The day before Henry Baker and I are supposed to marry, my mother sedates me. She makes my twin sister marry Henry instead.

A few years later, the company Henry established turns into a thriving empire. My sister, Diana Halliwell, flourishes with him.

While I was at the lowest point in my life, my childhood friend, Jorge Ward, proposed. It's only after marriage that I realize he's worthless.

Diana and Henry attend various parties. They enjoy delicious food and wear expensive clothes. Meanwhile, I end up exhausted after having to cook and clean for my family.

One night, Mom speaks softly to Jorge when she thinks I've fallen asleep. "I was worried she would find out the truth about what happened back then, but it seems she's too dumb to notice anything."

Jorge laughs. "You're a genius, Erica. You laced Laura's water with sleeping pills so Diana could marry Henry on her behalf. I'm glad to see how happy Diana is now."

Mom sighs. "I just feel bad for you. You've always liked Diana, yet you're forced to live with a wash-out like Laura…"

It had been many years into the marriage when I finally learned about the truth.

It turned out that my mother, Erica Jones, had drugged me on my wedding day and let my sister take my place at the ceremony simply because my sister also liked my fiancé.

My breathing grew rapid.

Back then, Mom told me that I had suddenly fainted during the wedding. So that my fiancé wasn't suddenly left at the altar, she had no choice but to let my twin sister, Diana Halliwell, marry him in my stead!

When Jorge Ward proposed to me, he told me that he had liked me since we were young.

Was it all a lie?

A sharp pain suddenly shot through my abdomen, notifying me of my baby's movement.

The excruciating pain made me cry out. Mom just stormed into my room with a look of annoyance. "Since you're already awake, hurry up and get ready!

"Diana's going shopping at the mall later, and you'll be carrying her things! Don't you dare embarrass us!"

The pain drenched my face in cold sweat, making my voice tremble. "Mom, the baby is moving. My stomach hurts!"

A second later, a slap landed square on my face, branding a burning sensation onto me.

"Drop the act! Don't even think that you can get to slack off just because you're pregnant with your second child! I'm telling you, if Diana so much as frowns later, I'll have your head for it!" Mom shouted.

Jorge stood silently at the side, afraid of angering Mom.

He fetched me a pill from outside and handed it to me. "Take this painkiller, Laura. It'll help you feel better."

His actions made me laugh bitterly. I was pregnant, and painkillers would only harm the baby.

So it turned out that Jorge would rather risk deforming our child than to let Diana suffer even a little.

Maybe to him, Diana's single finger mattered more than me or our two children.

Mom clucked her tongue before asking, "Are you still going to just lay there?"

I immediately scrambled out the door before her next slap landed on me.

The wind was relatively strong that day, chilling me to the bone.

However, Mom and Jorge simply ignored my trembling. Instead, they were worried about Diana. "I wonder if Diana's dressed properly today. What if she catches a cold? Her body's been weak ever since she was a child…"

When Mom saw that I was still shivering, she immediately shot me a glare and kicked me. "What are you pretending to be cold for? It's disgusting how you're always acting pitiful all the time!"

Suddenly, her demeanor shifted completely. "Oh, Diana! Oh, my precious baby!"

I turned to look at Diana, who did not even look me in the eye before shoving her bags into my hands arrogantly. "Carry them for me."

I then continued listening to her complaints.

"Why did you come out dressed like this? You look so disgusting.

"Am I seeing things, or are those patches on your clothes? OMG, it's embarrassing just to stand next to you.

"Luckily, I was the one that married Henry back then. Imagine if he had to look at you every day. He'd probably lose his appetite."

Diana relentlessly showered me in harsh words, while Mom and Jorge followed behind her quietly, pretending not to hear anything.

I was still carrying my baby daughter, Cecily Ward, on my back. As the bags grew heavier in my hands, I turned to them and weakly pleaded for help. "I'm so tired. Can anyone help carry Cecily for me? Please."

Mom's loving gaze toward Diana instantly turned into a look of hatred. It was as if she wanted to tear me into pieces. "Don't you have any conscience, Laura?! Is this how you repay me after all I've done to raise you? You gave birth to your own daughter! Why do you expect me to carry her for you?"

Ever since I had Cecily, Mom's attitude toward me had been worsening by the day. She constantly berated me and called me worthless for not being able to give her a grandson.

When I was still pregnant with Cecily, Mom kept trying to force all kinds of strange folk remedy on me.

I was afraid that they would harm the baby, so I vehemently refused to take any of them.

Mom desperately wished for a grandson, so when I finally gave birth to a daughter, she just blamed me with every excuse in the book.

Diana, on the other hand, had a son. Mom was so overjoyed that she danced around the house as she announced that her family finally had an heir to carry on the bloodline.

Diana and I had given birth only two months apart, yet Mom went to Diana's house to help out as a nanny.

Jorge did not want to help take care of me and instead buried himself in work, leaving me alone to survive on only bread for an entire month.

"Are you zoning out while I'm talking to you? I'll have to teach you a lesson!" Mom shouted.

I was snapped back to reality as she rained down a flurry of punches on me.

She continued, "You've got some nerve, Laura! I must be cursed to have given birth to someone like you! If only I had been pregnant with just Diana alone!"

I clutched my head and desperately pleaded, "I was wrong, Mom! I'm sorry! Please don't hurt my baby!"

I had Cecily on my back and my second child in my belly. I was terrified of any of them getting hurt.

Jorge stood still as he mumbled weakly, "Just forget it, Erica. Laura's still pregnant."

Mom finally stopped hitting me, but not before landing two more kicks before walking away.

"Laura, are you okay?" Jorge asked. Still, he did not even offer to help me up.

Mom shouted from the side. "What do you even have to complain about, Laura? Jorge treats you well enough, doesn't he? Someone like you should already consider it lucky to be able to marry him. What more do you want?"

I endured the pain as I forced myself to stand up and look at Jorge. "Can you take Cecily for a while? It's hard for me to hold onto the bags while I'm carrying her."

Jorge's expression dropped as he replied, "Uh, well, I don't really know how to look after children."

It was happening again.

Despite his seemingly kind words, he would always make up excuses whenever I asked him to look after our child, as if it was none of his business.

But how could he not know how to look after children? When Diana's baby was born, she often fell ill, and he would spend several days at her place to help care for her child.

Meanwhile, I caught a fever that rose up to 104 °F and almost met my end at home.

All Jorge ever did was text me, saying, "There's fever medication in the cabinet. Take them. Cecily still needs someone to look after her."

Now I finally understood why Jorge had always treated Diana so well. It was not because Diana was my twin sister, but rather because he had always loved her.

Henry Baker proposed to me eight years after we first met.

Mom never agreed to our marriage in the very beginning. She felt that he was a loser who could not possibly bring her any financial benefits.

Later on, when I brought him home, Diana immediately took a liking to him.

Since childhood, Mom gave Diana everything she wanted, while I was left with hand-me-downs and chores.

When we were ten, Mom spent all her savings to buy a gold necklace for Diana. Mom was all smiles when she said, "You scored an 80 on your test, Diana! That's a huge improvement! This is your reward! If you ever need money in the future, you can pawn off this gold necklace."

Meanwhile, I was scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, even though I had obtained perfect scores for all my exam papers.

When we were 18, Diana barely passed her finals and graduated, but Mom was so overjoyed that she shouted all day long about how the family would finally have someone going to college.

She even brought Diana to buy the newest laptop at the time.

I was accepted into a prestigious university, yet all I had was a decade-old phone. As such, all of my notes during university had to be written by hand.

When I was 22, I wanted to pursue a master's degree, only to be met with harsh remarks from Mom. "What's the point of studying so much? Your top priority now is to make money and look for a good man to marry!"

But when Diana delayed her graduation by two years, Mom willingly paid her additional tuition and even comforted her. "It's okay, Diana. It's already a huge achievement to make it into university. Don't stress yourself out, okay? Even if you never graduate, I'll look after you forever!"

I had been making compromises since I was young. So long as Diana had set her eyes on it, anything that was mine could be given away to her.

But now, she wanted Henry.

I could never agree to that.

Diana looked at me with a mix of disbelief and anger. "What are you being so petty for, Laura? I'm just asking for your boyfriend! Why are you acting like I'm trying to take your life?"

Mom rushed over and scolded me as well. "You're being too selfish, Laura! Diana's always been sickly ever since she was a child. As her older sister, what's wrong with letting Diana have her way sometimes?

"I'm sure you know just how picky Diana is when it comes to choosing her partner. Now that she finally found a man she likes, can't you just let her have him? Will it kill you to just step aside for once?"

I was crying when I asked, "What about me?"

What Mom said next would scar me for life. "You're just a burden anyway. Just marry whomever. It doesn't matter."

I never agreed to give Henry up to Diana. It was also the first time I had ever fought back against them.

Mom was so furious that she locked me in my room and starved me for several days. Nevertheless, I did not give in to their demands.

Mom started beating me up three times a day, but I still did not give in. Eventually, though, fate itself forced me to make a compromise.

I suddenly collapsed the day before the wedding.

All of Henry's relatives and friends had already come into town. To avoid embarrassing him, Diana, my twin sister who looked exactly like me, took my place at the ceremony.

When Diana saw that Henry couldn't tell she wasn't me, she chose to assume my identity completely.

I wanted to tell Henry the truth, but Mom threatened me, saying that if I were to expose Diana, she would sever all ties with me.

The person that Henry had loved for eight years was supposed to be me.

The name written on the marriage certificate was my name.

But in the end, my entire life had been stolen by Diana.

"I'm going to the restroom," Diana's voice snapped me back to reality once more.

Her beautiful face showed a strange smile as she looked at me and continued, "I only need Laura with me."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mom anxiously replied, "Will you be fine? She's useless! What if she doesn't have enough strength to carry or move anything? It could get dangerous!"

How ridiculous. Mom probably never realized just how bold Diana actually was.

Diana had learned how to smoke when she was still in school. When Mom found a pack of cigarettes in her bag, Diana just pinned the blame on me instead, causing Mom to beat me up for three days straight.

Jorge also stepped forward, looking concerned. "Diana, are you sure you don't need us to go with you? Will you be okay?"

I bit down on my lips so hard that I could taste blood in my mouth.

I had always treated Mom and Jorge well—too well. The house Mom was now living in was paid for in full, bought with the money I had saved up through endless overtime work.

Ever since I graduated, I would buy Mom whatever she wanted without any questions.

Before I got pregnant, Jorge did not work and just lived off of me as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

But after I became pregnant, he went and found a job overnight, as if taking care of me for even a single day was even more unbearable than having to work.

And the only thing I had gotten in return was disdainful looks and insults.

"Don't worry, Mom. I just want to talk to Laura alone," Diana explained before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the restroom.

Her tone shifted completely the moment we stepped inside. "Ugh, why do you look so old, Laura? You're only in your 20s, but you look like some wrinkled old woman in her 40s or 50s. You're so disgusting."

I forced a smile and replied, "You look so much younger now, Diana. Henry must've treated you well."

Diana's expression darkened instantly as she leaned in close to my face. "Henry still thinks that I'm you! Do you have any idea how disgusting it is having to listen to him call me by your name? He's mine! So why is he still calling your name?"

I lowered my gaze. My voice turned cold as I said, "Back then, you were the one who suggested to Mom that she drug me unconscious so you could take my place in marrying Henry, weren't you?"

Diana froze up for a second before gripping my wrist violently. "So what if you know about the truth? Henry loves me, not an ugly woman like you!

"I'll get straight to the point. My son's kidney is failing, and your daughter's kidney is a perfect match for him!

"Will you believe me when I say that I only need to say the word, and Mom will immediately hand Cecily's kidney to me without questions?"

I yanked my hand away immediately. I could not believe that she dared even to utter such words.

I did not mind being humiliated. But now, she was making a move on Cecily of all people!

However, before I could even steady myself, Diana suddenly slammed her hand against the door and screamed. "Mom! Laura hit me!"

Mom and Jorge had been waiting anxiously outside of the restroom. When they heard Diana scream, Mom's face turned pale from fright as she rushed in to help.

Diana held out her hand, crying. "Laura did it! Look, my hand is bleeding!"

I stared at Diana in disbelief. Her finger only had a tiny cut that was not even an inch long. It did not even break through her skin!

A moment later, a heavy slap sent my head wobbling to the side, my vision spinning.

"You shameless woman! How dare you even touch Diana! If anything were to happen to her, I'll fucking kill you!" Mom shouted.

Cecily was woken up by the commotion and started crying loudly.

Mom continued, "And that useless daughter of yours! Why even bother giving her a name? Just call her what she is—an illegitimate child!

"I'm just going to say it now. Jorge and I have already agreed to donate her kidney to Diana's son."

Cold sweat dripped down my face from the pain. My voice trembled as I questioned, "Then what about Cecily?"

"What else?" Mom scoffed. "She'll just die, I guess."