Chapter 2

2

They were the real family.

I was just an outsider they happened to give birth to.

I didn't eat dinner. Instead, I went to my room and pulled a hidden bank card from under the floorboards.

No one in this house knew about this card.

My grandmother had left it to me before she passed away.

On her deathbed, she gripped my hand tight. "Sienna, I'm leaving, and I won't be here to protect you. Take this card. It's my gift to you. Don't tell a soul."

At the time, I didn't understand why she was being so secretive.

Now, I realized she knew my parents would turn on me the moment she was gone.

This card was my escape plan.

My eyes blurred with tears as I clutched the card to my chest.

The door suddenly creaked open, and I shoved the card into my pocket.

It was Quinn. The fake innocence was gone, replaced by a smug, entitled grin.

She dragged her suitcase into the center of the room.

The message was clear: she was taking my room, my space, and my life.

Fine by me. I wanted out of this hellhole anyway.

I didn't say a word. I just started walking toward the door to leave.

But Quinn wasn't satisfied with my silence.

"Sienna! Who do you think you are, walking away from me like that?"

I stopped and looked back at her, a small smirk playing on my lips. "Quinn, you love taking things that aren't yours, don't you? Fine. You can have the room. You've always been better at picking up my scraps anyway."

Quinn's face turned a nasty shade of green.

A second later, she slapped herself hard across the cheek and began wailing as she ran out into the hallway.

"Sienna, please don't hit me! I know you hate me because I'm adopted, but please..."

My parents and Silas came charging up the stairs instantly.

Quinn was huddled behind my mother, shaking like a leaf, her face covered in fake terror. "Please, Sienna, don't hit me again..."

Silas was livid. "Sienna, why the hell did you hit her?"

"Silas, don't be mad at her," Quinn sobbed. "I just wanted to ask her for help with a math problem. I must have annoyed her. It's my fault..."

My mother reached out and pinched my ear hard, twisting it. "How did I raise such a monster? Look at how kind Quinn is! Why can't you be more like her?"

I shoved her hand away and looked her dead in the eye.

"I am who I am. She is who she is. And I'm done with all of you."

"Since you hate me so much, I'm leaving."

"And for the record, I didn't touch her. She hit herself. Believe it or don't, I don't care."

I turned my back on them and walked out.

My father's voice boomed behind me. "You've learned how to lie now, too? Fine! Leave! I don't have a daughter named Sienna anymore!"

Silas yelled after me, "Good riddance, you lying psycho! Who would ever hit themselves?"

I paused at the front door. "I really wonder if any of you actually have a heart."

I used the money on the card to rent a small studio apartment near my school.

Quinn probably thought she won because she kicked me out in a single day.

But I wanted her to know that the game was just beginning.

I had the memories of a previous life. Did she really think she could outsmart me?

The next morning, I went to school early and handed a manuscript to my English teacher.

There was a national high school essay competition coming up.

In my last life, Quinn had entered this contest.

She wrote a piece called "My Grandmother" that went viral and turned her into a minor social media star.

That fame made my parents worship her even more.

But no one knew that I was the one who actually wrote that essay.

Quinn had snuck into the teacher's office and swapped our papers before they were mailed out.

I had tried to tell the truth back then, but no one believed me.

This time, I wasn't letting that happen.

I was taking back everything that belonged to me.

While waiting for the results, I didn't slack off. I spent every waking hour in the library.

In my previous life, Quinn and her friends would bully me, tearing up my homework so I couldn't study.

Back then, Quinn was the top student, and I was the 'troublemaker.'

It was only by hiding in the school bathrooms after hours that I managed to study enough to get into that university.

I thought I had finally escaped the darkness, only for my parents to kill me.

Since the day I moved out, not a single person from that house called me.