The Heiress Who Stole the Show

Ever since I was little, I’d been a born performer. I loved being the center of attention. When Mom refused to let me eat meat, I screamed loud enough for the whole village to hear that she was abusing me. When Dad cheated with a widow from the next village, I secretly photographed them naked in bed that very night, printed the pictures on flyers, and handed them out to everyone in town. When my brother pushed me into a pond and stood on the bank laughing with his buddies, I turned around and set the neighbor’s pigpen on fire, then shouted over the village loudspeaker: “Mrs. Parker, I’d like to apologize on my brother’s behalf!” My parents lost half a lifetime’s savings paying for the damage. Eventually, nobody dared mess with me. They were terrified of what outrageous thing I might do next. Until my biological parents arrived in a Rolls-Royce and asked me to come home as the heiress to their fortune. The girl who’d taken my place put on an aristocratic air and said, “You’re a Bennett now. Lose those crude country manners. Don’t embarrass this family.” She thought I’d pretend to be a proper lady to save face. Instead, my inner drama queen took over. I dropped to the ground, kicking and wailing. “Mom! Dad! You finally found me! You have no idea how much I’ve suffered!” My parents stared in shock, then hurried to help me into the car. I sobbed while secretly studying their expressions. Mom’s eyes were red. Dad’s brow was furrowed. Good. They were buying it. Across from me sat the fake heiress, Chloe Bennett. Her pretty face was practically twisted with rage. I sneered inwardly. We were only getting started. Chloe sat as far away from me as possible, holding her nose in disgust. “Have you ever taken a bath? You stink. And those rags you’re wearing had better not get the car dirty. These seats are worth more than your life.” What a classic line. I glanced at her, then let out a wounded sob. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been in a car this nice. I used to walk miles through the hills to get to school. There wasn’t a car for me to ride in.” Chloe clearly hadn’t expected me to turn on the tears so fast. Her mouth twitched. “And why are you hunched over like that? You have absolutely no poise. You’re an embarrassment to the Bennetts!” I only cried harder. “I… I’ve worked on the farm since I was little. I had to carry over a hundred pounds of animal feed on my back. It damaged my spine.” Mom’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Evelyn, you’ve suffered so much. Those mountain roads must have been dangerous! Don’t worry. Once you’re home, you’ll have a driver wherever you go. You’ll never have to do farmwork again. I won’t let you live like that anymore.” Even Dad’s expression hardened. “That’s enough. Your sister has suffered for seventeen years. Do you really need to insult her to her face?” Her attack had backfired. Chloe’s eyes burned with resentment, and her jaw clenched. I turned away to wipe my tears, smiling coldly to myself. You’ll need a lot more practice before you can take me on. The Bennetts had arranged a family dinner at the ancestral estate to welcome me home. The moment we stepped inside, Chloe threw herself into our grandmother’s arms. “Grandma! I missed you so much!” Grandma hugged her with a beaming smile, then gave me a passing glance. “Sit wherever you like.” That was when my biological brother, Ethan Bennett, looked me up and down in disgust. “So you’re Evelyn Bennett, the long-lost daughter? You look like a complete hick. You don’t have half of Chloe’s class. Let me make one thing clear: I only have one sister, and that’s Chloe. You’re nothing to me.” I said nothing. I lowered my head and nervously twisted the hem of my shirt. Wonderful. Another one Chloe had brainwashed. No rush. I had plenty of time to play with them. Quietly, I took a seat farther away. Grandma frowned. “That’s where the staff sits. What are you doing over there?” I cautiously looked up. “My old family didn’t let me eat at the table. I’m used to sitting by the door. I’m already grateful to have a seat.” Everyone fell silent. Ethan went rigid. They’d known my old life probably hadn’t been easy. They hadn’t imagined it had been that bad. For a moment, none of them knew how to react. Grandma sighed, sympathy softening her eyes. “Come sit over here.” She kept serving me food throughout dinner until my plate was piled high. Seeing me steal everyone’s attention, Chloe’s eyes flashed with jealousy. She tried to reclaim the spotlight. “I’ve been practicing a new piece. Let me play it for everyone. Evelyn, you’ve probably never had a chance to learn an instrument, right? I can teach you sometime.” I kept eating without much interest. Just as Chloe really got into her performance, I suddenly started coughing, my face turning bright red. “There’s a fish bone stuck in my throat…” Everyone flew into a panic. No one was watching Chloe anymore. Her face turned thunderous.Please. I hadn’t spent my whole life performing for nothing. I could cry on cue, then pile on the sob stories. In a single evening, I’d changed the entire Bennett family’s attitude toward me. Everyone except Chloe, anyway. She clearly wasn’t ready to give up. After dinner, I was washing up in the bathroom when Chloe walked past. Seeing no one else around, she spat at me viciously. “Don’t think your poor-little-angel act can replace me. So what if you’re their biological daughter? I grew up in this family. You’ll never have the bond with them that I do!” Who said I wanted to compete over that? I looked at her like she was an idiot. Then Chloe suddenly grabbed my sleeve, leaned backward, and let out a startled cry. I reacted instantly, catching her before dropping to the floor myself. I wasn’t giving her a chance to frame me. As I fell, I deliberately scraped my elbow against the floor. Pain burned through it. Good. The more obvious the injury, the more convincing the performance. Mom and Dad came running at the noise and found me grimacing in pain. “Dad, Mom, I’m okay. Chloe didn’t mean it.” Chloe froze. Wasn’t that supposed to be her line? Before she could recover, our parents began tearing into her. “Chloe, what is wrong with you? Why do you keep picking on your sister?” Chloe snapped out of it. Her face twisted, and she lunged at me like an animal ready to bite. “Evelyn, you bitch! You fell on purpose, and now you’re blaming me!” Dad blocked her, his face dark. “When did you learn to speak like that? Evelyn is your sister!” Mom looked deeply disappointed. “You’re giving Evelyn your princess suite. She hurt her leg and needs room to move around. Your room is bigger.” Chloe screamed like a rabid dog. “Why should I? That’s my room! She’s some nobody from the country. She doesn’t deserve my princess suite!” I ignored her and walked into the room as if it were perfectly natural. Seeing all the designer goods inside, I silently folded my clothes into my suitcase. Mom looked confused. “Evelyn, put your clothes in the closet.” I shook my head. “Chloe’s clothes are so expensive. I’m afraid I’ll damage them.” My pitiful expression broke Mom’s heart. “They’re just clothes, sweetheart. They don’t make anyone better than anyone else. Use whatever you want in here. I’ll buy you new things tomorrow.” I smiled and nodded. When I saw Chloe’s face contort with hatred, my smile grew even wider. The next day, I was enrolled at Chloe’s school. In the same class, no less. I took a deep breath. Something told me my first day wouldn’t be easy. Sure enough, the moment I entered the classroom, a bucket of water came pouring down over my head. I was soaked from head to toe, shivering from the cold. “Well, look who it is! Our little country bumpkin. Like your welcome gift?” “Some trashy hick thinks she deserves to be in our class? Getting into a rich family won’t wash the poverty out of your bones!” I looked up. Chloe stood with her arms crossed and her chin raised, her little followers on either side. “You’re not at home now. Nobody here is going to protect you. I suggest you behave yourself. Don’t try any of your little schemes on my turf!” Her warning dripped with contempt. I looked around. Apart from Chloe’s little clique, nobody seemed particularly interested in me. I took out a handkerchief and wiped off some of the water. Then I walked straight to the front of the classroom and cleared my throat. “Hi, everyone. I’m Evelyn Bennett, your new classmate. I’m also the Bennett family’s long-lost biological daughter. Chloe here has been enjoying my life of luxury for seventeen years.” I smiled at her. “But don’t feel insecure just because you’re not their real daughter, Chloe.” Every eye immediately turned to me. Then I lowered my head and stared at the toes of my shoes, looking awkward and uncomfortable. Following my gaze, everyone looked at my shoes. Someone couldn’t help speaking up. “Wait, Evelyn’s the actual Bennett daughter, right? Why is she wearing canvas shoes with holes in them? Chloe isn’t even their real daughter, and her shoes are custom-made overseas.” “Exactly. Evelyn’s entire outfit probably costs less than thirty bucks. One of Chloe’s tops costs thousands. Chloe said the real daughter was bullying her, but I’m not so sure.” Apart from her little followers, everyone was starting to look at me with sympathy. Chloe panicked when she realized the mood had shifted. “Don’t let her fool you! Getting sympathy is what she does!” But nobody listened. Anyone with eyes could see I hadn’t been living nearly as well as she had. Grinding her teeth, she stormed out of the classroom. I shrugged and went to my seat. I’d barely taken out my pencil case and textbooks when a tall shadow fell over me.In an instant, my pencil case went flying out the window, and someone scribbled all over my brand-new textbooks. I swallowed my anger. Standing in front of me was Mason Reed, the school’s resident bully. He was a notorious troublemaker who got into fights like other people ate meals. A dragon tattoo ran along his arm, adding to the intimidation. Beside him, Chloe was crying prettily. “It was her! She humiliated me in front of the whole class!” Mason stepped closer and grabbed my collar as if I weighed nothing. “You think you can bully Chloe? I’ll make you regret it! Guys, flip her desk!” His two followers immediately stepped forward and overturned my desk. My neatly stacked books crashed to the floor. Then they poured soda into my backpack. Before long, almost everything I owned was ruined. Chloe looked at me smugly before putting on a reluctant expression. “Evelyn, Mason’s only trying to stand up for me. If you’re going to blame someone, blame me, not him. How about this? Apologize to me in front of the entire school, and I’ll ask him to stop.” Nobody around us dared challenge him. A few even tried persuading me. “Just apologize. There’s no point making things worse for yourself.” “Yeah. Say you’re sorry, and it’ll be over.” I hadn’t said a word. I simply watched their little rampage. When Chloe twisted the blame onto me, I fought the urge to slap her. If I wanted a secure place in the Bennett family, I couldn’t get dragged into open warfare. Chloe wasn’t their biological daughter, but they’d spent seventeen years together. Mom and Dad still loved her. I smiled faintly as the urge to perform took over. Looking up at Mason with tearful eyes, I said, “This is all your way of getting my attention, isn’t it? I understand. Teenage boys can be so childish when they like a girl.” Everyone stared. Mason looked stunned. What kind of logic was that? How had I turned blatant bullying into a crush? Chloe’s attack had landed on a pillow. She looked as if she might choke. “Do you think you’re the heroine of some romance novel?” At some point, a crowd had gathered outside the classroom. After hearing my explanation, they spread it from one person to the next. Soon the whole school was saying the school bully had fallen for the new girl. Apparently, he was the obsessive, unhinged type. A teacher heard the rumors too and called me in. “This school encourages independence, but that doesn’t mean we allow romantic drama to disrupt classes. Have your parents come in.” When Mom and Dad arrived, they found me soaked and miserable, my desk looking like a disaster zone. They asked cautiously, “You and that boy…” I burst into tears. “He probably wanted revenge for Chloe! He thinks I stole her place. Fine, I’ll leave! Isn’t that enough?” Mom’s eyes reddened with anger. “Chloe! This is unacceptable! I’ve raised you all these years, and you can’t show Evelyn even the slightest kindness?” Dad was so furious he slapped her. “You teamed up with outsiders to bully your own sister! You’re not coming back to school for now. You’ll stay home and think about what you’ve done!” Chloe couldn’t talk her way out of it. She trembled with rage, looking at me as if she wanted to kill me. After Chloe was grounded, things quieted down for a while. I used the opportunity to win over the Bennetts. Grandma and I had heartfelt talks, and soon she couldn’t stop calling me her precious granddaughter. Every day, I offered to lend Chloe my class notes. Mom, Dad, and Ethan were touched, though it hurt them to see how hard I was trying. Chloe ripped up my notebook in a rage. I didn’t get upset. I taped it back together and left it on the dining table. Mom and Dad were so angry that they made Chloe copy out the notes ten times to make it up to me. Life was pretty comfortable during that stretch. At school, nobody dared mess with me. After all, even the school bully “liked” me. At home, my parents and brother treated me better every day. I was even starting to enjoy being everyone’s favorite. But deep down, a voice kept warning me that Chloe wouldn’t give up this easily. Then came our birthday. The Bennetts threw a lavish party, inviting prominent figures from every corner of high society. Chloe invited her followers and Mason. The second they saw me, the insults started. “Here comes the delusional farm girl. Stay away from us!” “You told people I liked you? Go take a good look in the mirror. You think you’re good enough for me?” I gave him a bright smile. “Oh, look. Chloe’s lapdog.” Mason’s face turned green. When the party began, Chloe and I put on the gorgeous gowns our parents had prepared. We took turns going up to the stage to speak. When my turn came, I caught sight of Chloe. She looked certain of victory, her eyes shining with excitement. A second later, the zipper down the back of my dress burst open. The straps slipped off my shoulders, and the entire gown slid rapidly toward the floor!