The young lady stood under the lights, lifting her chin to meet my stare. "Elodie, if you're Mr. Chapman's daughter, what does that make me?"

There was something so familiar about her face that it caught me off guard. Wasn't this the young lady who'd taken pictures with Dad and strongly resembled him? How could she be so certain and bold as to challenge me in front of the whole school?

My gaze snagged on the collar of the shirt peeking out under her uniform. It was a pale pink shirt with a small tangerine embroidered on the collar.

I remembered treasuring that shirt more than anything else before I lost it!

My heart tightened with anger. What in the world was going on?

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

My voice passed through the microphone and filled every corner of the assembly hall. The students below the stage hurled abuse at me when they heard my questions.

"Annabel is an honor student at this school. Everyone knows how much her father loves her, yet you come in here impersonating her!

"No wonder she's asked us to gather in the hall! This impostor is too shameless for Annabel to take down alone!"

Annabel flashed me a smug smile. She made her way onto the stage. "Everyone knows my dad donated a library to the school in my honor. He loves me too much to break my heart.

"I don't know where you came from, young lady, but you'd best put a stop to this nonsense. Be better and stop envying others for their happiness."

Upon hearing this, the audience who'd rallied behind Annabel immediately snapped at me like sharks in bloody water, "Maybe she's an orphan who came here looking for her new parents! Some people have no shame!"

"Did she say she was the Chapman family's heiress? Annabel obviously takes after Mr. Chapman, but not this impostor! She looks nothing like him!"

"Annabel did mention that Elodie is only half a year younger than her. Even if Mr. Chapman had cheated, Elodie would be an illegitimate daughter, at best! She's not the real deal!"

They were warping the facts. Dad and I were blood-related—that much I was certain. He and Mom were definitely husband and wife, their marriage licensed and certified.

"Is there any proof that what you said was true? Gregory Chapman is my biological father, and I'm his legitimate, biological daughter." I pulled up all the pictures I'd taken with Dad on my phone and showed them to the crowd.

They all grimaced at the pictures. "Given how advanced photo-editing technology has become, I could claim to be Mr. Chapman's son and fabricate as many pictures as I want without breaking a sweat."

"Come on, genetics don't lie. Annabel is practically wearing Mr. Chapman's face at this point. What do you have to back up your claims? A DNA test? I doubt you'd get a meeting with Mr. Chapman even if you tried!"

Smirking, Annabel drawled sarcastically, "Who do you think you are? Did you believe you could claim any relation with my dad just because you have a few edited pictures?"

My head spun. I had no idea what trump card Annabel had up her sleeve that encouraged her to make a scene here and risk a major defeat.

Frustrated by how well-prepared she seemed, I retorted, "You impersonated me, then kicked up a huge drama over this. What are you trying to accomplish?"

Annabel shoved me aggressively and bit out, "Taking back my identity, of course!"

…

Pictures of Annabel and Gregory began to play on the large screen on stage.

There were shots of her in sparkly, poofy dresses as a little girl, then shots of her in her current school uniform. It was a montage of their shared father-daughter moments.

A well-dressed woman appeared on the other end of the stage. She held up a marriage certificate before the audience. "This is my marriage certificate to prove I'm Gregory's wife. Annabel is my daughter, and the three of us are a family!"

That was impossible! Why would this woman have proof of her marriage to Dad?

I wanted to snatch the marriage certificate from her to take a good look at it, but she had an image of it projected on the large screen. The certificate even bore an official stamp!

Panic seized me at once. I thought about how I'd never seen my mom and dad's marriage certificate in all these years.

"It's like she doesn't know when to give up! But I guess she's got nothing to say now that we've all seen those pictures."

No, I refused to believe this. I called Dad, my hand shaking, but my call was rejected. "Why aren't you answering your phone when I need you the most, Dad? I'm getting picked on right now! Hurry up and answer the phone!"

My heart was racing, and my thoughts were all over the place. I forced myself to stay calm.

Dad had been busy the entire morning, so he had to be taking a break now. Normally, his assistant took over his work while he was on a break.

At the thought of this, I immediately called Dad's assistant, Leonard Birch.

I put the call on speaker as soon as Leonard picked up. "Hey, Leonard, I'm Dad's biological daughter, right?"

Leonard chuckled at this. "Did you call me just to ask this, Ms. Chapman? You are Mr. Chapman's only biological daughter, and everyone in the company knows that. Is everything alright? Do you need me to wake Mr. Chapman?"

Shock registered on the audience's faces. I heaved a sigh of relief.

Leonard was the lead PR officer of Chapman Construction Group. He was famous for his good looks and had more followers than Dad. His words were as good as the truth.

The students in the audience grew suspicious. "That was Mr. Birch! I listen to his interviews all the time, and I'd recognize his voice anywhere! Could Elodie be telling the truth?"

"But Annabel looks exactly like Mr. Chapman, and her mom has a marriage certificate, too. That's ironclad evidence, isn't it?"

A vicious smile tugged on my lips. "With so many fake certificates going around, who knows if that piece of paper that woman's holding is real? We could send it in for professional testing. I've got time for this game."

Annabel didn't shrink away from this. She quirked a brow instead and snorted. Then, fishing out her phone, she video-called my dad.

The call was put through immediately, and on her phone screen was a face I was all too familiar with.

Dad would take Annabel's call in a heartbeat, yet he didn't think twice about letting Leonard answer my calls. My blood boiled, and whatever morale I'd gained earlier quickly dissipated.

"Hello? Annabel, shouldn't you be in class? Why are you calling me?"

Annabel shot me a triumphant look when she noticed I'd gone still. She smiled and said, "There's been a small incident at school. Mom's here too."

The woman with the marriage certificate sauntered over and called out to Dad in a honeyed voice, "Hello, darling!"

Dad asked with concern, "What happened? Do I have to step in?"

Annabel chirped sweetly, "Oh, it's no biggie. I'll handle it myself. I'm your favorite daughter, aren't I, Dad?"

Dad chortled and replied indulgently, "You're the only beloved daughter of the Chapman family, so of course!"

Pouting, Annabel muttered mournfully, "But someone showed up at school claiming to be your daughter and that your marriage to Mom is a sham! You've no idea how upset I am."

Dad frowned, and rage washed over him. "Who's the knockoff that dared to challenge you? And what's wrong with your school? Did they forget I had that building donated in your honor?

"Your mother's my legitimate and only wife, and you are my only beloved daughter, Annabel! Keep your head high and put that impostor in her place! I'm here if you need me!"

Upon hanging up, Annabel hurried toward me and slapped me hard across the face. "Did you hear that? My dad has spoken up for me personally. Are you going to ask another 'assistant' to prove your case?"

Caught off guard by the slap, I fell. It was all I could do to counter loudly, "No, that was AI! I can tell! You were lying. Give me your phone! I know where the loopholes are."