never treat you any worse!"

Mr. Fox's eyes were full of ache too. "Rosie, so what if you aren't our flesh and blood? We raised you for eighteen years. To us, your sister is the stranger!"

Antony Fox stepped straight into Rose's path to stop her. "Rosie, I don't care about real heiress, fake heiress, none of it. As far as I'm concerned, I have exactly one sister in this life, and it's you!"

The four of them stood in the courtyard, clinging to each other, sobbing as one. However you looked at it, a warm, harmonious family reunited.

There just wasn't any place in it for me.

The driver glanced at me with something like pity and tried to console me. "Miss Gladys, honestly, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox have both been looking forward to your coming home... Miss Gladys, what are you doing?!"

Filming, obviously!

A scene this classic, dialogue straight out of a soap opera. It'd be a crime not to record it.

The driver's outburst made every one of the Foxes turn and look at me.

Nothing for it. I tapped send fast, lowered my phone, and gave the Fox family a smile.

A flicker of guilt crossed Mrs. Fox's eyes, but mostly it was awkwardness.

She hesitated. "Gladys, don't take what was just said to heart. Your brother and your father, they didn't mean any of it..."

Rose came shuffling over too, sniffling. "Sis, you're the true daughter of this family. I would never take your place. I..."

The more Rose talked, the more heartbroken she got, her breathing coming faster and faster, until her eyes rolled back and she fainted dead away.