Liora's POV
I wanted to refuse, but Alistair nodded before I could speak.
“Alright then. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done. Take good care of her,” he said to my parents.
The moment he left, my parents grabbed me and forced me into their car.
To my horror, I saw someone sitting inside, a face I hadn’t expected to see again.
My sister.
The sister who was supposed to be abroad, hiding from the public eye.
She stared at me with pure hatred as she fumed, “Liora, you’ve been living my life and enjoying everything that belongs to me for a whole year. It’s time you gave it back.”
My heart pounded with anger and fear. I tried to get out of the car, but my parents held me down tightly.
Then my sister pinched my jaw open and forced a glass of water down my throat.
My vision blurred, and my body went weak.
At that moment, the livestream comments were exploding.
[I knew it! They definitely had another plan!]
[Sis, don’t fall asleep! Stay awake!]
Just then, my phone rang.
It was Alistair.
My mother quickly covered my mouth and signaled for my sister to answer.
“Don’t panic. Stick to the plan,” she whispered.
My sister cleared her throat and answered the call.
On the other end, Alistair’s low, gentle voice came through the speaker. “Baby, are you at the boutique yet? I can’t wait to see you in the dress.”
“Almost there, Alistair,” my sister replied sweetly. “Once I try it on, I’ll send you a photo, okay?”
[No way, her voice sounds exactly like the real one! It’s over!]
Just as she was about to hang up, I forced myself to stay conscious and bit down hard on my mother’s hand.
“Ah!” she screamed.
I tried to yell, “Alistair, help me!” but my voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
“Who was that?” Alistair’s tone sharpened with suspicion.
My sister didn’t miss a beat. “Nothing. My mom just shut the car door on her hand, that’s all.”
“I see.”
As such, the call ended, and despair washed over me.
Almost being caught, my mother slapped me across the face. “You little ungrateful brat! And you think we’d let you marry him? You’d forget we even exist!”
My head was spinning when I heard my sister laugh softly. “Relax, Mom. The only one marrying Alistair is me.”
My stomach dropped, but my body finally gave out, and everything went dark.
When I woke up, I was lying on the cold floor of their villa, tied up from head to toe.
My sister was standing proudly in front of the mirror, wearing a diamond-studded custom gown, while my parents praised her as if she were the queen of the world.
As they talked, the truth became painfully clear.
When my sister heard abroad that Alistair wanted to get engaged to me, she regretted everything. So, she teamed up with our parents, snuck back to the country, and planned to replace me.
All this time, while they pretended to stay quiet, they were preparing for this moment when they could take everything from me and give it back to her.
Noticing I was awake, my sister crouched down and patted my cheek mockingly. “Little sister, you’ve stolen my life long enough. Time to give it back.”
My throat was dry and raw, but I managed, “You’re the ones who forced me to do this in the first place…”
Instantly, her hand struck me.
“You’ve been living as me, enjoying everything that’s mine, and you dare act like a victim?” she snapped, ripping the necklace and bracelets from my body with jealousy burning in her eyes.
“These were supposed to be mine! Give them back! I’m the one who should be Mrs. Hawthorne. The one getting engaged to him tomorrow is me!”
My parents stood nearby, voices cold and sharp. “That’s right. Give up your place quietly, and we’ll still take care of you. But that face of yours, yeah, that needs to be dealt with. We can’t let you threaten your sister’s position.”
