Liora's POV
The day after I was found and brought back to my wealthy biological family, they tried to force me to take my sister’s place and become the canary of some mentally unstable, possessive CEO.
All because the family was on the verge of bankruptcy, and selling me off was their way of repaying debts and saving themselves.
My chest tightened with bitterness, and I was just about to refuse when suddenly, a floating text appeared right in front of me like subtitles in a livestream.
[Poor little sister. Lost by her family when she was young, now being sacrificed to repay her sister’s debt! That obsessive psycho CEO is a total control freak. He’ll lock her up in a luxurious mansion full of bodyguards and maids, dictate what she eats, what she wears, secretly monitor her every move, and even force her to love him. Her future is pitch black. All she can do is lie flat and accept food being handed to her and clothes chosen for her. How pitiful!]
I froze on the spot.
Pitiful? Seriously, that was what you call pitiful?
I’d been wandering alone for eighteen years with no one loving me. I had to work to feed myself, and even when I was sick, I could only tough it out alone.
And now someone wanted to feed me, clothe me, watch over me, and obsessively care about me?
I gladly volunteer to be that canary!
“If my sister doesn’t want to go, I’ll go in her place.”
A lovesick lunatic? Sounded like the perfect match for someone like me, who was starved of affection.
——
“Mom, Dad, you really love me the most! You were smart enough to make my sister go instead of me to stay with that freak, Alistair Hawthorne! I heard he’s cruel and twisted. He murdered his own father and beat his brother so badly that he had to be sent abroad. I don’t want to be tortured by a man like that!”
“Thank goodness Liora looks exactly like me,” my sister Daphne Fairborne giggled sweetly, clinging to our parents. “As long as we dress her up like me, that psycho will never know the difference!”
My mom hugged her tightly, relieved. “Yes, thank God we found her. If we’d really sent you into that pit of fire, I would’ve been devastated.”
My dad sighed. “This is the only way left to save the company.”
My heart tightened.
So, this was why they brought me home, not to make up for losing me all those years, but to throw me into the flames in my sister’s place.
Why? We were both their daughters. Why was I the sacrifice while she was protected like a treasure?
I was about to confront them when more comments appeared before me.
[Poor little sister. Lost by her family when she was young, now being sacrificed to repay her sister’s debt! That obsessive psycho CEO is a total control freak. He’ll lock her up in a luxurious mansion full of bodyguards and maids, dictate what she eats, what she wears, secretly monitor her every move, and even force her to love him. Her future is pitch black. All she can do is lie flat and accept food being handed to her and clothes chosen for her. How pitiful!]
I froze on the spot.
Pitiful? Seriously, that was what you call pitiful?
I’d been wandering alone for eighteen years with no one loving me. I had to work to feed myself, and even when I was sick, I could only tough it out alone.
And now someone wanted to feed me, clothe me, watch over me, and obsessively care about me?
That was honestly the life I’d been dreaming of.
As I was still processing, my parents finally noticed me and my expression.
My mother immediately pulled my sister behind her and coldly said, “You heard everything, didn’t you? Starting today, you’ll take your sister’s place and serve Alistair. If you refuse, then don’t call us your parents anymore. You’ll no longer be part of this family—”
But before she could finish, I cut them off with a smile. “If my sister doesn’t want to go, I’ll go. But I have one condition.”
Rather than staying with this fake, biased family and being torn apart, I’d rather gamble on my own future.
A lovesick lunatic? Sounded like the perfect match for someone like me, who was starved of affection.
My family quickly agreed to my condition. They dressed me up and sent me straight to the Hawthorne estate.
That very night, I met the so-called obsessive, deranged Alistair.
To my surprise, he was gorgeous.
Tall, lean, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with sharp features and a cold, elegant face.
