As the only daughter of the Bennett family, three years ago I went abroad to expand the overseas market for the Bennett Group.

After I left, my parents brought Sophie Miller, the daughter of my uncle from a small town, to live in our estate.

Three years later, when I finally completed my task and returned home, I pushed open the door only to see Sophie wearing my clothes and hosting a party as if she were the mistress of the house.

The moment she saw me, Sophie frowned.

“Where did this poor relative come from? So rude—showing up this late?”

“Forget it, since you’re here, go to the kitchen and help the staff serve drinks. Let me show you what real high society looks like.”

“Oh, and look all you want, but don’t touch anything. If you break something, even selling you wouldn’t cover the cost.”

I ignored her and was about to step inside when I noticed the silver bracelet on her wrist.

Catching my gaze, she lifted her hand and shook the bracelet with pride.

“Never seen anything like this, have you? My mom gave it to me. Consider it a little gift for your peasant eyes.”

I grabbed her wrist and tore the bracelet off.

“My things—and you think you deserve to wear them?”

…

This time it was Sophie’s turn to freeze.

“Who the hell are you?” she screamed.

“How dare you snatch my stuff! Do you know who I am? I’m the eldest daughter of the Miller family!”

She lunged at me like a madwoman, trying to take the bracelet back, but I dodged her.

Sophie missed and fell hard to the ground.

The surrounding guests, seeing this, stifled laughter, which only made Sophie more furious.

“Security! Where the hell are the guards? Catch this bitch and beat her up!”

“Sophie, why is it so noisy? What’s going on?”

Her shrieking drew attention upstairs.

The sound of familiar footsteps followed, and soon my parents slowly descended from the second floor.

The moment they saw me, their expressions froze.

“Sophia?” My mother’s scarf slipped from her hands as she looked at me, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

“You’re back?”

Hearing the name “Sophia,” Sophie’s body jolted violently.

The arrogance on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a pitiful expression. Forcing out tears, she looked at me with reddened eyes.

“Aunt, Uncle… is she really… Sophia?”

She turned toward me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Sister, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You’ve changed so much over the years.”

She rubbed her reddened wrist while crying in grievance.

“I thought a stranger had broken in. You scared me so badly, sister. I just tried on the bracelet you left on the table, but you said I wasn’t worthy and even grabbed it off me. I was terrified.”

“What? When did I ever grab you?”

I was stunned by her twisted lies and quickly tried to defend myself.

But before I could explain further, my mother suddenly rushed forward—only to embrace Sophie.

“Sophie, don’t cry! Just a misunderstanding!”

I was stunned.

After three years apart, my biological mother didn’t give me a single hug. Instead, she bypassed me and held Sophie in her arms.

Sophie continued her fake sobbing in my mother’s embrace.

After comforting her for a long while and treating me as if I were a stranger, my mother finally turned with a reproachful look.

“Sophia, look at you. After a few years abroad, you’ve forgotten all your manners.”

“Sophie is your sister. She didn’t even recognize you, and you dared to lay hands on her?”

Before I could say anything, my father, who had been silent until now, spoke sternly with a darkened face.

“Your sister is timid. What if you scared her badly?”

“On your very first day back, you’re already bullying her? Apologize to your sister right now.”

I looked at my biological parents—whom I hadn’t seen in three years—and they felt almost unrecognizable to me.

“I won’t apologize. I didn’t bully her.”

My voice was firm. Seeing me refuse, my father grew furious.

“How dare you talk back the moment you return?”

“Enough, enough, it’s just a misunderstanding.”

My mother stepped in between us like a peacemaker.

I thought for a moment she was about to defend me, but instead, she reached for the silver bracelet in my hand, trying to take it away.

I clenched my fist tightly.

“This is mine.” My voice came out hoarse.

Her expression instantly darkened.

“Sophia, you were never such a petty child before. Sophie is a guest, and also your sister. Can’t you let her have a little? Do you have to cause chaos in this house to feel satisfied?”

Seeing that I didn’t yield, she completely lost patience.

“If you’re going to be this unreasonable, then you don’t deserve to wear this bracelet.”

She grabbed my wrist and pried open my fingers one by one, forcing the bracelet out of my hand.

The same bracelet she had given me at my coming-of-age ceremony now sat on Sophie’s wrist.

“Good girl, it looks perfect on Sophie,” my mother said with doting affection.

And as if that weren’t enough, she added,

“Your sister is just teasing you. From now on, whatever you see at home can be yours too. An older sister should always give way to her younger one.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Sophie’s voice was syrupy sweet.

Mom?

I looked at my mother, waiting for some kind of explanation.

But she ignored me completely, turning instead to kiss Sophie on the head.

“My sweet daughter.”

I was assigned to the guest room—because my old bedroom now belonged to Sophie.

“You’ll just have to make do here tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll free up another room for you.”

“What about my room?” I asked.

My mother’s tone was impatient.

“Your sister has gotten used to living there. As her elder, can’t you be more understanding?”

The plain white walls of the guest room reflected back my numb expression.

I didn’t sleep a single minute that night.

The next morning, I opened my door and went straight to my old bedroom—now Sophie’s room.

The door wasn’t locked. I pushed it open.

There she was, sitting at my vanity, using my expensive skincare products, with the pearl necklace my mother had once given me draped around her neck.

She didn’t look the least bit surprised. In fact, it was as if she had been waiting for me, a provocative smile tugging at her lips.

“Is there something you need, sister?”

“What do you really want?” My voice was flat, betraying no emotion.

“What do I want?” She lazily capped the serum bottle in her hand.

“Don’t you understand?”

She turned toward me, feigning confusion.

“After all this time, you still don’t see what I’m after?”

“I want everything you have—your room, your clothes, your parents, even your identity.”

She rose to her feet and stepped closer, chin tilted upward though she was half a head shorter, as if she were looking down on me.

“Really, you should be thanking me. While you were away all these years, I was the one keeping Uncle and Aunt happy. By now, they already see me as their real daughter.”

She paused, licking her lips.

“And you? A daughter who’s always abroad, who never cares about her family? To them, you’ve long since stopped being their child.”

Uncaring? Unfilial?

Hearing those words, I couldn’t help but find it laughable.

I had spent those three years abroad expanding the Bennett Group.

To say I was neglectful or unfilial—that was the cruelest slander imaginable.

Seeing that I didn’t react, Sophie grew irritated. Just as she was about to say something to provoke me further, her gaze suddenly flicked to the vase on the vanity.

She abruptly stood, grabbed the vase, and smashed it against her own forehead.

Bang!

With her scream, blood immediately began to stream down from the wound.

The incident happened so suddenly that I had no time to react. Instinctively, I reached out to support her.

Unexpectedly, she clutched my hand and flung herself to the ground, dragging me down with her.

Then, using every ounce of strength, she screamed:

“Help! Sister, why are you doing this? What did I do wrong? You were trying to hit me with the vase!”

“I was wrong, sister, don’t hit me! I’ll leave, I’ll leave right now!”

Hearing her shrieks, my parents rushed in immediately.

What they saw was this: the vase shattered on the floor, Sophie lying there with blood streaming from her forehead, and me on top of her—my hands positioned as if I were trying to strangle her.

Meanwhile, Sophie clutched my hands, feigning desperate resistance.

“Sophie!” My mother’s horrified scream tore through the room.

She shoved me violently aside and threw herself down beside Sophie.

“My daughter, my precious girl, are you alright? Don’t scare your mom!”

My father shook with rage, his eyes bloodshot as though he wanted to devour me alive.

“You’re insane! How dare you lay hands on her?”

He roared, ripping off his belt without hesitation.

Without giving me a chance to explain, he swung it down hard.

Snap!

The belt lashed across my arm, the searing pain splitting my skin into a red welt.

“I’ll beat you to death, you wretched child!”

Snap!

Another strike across my back.

The pain drove me stumbling forward, nearly collapsing to my knees.

I clenched my teeth, enduring in silence.

I knew—explaining now was useless. They wouldn’t believe me. They didn’t want to believe me.

All they trusted was Sophie.

My silence seemed only to enrage him further.

“How could the Bennett family produce such a vicious creature—someone who would even harm her own sister?”

He brought the belt down again and again, each strike raising bloody welts across my body.

My mother clutched Sophie protectively, shouting through the chaos:

“Harder, darling! Teach her a real lesson! If you don’t beat some sense into her, who knows what she’ll do next!”

“Look at Sophie—she’s bleeding so much! If she dies, I won’t live either!”

Fueled by her cries, my father’s strikes grew even heavier.

My body was battered, my lips bleeding from how tightly I’d bitten them, but still I refused to fall.

Nestled in my mother’s arms, Sophie weakly murmured:

“Please, stop… I know my sister didn’t mean it.”

Her pitiful plea only stoked my father’s fury further.

He hurled the belt aside and pointed his finger at me, cursing:

“Look at Sophie—hurt like this, yet she’s still pleading for you. And you? You heartless beast, do you even have a shred of conscience left?”

Panting heavily, his chest heaved with rage.

“She can’t stay in this house any longer. She’ll be the death of Sophie.”

As if making a grave decision, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hello? Mr. Dawson?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“About the marriage we discussed—my daughter’s marriage. I agree.”