I Begged The Real Heiress To Take My Life Away Chapter 01

I Begged The Real Heiress To Take My Life Away Chapter 01

At the gala.

The real heiress walked in wearing a couture gown, DNA test results clutched in one hand.

Her eyes were red-rimmed when she pointed at me.

“Eighteen years you’ve been living my life. It’s time you gave it back.”

The whole room went silent.

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting for me to cry, to scream, to drop to my knees and beg my parents not to throw me out.

But the next second, everything flipped.

I ran at her, threw my arms around her legs, and sobbed harder than she did.

“Sis!”

“My sister! You finally came!”

I could barely breathe through the crying.

“What took you so long…”

“Please, save me. Ship me out of here tonight!”

The real heiress froze.

My parents’ faces went dark.

My brother had been at the top of every class since kindergarten, the kind of person who made standardized tests look like warm-ups. Right then, the wine glass in his hand cracked with a sharp snap.

None of them knew.

I’d been waiting for this day for what felt like forever.

No one was ever coming to take my place.

I really couldn’t do this anymore.

—-

When the real heiress slapped the DNA report down in front of me at the gala, I was mid-bite on a chicken drumstick, trying not to get caught.

All three hundred-something guests went dead quiet.

My mother, Eleanor Sterling, wore an expression colder than the emerald pendant around her neck.

My father, Weston Sterling, gripped his wine glass like he was reviewing a bankruptcy filing.

My brother, Sebastian Sterling, stood on the top step, suit buttoned to the very last button, looking like he’d stepped straight off the cover of Forbes.

And me.

Daisy Sterling.

The only daughter the Sterling family had had for eighteen years.

Currently gnawing on a chicken drumstick with barbecue seasoning all over my fingers.

The real heiress looked at me, ice in her eyes.

“Daisy Sterling. You can actually eat right now?”

I chewed twice, then nodded, honestly.

“It’s gone a little cold, but it’s still good.”

A few gasps rippled through the crowd.

Her expression flickered.

She’d probably pictured her big moment differently: DNA test in hand, lawyer at her side, a triumphant return to her real blue-blood family. Instead she got a fake heiress with chicken grease on her chin.

She took a breath and slid the folder across the table toward me.

“Read it.”

“My name is Josie Doyle. I’m the real Sterling daughter.”

“Eighteen years ago, the hospital mixed us up at birth. You’ve been living the life that was supposed to be mine.”

“And I grew up in a family that runs a breakfast diner, waking up at four in the morning to knead dough.”

“Daisy Sterling, you stole eighteen years from me. Do you feel no guilt at all?”

My eyes welled up the second she finished.

Josie sneered.

“Finally scared, huh?”

I shot up so fast my chair toppled over.

The guests took a collective step back.

I crossed the room, and in front of every stunned pair of eyes in that ballroom, grabbed her hand.

“Sis!”

Josie stared at me. “…What?”

More tears streamed down my face.

“My sister!”

Josie looked even more lost. “…What is happening?”

Crying, I shoved my half-eaten drumstick into her hand.

“You finally made it!”

“If you hadn’t come, I really would’ve died in this family!”

Dead silence filled the room.