My Family Chose the Fraud Over Me

When the SAT results come out, the fake daughter who gets through high school by cheating and shortcuts scores a disastrous 400. My parents and older brother take turns comforting her, saying it's just a temporary setback. They even promise to take her on vacation to Eroba to help clear her head. No one cares about my result. Mom even takes away my phone so I can't check my score. From the other end of the dinner table, Dad speaks in a matter-of-fact tone. "I've already spoken to someone at the best SAT prep school. You and Chloe can enroll together. At least, you can keep each other company." My brother chimes in without even looking at me. "Don't leave the house for a while. We're taking away the tablet and laptop too, just in case you do something reckless, like submitting college applications. "Also, we're turning your room into Chloe's art studio. You can stay in the attic for the next couple of months. Besides, once college starts, you'll be living in a dorm anyway." I don't argue. I simply nod and say, "Okay. Have fun on your trip." The acceptance letter from Stawford University, offering me early admission, is already locked away in my desk drawer. As for this family, I've already decided that I don't want them anymore. Chapter 1 For a moment, my brother, Xavier Summers, looked surprised that I'd agreed so readily. But the expression quickly gave way to the usual certainty that everything would go the way he expected. "It's good that you're being understanding." He looked away, his tone casual and dismissive as he added, "You'd better clear your stuff out of the room soon. Otherwise, it'll just get in the way when the housekeeper cleans. Don't blame me if something gets thrown out." I lowered my head and poked at the food on my plate. I mumbled softly, "Okay." At that moment, Chloe Summers looked up, her eyes red. "Xavier, maybe we should let Clara keep her room. I did so badly on the SAT. I don't even feel like painting anymore—" "Chloe!" Mom cut in immediately. "Don't say things like that about yourself. Your grades have always been excellent. You were just nervous this time. "Besides, so what if your score wasn't great? You're gifted in art, and your paintings are beautiful. We'll pay to have your work exhibited someday. It'll look great on your college applications." Dad set down his wine glass and added gently, "That's right, Chloe. Don't overthink it. Xavier is right. It took a lot of effort to find a good tutor for the prep school. Next time, you'll do just fine." Chloe lowered her head, her shoulders trembling as if she were too moved to speak. The next second, she glanced up again, looking hesitant. "But Clara hasn't checked her score yet. What if she did really well? Wouldn't I just be holding her back?" I lifted my eyes and looked at her. I knew she was waiting for me to respond, to awkwardly reassure everyone that I didn't mind and that she was more important, just like I always had before. The foolish thing to do was to insist on checking the score they'd gone out of their way to prevent me from seeing. Then, I'd be scolded for upsetting Chloe. But this time, I said nothing. And surprisingly, nobody expected me to say anything either. Xavier let out a mocking laugh, then picked up where Chloe left off. "Chloe, why would you even think that? How well could someone from the countryside do? The only reason she'll get into that prep school is because of you." He said it so naturally. Dad didn't correct him, and neither did Mom. None of them even looked at me, as if Xavier's words weren't an insult at all, but simply an obvious fact. Everyone in this family looked down on me without even realizing it. Although I'd expected as much, it still hurt to hear them say it out loud. The conversation at the dining table turned lively again. Mom started planning their vacation to Eroba. Dad promised to buy Chloe the necklace she'd been eyeing when they got to Varesia. Xavier suggested stopping in Larazz to visit an art exhibition. A dull ache settled in my chest. The food in my mouth suddenly tasted like nothing. I set down my utensils and said softly, "I'm done eating." No one responded. Only when I stood up and left the table did Xavier finally glance my way. His tone was filled with impatience. "Don't forget to clean out your room." I nodded and headed for the stairs. Behind me, I heard Chloe ask in a tearful voice, "Is Clara angry with me?" Then came Mom's gentle reassurance. "Of course not. Your sister has always been so understanding. Alright. That's enough. Tomorrow, I'll take you shopping for that designer handbag you've wanted for so long, okay?" Understanding—a word I'd been hearing for 18 years. With my foster parents, being understanding meant taking beatings without fighting back and accepting insults without defending myself. After returning to my biological family, it meant giving up everything for Chloe, the daughter whose life had been turned upside down by the truth. As I climbed the stairs, I heard Xavier say, "Oh, Chloe, didn't you mention wanting to learn horseback riding? A friend of mine owns a ranch in Willesen. I can take you there when we visit…" His voice gradually faded into the distance. I pushed open my room door and looked around. There really wasn't much to pack. After all, most of the things in this room had never belonged to me in the first place. Chapter 2 I opened the closet. Inside hung a few plain clothes the family had rushed out to buy when I first moved in. Some still had tags attached, but they were already out of style. Meanwhile, Chloe's walk-in closet was filled with designer labels and custom-made pieces. I pulled open a drawer and took out a small metal box hidden at the very bottom. Inside was a yellowed piece of paper with the word "Clara" written across it in crooked handwriting. It was the only thing I had kept from my old life. Memories from when I was seven years old came flooding back uncontrollably. It was a cold winter day. My foster father, Jack Schultz, was beating me across the back with a belt because I had accidentally burned a saucepan of rice while tending the stove. I knelt in the snow until my lips turned blue. Beside me, my foster mother, Anne DeVito, snacked on nuts and sneered. "Useless brat! You can't even do one simple thing right. We should've left you in a ditch when we found you." At 12, I earned the highest score in my county and won admission to an elite middle school. Jack tore the acceptance letter into pieces. "School? What's the point of a girl going to school? In a couple of years, you'll just marry the Matterson family's dumb son. There's no need for education." When I was 15 years old, my real parents arrived with the police. Even as Jack and Anne were being handcuffed, I was still hiding behind the kitchen stove, trembling. A beautifully dressed woman, tears streaming down her face, rushed toward me and wrapped me in her arms. Her voice was hoarse as she exclaimed, "My daughter! This is my daughter!" That was when I learned that I had never belonged to that family. Apparently, Mom had gone into premature labor while traveling back home to visit relatives and had no choice but to give birth in a nearby hospital. Mom and Anne had ended up in the same hospital room. Consumed by jealousy after learning about the Summers family's wealth, Anne switched the babies. She placed her own daughter in the Summers family's nursery, and carried me home to a life of poverty and abuse. The day I returned to my real family, Chloe fainted from crying three separate times. Xavier held her in his arms and shouted at Mom and Dad, "Chloe is a victim too! She didn't know anything. You're not seriously thinking about sending her away, are you?" Mom burst into tears. "Chloe is innocent…" Dad sighed. "We've raised her all these years, after all. Clara, I hope you can understand. Right now, Chloe has nobody except us." As I watched all four of them hugging each other and crying, I suddenly felt like I was the intruder who had barged into someone else's family. They all said they would make it up to me. But after I moved in, I realized they meant they'd give me a bedroom, food, and pay for my education. But love? Love belonged exclusively to Chloe. She remained the cherished daughter of the Summers family, while I was simply the child they had brought back home from the countryside. At my first family dinner, I didn't know the proper etiquette for a formal meal and used the wrong fork. Chloe gently corrected me, but the contempt in her eyes was obvious. Xavier laughed out loud. "You really are a country bumpkin." Mom said gently, "You'll learn eventually." Then, she turned to Chloe and placed her favorite dish onto her plate, saying, "Eat more, Chloe. You've lost weight lately." At my first school exam, I ranked first in the entire grade, while Chloe landed somewhere in the middle of the class. When we got home, she locked herself in her room and cried. Xavier knocked on my door. His voice was cold. "Can't you be a little less obvious about it? Why did you have to show off and make Chloe feel bad?" Later, Mom came to talk to me too. "Clara, next time, could you maybe not try so hard? Chloe is under a lot of pressure lately." I agreed. During the next round of exams, I intentionally skipped two subjects, and my ranking plummeted. Meanwhile, Chloe cheated her way into the top 50. The entire family celebrated. Dad even bought her an expensive luxury watch as a reward. No one noticed how far my grades had fallen. Or maybe they did and just didn't care. Chapter 3 During my sophomore year, I won a gold medal at the National Physics Olympiad, earning a place in Stawford University's Summer Scholars Camp. Chloe wanted to attend too, but her grades weren't good enough. Mom tried to persuade me. "Clara, why don't you give your spot to Chloe? You'll have other opportunities in the future." It was the first time I ever said no. Xavier slammed his hand onto the table and yelled, "How can you be so selfish? Can't you see Chloe is crying?" In the end, I went. But during those seven days away, not a single person from my family called me. When I came home, I discovered Chloe had accidentally broken my competition medal. "I'm sorry, Clara. I just wanted to take a look, and it slipped out of my hands." She blinked innocently. "You'll win more of these in the future anyway, right?" I said nothing. I simply gathered the shattered pieces and put them away in my drawer, as if I were storing the broken fragments of my heart. Similar events happened countless times over the next three years. Every time, my family repeated the same excuses. "Chloe didn't mean to do it." "You're her sister. You should be more accommodating." "You've been through hardship, so you're stronger. Chloe grew up spoiled. She's more sensitive." Gradually, I came to understand that some things were never meant to be mine. Blood might have brought me back into this family, but 15 years of separation could never compete with 15 years of shared memories. So, I threw myself into studying. I joined every academic competition. I won every award I possibly could. Because I knew this was my only way out. Three months before the SAT, I was secretly contacted by an admissions officer from Stawford University. They had selected me for an early admission program. My place at the university was guaranteed. I signed a confidentiality agreement. Even my guidance counselor didn't know. When the acceptance letter arrived at school, I picked it up myself and locked it away in the deepest corner of my desk drawer. I wanted to surprise them after the SAT exam was over. I thought, maybe then, they'd finally see me. Looking back now, the idea was laughable. They didn't care about me. Why would they care about an acceptance letter? To comfort Chloe after her disappointing SAT score, the family hastily planned their vacation to Eroba. It wasn't until the day they were leaving that they suddenly realized they had forgotten to buy me a ticket. Mom coughed lightly and said to me, "Stay home and keep an eye on the house. Don't touch anything. The housekeeper is on vacation, so you'll need to figure out meals yourself." She didn't even ask whether I had any money. Xavier tossed a stack of SAT prep books at me, telling me to get a head start on studying. Then, he walked out the door without another word. I stood silently and watched their car disappear around the corner. Then, I turned and quickly headed toward the attic. From a hidden compartment inside an old backpack, I pulled out an old flip phone. It was the only thing I'd brought with me when I was taken back by the Summers family. They thought it was embarrassing and told me to throw it away. But I secretly kept it. For three years, I secretly charged it and hid it where no one would ever find it. Using sheer memory, I dialed a number. A few seconds later, the call was connected. "Hello. This is the Stawford Admissions Office. How may I help you?" a woman spoke in a warm voice. I lowered my voice and said, "Hello. My name is Clara Summers. I'm calling to confirm the details of my early admission offer…"