My grandmother, Nancy Muller, was the richest woman in Asperio, and I was her only granddaughter. However, my two older brothers, David Muller and Evan Muller, let our adoptive sister, Tina Muller, steal my identity.

Right before Skyrise Group's 100-year anniversary celebration began, Tina rushed to sit in the seat reserved for the heiress of the company.

Pretending to sound concerned, she looked at me and said, "If it weren't for David insisting I bring you along to broaden your horizons, a broke student like you would never step foot into Skyrise Group.

"Just know your place and don't cause trouble later. Otherwise, David will beat you up."

In my past life, I had been intimidated by my brothers. As a result, I was timid and weak, constantly yielding to Tina.

But now, I had been reborn.

Watching Tina spew nonsense, I raised my leg and sent her flying.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

My reckless move instantly drew the attention of everyone in the room.

David Muller rushed over and cradled Tina Muller, while Evan Muller stormed up and slapped me twice across the face.

Seeing their precious, pampered girl get kicked across the room nearly broke their hearts. Both of them glared at me and were seething with rage.

"Cindy, have you completely lost it? How dare you hurt Tina?"

Looking at my two brothers bearing down on me, I realized just how naive I'd been in my past life. I actually believed they treated me like family.

I pointed at Tina, who was being held in their arms, and started mocking them loudly.

"Aren't you two just adorable? Defending her like she's royalty. I'm the granddaughter of the richest woman in Asperio, the rightful heiress of Skyrise Group. Am I not qualified to slap her?"

David was visibly upset with my response. He shoved me hard and knocked me to the ground.

"Cindy, Tina was generous enough to sponsor for your education, and this is how you repay her?

"Everyone here, listen up! Tina is Nancy's real granddaughter, the true heiress of Skyrise Group!"

I stared at David in disbelief.

"She's Nancy's biological granddaughter? The heiress of Skyrise Group?

"David, how do you say that with a straight face? You're shameless."

Evan rolled his eyes and gave me a dismissive look.

"Cindy, did you forget to take your meds today or something? You're clearly having one of your episodes."

Tina, meanwhile, had the nerve to start sobbing.

"This is all my fault. I knew Cindy had mental issues, but I still brought her here."

Their twisted lies echoed through the hall loud and clear.

Just like that, the crowd turned on me. Everyone's eyes were full of scorn and judgment.

"So Cindy's just some broke student the heiress sponsored? That explains the outfit."

"The real heiress is so sweet. She even helped someone with a screw loose."

David called over one of the company's assistants, Zachary Lindt.

"Zachary, get some people to throw Cindy out. From now on, without my permission, she's not allowed to enter Skyrise Group."

I turned to face Zachary, who was approaching me with a group of security guards.

"Zachary, you've worked for my father for years. How can you not tell who the real heiress is?"

Zachary froze mid-step. He looked stunned. "I-I–"

Evan gave him a look.

"Zachary, David is the future head of this company. If you defy his orders now, does that mean you're ready to clear out your desk?"

Zachary instantly went pale. He looked at me with hesitation and guilt in his eyes.

"Ms. Cindy, I've got aging parents and kids in school. I need this job. Please don't make this difficult for me. Please just come with me."

He motioned for the security guards to drag me out.

As they approached, I grabbed a vase from the table and hurled it forward with all my strength.

"I'm Skyrise Group's only rightful successor. Go ahead. Touch me, and see what happens."

The sound of the vase shattering and my furious roar echoed through the entire hall.

Hearing what I said, the crowd burst into mocking laughter.

"She must be really sick in the head. First she pretended to be the richest woman's granddaughter, and now she's claiming to be the heir of the company? That's beyond ridiculous."

"Exactly. Even if she was the richest woman's biological granddaughter, it's not like a woman would ever inherit the company. After all, the richest woman has two grandsons."

Looking at my two arrogant so-called brothers, I questioned them directly.

"David, are you sure you and Evan have inheritance rights?"

Evan's eyes flickered, but he quickly regained his composure and tugged on David's sleeve.

"David, today's a day of celebration. The family elders will be arriving soon. Maybe we should just drop this."

Seeing Evan back down like that, I knew he was starting to panic. He had remembered his background.

Nancy Muller only had one daughter, Mona Muller, who was also my mother. After Mona passed away, I became Nancy's only direct descendant.

My two so-called older brothers were merely my uncle's orphaned sons.

After their parents died, my father, Bobby Watson, had taken them in out of pity, not wanting to see his nephews suffer. That was how they ended up in the Muller family.

They had no blood ties to Mona or Nancy, and therefore absolutely no claim to Skyrise Group, the empire Nancy built from the ground up.

Yet David clearly didn't care about any of that. Instead, he furrowed his brows and glared at Evan.

"She just hit Tina. Are you seriously going to let her get away with that?

"Cindy, looks like your condition's gotten worse. Maybe we should have Zachary take you back to the psychiatric ward for treatment."

The words psychiatric ward made my blood boil.

I instantly recalled how I was locked in a psychiatric ward in my past life. Tina had my blood drawn and skinned me alive.

Yes, in my previous life, David and Evan both betrayed me for Tina.

They worked together to destroy me.

Tina was a medical student with a sick fascination.

She wanted to see firsthand the differences between the anatomy of the living and the dead.

My two so-called brothers helped her dissect me alive.

We had grown up together and lived under the same roof for eighteen years.

To make Tina happy, they let her steal my identity and helped her torture me every single day.

Now, I finally understood.

In their eyes, family meant nothing. Love was all that mattered.

But now I was curious. If love and power were placed on a scale, which would they choose?

I let out a cold chuckle.

"I'll ask one last time. Who is the true heiress of Skyrise Group?"

Before either of them could answer, a woman stormed forward and slapped me hard across the face.

It was Christina Sanders, daughter of one of Skyrise Group's partners.

"How dare you? A scholarship freeloader like you dared to stir up trouble at Skyrise Group's event? Do you even know your place?"

I knew exactly who Christina was. She'd been obsessed with David for years and had always fantasized about marrying him and becoming the future CEO's wife.

Ever since she heard Tina was supposedly the heiress of Skyrise Group, she'd been kissing up to Tina nonstop for the past two months. She constantly ran errands for Tina and tried to earn brownie points in front of David.

It was too bad that she backed the wrong horse.

Not only was Tina not the heiress, but she was also Christina's romantic rival. She was David's side chick, tucked away in the background like some dirty little secret.

There was no way I'd let Christina get away with that slap.

I lifted my leg and kicked her hard in the stomach.

"And who do you think you are? The daughter of some insignificant CEO? How dare you lay a hand on me? I can have your entire family bankrupt with a single instruction."

Christina clutched her stomach in pain and looked at me in utter disbelief.

"Cindy, how dare you actually kick me? My dad and mom have never even raised their voices at me!

"You'll regret this. I swear I'll make you pay."

Tina stepped forward and pulled Christina aside.

"Christina, don't stoop to her level. She's not right in the head. I'll apologize on her behalf," she said guiltily.

I sneered and shot Tina a cold look.

"No, I think it's you who's lost your mind. Why give up your position as a pampered sugar baby just to impersonate an heiress at an event like this?"

I turned to face my two brothers, raised my hand, and pointed at the door.

"Well, since you're so committed to playing this twisted role-playing game, why don't the both of you take your little sweetheart and get the hell out of my company?"

My two brothers stared at me angrily.

"Tina, let me remind you, we're the ones who actually hold power in the company. You're still a student. If anyone's getting thrown out, it's you!"

"What's going on? Why are you all standing here? Shouldn't you be seated?"

Just then, a dignified and well-dressed middle-aged man squeezed into the crowd.

He was Bobby, the CEO of Skyrise Group and also my biological father.

Instead of coming to my side, he directly approached Tina and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.

"Tina, don't cry. Who upset you? Tell me. I'll make sure they pay for it!"

David pointed at me angrily. "Who else? Cindy, that arrogant little brat, had the nerve to bully Tina right under my nose!"

Without hesitation, Bobby slapped me across the face.

"Cindy, you've got some nerve. How dare you throw your weight around and bully Tina?

"Kneel and apologize to her right now. Otherwise, don't expect to receive a single cent of your living expenses this year."

Staring at Bobby, who didn't even bother asking what happened before blaming me, I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me.

Just like in my previous life, Bobby was blindly doting on Tina, completely siding with her and my two brothers.

Although I had expected this, it still stung.

I never understood why. I was Bobby's biological daughter. Tina was just my brothers' plaything.

But the moment Bobby laid eyes on her, it was like he fell under some kind of spell.

After he found out both of my brothers had kept Tina as their sugar baby, he flew into a rage and whipped them both for an entire day and night.

Back then, I had even pleaded with Bobby in order to protect my brothers.

I ended up accidentally getting two lashes myself. They became scars on my arm that never faded.

After that, Bobby not only forbade my brothers from seeing Tina again, but even used his connections to get her into the top college in Asperio.

Most importantly, he gave my brothers a message.

If either of them truly loved Tina, they should compete fairly for her hand. Whoever married her would become the heir to his entire fortune.

That strange obsession of his in the past life had always puzzled me, so I secretly investigated Tina's background.

That's when I found out that Tina was the daughter of Bobby's first love.

She looked exactly like her mother. The moment Bobby saw her, he knew who she was.

That was the power of a long-lost love. Tina's familiar face alone was enough to completely win over Bobby's heart.

My mother, who died too early from an illness, never even knew that her husband had been hiding another woman in his heart the entire time.

Thinking of this, I looked at Bobby with bitter sarcasm.

"I'm not apologizing, but since my brothers are calling Tina their sister and claiming she's the heiress of Skyrise Group, don't you think you owe everyone here an explanation?"

Tina immediately looked at Bobby with teary eyes because she knew that was his biggest weakness.

Sure enough, the moment Bobby saw her crying, he gave me two more slaps across the face.

"What's there to explain? They're absolutely right. Tina is my daughter. She's the rightful heiress of Skyrise Group!"

I stared at Bobby, furious at the blatant lie, and finally couldn't hold back my rage.

"Dad, how could you say that? Doesn't your conscience ache for my mother, who gave her life to this family? I dare you to look me in the eye and repeat what you just said!"

Bobby ignored me completely and turned to my brothers.

"Take this trash who bullied your sister and throw her out."

As I looked at my cold and heartless father, a thousand emotions surged in my chest.

So this was the man my mother had loved all her life?

This was the man I had admired and looked up to for eighteen years?

My poor mother had no idea. After her death, the two boys she had lovingly raised ended up hurting her own daughter for the sake of a sugar baby.

To top it off, instead of protecting their child, her husband wanted to kick her out for the daughter of his first love.

At that moment, all I felt was sorrow for myself and for my late mother.

I lifted my head and locked eyes with Bobby.

"Skyrise Group belongs to my family. I won't let outsiders like you run wild in it," I said coldly.

I made sure to emphasize 'my family' when I uttered those words.

As soon as I finished speaking, Bobby lost his temper.

He ordered my two brothers to hold me down, pinning me so I couldn't move.

"Your family? What a joke!"

Bobby stormed up behind me, grabbed me by the hair, and slammed my forehead against the glass wall.

"I've been the one running Skyrise Group all these years. Why the hell shouldn't it be mine? Why shouldn't I get to decide who inherits it?"

I held back my tears and shouted defiantly, "Skyrise Group belongs to Grandma. I'm the real heiress of the company!"

Bang!

Before I could catch my breath, Bobby smashed my head against the glass wall again.

He continued shouting furiously.

"Cindy, quit dreaming. I already gave Skyrise Group to Tina as her wedding gift last year. Whoever marries her will inherit the company!"

His words sent a wave of shock through the entire crowd. Everyone's eyes lit up as they stared at Tina.

At that moment, a commanding voice came from behind me.

"Bobby, I dare you to say that again. Who did you just claim is the heiress of Skyrise Group?"