On the day the true heiress and I swapped places, my childhood sweetheart, bound to me by a promise made in youth, gripped my hand before our families and declared, "I chose you, not your title."

Anna Pedersen, tears brimming in her eyes, enveloped me in a trembling embrace. "Joanne, we'll always be family. I'd never take what's rightfully yours."

Everyone assumed I'd turned misfortune into fortune. Though I lost my status as the Pedersen heiress, I gained a steadfast lover and a selfless sister.

But three years after fate corrected itself, photos of Calvin Thomas escorting Anna to a prenatal checkup flooded the internet.

When I confronted him, he exhaled a plume of smoke and said coolly, "Anna is my true betrothed. This is just setting things right. Why are you so worked up?"

He seized my wrist and dragged our engraved engagement ring across the back of my hand, leaving a bloody gash. "This scar will remind you of the twenty years of life you stole. Your life and I belong to their rightful owner."

...

Silently, I realigned my dislocated wrist, but the searing pain sharpened my clarity.

Three years ago, these same hands had slipped that ring on Calvin Thomas's finger. Under the moonlight, he'd vowed to protect me forever.

"Calvin," I rasped, my voice raw, "we're done."

He sneered, pulling out a handkerchief to meticulously wipe the blood from the ring. "Done? The engagement was always meant for Anna. You were just a stand-in. Isn't this what you wanted, to cling to me and squeeze the last drops from the Pedersen family?"

With a sharp tug, he tore the pearl necklace from my neck. "If I hadn't pitied you, the Pedersens would've cast you out long ago. I know that your birth mother in that backwater village abandoned you years ago."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Three years ago, he'd insisted I stay with the Pedersens, soothing me, "Don't feel guilty. We'll make it up to Anna together."

And he did, devoting every night and every ounce of his passion to her.

The first time I caught them together, he fell to his knees, slapping himself with desperate force. "It was Anna's mother. She spiked our drinks. I never meant it to happen. Forgive me, Joanne. You're the only one I love."

I softened, helped him up, and brewed him sobering tea. Then I stormed to my adoptive mother for answers. She smirked, "Let's see how long you two lovebirds last."

I'd been foolish enough to believe Calvin and I could defy her, that our love would endure.

But reality was crueler. He cheated repeatedly, each time begging for my forgiveness. He even pressed a knife into my hand and guided it to his chest to prove his heart.

I relented every time, but he grew bolder, eventually shedding all pretense.

First, he tossed me his perfume-drenched coat to wash. Then, he appeared with lipstick marks staining his neck. Now, he and Anna were splashed across tabloid headlines.

I kicked aside the scattered pearls and sneered, "Save your pity! You disgust me! The sight of you makes me sick!"

...

He stiffened, anger flaring, but the door suddenly swung open.

It was my "dear sister", Anna Pedersen.

"Joanne!" she gasped, rushing up at the sight of the blood streaming from my hand. Her eyes glistened with tears as she cradled it. "Calvin, don't treat her like this. It's my fault for coming back."

Calvin pulled our hands apart, drawing her into his arms. "You're too kind, Anna. She doesn't deserve your sympathy."

Anna playfully swatted him, then turned back to me. "By the way, Joanne, don't forget to join me at tomorrow's charity gala. You're coming with me, right?"

I let out a cold laugh. At every such event, Anna insisted I, the false heiress, play the foil to her radiance. The Pedersens used these occasions to flaunt their magnanimity, even toward a fraud like me.

"Why should I go?" I shot back.

Her face soured at my defiance, and Calvin sulked, "What's with that attitude?" Anna is your sister! You stole her life for twenty years. Accompanying her to a gala is the least you can do. The Pedersen family raised you, and this is how you repay them? You're an ungrateful wretch!"

His eyes burned with disgust, but my lips curved into a smirk. "Fine, I'll go. Let the world see how my fiancé is tangled with my sister."

"Don't even think about it," Calvin scoffed, his gaze dripping with contempt. In one swift motion, he gripped my throat. "But I'll make you watch and see who's the swan and who's the duckling."

The next day, as I stepped out of the house, someone struck me from behind, and darkness claimed me. Rough hands shoved me into a car trunk, and I was driven to the charity gala.

They forced me into a coarse black gown that chafed my skin. Guests sneered at my shabby appearance.

Anna approached, a radiant smile on her face. "Joanne, you made it!"

Her haute couture gown, sparkling with crystals, stood in stark contrast to my drab attire. My gaze fell on the jade bracelet adorning her wrist, and nausea churned in my stomach.

Years ago, Calvin, drowning in gambling debts and too proud to ask his family for help, had sold his grandmother's heirloom bracelet to settle them.

He'd wept in my lap, calling it his only keepsake from her. To save it, I'd knelt before the casino boss, begging. Thugs had surrounded me, and without a timely police call, I might not have escaped unscathed.

Now, that same bracelet gleamed on another woman's wrist.

Anna feigned surprise. "Joanne, why are you dressed so plainly? I know you're frugal, but you can't embarrass us at an event like this."

Whispers of judgment rippled through the crowd. I clenched my teeth, forcing a smile. "How could I steal your spotlight? I wear what you give me."

Her mother, Deborah Pedersen, approached with a wine glass, her tone gentle but laced with authority. "Enough, Joanne. This is an important occasion. Be sensible and let Anna shine."

She patted my hand, her jeweled nails scraping my skin painfully.

"We have been more than kind," Deborah continued, her voice low. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

I jerked my hand back, meeting her gaze with cold indifference. "Harder? Mrs. Pedersen, your words are laughable. Is there anything more humiliating than what you're all doing to me now?"

Her composure flickered, but she quickly regained her polished mask. Lowering her voice, she hissed, "Know your place, Joanne. You're only here because of our lingering affection. Don't covet what isn't yours, especially Calvin."

...

Before I could retort, a commotion erupted in the banquet hall. Calvin had bid extravagantly and won a pair of diamond earrings.

He strode onto the stage, basking in the spotlight. After thanking the guests, he turned, his gaze locking onto Anna with theatrical affection.

"I'd like to share a personal decision," he announced.

I watched coldly from the shadows as he continued, "The engagement between the Thomas and Pedersen families was a vow between our fathers, a symbol of our bond."

He paused, the room hanging on his words. "But due to a twist of fate, the intended fiancée was misplaced."

All eyes turned to me.

"Today, I set things right." He extended a hand to Anna, who blushed demurely and glided to the stage. "I declare that my true fiancée is Anna Pedersen, the rightful heiress!"

His arm encircled her waist, his voice resolute. "The previous engagement was a mistake. As of today, it is void."

He kissed the back of her hand and slid the earrings onto her ears. Anna nestled into him, her eyes glinting with triumph.

Then, adopting her usual fragile demeanor, she turned to me. "Joanne, I'm so sorry. I know you're hurting. These past three years, watching you and Calvin misunderstand each other because of me has torn me apart."

Her voice broke just enough to draw the crowd's sympathy. "I've wanted to step back so many times, to give him back to you, but love is beyond control."

I watched her performance with cold detachment, sidestepping her outstretched hand. My rejection seemed to wound her; she swayed as if she were about to collapse.

Calvin caught her, then barked at me. "Anna is trying to console you, and you're throwing it in her face?"

Clinging to him, Anna looked up with tear-streaked cheeks and a bittersweet smile. "It's fine, Calvin. She has every right to be angry. My return disrupted her life.

Turning to me, she said, "Joanne, if you can't forgive me, I'll speak to Mother about transferring some of my shares as compensation. I only ask that you stop resenting Calvin. He's innocent."

She emphasized her return and compensation, a calculated reminder to all that I was the usurper, unwilling to let go, while she was the wronged heiress, generous despite her pain.

Sure enough, murmurs spread through the crowd.