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My Bestie Rushed to Be Cinderella, I Chose Stanford
Novelix
Completed
Bella and Mia, orphans adopted by different families, are both reborn on the day of their adoption. Mia, remembering her past life, chooses the poor Vances, believing she can secure a better future. Bella chooses the wealthy Sterlings instead. Through hard work, Bella excels at school, uncovers Mia's schemes, and builds her own path in AI design. Mia's lies and manipulations eventually destroy her relationship with Alex. Years later, Bella founds a successful tech company, repays the Sterlings, and finds love with Andrew. The story shows that the future is built by continuous effort, not a single choice.
Chapters (4)
第1章
My name was Bella.
In my previous life, my best friend from the orphanage, Mia, and I were adopted by two different families at the same time.
She chose the wealthy Sterling family, while I chose the Vances, who were only gardeners.
Through my own hard work, I became a top designer and got engaged to Alex.
Then Mia showed up at my engagement party.
That was when I learned she'd been kicked out and was now penniless.
Shocked, I reached out to help her.
"Oh my God, Mia. If there's anything I can do, I'd be happy to—"
Before I could finish, Mia shoved me hard off the terrace.
"Then die, Bella!"
"Why you, Bella? You're just the daughter of some poor gardeners!"
"Why did the Sterlings abandon me while you got to live this glamorous life?"
When I opened my eyes again, I'd somehow gone back in time—to the very day the orphanage director made us choose.
"You have to make a decision. Will you go with the Sterlings or the Vances?"
"I'll go with the Vances. Bella, I'm making a huge sacrifice for you."
One look at her face told me everything.
Mia had been reborn too.
"But this time, you won't be so lucky."
I smiled.
Did she really think getting Cinderella's story this time guaranteed she'd become a princess?
I would show her with my own actions—
The future was never decided by a single choice.
...
My eyes flew open.
The same familiar crack stretched across the ceiling.
The director stood in front of Mia and me.
"Bella, Mia. Two families are here to adopt today."
"You have to choose. Will you go with the Sterlings or the Vances?"
This was St. Maria's Orphanage. The air smelled of disinfectant and cheap oatmeal.
I'd actually been reborn on the morning of our adoption?
Before I could fully process what was happening—
"Director, I want to choose! I choose the Vances!"
Mia's voice nearly pierced my eardrums.
She'd already rushed up to the director, her platinum-blonde hair flashing brightly in the morning light.
"Mia?"
The director froze.
"Are you sure? The Sterlings are much better off—"
"Don't you want to think about it a little longer?"
"I'm sure."
Mia turned to look at me and smiled.
"Bella, sweetheart, I'm making a huge sacrifice here."
"I hope you make something of yourself with the Sterlings. Don't forget about me when you do."
Her last words came out sickeningly sweet.
"Though I doubt you're capable of that."
Why would Mia ever choose the Vances, a family who worked for someone else?
She'd always been fiercely competitive. Ever since we were little, she'd believed she deserved everything.
In our previous life, she'd run straight to the Sterlings without a second thought and become their precious daughter.
I sat on the bench and looked into her eyes.
There it was.
Something I finally recognized.
Hatred.
Mia had been reborn too.
"Whatever."
I stood and headed for the door.
"Then I'll go with the Sterlings."
The director nodded and went outside first to let them know.
As Mia and I passed each other, she grabbed my wrist.
She lowered her voice so only I could hear.
"The Cinderella story is mine this time, Bella."
I turned my head toward her.
"You think you found a shortcut, Mia?"
"All you've done is walk into another maze."
Mia dismissed my words with a laugh, covering her mouth.
"You won't have it any better with the Sterlings than I did."
"Then let's see who regrets it first—"
Before I could finish, the Sterling family's butler pushed open the door.
He wore a black suit and white gloves, his manner so respectful he might as well have been receiving royalty.
"Miss Bella, the car is waiting."
The door of a stretch Lincoln opened. The scent of leather seats mingled with a faint trace of expensive wood.
I stepped inside, then looked back.
Mia was climbing into the Vances' beat-up Ford pickup, its truck bed caked with mud.
She turned toward me with a smile, her blonde hair lifting in the wind.
Her lips silently formed two words.
"Just wait."
I didn't respond.
The door closed, and the car smoothly pulled away from the orphanage.
Outside the window, the iron gates of St. Maria's grew smaller and smaller.
I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes.
第2章
The driveway to the Sterling estate curved three times before reaching the front entrance.
The white Mediterranean-style villa was flanked by two rows of palm trees, as if they were lined up to welcome me.
The butler opened the door for me, and I stepped onto the marble stairs, my skirt lifting in the breeze.
My adoptive father, Harold Sterling, stood at the entrance in a perfectly tailored suit, his smile so precise it looked measured with a ruler.
"Bella, welcome home."
He offered his hand, shook mine twice, then let go.
My adoptive mother, Margaret Sterling, stood behind him.
She wore a Chanel suit and pearl earrings, smiling warmly with narrowed eyes.
"Your room is ready, sweetheart. If you need anything, just ask the butler."
"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling."
I nodded.
"If possible, I'd like to start school as soon as I can."
Harold raised an eyebrow.
"That eager?"
"I don't want to fall behind."
"And I'd like to get used to the pace here as soon as possible."
Margaret glanced at Harold.
They exchanged a look I couldn't be bothered to interpret.
"Of course."
"I'll have the school arrangements taken care of. You'll attend the same school as your brother."
I was about to head upstairs when a scoff came from the landing.
Alex leaned against the wall, spinning a pair of sunglasses in one hand.
His gray-blue eyes studied me from behind the lenses as if I were some kind of inconvenience.
"Well, look at the new girl."
I kept walking.
"Dad, Mom, you're seriously letting this—"
His gaze traveled up and down my body.
"This nerd live with us?"
"Alex, don't be rude."
There was a warning in Margaret's voice.
"Am I wrong?"
He came down two steps and stopped in front of me.
Alex was more than half a head taller than me, and he deliberately planted himself in the middle of the hallway.
"What's with the outfit? Thrift store?"
He sneered.
"God, that's tacky. What are you, some country girl?"
I said nothing, simply looked him over with an assessing gaze.
"Don't bother pretending. I've seen girls like you before."
He bent closer and lowered his voice.
"Pretending to be obedient. Pretending to be innocent. Pretending to be sweet when all you're thinking about is money and how to climb higher."
"You think walking through the Sterling family's front door means you've made it?"
I looked up at him.
"Are you done?"
Alex froze for a second.
"Our family needed an 'adopted daughter.' That's all."
He straightened, his voice returning to that lazy mockery.
"We're not your personal ATM. Keep your head down and know your place. Got it?"
"Got it."
"But there's one thing you seem to have misunderstood."
"What?"
"I'm not interested in your money."
I stepped around him and headed upstairs.
"See you at school, Alex."
He scoffed behind me.
I didn't bother looking back.
...
In the garden of the house diagonally across the street, Mia crouched beside a rosebush, scissors clenched in her hand.
Mrs. Vance—Judy, as she should be called—shouted from inside for Mia to trim the dead branches along the west wall.
Mia answered but didn't move.
Her eyes remained fixed on the driveway.
Alex came out for his morning run at this time every day.
Sure enough, he appeared at the end of the driveway in a white T-shirt, black shorts, and earbuds, jogging toward her at an even pace.
Sweat clung to the loose strands of hair on his forehead, and his jawline looked razor-sharp in the morning light.
Mia stood and wiped her forehead.
She disturbed a small patch of dirt and loosened her hair so a few strands fell around her face.
Then she bent over and pretended to concentrate on a crooked rosebush.
As Alex approached, he slowed down.
He pulled out one earbud and glanced at her.
"You—"
He frowned.
"Who are you? I haven't seen you before."
Mia looked up, squinting against the sunlight, and gave him a slightly embarrassed smile.
"I'm Mia Vance, sir."
"I'm helping Mrs. Judy."
She pointed to her mud-stained apron.
"These roses need the soil turned. They'll grow better that way."
第3章
Alex stared at her for two seconds.
There was sweat on her face and tiny specks of dirt caught in her lashes.
Several red scratches from rose thorns marked her fingers.
Yet she still wore a bright, energetic smile more radiant than any flower.
"They make you do this?"
His tone sounded strange.
"It's okay. I like it."
Mia smiled, the corners of her mouth lifting before she quickly suppressed it, as though holding something back.
"They'll only let me go to school if I do."
Alex didn't leave.
He leaned against the low wall beside the driveway and removed his other earbud.
Mia pretended to be embarrassed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Oh, I've been talking so much. Am I bothering you?"
"No."
Alex looked at her.
"I'm Alex Sterling. Nice to meet you, Mia."
Neither of them noticed what was happening upstairs.
A set of blinds on the second floor opened slightly.
Camille Vaughn, the only daughter of the Vaughn family—the Vances' employers—had just finished her morning stretches.
Her blonde hair was twisted into a casual bun as she leaned against the window frame with an iced latte, watching the two people by the driveway.
"Wow."
She took a sip of coffee, the corner of her mouth curving upward.
"Looks like Cinderella moved in. Too bad she thinks she's the queen."
She watched Mia fiddle with the dirt, then watched Alex bend toward her to talk.
Camille scoffed.
"Nice acting. Shame the script is so old."
She lowered the blinds and walked back into her room.
...
The halls of Windermere High were always as loud as a pot at full boil.
Lockers slammed. TikTok hits blasted from phones. Someone shot past the stairwell on a skateboard while boys and girls clustered in their separate groups.
But spend more than five minutes inside the school and one fact became obvious.
There were only so many spots at the top of the pyramid.
Family background, looks, or both.
Take Alex Sterling.
Six foot two, gray-blue eyes, with shoulders that looked sculpted by a Greek artist beneath his hockey jersey.
He never wore the school blazer, always slinging his team jacket backward over one shoulder.
Girls watched him in the hall.
Boys watched him too—or more accurately, they wanted to be him.
Whenever he passed, younger girls suddenly started laughing louder, deliberately tossing their hair over one shoulder.
He probably knew exactly what they were doing. That half-smile was always hanging on his lips.
On the girls' side, Camille Vaughn leaned against a locker, chatting.
Her blonde hair gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights as though she'd just had it dyed.
Three or four cheerleaders surrounded her, laughing at everything she said.
That was the absolute authority of the school's queen bee.
As for me, the Sterling family's newly adopted daughter?
Honestly, nobody cared.
Fine by me.
I hadn't come here to socialize anyway.
The only person interested in me was Mia.
By the second week of school, I'd already run into her three times in the hall.
Outside the cafeteria, she'd nearly "accidentally" bumped into me while carrying a tray.
Then she'd widened those blue eyes and said, "Oh my God, Bella, what a coincidence!"
Loud enough for people ten feet away to hear.
At the same time, Mia Vance was carrying out her plan to win Alex over.
She constantly arranged chance encounters.
Outside the library, she'd appear carrying a stack of books.
They would "just happen" to fall, and she would crouch down to pick them up just as Alex appeared.
Or—
This time, she sat directly on the steps outside the hockey rink.
An economics textbook lay open on her knees, a highlighter in her hand.
Her damp hair clung to her neck as if she'd just finished working out.
第4章
When Alex came out of the rink, Mia looked up and smiled at him.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here?"
Alex dropped his gear bag at his feet and sat beside her.
"Studying."
Mia waved the book.
"I just finished running and got tired, so I'm taking a break here."
"It's harder to find a good place to study once I get home tonight."
Alex tilted his head.
"Why? You still have chores?"
She turned a page, her voice carrying exactly the right amount of exhaustion.
"I trim the flower beds Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I help clean the tool shed."
Alex didn't answer, but he didn't leave either.
He opened a bottle of Gatorade and sat on the steps watching her turn pages.
A few minutes later, when he stood, he said, "You can study over here from now on. There are tables and chairs in the rink lounge."
Mia looked up at him with a shy smile.
"Really?"
"If I say you can, you can."
The next day at lunch, I crouched in the hallway to pick up a notebook that had been knocked from my hands.
I wasn't sure who had done it. At least five people had been in that rush of footsteps.
"Hey! Isn't that the Sterling family's new princess?"
Alex's drawling voice came from above me.
I stopped picking things up and stood.
He leaned against the lockers with his arms crossed.
Two bulky hockey players stood behind him.
"I heard you and Mia knew each other before?"
"We did."
"Same orphanage?"
"Yes."
"Adopted on the same day?"
"Yes."
He gave a cold laugh and raised his voice.
Several nearby students turned toward us.
"That's strange."
He tilted his head.
"Same place, same day. So how come you're the one who ended up with our family instead of her?"
His friends snickered behind him.
I looked at him.
"So? What's your point?"
"You know what I think?"
Alex stepped half a pace closer, his gray-blue eyes fixed on mine.
"You stole her place."
"She was supposed to be adopted by the Sterlings. You must've pulled something to get yourself in instead."
"Go on."
"A girl like Mia is kind and hardworking. They work her to the bone and she doesn't even complain."
"But someone like you—"
His eyes swept over me.
"You got lucky and can't even be bothered to pretend you're grateful. Why do you deserve any of this?"
I met his gaze without flinching and raised my voice too.
"Alex."
"All I want is to study, get into the school I want, and do what I want with my life."
"If you want to date Mia, have tea with her, talk to her at the hockey rink—"
"Do whatever you want. It's none of my business. Just stay out of my way."
"And one more thing."
"If you think being adopted by a rich family means you've hit the jackpot, then your world is unbelievably small."
Alex looked momentarily speechless before giving a disbelieving laugh and nodding.
"You've got quite a mouth on you."
"My advice? Learn to behave yourself. Let's go."
He waved and left with his friends.
On his way out, he deliberately stepped on my notes.
He ground his shoe over them before walking away without looking back.
Once his footsteps disappeared around the corner, I crouched and began gathering my notebooks.
A few people glanced over, then turned away.
Things like this weren't exactly news at Windermere High.
Everyone was used to rich, powerful kids making someone else's life miserable.
Suddenly, a hand reached down beside me and picked up the calculus textbook on top of the pile.
I looked up.
A dark blue student council badge, polished to a shine, read:
President.
