At Birthday Banquet, I Fix My Family

I had spent my previous life climbing from the very bottom to a position of real power in the state government. Banquets, gambling tables, honey traps—there was nothing I hadn't seen. I never expected that in this life, I would wake up as the long-lost daughter of a wealthy family, missing for eighteen years. The day I was brought back to the Hawthorne family happened to be Wendy Hawthorne's birthday party. Wendy stood beneath the lights in a couture gown, delicate and tearful like the perfect princess of the evening. Meanwhile, I wore a faded old dress that looked completely out of place in the lavish banquet hall. Before I could even settle in, they had already cornered me like investigators questioning a suspect. My biological mother frowned openly at me. "If I'd known you were this embarrassing," she said coldly, "I never should've brought you back. You're ruining this family's image." My brother, Samuel Hawthorne, looked at me with unconcealed disdain. "This family only has one sister," he said. "Wendy." "You'd better understand your position and stop thinking about things you shouldn't." Wendy stepped forward in her designer gown, her eyes glistening with tears. "Evelyn, don't blame Mom and Dad," she said softly. "They're just not used to this yet..." She hesitated for a moment before adding carefully, "Maybe you should apologize first? You scared my friends." I smiled and picked up the glass of red wine in front of me. In my previous life, this was called an obedience test. In this life, it was just the family's way of breaking in the new girl. I looked at the family standing before me. Too many people, too little structure. Nobody seemed clear on their role. The whole family operated like a dysfunctional company. Interesting. If this family was hopeless, then I would fix it myself. My goal was simple: Turn this household into a model unit. I gently swirled the dark red wine in my glass before looking past them toward a nervous server nearby. "You," I said calmly. "Come here." The server froze for a second and pointed at himself uncertainly. I nodded once. He hurried over immediately, bending slightly as he approached. I handed him the wineglass and pointed toward the small spill on the carpet. One of Wendy's friends had knocked it over earlier while crowding around me. "Clean that up." Then I turned toward my mother. "According to proper hosting standards, stained carpeting during a banquet should either be replaced immediately or guests should be moved to a backup reception area." I glanced at the stain again. "Allowing it to remain here and affect the overall presentation of the party is your failure." Her elegant expression nearly cracked on the spot. "You—" I ignored her and shifted my attention to Samuel. "As the male head of the younger generation in this family, protecting female family members is part of your responsibility." I pointed casually toward one of the girls standing beside Wendy. "She verbally attacked me just now, and you did nothing." "That is also a failure on your part." Samuel's face darkened instantly. Finally, I looked toward Wendy. Her tears still clung to her eyelashes. "As the host of tonight's birthday party, your primary responsibility is entertaining guests, not creating internal conflict that damages family unity." "Using guests to pressure another family member shows poor judgment and flawed methods." I paused briefly before delivering my conclusion. "The three primary responsible parties have all failed in their duties." "This birthday party is officially rated: unacceptable." A heavy silence settled over the corner of the banquet hall. Even the music in the distance suddenly felt muted. Wendy stood frozen in place, the tears still clinging to her lashes as if she had forgotten how to cry. My mother was trembling with fury now, the hand pointing at me shaking so badly that the diamonds on her wrist rattled softly. Beside her, Samuel's expression had turned darker and darker, like a storm about to break. He ground his teeth so hard the muscles in his jaw twitched visibly. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" "I'm Evelyn Hawthorne," I said calmly. "Starting today, I am this family's true heiress." I gave them a polite nod. "I hope we work well together in the future." After delivering my verdict, I stopped looking at them altogether and walked straight through the crowd toward the buffet table as if nothing had happened. The guests instinctively moved aside for me, though their eyes never left my back. I picked up a plate, glanced over the desserts, and finally chose a slice of Black Forest cake that looked decent enough. Behind me, the crushing silence finally shattered into a wave of suppressed whispers and uneasy murmurs. Some sounded shocked. Some sounded furious. None of them sounded brave enough to stop me. I had only taken two bites when a tall middle-aged man stopped in front of me. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, his presence alone enough to make the nearby conversations quiet down again. He wore a dark custom-tailored suit that fit him with understated precision. There was a faint resemblance between him and Samuel around the brows and jawline, but unlike Samuel's immaturity, this man carried the calm authority of someone long accustomed to standing at the top. Just one glance was enough to tell he was used to making decisions others obeyed. Harrison Hawthorne. The real power holder in the Hawthorne family. My biological father. He said nothing at first. He simply studied me carefully from head to toe. I calmly swallowed the cake and met his gaze. "Yes?" "You're Evelyn?" he asked at last. "That's right." "I heard about what happened just now." His brows furrowed slightly. "You came home on your first day and already caused this much chaos." "Do you really think that was appropriate?" I dabbed the corner of my mouth with a napkin. "Dad," I said. His expression shifted slightly. "This wasn't causing trouble. This was corrective management for a newly assigned family member." I looked around the glittering banquet hall before returning my gaze to him. "This family has problems from the foundation up. If nobody fixes them soon, sooner or later something serious will happen."