Chapter 2

"Go back to the village?"

Celeste's voice shot up. She twisted away from the ledge, her suicidal performance abandoned.

I met her blank stare with a brisk nod.

"Yes. To my real family's place."

It wasn't the first time I'd said it. My adoptive parents were the ones clinging to me, begging me to stay.

I'd known Celeste would never tolerate sharing the Hayes mansion. So on the very day the DNA results came in, I'd already consulted my teachers and counselors about transferring.

With my academic record-valedictorian of the entire state-I could have written my own ticket anywhere.

In fact, when word got out I wanted to transfer, the two schools practically fought over me. One refused to let me go, and the other was begging me to come.

I'd planned to leave early, but my adoptive parents insisted I stay with the Hayes family. Even if the blood tie wasn't real, the eighteen years of love we shared certainly were

After all, for nearly two decades, I'd been the obedient daughter, the golden child against whom every other rich kid was measured, the walking testament to my parents' success.

But Celeste knew none of this.

If she did, she'd probably faint with rage again.

"You're doing this on purpose! You're playing the victim so they will pity you and see me as the monster! You never had any intention of leaving!"

She stood by the rooftop railing, sobbing as if her heart were breaking, perfect tears tracing paths down her cheeks.

Then, in a sudden, violent move, she lunged at me and snatched my backpack, upending it with a vicious shake.

"Who packs only books when they're running away? You're putting on a show!"

The air went still. Everything that spilled from my backpack was indeed books.

Celeste's foot crushed the book and she choked back sobs.

The next second, she revealed the cut on her wrist and the scar on her forehead.

"Which one of us is really Mom and Dad's biological daughter?!"

Her angry shout made my parents flinch, their bodies trembling. Their eyes filled with pain, and they immediately rushed to protect her, their faces etched with heartache.

"Celeste, it's you, of course!!"

"Dad and Mom love you both!! Aria, you..."

I took a step forward, my expression calm, interrupting their words. I spoke directly.

"Of course, it's you, Celeste. You have blood ties with them. I'm just an outsider!"

Celeste, her eyes blurry with tears, looked up. The satisfaction in her eyes hadn't even fully surfaced before my next sentence struck it down.

"But I think you're sick!"

Facing my parents' astonished faces, I continued.

"She might have paranoid delusions and self-harming tendencies. I suggest she gets a mental health check-up. If this kind of illness is delayed, it can..."

"Snap!"

A sharp slap landed on my face, Dad's hand trembling. "Shut up!"

"Aria Hayes, do you have any empathy at all?!"

Mom immediately covered Celeste's ears in her arms, then looked up at me.

"She doesn't mean any of this!. She's been through hell! Her life in that town was a nightmare!"

Struggling to finish her words, they both shielded Celeste and left the rooftop, descending toward the waiting luxury car under everyone's gaze.

And I was left behind, standing utterly alone in the center of that accusing circle.

Celeste had suffered?

From what I'd seen, she had never suffered...

I stared down at the small, unmarked package I'd just retrieved from outside her room. A heavy sigh escaped me..

I couldn't quite understand it. If Mom and Dad knew she was poisoning the whole family...

Would they still be able to love their biological daughter?

I wasn't kidding.

Celeste was genuinely sick.