My best friend Sophie and I went into labor the very same night. I watched her switch out the two infants with my own eyes, but I did not tell a single soul.

For the next decade, I fed, clothed, and raised a daughter that was not mine.

On the day the two girls turned eighteen, they received their college offer letters at the same time. One got into an ivy league school, and the other, a community college whose name I had not even heard of.

I had never seen Sophie so happy in my entire life. Grinning from ear to ear, she whipped out the DNA report she had been saving for this very moment.

"Thank you for raising my daughter to be the valedictorian that she is today. It's time she returns to her mama. As for this good-for-nothing scum… You can take her back!"

I sneered. "Very well then."

She had no idea what was coming.

"Julie, I saw this gorgeous dress while I was out shopping just now, and I bought it for you. I think you'll love it. Come try it on!"

Sophie Sanders chirped the moment she stepped through our front door. She knew the password to our door, so as always, she was free to enter as she pleased, and like every single day for the past decade or so, she was here to see my daughter, Julie Williams.

For the past 18 years, Sophie had sent her daughter to my house under the pretense of being too busy with work to care for her own child.

Sophie's busy work schedule, however, did not seem to stop her from visiting Julie every evening.

If anything, she spent more time with my daughter every day than her own, so much so that even my husband, Andrew, could not help but remark, "If I didn't know better, I'd think Julie is Sophie's child instead of the other way round."

I watched as Sophie helped Julie put on the dress she had bought, then made her twirl in circles as she crooned, "You're absolutely gorgeous, Julie! The most stunning little girl I've ever seen! Your godmother loves you, Julie, and don't you ever forget that!"

Lurking in a corner of the room, watching quietly, was a child the same age as Julie but could not be more different in terms of general appearance. She was gaunt and scrawny, bordering on malnourished, and was dressed in loose, baggy clothes—Julie's hand-me-downs.

That girl was my real daughter, my biological daughter. The child Sophie had stolen from me and passed off as her own. Her name was Emma Sanders.

Sophie and I had gone into labor on the exact same day 18 years ago, and shortly after giving birth, Sophie turned to me and exclaimed, "We're best friends, and from today onward, we'll be the godmothers of each other's children!"

Julie's first word was not 'mama' or 'dada', but an infantile enunciation of Sophie's name. From the very first day they laid eyes on each other, the two were inseparable.

At that exact moment, Sophie's attention was entirely on Julie, and she did not cast Emma so much as a second glance.

"Our darling Julie did so well during her exams this time around! If only Emma could be half as smart as you! I'm going to buy you a gift as a reward for all your hard work, Julie! What do you want?"

Julie was toying with the pendant necklace dangling from Sophie's neck. Upon hearing that, she pointed at Emma and said, "I want to spend a day with Emma."

Sophie frowned so hard upon hearing her response that for a moment, I thought her face would get stuck that way.

The next moment, she grabbed hold of Emma and snarled, "This hideous witch? Why would you want to be associated with her? She's revolting and as dumb as a doorknob! Why do you want to spend time with her?"

Turning to Emma, she hissed, "You're an utter disgrace! You humiliate me! If you were even the slightest bit like Julie… If only Julie was my daughter instead!"

Emma's head was lowered, and she did not dare to meet her mother's eyes.

Infuriated, Sophie slapped her across the cheek and roared, "You're an utter waste of space!"

Sophie had slapped Emma so hard that her entire head snapped to one side, but Emma's expression was unfazed. It was as if she was already used to such mistreatment.

Julie watched in silence for a few moments before clapping in delight. "You're strong, Aunt Sophie!"

Julie's approval seemed to please Sophie very much, because she cocked her arm back and slapped Emma a second time. Julie clapped even harder, but all of a sudden, she clutched her chest and said in short gasps, "Aunt Sophie, help me! My heart hurts… Help me!"

Sophie quickly called out to me, "Claire, where's the medicine? What are you standing there for? Get the medicine!"

Before I could even reply, Sophie sprinted across the room, located the first-aid kit and found Julie's heart medicine. She poured a glass of water and slipped the pill down Julie's throat so swiftly as if she had done this a thousand times.

Julie's breathing began to ease, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Emma seemed momentarily stunned by the entire experience. When she approached Julie to comfort her, however, Sophie shoved her out of the way.

"This is all your fault! You bring bad luck everywhere you go! It's your fault Julie had a heart attack, you useless scum! You're a curse to this household, and you're a curse to my precious Julie! You deserve to die!"

Emma lowered her head and replied, sniffling, "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to hurt Julie on purpose. I…"

Julie was born with a congenital heart condition. Every once in a while, it would flare up when she got over excited or stressed out, and so we kept her medicine within reach of every room of the house.

With that being said, Emma was not at all to blame for Julie's heart attack. She did nothing wrong.

I strode over to Emma and stroked her swollen cheeks. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

Sophie had hit her so hard that both of Emma's cheeks were swollen to twice their usual size. I took out a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit and gently dabbed it onto Emma's face.

Sophie pursed her lips. "There's no need to waste your time on her, Claire! She'll get better on her own anyway. Why waste that expensive ointment on her ugly face? If anything, she needs to toughen up. She's not a princess!"

I vividly recalled a time when Julie had scraped her knee and Sophie had rushed her to the emergency room in a panic.

The doctor had to squint to see the wound, that was how small it was.

Then, he made a sarcastic comment to Sophie that if she had come even a minute later, the wound would have healed altogether.

Sophie had shouted at him, "Don't get smart with me! Children nowadays are very frail! What if I take your advice and she ends up with a serious wound infection? You never know with these injuries!"

Then, she forced the doctors to perform a serial full-body scan for Julie just to be sure. The medical bill amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, Emma had been admitted to the hospital for a high fever. When Sophie reluctantly visited her, she retorted, "Don't you know that fevers are your body's way of regulating its temperature? If you ask me, you didn't even need to be admitted! You'll be fine! You should've pulled yourself together!"

I ignored Sophie's comment and turned to Emma. "It's your birthday in two days. What do you want as a present? I'll buy it for you."

Sophie scowled. "A present? For her? Claire, don't spoil her! I don't want her to think she's entitled to such luxuries!"

She pulled Emma back to her side and hissed, "Cut the crap! Stop going around acting like I'm abusing you! Did I ever starve you? Don't you know why I work so hard? Be more appreciative, you ungrateful scum!"

Then, Sophie turned around and glanced at Julie, as if to make sure she was alright, before dragging Emma back to their house.

Before they left, she paused to croon to Julie, "Don't worry, Julie, this is none of your fault. Emma deserves to be punished. I'll come by and visit you again tomorrow, alright? Be prepared for the biggest gift you'll ever see!"

The next day, Sophie came by with Julie's gift as promised. However, Emma was nowhere in sight.

I could not resist but asked, "Where's Emma?"

Sophie looked revulsed to hear her own daughter's name. "Why did you have to bring her up? She disgusts me. Well, I punished her by making her stand out on the balcony in the cold last night, and guess what? She fell sick. Can you believe it?"

I could not believe it. It was close to zero degrees outside, and with the few scraps of clothing Emma usually wore, it was no wonder she had fallen sick.

Sophie rolled her eyes at the concern on my face. "No need to feel sorry for her. I'm just training her to be more resilient. She needs to toughen up, otherwise she won't even stand a chance in this cruel world! Besides, she'll take care of herself. She needs to wake up for work later, anyway."

My eyes widened in shock. "Work?"

Sophie seemed pleased with herself when she explained, "Yes, work! I found her a job washing dishes in a restaurant, and at night, she's supposed to hand out flyers for a supermarket. Once she comes home, she'll host a livestream for a social media account. With these three jobs, she earns a few hundred bucks a day!

"It's too bad, though, that this is the best she can do. She's too hideous, and no one else will take her. I see child prodigies online earning a few hundred thousand dollars on top of their studies. If only she was half as smart as them!"

At the mention of that, she hugged Julie and squealed, "Don't you agree, Julie? When Emma's salary comes in, I'll buy you some new clothes, and we can go out for a meal! You like Italian food, don't you?"

Julie was delighted, but the next moment, her expression turned sour.

She said glumly, "I can't, Aunt Sophie. Mom says that I'm overweight, and I need to watch my diet. My heart is going to suffer if I get any bigger. Also, I can't accept any more gifts from you, Aunt Sophie. Mom says that they belong to you because you bought them, and I shouldn't accept things that aren't mine."

Sophie scowled, but she replied reassuringly, "How can that be? You're not overweight, Julie! Besides, being skinny is just a trend! If anything, those supermodels look anorexic to me! We mustn't blindly follow the trends. What matters is that you're happy and healthy!

"Besides, I bought those gifts with my own money, so I can decide who I want to give it to. You deserve all the best things in the world, darling!"

That seemed to cheer Julie up. She chirped, jumping with joy, "Aunt Sophie, you're the best! I wish you were my real mother! If you were my Mom, I'd be the happiest girl in the world!"

Sophie was overjoyed. She was about to bring Julie out to the newest Italian restaurant in town when I pulled her aside and murmured, "You mustn't indulge her anymore. She needs to lose weight!"

Sophie did not heed my warning. Instead, she snarled at me.

"Why are you depriving your own child of her nutrition? It's not like you can't afford it! She's growing! She needs all the nutrients she can get!"

I explained to Sophie that the more overweight Julie became, the more strain it would place on her already weak heart. If she got any heavier, her heart would give out in the future, and she would even need to rely on a ventilator for the rest of her life.

Sophie's hand flew to her mouth. She even took a few steps back, as if this was the most shocking thing she had ever heard. "Is this true?"

I nodded my head solemnly, but Sophie did not seem to believe me. She kept shaking her head in denial. After a few moments, an idea occurred to her.

"Why don't we find her a heart donor?"

It sounded like an impossible plan. "Who would willingly donate their heart to a complete stranger? Even if we get Julie on the transplant list, it'll take ages until a suitable match comes around. It's better if we keep a close eye on her health to delay this from happening as long as we can."

Sophie pursed her lips. "Our precious Julie can't just accept a heart donated from a random stranger! What if she contracts something from the transplanted heart? You never know with those people! If she must undergo a heart transplant, it must be from a live, healthy donor!"

That idea sounded borderline delusional to me. After all, why would a healthy, living person willingly die to donate their heart?

Sophie seemed utterly convinced that it was the best idea to happen to mankind. She trotted over to Julie, looking excited. I hovered on the other side of the wall and eavesdropped.

Sophie deliberately lowered her voice, but I could still hear her every word.

"Julie, do you want to have Emma's healthy heart?"