My Parents Love the Fake Heiress; I Choose Myself

After my rich parents took me back, they still treated the fake heiress like a treasure.

Every third sentence was the same: Dorothy Fox's health is fragile. Can't you give in to her?

Even when I was searching for a rope to hang myself, decided I wanted to die, my mother tore the phone out of my hand.

"Can't you see Dorothy's so upset she wants to hang herself? Can't you give in to her?"

I looked at them and laughed at myself.

So I had to give in even on dying?

Ironically, the shopping app didn't push a single product at me. Instead, a gentle little window popped up.

"This world isn't perfect, but there's always someone looking out for you."

In that moment, something in me came into focus.

Even a shopping app knew you were supposed to love yourself.

And here I was, on track for an Ivy League university, ready to live or die for two people I'd never even met, tied to me by nothing but a pitiful thread of blood.

This rich-family heiress role? I quit.

...

The next time Dorothy threw a fit because I'd taken the first sip of milk in the morning, I watched her, cold and unmoved.

"Mom, I know I'm not your biological daughter. But is that why even the milk I love most has to go to my sister?"

The second Dorothy started sniffling, Wanda Harding slapped the milk out of my hand and pulled Dorothy into her arms.

"Crystal Fox, you did that on purpose, didn't you? I've told you, Dorothy isn't well. Can't you give in to her?"

I said nothing, just stared at the milk spilled across the floor.

Was it that I needed to give in to her, or that I simply wasn't worthy of a glass of milk?

I let out a cold laugh and stepped back. "Sure. So what? Isn't this my home? Is there a problem with me choosing to take the first sip of milk?"

"You!" Wanda choked, lost for words. "I've told you, you're the older one, you have to give in to your sister!"

"Really? Aren't I your only daughter? Isn't Dorothy the child of the human traffickers? I have to give in on this too?"

Four questions in a row, and Wanda's face went iron-gray.

Just then Norman Fox crawled out of the bedroom, reeking of last night's liquor. He heard me and looked at me like I was something that would bring bad luck, sighing in disgust.

"Is that any way to talk to your mother? Does she owe you something?"

I picked up a piece of egg with my chopsticks and stared straight at Wanda. "Doesn't she?"

Wanda was so angry she could barely breathe. "Crystal Fox, what is wrong with you today? Do you want to die?"

I shook my head. "Yesterday I did want to die. Today, actually, I don't. But, Mom, once this bite of egg goes down, I really can die again."

And then I laughed, dark and low.

Watching how eerie I looked, Wanda's face lost some of its color.

I held the egg up in front of her and Dorothy.

"Dorothy loves eggs, doesn't she?"

"But Mom, I'm allergic to eggs. One small bite and I end up in the ICU. Didn't you know that? Aren't you going to make Dorothy give in to me?"

"Or did you cook them just for me on purpose, hoping I'd die?"

Wanda looked like something had lodged in her throat. She couldn't get a word out.

Dorothy, meanwhile, tugged at Wanda's sleeve.

"Mom, I know I don't deserve to eat eggs. Please don't fight over me, you and my sister. Otherwise I'd be better off dead."

Norman and Wanda heard that and panicked, terrified Dorothy might actually do something.

I let out a cold snort and tilted my head at her.

"That's quite an act."

"So how are you going to die? Our house is a mansion, jumping wouldn't kill you, so I'd suggest slitting your wrists."

Dorothy's face froze. She'd never expected words like that to come out of my mouth.

"I... I..."

I smiled at her sweetly. "What's wrong? Do you need my help?"

With that I got up, went to the kitchen, and came back with a fruit knife. "See if this is sharp enough. If not, we can switch to a cleaver."

"Crystal Fox, are you trying to kill someone?" Dorothy shrieked in fright.

I shook my head. "You're the one set on dying. I'm only giving you what you asked for."

"What, changed your mind about dying? Then next time drop this whole life-or-death routine and pick a new one. This one's gotten old."

With that, I gave a cold laugh, stood up, and went back to my room.

Sitting at my desk, my phone screen still glowed with the message that had popped up yesterday on the shopping app, back when I'd wanted nothing but to die.

"This world isn't perfect, but someone is always watching over you."

Since coming back to this so-called home, I felt like I'd been eaten away bit by bit, my mind fixed on one thing onlyhow to make my parents happy.

They wanted me sweet and well-behaved, so I buried the fierce temper I'd grown up with in the countryside.

They wanted me to excel, so I took first place in the city and made my name shine.

They even wanted me to look after Dorothy Fox, so I treated her like my own sister.

But what I got in return wasn't their genuine love. It was more demands, each one greedier than the last.

At first it was just giving up a glass of milk. Then it was giving up a room. And then, even my SAT scores were supposed to go to Dorothy.

I thought about yesterday, when Wanda cradled my SAT scores and spoke to me in that heavy, earnest voice.

"Dorothy doesn't have long left, and all she wants is to go to a good school. Give her your scores and let her go to college in your place. We have moneyyou can just take the test again next year!"

In that instant I studied the woman in front of me, over and over, unable to imagine those were words a mother could say.

It was her words, too, that had driven me to want to end my thin little life.

But now, I didn't want to do that anymore.

From the moment nineteen years ago that they let me be handed off to traffickers by mistake, my life had had nothing to do with them.

I opened the college application portal.

Today was the last day to apply. As long as I kept my eyes locked on the screen until the final moment, no one could steal my life from me.

With that thought, I fixed my full attention on the application page.

There were no other schools listed on it, only onean Ivy League law program.

Maybe the law couldn't pass judgment on all good and evil, but before the law everyone was equal, and no one got special privilege.

That was my life's pursuitto set everything back on its rightful track, to return every stolen life to the person it belonged to.

At six that evening, the application page finally flashed: Registration period closed. Your application is complete.

The moment I saw those words, the fear I'd been holding up inside me finally let go. It was done. Everything was settled at last.

Right then, at the worst possible moment, a knock came at my door.

"Crystal, you've finished applying, haven't you? Come out and eat, we've got your favorite barbecue ribs tonight."

I frowned, half wondering if I'd heard wrong.

Wanda was actually... trying to win me over?

I stepped out of the room carefully, and Wanda linked her arm through mine.

"Crystal, I've been thinking, and you're right."

"I've neglected you for too long, I never took proper care of how you felt. So from today on, whatever you want, you just tell Mom, and Mom will give it to you!"

Dorothy blinked up at me too, and slid her arm through my other one.

"That's right, sis. I've been so selfish lately. From now on I won't ever fight you for anything again. We're the closest sisters."

Even Norman, for once, dropped his cold expression and gave a nod.

"From now on, we live as one family, and live well."

Live well? Those words, out of the mouths of three animals?

The warmer they got, the more my nerves prickled.

Nobody suddenly turns good, unless there's something on me that they want.

But... the application was already closed. What could they still be after?

But right now, there was no one who could answer that question for me.

They were putting on a hypocritical show of being my loving family, piling food onto my plate, fussing over whether I was warm enough, and even Dorothy, who was usually all sweetness and knives, had turned into the picture of good breeding.

Norman looked at Dorothy with a satisfied smile. "In a couple of days, when the acceptance results come out, I'm planning to throw a party and invite all the New York elite."

"Wonderful. Let all my old friends come and see my good daughter." Wanda gazed at Dorothy, well pleased, then caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye and quickly added, "See my good daughters."

"Dad, isn't that too extravagant? You don't need to go to all that trouble for me."

Norman waved a hand. "Our family's about to produce a talent bound for an Ivy League university! A thing like that has to be shouted from the rooftops. The whole world should know!"

I stared coldly at the three of them, then said,

"If that's what you want, Dad, then go ahead."

It just so happened I wanted to see what game they were really playing too.

Dorothy, on the other hand, seemed genuinely surprised that I hadn't pushed back, then quickly slipped into her performance again.

"All right if Dad and my sister insist, then let's do it."

Watching Dorothy simper like that made me sick enough to gag.

I had no stomach left for their happy-family act, so I set down my bowl early and went back to my room.

I opened my laptop, my heart in my throat, and only when the confirmation page loaded again did I let myself breathe a little.

But if it wasn't because of this, then why had they suddenly started being so good to me?

I lay in bed, and for days on end I couldn't puzzle it out.

Then came the day the acceptance results would be posted. I stepped out of my room to find the three of them dressed to the nines.

Wanda took in my rumpled pajamas and let out a soft sigh.

"Dorothy has a few gowns she's never worn. Go grab one and change, quickly, so you don't hold up the party later."

"What? You won't spring for a few new outfits for me?" I said with a cold sneer.

Wanda's face went awkward, and she gave my hair a fake, doting stroke.

"Just make do for today. Once the results are in, I'll go buy you some new clothes right away. After that, you can have as many as you want."

Wanda was so eager it frightened me.

Even in those first few days after I came back, the most she'd bothered with was playing the gentle, virtuous mother, and she wouldn't have deigned to write me these empty checks.

Now suddenly it was one promise after another.

Dorothy, for her part, hurried me into her walk-in closet and picked out a soft, understated gown for me.

I held the gown and looked Dorothy up and down.

"What are the three of you really up to?"

Dorothy's hand paused for a beat. Her face stiffened, and she gave me an awkward smile.

"What are you talking about, sis? Mom and Dad and I have just thought it through. We're family. There's no need to keep going at each other like enemies."

I looked at the sincerity in Dorothy's eyes, and inside I felt cold as ice.

That kind of talk you use to placate a child wasn't going to fool me.

But I still couldn't work it out what on earth had them treating me with such deference right up to now.

Once I'd changed, I frowned and slipped back into my room, and opened the laptop again to check my application.

Nothing wrong everything was exactly right.

So where exactly had it gone wrong?

"Crystal, once you're dressed we'll head out. There's a big surprise waiting for you today too."

I left the house on edge, watching all their faces the whole way there.

This family of thousand-year-old foxes played their parts without a single crack showing.

Wanda led me into the ballroom, and a handful of lavishly dressed society women drifted over.

"Mrs. Harding, so this is your family's long-lost real daughter?"

"She doesn't look like a lady of good breeding at all. Did the village pigpen soak the smell right into her?"

"Exactly. She's a bit too plain, isn't she."

I stood off to the side and said nothing, curious to see what Wanda would do.

As it happened, Wanda said nothing either. She only smiled, letting the remarks stand.

Seeing that, I shook her hand off, planted my hands on my hips, and walked over to those old women. I looked them up and down, then shook my head in distaste.

"Grandma, so this is what old age smells like? The perfume's gone sour on top of it."

One of the old women clenched her fist, itching to slap me. "Who are you calling grandma? You ill-bred country girl."

I lifted my index finger and wagged it. "Wrong. Not ill-bred. Born but never raised."

The moment I said it, Wanda, who had planned to enjoy the show, went stiff and livid, and still had to play the gracious, virtuous mother.

"Crystal, what nonsense are you talking? Mom's right here."

"Hm? Oh, you're here. You'd been so quiet, I thought you were dead."

As I spoke I watched Wanda's face. She was clearly furious past the point of holding it in, and yet she squeezed out a smile.

So fake.

Meanwhile Dorothy was following Norman around, toasting the various New York elite bigwigs.

In Norman's eyes, the poised, well-mannered Dorothy was his real daughter.

As for me... just blood. Take it or leave it.

I couldn't be bothered with these people either. I picked up a glass of champagne and stood to the side, my eyes fixed on the clock.

Ten more minutes, and the college admissions results would be announced.

But for some reason my heart was up in my throat now, the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

Norman stepped up onto the stage, his face full of pride.

"I'm delighted you could all be here for my daughter's college-celebration gala. Ten minutes to the results, and I'm just as nervous as the rest of you. But I still want to say to my daughter: don't be afraid. Daddy will always believe in you!"

I took a small sip of champagne, a smile at the corner of my mouth.

One listen and you knew that couldn't be meant for me.

It was just... Dorothy, that delicate, sickly thing who spent three of every five school days asleep, what good college could she possibly get into? Was she really worth Norman going to all this trouble to throw a gala for?

"I hear the Fox family produced a daughter who got into an Ivy League university. Wonder if it's the real one or the fake one."

"Do you even have to ask? Even if it's the fake one, she was polished up with cold hard cash. It's got to be her."

"Right. You didn't see how crude that so-called real daughter was just now. If she could get into an Ivy League, I'd donate a hundred million on the spot."

"Forget a hundred million. A country girl getting into an Ivy? Pigs would fly first."

Everyone stood there waiting to laugh at me, and I acted as if I hadn't heard a word.

I watched the screen. One minute left, so tense I hardly dared to breathe.

I kept repeating to myself: it'll be fine, I worked so long for this, it'll be fine!

Up on the stage Norman was beaming, and it made my skin crawl.

"I invite you all to witness with me exactly which school my daughter is going to!"