From Orphan to Rich Girl: Contract Marriage to a Millionaire

Claire POV “You're Claire?” In the luxurious villa of the Winston family, an old lady was sitting on a sofa of stately colors and was looking at me without smiling. Contrary to her serious expression, her hand was affectionately stroking the hair of a girl sitting next to this old lady, who only gave me an initial glance before turning her head away with red eyes. “Looks quite like your father, with long arms and legs.” The old man said, nodding casually to the side, “This is your mother.” I had already seen it, sitting next to the old man, the dignified and gentle-looking lady. It was only at this time that I looked over with slightly glowing eyes, and I was about to let out a “mom” when I was suddenly interrupted by a cry that could be described as sorrowful. “Mom!” The girl who was originally sitting on the sofa suddenly turned her head and jumped into the lady's arms in fear. This lady immediately reached out and hugged her, and the old lady even said anxiously, “Davina, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly crying? It's not like anyone's stealing your mommy from you, is it, Claire?” I swallowed my voice back into my throat as I stood in the middle of the hall, meeting the old lady's slightly oppressive gaze, and seeing the lady's complicated gaze of apology and avoidance. The hall was full of guests, and everyone was looking at me oddly. For a moment, I wondered if I was mistaken. A week ago, a person who claimed to be the Winston family's assistant found me in a small southern town and took me to do a paternity test, and when the results came out, I was informed that I was the Winston family's third young lady who had been replaced by the hospital by mistake. In the following time, the assistant spent a whole week just popularizing the rules of the Winston family and all kinds of family relationships with me, and only today did she finally finish her “lessons” and take me into the Winston family's luxurious villa. I thought it would be a somewhat rusty but happy reunion, but the scene in front of me was not like that. I slowly put my eyes on the girl who was flopping into Mrs. Winston's arms without saying a word, how do I look at it, I feel more like a fake daughter, right? “Why don't you say anything? Are you too tired?” The old lady frowned, looking at me with a stern and disgruntled look, and without any further ado, she said, “Then go upstairs and rest first, your room was prepared long ago, and when the banquet starts in the evening you'll have to take your time to recognize the people, which can be hard work.” I was then taken away by the housekeeper, and before I left, the old lady, my grandmother, gently warned me, “You've just come back, you don't know a lot of the rules here, and you'll have to learn them from your sister - yes, I'll introduce you to Davina, your sister, who has been your sister since before you came back. Before you came back, it was always her who took care of the elders instead of you.” The old lady slowly stroked the back of the girl in Mrs. Winston's arms, and with her pale eyes fixed on me, said, “You must remember to thank her properly.” I dropped my eyes and without looking at anyone else, I left with the housekeeper. It is said that this is the room with the best light and the largest area in Winston's house, and it was decorated by Mrs. Winston herself. But as I looked at the blinding sunlight, I suspected that this was a room that no one would want to live in - the light was good, especially in the middle of summer, when the air-conditioning was so strong that you could still feel the hot temperature. I closed all the curtains, retrieved my suitcase, and fell back to sleep. Another ten minutes later, I woke up to a regular but loud knock on the door. “It's me.” A perky, crisp female voice rang out from outside, “Claire, Mom asked me to bring you some refreshments!” I couldn't help but be a little taken aback at how she could turn around and be so gracious when just a moment ago she looked like she was going to be robbed of her mommy by me in a sad way. I went to open the door with my doubts and was met with a bright smiling face. Davina walked in with a delicate plate, only to have the door to the room just close, and those smiles instantly magically disappeared a face-changing masterpiece. “Well?” Davina put the fruit plate on the table and walked back and forth in the spacious and elegant room, naturally carrying a sense of pride and ease of ownership, “Never lived in such a nice house before, have you?” I thought for a few seconds and finally nodded hesitantly. The Davina girl let out a sneer, “But that's all there is.” She paced closer, the closer she got the more grim the expression on her face became, by the end it was twisted to the point of screaming fear. “I'm telling you, in this house, everything is mine.” “My grandparents are mine, my mom and dad are mine, my brother and sister are mine - I've had what I've had for twenty years, and you're not going to try to take it away from me based on just a little bit of DNA connections!” I heard her teeth crunching against each other, sounding full of hate and grief. “Do you know why you were brought back? It wasn't because of how much Mom and Dad loved and missed you, it was because you had to be used in a marriage with the Eversleighs because I'd rather die than marry a cripple! And they were too heartbroken to force me to do it, so they had to bring you back!” “So, you get it? I'm your biggest benefactor for you to be able to return to the Winston family and to go from a downtrodden orphan to a rich family's daughter overnight!” “But don't worry,” she whispered close to my ear, ”I don't need you to thank me.” “Because, sooner or later, how you waltzed into Winston's house today is how I'm going to get your ass out of here!” “Not even a speck of dust from everything in the Winston household will you ever own!”