After 7 Years in Jail, I Left Them

Chapter 2

He fixed me with a long, heavy look, then slammed the door behind him so hard the walls rattled.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead from the splitting pain in my forehead. I pitched half off the bed, heaving up burning stomach acid that scoured my throat.

Once, Fiona and I had both been kidn*pped and sold. I was the lucky one. The police rescued me, and since I was around the same age as their missing daughter, the Andrews Family took me in and adopted me formally.

I got a new name, Riana.

I had to play the part of their daughter, but never too well, never so well that I might be mistaken for the real Fiona.

After all, their biological daughter was still out there somewhere, alive or dead, suffering alone.

The air in the house was always thick enough to cut with a knife, but my older brother would often sneak me out to have fun.

He told me I hadn't done anything wrong, that I didn't have to carry a single ounce of guilt. I could cry, I could laugh, I could even throw silly little tantrums if I wanted to.

When I grew up, I started dating Theo.

My brother would kick him half-playfully, with that half-teasing, half-genuine jealous edge, and tell him to keep his hands to himself.

Every single time, Theo would yell back on purpose, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, "Hey, big brother-in-law!"

In those moments, I thought I was the luckiest person on the entire planet.

On our wedding night, Theo held me tight as he drifted off to sleep. A soft smile still tugged at his lips, and he mumbled drowsily, "Riana… you're my wife now…"

Right then, the system popped up out of nowhere.

"Congratulations, Host. Your strategic mission has been completed. Once you return to your original world, you will receive a healthy body and start a brand-new life. Would you like to depart this world immediately?" The system asked.

I had three chances to confirm my choice, and I picked "No" every single time without a second of hesitation.

On the third check, the system warned me, "The real daughter, Fiona, will be returning soon."

I still didn't waver at all. I was naive back then. I truly believed her coming home wouldn't actually change anything of substance.

Even if Mom, Dad, and my brother loved their biological daughter and sister more, I still had Theo. I had my own home, my own job, my own career.

A month later, Fiona showed up as an extra in a movie, and Mom recognized her immediately.

She'd been abused by her adoptive parents for years. She'd run away at sixteen and scraped by entirely on her own, working random odd jobs to make ends meet ever since.

For the past two years, a string of lucky coincidences had landed her a job as an extra at a film studio, and that was how we, and more importantly, Mom, finally caught sight of her.

Mom sobbed as she said it was fate. Heaven had finally taken pity on them and sent their daughter home.

In less than a year, with the Andrews Family throwing their full support and industry connections behind her, Fiona landed the lead role in her first web drama, which became a minor hit and got her name out there.

We all gathered at home to celebrate her success.

But that very same night, her bipolar disorder triggered a severe episode. She snuck out and drove off in the middle of the night, and got into a sickening, crunching car crash.

When I heard them asking me to take the fall for her, a sharp buzz filled my skull, and every last belief I'd held onto for years started to crumble.

Fiona had already suffered so much, they said. Her health was fragile, her career had barely taken off. She couldn't afford a stain on her record, let alone a prison sentence.

Mom begged me through tears, saying she'd just been diagnosed with cervical cancer, and would probably never live to see her real daughter released from prison.

Even Theo stood on the other side, against me.

They begged me again and again, but I turned them down cold.

They kept pushing, pressing me from all sides, but I still wouldn't cave.

Until finally, they laid all their cards on the table that I owed them too much, they said, and now it was time to pay my debt.

That was when it hit me. This entire world was fundamentally messed up.

I had to get out.

But the system hit me with a cold, harsh notice, "Your strategy completion score has dropped to 90%, so you cannot leave the world yet."