###Chapter 2
Kristen's POV
I walked away from the still-shaking Maybach, my legs barely steady under me.
Trying to steady myself, I borrowed a phone from a passerby and called my parents, who'd been scouring the globe trying to find me.
The moment my sobbing voice reached them, I heard Dad break down on the other end.
"Your mom's been sick from worry, Kristen. She hasn't eaten or slept properly since you went missing. Once she feels a little better, we're coming back immediately, sweetheart!"
"Don't worry," he promised fiercely, "I won't let that ungrateful snake, Courtney, get away with this. And those two bastards? I swear, they'll pay for what they've done to you!"
Courtney...
She was the girl I begged my parents to adopt years ago when we were visiting an orphanage during a charity event. The other kids were bullying her, and stones were thrown at her and spit on her.
I couldn't bear to watch, so I begged my parents to adopt her.
Who would've thought that my one act of kindness would spiral into the nightmare that's become my life?
For the first couple of years, Courtney seemed friendly, kind, and compassionate. However, once my parents left overseas to expand the company personally, putting my older brother, William, in charge of everything, things changed.
One day, after work, William came home and found Courtney suddenly on her knees before me.
I was stunned.
Before I could say a word, she started slapping herself hard until her face was covered in red handprints. She then grabbed the hem of my dress, wailing and bowing to the ground like some pitiful victim.
In a sickening, desperate voice, Courtney begged, "Kristen, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I never dared to dream of replacing you as the daughter of the Lawson family. Please, just let me go. Please don't hurt me again!"
William rushed over, cradling her protectively, but his eyes burned with hatred for me.
"What the hell did you do, Kristen? You're a monster," he spat.
And just a few days later, when Michael came to visit me, Courtney accidentally smashed the birthday gift he had just given me.
She fell to the floor, hand cut and bleeding, and reached out with tears in her eyes.
"I never meant to break your things, and I never tried to seduce your fiancé. Please, don't hurt me anymore…"
Michael's face twisted with anger. "When did you become this cruel?"
Before I could say a word, he scooped up the sobbing Courtney and left.
From that point on, Courtney dumped more and more of her lies on me.
The worse her stories became, the colder everyone grew toward me.
No matter how I tried to explain, no one would listen. They just glared at or ignored me like I was filth.
Even when I showed Michael surveillance footage proving the truth, he slapped the phone out of my hands and didn't believe me.
"Don't think you can frame Courtney with some fake-ass video. She's kind and sweet. She'd never stoop to your level."
He said he was 'deeply disappointed' in me and postponed our wedding.
The last straw came when Michael postponed our wedding and started showing up at major social events with Courtney on his arm.
She wore all the gowns, the bags, and the jewelry that were meant for me.
And my brother?
He announced publicly that Courtney was his only sister, the real Lawson heiress.
As I remember all those painful memories, I felt like I was being stabbed again, like a thousand little knives.
After calling my parents, I handed the phone back to the stranger and wandered the street, arms wrapped tightly around myself, lost.
Just then, out of nowhere, a bucket of filthy dishwater came raining down on me from above, soaking me from head to toe.
I was drenched in grease and stinking slime.
"Where the hell did this beggar come from? Get lost!" someone shouted.
As people started yelling and shooing me away, I collapsed to the ground and broke down in tears.
That's when a pair of polished black dress shoes appeared in front of me.
I looked up, and there was my brother, Willian Lawson, staring down at me with disgust written all over his face.
"God, you're such a disgrace," he snapped.
William yanked me off the ground, forced me into a livestock transport truck like I was some dirty animal, and shut the doors behind me.
Eventually, the truck pulled into the Lawson family estate, which was so painfully familiar. Then he dragged me straight to the servants' bathroom.
"You were never the daughter of this house," he sneered. "Courtney took pity on you and convinced us to adopt you. You should've been grateful. Instead, you tried to replace her—tried to steal her life. Don't forget, you've been on the streets for months now. You've learned your lesson, haven't you? So be smart. Behave. Or I'll throw you right back out there with the rats."
I stared at him, horrified at how easily he lied, playing the noble older brother to cover the truth.
But I thought of all the nights I'd slept under bridges, drank from puddles, fought dogs for scraps, and I told myself to hold on a little longer.
'Mom and Dad will come back...'
I clenched my hands so hard my palms went white and forced myself to nod. "I'll be good. Please don't throw me out again."
My voice shook. My eyes burned red with the tears I refused to let fall.
William gave a dismissive grunt, like he was done with me, and left.
I turned on the hot water, scrubbing my greasy, grimy body over and over again. But no matter how hard I scrubbed, the stench—inside and out—just clung to me.
Even over the sound of the water, I could hear the maids outside gossiping and snickering.
"She really thinks she's still the Lawson heiress? Compared to Miss Courtney, she's not even good enough to be a servant."
"God knows how many men she slept with on the streets. Do you think Sir Michael would still want her? He's worth billions! He's obviously gonna marry someone like Miss Courtney. Beautiful. Elegant."
"Right? She was always jealous and always mean. She totally deserves this."
I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.
William made it clear. This house didn't belong to me anymore. There was no place for me here.
Shivering, I dried myself off, only to realize he hadn't even bothered to leave me clean clothes.
I cracked the door open and poked my head out, planning to ask a maid for something to wear.
That's when a cold voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Why are you all just standing around, gossiping? Is this how things are run on this estate now?"
Right there in the doorway was Michael.
My heart dropped.
Our eyes met.
He stared at me, standing there dripping wet with only a towel wrapped around me.
Michael's brows furrowed in confusion and something close to surprise.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.
