My Sister Stole My Second Life

My sister and I were both reborn on the day we were adopted. In our first life, she fought to be chosen by the wealthy Blackwood family, convinced she was about to become a spoiled heiress. I was adopted by a working-class couple instead. I survived on scholarships and part-time jobs, put myself through college, and eventually married the Blackwood heir—the same man who had always hated her. Three days after my wedding, my sister ran me down with her car. So when we got a second chance, she immediately chose the family that had adopted me before. She thought that if she copied my poverty, my hard work, and every hardship I had endured, Adrian Blackwood would fall for her the way he had once fallen for me. And I would be left to suffer the coldness and cruelty she had endured in the Blackwood family. She was half right. Adrian hated me from the moment we met. He stood by while his friends shoved my face into a sink, then turned around and draped his coat over my sister’s shoulders. She looked at me and smiled. She thought everything was unfolding exactly as it had before. But she had forgotten one thing. She could take the place I once stood in. She could never take what it had cost me to get there. Chapter 1 The moment the orphanage director finished introducing the two prospective families, Sophia didn’t give anyone time to react. She rushed straight into Mrs. Miller’s arms. “Mom, take me home. I want to be your daughter.” Mrs. Miller froze for a few seconds before hugging her back, clearly overwhelmed. Mr. Miller smiled beside her. He worked maintenance at a school, while his wife was part of the cleaning staff. They had both dressed carefully for the occasion, but years of physical work still showed in the worn cuffs of their clothes and the roughness of their hands. Across the room, Mr. Blackwood wore a tailored suit, and Mrs. Blackwood looked immaculate from head to toe. Their only son, Adrian, stood by the window, looking completely uninterested in the adoption. In our first life, Sophia had chosen the Blackwoods without hesitation. This time, she clung to Mrs. Miller as if that modest life were everything she had ever wanted. The director looked surprised. “Sophia, are you sure?” “Yes.” She answered immediately. Then she looked at me over Mrs. Miller’s shoulder. She could barely hide the triumph in her eyes. I knew exactly what she was thinking. If she chose the Millers first, I would have no choice but to go with the Blackwoods. Sure enough, Mrs. Blackwood soon turned to me. “And you?” I looked at Sophia. “I’ll go with the Blackwoods.” Adrian finally glanced up. His eyes rested on me for a few seconds. There was nothing welcoming in them. I didn’t care. In our first life, I had already seen him at his gentlest. I had also died after believing that gentleness meant happiness. Whether he liked me this time meant nothing. After the paperwork was finished, we all walked out of the orphanage together. Sophia hooked her arm through Mrs. Miller’s and acted as if they were already close. She asked Mr. Miller about his job at the school and eagerly told them she knew how to cook and clean and would help with anything they needed. The Millers were clearly charmed. Mrs. Miller stroked her hair and kept telling her what a good girl she was. Sophia only smiled wider. She probably thought this was everything I had received in my first life. A poor but loving family. Years of hard work. Then Adrian noticing me, falling in love with me, and eventually marrying me. What she didn’t know was that life with the Millers had never been as warm as she imagined. Whenever Mr. Miller got drunk, he searched my backpack for money. Every scholarship check I received had to be hidden before I went home. Their attitude only changed after Adrian began pursuing me. Once they realized he might actually marry me, they suddenly became very interested in my “future.” Sophia had never seen any of that. She had only seen Adrian dropping me off at home. The Millers smiling as they invited him inside for dinner. And, eventually, the grand wedding. She thought poverty was just the difficult first chapter of a love story. Something she only had to survive until someone came to rescue her. When we reached the parking lot, Sophia suddenly let go of Mrs. Miller and walked over to me. She lowered her voice. “Big sister, this time I get to be the heroine.” Then she turned and ran toward the Millers’ old car. The Blackwoods’ driver was already holding my door open. Adrian stood on the other side of the car, watching me coldly. “The Blackwoods can provide for you,” he said. “But don’t make the mistake of thinking that makes you a real Blackwood.” He had given Sophia the exact same warning in our first life. Adrian hated people who came near his family for money or status. I got into the car without answering. Through the window, I watched Sophia laughing happily with the Millers. She thought being forced into the Blackwood family meant I had inherited the nightmare she had lived through before. But from the beginning, I had never planned to make the Blackwoods my home. Chapter 2 Sophia hadn’t been wrong. Adrian’s hostility toward me started even earlier than it had in our first life. On my third day at the new school, several boys cornered me in the girls’ bathroom. One of them grabbed my hair and shoved my face into a sink full of freezing water while the others laughed and cheered. By the time they finally yanked me back up, my chest hurt from holding my breath. I gripped the edge of the sink and coughed, water dripping from my hair and down my face. Adrian stood in front of me, looking down at me. “You wanted into the Blackwood family so badly. Now you’re in. Happy?” In our first life, he had once told me there was nothing he hated more than rich kids who used their family name to bully people. Now he was the one standing there while my face was shoved into a sink. The only difference was that, in our first life, he had decided I was someone worth protecting. This time, he had already decided I was a gold digger who had wormed her way into his family. Then his gaze suddenly shifted past me. Sophia was kneeling on the hallway floor with a cleaning rag in her hand. Someone nearby explained, “Her adoptive mother cleans this floor. I heard Sophia stays after school every day to help her.” Adrian frowned. “She has to do that too?” Sophia looked up as if she had only just noticed us, then stood. Her hands were red from the cold water, but her voice was calm. “My mom is responsible for this floor. If it isn’t cleaned properly, they dock her pay.” Adrian glanced at her hands. “You’re freezing yourself for that little money?” “It might not be much to you,” she said. “But to my family, that’s several days of living expenses.” I almost laughed. Adrian hated people who treated Blackwood money like something they were entitled to. The more Sophia refused him, the more he wanted to give her. I had said almost the exact same thing in our first life. Right here in this hallway. Back then, I hadn’t even known Adrian was nearby. I certainly hadn’t known that was the moment he first started noticing me. Sophia knew. She remembered where I had worked. She remembered when Adrian’s feelings for me had started. So this time, she had chosen the same place and repeated almost the same words. She really believed that if she reenacted my life closely enough, she would get the same ending. And Adrian was falling for it. He took the rag from her hand and draped his coat over her shoulders. “How are you getting home?” “My bike.” “In this weather? I’ll have the driver take you.” This time, Sophia didn’t refuse. As she passed me, she lifted her eyes and gave me a tiny smile when no one else was looking. That smile said everything. She thought she had done it. Adrian was starting to like her the same way he had once liked me. I ignored her. After they left, I finally pushed myself upright against the sink. A clean towel appeared in front of me. “Here.” I looked up. It was our class president, Emma Carter. She had excellent grades, rarely spoke, and wore long sleeves no matter how warm it was. In our first life, she had also handed me a towel after I was bullied. We hadn’t been close then. We barely spoke afterward. And later, she jumped from the roof of the school. For days, students whispered about it. Some said her father drank and gambled. Others said her right hand had already been broken before she died. Back then, all I had felt was pity. This time, seeing her again, I didn’t want to stand by and watch the same thing happen. “Thank you.” I took the towel. Emma nodded and turned to leave, but I stopped her. “Wait. Where’s the cafeteria?” She looked back at me, clearly surprised. “I just transferred. I still don’t know my way around.” I wiped water from my hair. “And I’m starving.” She was quiet for a moment before turning around. “Come on.” At the cafeteria, I deliberately bought two dinners. Emma refused at first, so I told her I had ordered too much and it would go to waste anyway. She studied me for a moment, then finally sat down. While we ate, her sleeve slipped up slightly. There was a fading yellow bruise around her wrist. I didn’t ask about it. I waited until she had nearly finished eating before I spoke. “You’re good at math, right? Tutor me. I’ll pay you.” She looked at me. “You need tutoring?” I nodded. Emma was silent for a while. She probably understood what I was trying to do. But in the end, she didn’t refuse. I knew she would never accept charity. So I had to give her something she could accept without feeling indebted. At least this time, I wanted her to have a little money of her own. Something that might give her one more choice when she needed it. That evening, the Blackwood house was quiet when I got home. Mr. Blackwood was still at work. Mrs. Blackwood had a dinner event. Adrian wasn’t home either. I knew where he was. In our first life, this had been the day he first drove me back to the Millers’ house. My adoptive parents had eagerly invited him to stay for dinner. The table had been small, the food simple, but everyone sat together talking and laughing. For Adrian, who had grown up in the Blackwood household, it had felt novel. Later, he told me more than once, “Your family may not have money, but at least it feels like a real family.” Sophia clearly remembered that too. So this time, she had wasted no time bringing Adrian home with her. What she didn’t know was that the Millers’ warmth had always come with conditions. In our first life, when I turned eighteen, I told them I didn’t want to marry Adrian. Mrs. Miller locked me in my room that same night. Mr. Miller took my phone. When I later tried to leave, he dragged me back from the stairs. That was when I finally understood. They didn’t like Adrian because he treated me well. They liked him because he was rich. My phone lit up. Sophia had sent me a picture. Adrian sat beside her at the Millers’ cramped dining table. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were smiling warmly. Sophia still had Adrian’s coat around her shoulders, and she looked perfectly happy. There was only one caption. This is what a real family feels like. I stared at it for a few seconds, then turned off the screen. She thought she had finally made the right choice. But all she had done was walk into a family she had never truly understood. Chapter 3 Over the next few weeks, Adrian didn’t stop targeting me. My lunch was thrown in the trash. Dead spiders appeared in my locker. Someone burned holes into a new dress with a cigarette. Once, I looked up and saw Adrian leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway. He mouthed two words at me. “You deserve it.” He was probably waiting for me to cry. Or run home and complain to Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood. I did neither. I threw away whatever had been ruined and went back to class. Eventually, that seemed to irritate him even more. “How long are you planning to keep pretending?” “Pretending what?” He didn’t answer. Adrian had grown up surrounded by people who wanted something from the Blackwoods, so nothing disgusted him more than someone getting close to his family for money or status. In our first life, one of the reasons he had liked me was that I had never asked him for anything. Sophia remembered that too. After being given a second life, I finally understood that the most valuable thing the Blackwoods could give me wasn’t designer clothes, jewelry, or expensive cars. It was time. In my first life, I spent every afternoon helping Mrs. Miller work, then went home and worried about Mr. Miller digging through my backpack for money. This time, I didn’t have to work. I didn’t have to wonder where my next meal was coming from. The Blackwoods had adopted me because having an orphaned daughter looked good for the family. I had never planned to treat them like my real family either. If they were willing to give me the best education and all the time I needed, then I would use both. By the time I became an adult, I intended to be someone no one could control. Sophia was doing the opposite. She still wore old clothes and stayed after school to help Mrs. Miller clean. Whenever Adrian was around, she made sure he heard how tired she was and how she would never complain. But when something required real effort, she stopped caring. She skipped tutoring sessions. Her grades slipped badly enough that a competition spot her teacher had recommended her for went to someone else. She treated all of it like something she could make up for later. Because as far as she was concerned, none of it mattered as long as Adrian loved her. She wanted someone to rescue her. I wanted to make sure I would never need rescuing. That was the difference between us. When the school began preparing for its annual performing arts showcase, I was put in charge of rehearsals for the dance team. Sophia signed up too. Out of more than thirty rehearsals, she attended only a handful. By the final dress rehearsal, she still couldn’t remember the basic formations. The dance instructor asked me to finalize the cast list. I crossed out Sophia’s name. Several girls on the team were relying on this performance for arts scholarships. I wasn’t going to let Sophia’s absences cost them their future. The next afternoon, I passed the rehearsal room and found Sophia sitting outside in tears. Adrian stood in front of her. “What happened?” “I was cut from the performance.” “Who cut you?” Sophia said nothing. Adrian had already guessed. “Her?” She bit her lip. “Don’t blame her. Maybe she had her reasons.” Then she lowered her eyes. “I don’t want her to get punished because of me.” The more she defended me, the angrier Adrian became. In our first life, this had always been the kind of thing that affected him most. A girl who was hurt but still thought about everyone else first. Sophia hesitated for a long time before speaking. “She said I couldn’t afford the costume.” Adrian’s face hardened. Sophia continued quietly. “She said my mother was only a cleaner and my father was only maintenance staff. That someone like me had no business standing on the same stage as her.” For a moment, I was too stunned to speak. I had never said any of that. Adrian didn’t even bother asking me. “How much is the costume?” Sophia immediately shook her head. “No. I don’t want to become someone who depends on you for everything just because I know you.” I had said those words too. In our first life. Adrian’s expression softened completely. “I’ll pay for the costume.” Then his voice turned cold. “As for her, I’ll deal with it.” Sophia was quiet for a moment before adding, “She’s a Blackwood now.” “Your family donates to half the programs at this school. Even if the teachers know she’s bullying me, they might be afraid to do anything.” That was when I understood what she was doing. She didn’t just want Adrian to hate me. She wanted to cast herself as the poor girl being bullied by a rich one. And I was supposed to be the spoiled Blackwood daughter using my family name to take away her opportunities. A woman nearby suddenly spoke. “Wait.” She had a press badge clipped to her jacket. “You’re saying you were removed from the performance because your family is poor?” Sophia froze for a fraction of a second. Adrian stepped forward before she could answer. “Yes.” The reporter looked at him. “And you’re talking about the Blackwoods’ adopted daughter?” “Yes.” He didn’t hesitate. Sophia had only meant to put on a performance for Adrian. Now the situation was already slipping out of her control. Not long after that, I was called into the school conference room. The principal was there. So were several teachers, a few reporters, and both sets of parents. Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood arrived last. The first thing Mr. Blackwood said wasn’t, “What happened?” It was, “Why is the press here?” I wasn’t surprised. They had never cared much about me. They cared about the Blackwood name. Once the meeting began, one of the reporters turned directly to me. “Sophia Miller says you removed her from the performance because of her family’s financial situation.” “Is that true?” Sophia sat across from me with red eyes. The reporter continued. “She also says this isn’t the first time you’ve used the Blackwood name against her.” I looked at Adrian. “You believe her too?” He didn’t hesitate. “She wouldn’t lie about something like this.” “Why are you so sure?” His expression stayed cold. “Because she’s nothing like you.” “She doesn’t want Blackwood money. She hates owing people anything. She helps her family every day without complaining, and even when someone hurts her, she still thinks about them first.” “She relies on herself.” “Someone like that has no reason to make up a story like this.” I looked at him and finally understood. It wasn’t that Adrian knew Sophia well. He simply believed the version of her he wanted to see. I smiled. “Have you actually seen any of that for yourself?” “Or have you only seen what you wanted to believe?” His face darkened. The reporter pushed a recorder toward me. “We only need your answer.” I was about to speak when the conference room door opened. Emma Carter stood there holding a stack of documents. One of the teachers frowned. “Emma? What are you doing here?” The reporter glanced at her plain clothes. “Are you here to confirm that Sophia was bullied too?” Emma walked to the table and set the documents down. Then she looked at Adrian. “You just said you know her.” She opened the folder. “Then you should probably look at this.”