Chapter 1

After the scores are out, I head home with my results slip, which indicates that I'm a top scorer in the entire city. My heart's brimming with excitement as I'm ready to share the good news with my family.

I'm about to push the door open when I unexpectedly receive a video call from my future self from four years later. The me on the screen looks utterly haggard.

I freeze for a moment, but I still can't stop myself from chirping like a child who's asking for a piece of candy, "Are you really me four years from now? Are Mom and Dad finally proud of me? Do they love me as much as they love my sister now?"

My future self smiles, yet she can't keep her tears at bay.

"Whatever you do, don't tell them your score! They won't be proud of you. They'll only use your sister's failure to get into college and her threats to end her own life as an excuse to force you to give up your place at college for her!"

All of a sudden, I feel as though I've plunged into an icy abyss.

On the day I reunite with my family, Mom and Dad take my younger sister, Winona Fairchild, out for fine dining while they hand me a plate of stone-cold leftovers.

They tell me that after years of fending for myself, my stomach's too weak to handle anything too fancy.

Naively, I believe that if I become good enough, I can bridge that ten-year gap and make them look at me the same way they look at Winona. As it turns out, blood ties can never outweigh years of companionship.

As I listen to Mom and Dad comfort Winona over her poor performance on the exam, I fold my results slip neatly and tuck it deep into my pocket.

Since they only view me as a cash cow, I have no reason to tell them that I've been accepted into Pennington College.

Chapter 1

I pushed the front door open.

The three of them were gathered around the dining table, with a towering, custom three-tier fondant cake in the center.

Five bold characters were written across the top of the expensive gold-leaf chocolate—"Congratulations on Your Academic Success!"

It had been prepared for my adopted younger sister, Winona Fairchild.

Even though she hardly ever cracked open her textbook, and even though her score fell far short of even the minimum passing mark, Mom and Dad had still gone all out to throw her the grandest celebration.

Winona sobbed in Mom's arms while Dad stood beside them, his face full of heartache as he handed her tissues.

"Don't cry, Winnie. It's okay even if you didn't do well. You just didn't perform well for once, that's all. I'll buy you the bag you've had your eye on tomorrow," Dad said.

Mom gently patted her back. "That's right. Even if you don't go to college, your dad and I can take care of you for the rest of your life."

I stood in the shadows of the entrance, watching the heartwarming family scene unfold before me. After starving all day, my stomach chose that precise moment to let out a loud, untimely growl.

Mom turned around when she heard it. The moment she laid eyes on me, the distress on her face instantly vanished, and her brows instinctively knitted together.

Then, she suppressed the disdain in her eyes. "Can't you make a sound when you walk? You're like a ghost. You startled Winnie!"

Dad glanced at me and asked apathetically, "You checked your scores today too, didn't you? How did you do?"

The air suddenly went still. Winona raised her head from Mom's embrace and stared at me, a hint of nervousness hidden in her eyes.

Lowering my gaze, I shoved my hands in my pockets and tightened my grip on the results slip that read 1550.

"I didn't do well," I said calmly. "I barely made the cut for a community college."

As soon as my words fell, I clearly saw Mom and Dad breathe a sigh of relief.

Mom turned around and reassured Winona with a warm smile. "See? Your older sister was left to fend for herself for a decade. Her brain has already gotten rusty.

"She couldn't even make it into a regular college. Even though you didn't do well this time, your foundation is way better than hers. You've taken piano and horseback riding lessons since you were little, so there's no need to feel inferior."

Winona broke into a smile before slicing off a piece of cake heaped with strawberries. "Thank you, Mom and Dad! I knew you loved me the most!"

The rich, sweet aroma of buttercream soon filled the living room.

I gulped, despite my dry throat. I was about to head to my room when Mom called out to me.

She pointed at the far end of the dining table, where a plate of stone-cold leftovers and a few sprigs of greens sat.

"Your stomach is sensitive, so you shouldn't eat anything too sugary. Heat up those leftovers and eat them. Don't let them go to waste."

Leftovers yet again. When Mom and Dad played favorites, they always had a million noble-sounding excuses to justify their actions.

While eating her cake, Winona coquettishly tugged at Dad's arm.

"Dad, I found a really good international program. It's run jointly with a foreign college, and after graduation I can continue my studies in their country. But… the tuition's a little expensive. It costs 100 thousand dollars a year."

"So what if it's 100 thousand dollars?" Dad affectionately tapped her nose. "So long as you're happy, I'd gladly drop a million dollars!"

Mom watched them. As if a sudden thought struck her, she approached me and, for the first time ever, took my hand in hers.

Her hand was soft and warm, yet it couldn't warm my ice-cold fingertips.

"Han, ever since you returned six months ago, we've spent a lot of money to nurse you back to health. Winnie has congenital heart disease. She can't endure the hardship of retaking the exam.

"However, you're different. You've been out on the streets for a decade. What kind of hardship haven't you endured?"

Mom paused before deciding my future for me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Community college won't get you anywhere, so you shouldn't bother going through with it.

"Tomorrow, I'll have your father pull some strings and get you a summer job at an electronics factory on the outskirts of town. Work hard, take on more night shifts, and you'll be able to earn enough to cover your sister's first-year dormitory fees."

Chapter 2

Having said her piece, Mom didn't even give me a chance to refuse. She let go of my hand, turned around, pulled out a wet wipe, and lovingly wiped away the cream from the corner of Winona's mouth.

It was as though sending me to slave away on an assembly line was nothing more than a trivial matter.

Noticing I was still frozen in place, Dad frowned and urged me, "Why are you still standing there? Go pack up your belongings and get ready for the factory. They provide food and accommodation there. Work hard and don't embarrass us."

Winona was still beside them, clutching her iPad and fussing over which designer bag, worth tens of thousands of dollars, she should get for her enrollment.

I lowered my head to look at the white canvas shoes on my feet.

Winona had worn them until she no longer wanted them. The edges were already worn through with holes, and I could even vaguely see my toes, which had turned red from being squeezed inside.

I looked at the three of them, basking in their happy family moment, and my vision started to blur. Before the waterworks could begin, I spun on my heel and rushed back to my room.

It was a cramped storage room without even a window. Aside from a hard bed and a peeling, chipped desk, there was barely enough space to fit anything else.

The moment I closed the door, my phone, which was in my pocket, vibrated. I had received a text message.

"Dear Hannah, this is the Admissions Office for Project Pyre, the highest-level confidential program at Pennington College. Your special admissions dossier has been reviewed, approved, and secured. Please remain reachable.

"A private vehicle will be dispatched to pick you up and escort you to the program at the end of the month."

Staring at the message, my heart missed a beat.

Just then, my phone's screen suddenly lit up. That familiar video call connected once again.

My future self was sitting in a dimly lit basement on the screen. Without uttering a word, she slowly raised her hands.

They were a pair of calloused hands with swollen joints. The index and middle fingers of her right hand had even been severed from the base.

"Do you see this?" she rasped. "If you back down this time, this will be your fate. Back then, you were soft-hearted. You told yourself, at the end of the day, they were still your biological parents.

"Thus, when they cried, made a scene, and threatened to take their own lives, you yielded your college admission to Winona.

"They didn't give you a single dime. Winona, on the other hand, took your test scores, assumed your identity, and shone brilliantly at Pennington College. Meanwhile, you spent your days tightening screws on the assembly line and your nights pulling all-nighters to help Winona write her thesis.

"Hannah, you thought compromising would earn you their love, yet all they ever did was bleed you dry! Even the compensation you received for losing your fingers was snatched by them to buy Winona a limited-edition bag."

The video abruptly cut off.

I collapsed onto the rigid wooden plank bed, completely snuffing out the last trace of hope I had held onto for this family.

…

Early the next morning, I left home at first light to go to school to confirm my college choices and sign the confidentiality agreement.

The moment I left, Winona snuck into my room. Initially, she wanted to rifle through my belongings to see if I had stashed away some money, yet she stumbled upon my report card for the last mock exam.

I'd come close to a perfect score on every single subject.

Winona panicked because she was well aware of what this meant.

If I'd actually made something of myself —if I genuinely got accepted into a prestigious university, our parents' scale would tilt sooner or later. The position she had held as the family's golden child for ten years would collapse like a house of cards.

Gritting her teeth, she picked up a utility knife from the desk and made a razor-thin cut on her finger.

She smeared the blood onto the back of my exam paper and wrote a bloody letter.

"Hannah had such good grades, yet she deliberately pretended to get into community college just to mock me. I know I don't deserve to be Mom and Dad's daughter. I'll give my place back to her. I'll leave…"

Once she was done, she lay weakly on the floor and began wailing at the top of her lungs.

Chapter 3

After confirming my admission documents, I returned home at noon.

As soon as I pushed the door open, before I could even kick off my shoes, a slap cracked across my face.

The force sent me staggering backward, my back slamming hard against the shoe cabinet. A loud ringing filled my ears, and I tasted the metallic tang of blood in my mouth.

Clutching my cheek, I looked up, only to meet Mom's eyes. They were filled with hatred, as if she wanted to skin me alive.

"You ingrate, do you have to push your sister to the point of no return before you're happy?"

Mom's voice was high-pitched and harsh, light-years away from the loving front she usually put on in front of me.

Dad stormed out of my room with the review materials I had organized and several physics books that I treasured the most. The very next second, he tossed all of them onto the floor.

The pages were strewn across the floor, ruthlessly trampled under his shoes, leaving behind a trail of black footprints.

"What's there to brag about, getting into some worthless community college? How dare you leave your mock exams out just to rub them in Winona's face?"

Dad trembled with anger. "After spending ten years on the streets, is this all you've learned? These underhanded tactics?"

Winona's wrist was wrapped in thick gauze as she leaned against the couch and wept, "Dad, Mom, don't blame Hannah. It's all because I'm stupid. I'm not as smart as her. I don't deserve to stay in this family…"

The more she played the victim, the more Mom and Dad glared at me as if I were their enemy.

I wiped away the blood from the corner of my mouth, looking at the utter mess on the floor. All of a sudden, I found the situation sickeningly absurd.

When I first returned home, I'd pull myself out of bed at 6:00 am every day to prepare breakfast for them. Even when hot oil blistered my hands, I never complained.

I studied tirelessly and strived to rank first just to earn a genuine smile from them. Yet, they had already paved a smooth path for Winona to study abroad and intended to send me along as her unpaid maid.

Looking at the two livid faces before me, I finally popped the question that had been weighing on my chest.

"I'm your biological daughter. Why are you treating me like this?"

The living room fell silent in an instant.

Mom froze for a moment before blurting out, "We've raised Winnie for more than a decade. While she was here with us, bringing us joy, where were you?

"Aside from having a small amount of our blood running through your veins, what have you ever done for this family? How could you possibly compare to Winnie?"

I guffawed until my shoulders trembled, yet not a single tear spilled from my eyes.

I belatedly realized that the decade I had spent fending for myself wasn't regarded as hardship. It was seen as my fault because I hadn't contributed anything to the family.

Dad's expression hardened, and he was about to reprimand me when the landline rang. He answered the call and casually pressed the speakerphone button.

"Hello? Who is this?"

The very next second, the excited voice of my homeroom teacher, Frank Lawson, burst through the speaker.

"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild! This is incredible news. Hannah scored 1550 on her exam!

"She ranked first in the entire city. The admissions office at Pennington College has been blowing up my phone, desperate to recruit her! You two are way too modest. Why haven't you shared the good news with anyone?"

Chapter 4

Mr. Lawson's voice echoed through the living room, plunging the air into a suffocating silence.

Dad's hand froze in midair, whereas Mom's jaw dropped. Winona let out a piercing scream, her eyes rolling back, and fainted on the couch.

"Winnie!" Mom and Dad snapped back to reality. They couldn't be bothered to interrogate me as they hurriedly rushed Winona to the hospital.

…

Two hours later, I was called out into the hospital corridor.

Mom's and Dad's attitudes had undergone a complete 180. Gone was their previous arrogance, along with the slaps and insults.

Dad pulled out a debit card from his coat and handed it to me. "There's 75 thousand dollars in here, Han."

Mom stepped forward and gently stroked my head. "You're a good kid, Han. You did so well on the exams this time. Your father and I are proud of you!"

Then, she sighed. "However, the big city is full of sharks, and you're far too timid. You'll get eaten alive if you attend such a prestigious college.

"Winnie's different. She's been exposed to high society since she was a child. Besides, she has a weak heart. If she doesn't get into a good college this time, she won't be able to handle it!"

Mom paused before revealing her true intentions.

"I think you should give Winnie your identity and your academic records and let her take your place at Pennington College. We'll give you these 75 thousand dollars instead.

"From now on, your father and I will send you living expenses every month and support you for the rest of your life, okay?"

Dad chimed in coldly from the side, "During the decade you weren't by our sides, Winnie was the one who cared for us and fulfilled the role of a daughter. Don't be ungrateful. This is what you owe her. Now, it's time for you to repay your debt."

Looking at the debit card, I found it ironic.

I owed Winona?

No one cared about how I had survived the bitter cold winters in those ten years I spent wandering the streets. Nor did anyone care about how many dishes I had washed in restaurants just to afford a single revision book.

As I gazed at the debit card, the image of my future self's fingers, crushed by a machine in the video, flashed through my mind.

I took a step back, dodging Mom's hand.

"Okay," I responded calmly.

The moment I agreed, Mom and Dad shoved the debit card into my hand, beside themselves with joy.

They turned on their heels and rushed into the ward to hug Winona. They loudly discussed plans to throw her a grand celebration banquet for her college admission, inviting all their relatives, friends, and business partners.

In the two weeks that followed, they devoted themselves entirely to preparing for the banquet, completely forgetting that I even existed.

Even when I missed family dinners several days in a row or spent my days packing up my belongings, they didn't spare me so much as a glance.

It gave me the quietest farewell I could have asked for.

The day before the celebration banquet, I left the house without a single thing they had bought me. I only took my passport and a few physics books.

A sleek black sedan with a special license plate pulled up downstairs, and an escort from Project Pyre held the car door open for me.

I got into the car and never looked back.

…

Winona wore a haute couture gown on the day of the banquet, basking in the praise of all her relatives and classmates.

"Winnie, you really were hiding your light under a bushel! You usually kept such a low profile, yet you ended up ranking first in the entire city!"

"You're a lucky man, Liam. You've raised a child who's got what it takes to make it into Pennington College!"

Dad was glowing with pride as he was showered with compliments, looking incredibly pleased with himself.

Winona lifted the hem of her gown and took the stage. She was about to deliver her speech when the doors of the banquet hall were abruptly pushed open.

A postal courier marched in and called out, "The admission letter from Pennington College has arrived! Who's the top scorer? The letter must be unsealed by the recipient herself!"

The entire hall erupted in an instant.

Eager to show off, Dad even had someone turn on the projector in the banquet hall and place the admission letter on the display stand.

"Come on, everyone. Let's witness my daughter's glorious moment together!"

Amidst a round of applause, Dad tore open the seal in one swift motion. The words appeared on the giant screen, displayed in crisp gold lettering against a red background.

However, the moment everyone saw the recipient's name, the applause throughout the hall came to an abrupt halt.

The admission letter read, "Congratulations on your admission to Pennington College, Hannah Fairchild!"