I Found Out I Was the Real Daughter Before the SAT So I Tanked It Chapter 03

I Found Out I Was the Real Daughter Before the SAT So I Tanked It Chapter 03

The next day, the Nolan family chartered an entire yacht.

A custom party banner stretched across the bow: “Congrats, Willa—SATs Are Over!”

I boarded in a simple T-shirt and shorts.

Ten years of life as the fake heiress had left me better off than being shipped off to some rural backwater, but nowhere near respectable by trust-fund standards.

The rich girls in our circle all called me “the impostor” behind my back.

They would nod and greet me to my face, then turn away and cover their mouths while laughing.

I wore the same clothes for years, while Willa bought countless new outfits every year.

The things she didn’t want, she would rather throw away than give to me.

When Mom saw me, her face darkened. “Do you know what kind of occasion this is? Couldn’t you at least have changed into a dress?”

“I’m not the main character today.” I walked to a corner and sat down.

“You…”

She looked me over a few times, then shook her head and left.

Willa stood in the center of the deck, the center of everyone’s attention.

Mom walked over and announced in front of everyone, “Willa, your father and I are giving you this yacht. We hope you’ll sail boldly into the life ahead of you.”

The whole crowd applauded.

Willa burst into tears and threw herself into Mom’s arms.

“Mom, thank you. I won’t let you and Dad down.”

Dad stepped forward too and wrapped his arms around both of them.

The three of them looked like one happy family of three.

One relative raised a glass. “Mr. Nolan, you really have it all. Two daughters—one brilliant, one sweet. You’ve won at life.”

“Exactly. Willa is such a blessing to this family. Thank goodness you found her.”

I took a bite of the cake in my hand.

Behind me, a few girls from school were whispering.

“Look, the fake Nolan heiress actually came on board? She has some nerve.”

“Look at what she’s wearing. Who shows up to a yacht party dressed like that? She’s doing it on purpose, right?”

“She’s already eighteen. Do you think the Nolans will actually send her back to the countryside?”

“Who knows? When they brought the real heiress home, didn’t Mr. and Mrs. Nolan say they’d raise both girls until they turned eighteen and treat them equally?”

“Honestly, if I were her, I’d be thanking the real heiress on my knees. If the real heiress hadn’t been generous back then, she wouldn’t even have gotten to keep the Nolan name.”

I had heard ridiculous rumors like that plenty of times before.

Now, I didn’t care anymore.

I set down my cake and walked toward them.

At some point, Willa had followed me over. She grabbed my wrist and said, “Annalise, don’t be mad. They’re just talking nonsense. I’ll speak to them later.”

I pulled my hand free. “No need. They weren’t wrong.”

She froze for a moment, then immediately put on that pitiful look, as if I had bullied her again.

Mom walked over. “Today is Willa’s big day. Why are you throwing a tantrum? Can’t you learn to be sweet and obedient like her?”

I looked at her. “She’s obedient? Then ask her to get into Harvard too. Let’s see if she can obediently score her way in for you.”

Mom choked on her words.

With Willa’s grades, she’d be lucky to make it through community college, let alone Harvard.

I ignored them and turned toward the stern, where I leaned against the railing and let the wind hit my face.