Chapter 1
My little brother, Ryan, has been obsessed with stories about rich and poor children being switched at birth lately.
After the driver's daughter, who looked just like him, moved into our house, my brother, who already disliked me, grew to loathe me even more. He was convinced I was the switched, fake daughter of the family, and that the driver's daughter was the real one.
I couldn't be bothered to argue with him about it.
Then came my eighteenth birthday. He brought Renna home, declaring she had come to claim her place as part of the family.
He looked at our parents, proud as anything, and said, "Mom, Dad, this is Renna, she's your real daughter, my own sister, June is nothing but an imposter!" Then he slapped the DNA report right in front of my face. "You've taken my sister's place for eighteen years. Now you can get out of our family's home for good!"
Behind him, Renna looked hurt and tearful. "I just wanted to be with my real family..."
Everyone in the room gasped in shock.
Even my parents stood frozen, stunned.
But I stared down at that report, the one that supposedly proved he and I were related, and suddenly I laughed.
"Tell me, has it ever occurred to you that you might be the fake heir?"
*****
My name is June. I am the daughter of a wealthy family. Today is my eighteenth birthday celebration.
My parents have booked the most luxurious hotel ballroom in the whole city, and invited famous guests from all walks of life to celebrate with me. I am wearing a custom-made formal gown, standing among the crowd, glowing and radiant.
But I never expected Ryan to come and ruin my special day.
"June is a fake! She has no right to stand here!" He walked right into the center of the ballroom, leading Renna by the hand.
The way he looked at me was as if I were something dirty and worthless. Meanwhile, Renna stayed close behind him, looking shy and soft-eyed, as if she were holding back tears.
My parents did not understand what was happening. They motioned for him to behave.
My father frowned and spoke in a serious voice. "You are already late for your sister's celebration, and now you have come in and made a scene!"
My mother also tried to calm him. "I know the two of you tease each other sometimes, but today is such an important day for June... please, show some respect!"
But he acted as if he had not heard a word.
He pointed straight at me and said it again, loud and clear for everyone to hear. "June is not our parents' real daughter at all! She was switched, she is nothing but a fake. And Renna, the girl I have brought here, is the true daughter of this family!" He then stepped aside and pushed Renna forward to stand before our parents, as if showing off a prize. "Mom, Dad... Renna is truly your daughter, my own sister! Just look at how much she looks like me. That alone should tell you everything!"
His words hit the room like a bomb.
Every guest turned their eyes back and forth between the three of us, studying our faces closely.
"Now that you mention it, the two of them hardly look like brother and sister at all!"
"But he and that girl, Renna, could almost be twins!"
"Could it be true? Is June really an imposter?"
"This is turning into quite a scandal..."
Even my parents looked stunned, whispering to each other. "He really does look just like her..."
Ryan stood there, listening to the whispers and the stares. He looked back at me with pure disgust and triumph in his eyes.
I simply looked at him, calm and steady. "Have you read too many of those silly stories until you have lost your mind? Just because you say I am not real, does that make it true?"
I have always known he disliked me. Perhaps because I was the older one, and he felt I had taken half of our parents' love from him. Or perhaps because I had always done better than him in everything, and I had always stood out more...
Whatever the reason, he had never liked having me around.
And once he became obsessed with those stories about switched children, he decided for certain that I was the fake one, and that Renna, who happened to look just like him, must be the real daughter.
So, in a way, what he did today was not entirely unexpected.
