“Sophia, you really won’t take this card?”
“Once you go back to your real parents, getting money won’t be that easy anymore. I heard they live deep in the mountains. They can barely even afford food…”
Inside the Goodwin house, Patrick Goodwin looked at the girl standing in front of him, his eyes full of complicated emotion.
Who would’ve thought that the child he had raised for almost eighteen years was not his biological daughter at all?
If not for the accident two months ago, when Sophia Grange gave him blood and the blood type didn’t match, they never would have found out there was no blood relation between them.
No wonder this girl had never been close to them all these years. Turns out, she really wasn’t their flesh and blood.
Still, after recovering, he had gone through a lot of trouble to finally find his actual daughter.
At first, he had wanted to leave Sophia a place to stay, at least for a while. But who knew her biological parents would come so fast to take her away?
Thinking of the file that said Sophia’s real parents were from Huangyu Village, one of the poorest mountain areas in the entire Celestial Nation, Patrick sighed again. He still tried to push the bank card into her hand.
“Sophia, just take it. To the Goodwin family, this amount is nothing. We were family for years, after all. I don’t want your life to be too hard later on.”
Once she got to her real parents’ place, forget pocket money. She’d probably have to worry about whether she could even eat enough.
The girl called Sophia stood there in plain clothes, a simple tracksuit, a baseball cap, and a backpack with no brand logo on it slung over one shoulder. From head to toe, she looked low-key to the point of being invisible.
But her face was impossible to ignore.
Delicate, striking, coldly beautiful—her features were almost unreal. In those clear, indifferent eyes, there was a sharp chill tucked away, making people instinctively keep their distance.
Hearing Patrick’s repeated persuasion, she only lifted her eyes slightly and replied in a flat, steady voice, without the slightest ripple, “Thanks, but no.”
“What an ungrateful brat.”
Angela Goodwin finally snapped. She snatched the bank card away and stuffed it into her own bag. “Don’t give it to her. This dead girl loves acting all high and mighty. Let her be. As long as she doesn’t come back crying later, I’m good.”
The moment Angela thought about how her real daughter had suffered out there while this fake had spent years living like a princess in the richest family in Lake City, dressed in luxury and fed the best, rage burned in her chest. She was practically sick of the sight of Sophia.
“Mom, please calm down. Maybe my sister just can’t bear to leave you and Dad, so she’s acting out a little.”
“Please don’t blame her. She must feel awful too…”
The one speaking in that soft, syrupy, fake-considerate tone was Cecilia Goodwin, the real Goodwin daughter who had only just been brought back.
She had once overheard Patrick and Angela talking. She knew Sophia’s biological parents were not only from the poorest place possible, but had also had five sons already.
Sophia was the sixth child.
The five older brothers up there were all waiting to get married, and there was also a seriously ill grandmother at home waiting for treatment. Once Sophia Grange got sent back there, life was obviously going to be brutal.
Cecilia Goodwin was secretly thrilled, but on the surface she still looked gentle and sensible. "Sophia, Mom and Dad really do care about you. Please stop making them upset."
"Good girl. You're the only one who really gets it." Angela Goodwin patted the back of Cecilia's hand, then shot Sophia a resentful glare. "Unlike some ungrateful little brat. Raised her for nothing."
"That's enough, don't say it like that. Sophia is still our daughter too." Seeing Angela going too far, Patrick Goodwin finally couldn't help cutting in.
What he got in return was just a cold snort from Angela.
Patrick looked a little awkward, a little helpless. He turned to Sophia, only to find there wasn't the slightest ripple in the girl's expression, as if Angela didn't even exist in her world.
He couldn't help sighing again. Yeah... she really was impossible to warm up to.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first." Sophia gave Patrick and the others a small nod, then turned and walked out of the living room cleanly, without dragging it out for even a second.
"Sophia!" Cecilia's eyes flickered. She immediately turned back to the Goodwin couple. "Dad, Mom, I'll go see Sophia off!"
With that, she hurried after her and stepped in front of her to block the way.
Sophia stopped. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
For some reason, Cecilia's scalp tingled under that look. Still, the second she thought about what kind of life Sophia would have from now on, that smug little thrill came creeping back.
She deliberately put on a sincere face and said softly, "Sophia, when you get there, remember to keep in touch with me anytime, okay? Mom bought me the newest phone model. The signal's super good, so I should be able to get your calls."
Sophia just looked at her and said nothing.
Her little flex got zero reaction, and Cecilia was instantly annoyed. She bit her lip, then continued, "Oh, right. When Justin Stuckey and I get engaged, will you come back for the wedding?"
"Even though Justin Stuckey used to be your fiancé, he's really good to me now. He even promised he'll take good care of me in the future. So... I really should thank you, Sophia, for giving me such a great man."
She paused, then put on a pitiful expression. "But, Sophia... if Justin Stuckey gets engaged to me, you won't blame me, right?"
She looked at Sophia with watery, aggrieved eyes, but the smugness in them was impossible to miss.
After all, the Goodwin family and the Stuckey family had arranged the marriage long ago. Before this, Justin Stuckey had always been Sophia's fiancé.
Now that she, the real Goodwin heiress, had returned, Sophia—the fake one—not only had to be kicked out of the house, even the outstanding fiancé was no longer hers.
Sophia Grange had no one left to lean on in this life. She was done for.
While Cecilia Goodwin was secretly getting hyped over that thought, Sophia, who had been staring at her the whole time, suddenly smiled.
That smile was like snow lit under a clear sky, clean and dazzling, so beautiful it almost felt unreal.
She curled her lips a little and said in an unhurried voice, "I was just thinking about how to send trash to the recycling station. Didn’t expect you to volunteer and take it in yourself."
"Really, I should thank you for helping me deal with the garbage."
That one sentence wiped the smile right off Cecilia’s face. She froze on the spot, like she’d just been struck by lightning.
Trash... recycling station...
Every single word hit like a blade, stabbing straight into her chest.
She was just about to blow up when Patrick Goodwin and Angela Goodwin walked out. In the next second, her eyes turned red, and she put on that pitiful little act. "Sophia, how could you say that to me..."
"Sophia Grange!" Angela rushed over and saw her precious daughter crying from being "bullied."
She snapped, "Why are you picking on your sister again? You’re already leaving, can’t you stop causing trouble for once?"
Sophia turned around and looked at Angela, the corner of her mouth lifting. "Whether I behave or not isn’t the point. What matters is that you should really get your eyes checked at the hospital."
Maybe a brain scan too.
Otherwise, how could she keep getting played by Cecilia’s cheap little tricks like this?
"You—!" Angela was so furious she nearly choked on it.
"Mom, please don’t be mad. Sophia definitely didn’t mean to upset you."
Cecilia spoke softly, all sweetness on the surface. "It’s my fault. I was worried Sophia wouldn’t take Dad’s bank card, and after she went back there, life would be hard for her. So I ran after her because I wanted to give her the bracelet Dad and Mom gave me."
"That bracelet is really expensive. If Sophia kept it, she could sell it later for a lot of money. But I accidentally lost it, and now I can’t find it anywhere..."
A bracelet?
Sophia lifted her brow slightly. She knew right away this little green-tea queen had come up with a new trick again.
Sure enough, in the very next second, Cecilia Goodwin put on that guilty, soft-faced look and reached for Sophia Grange’s hand. "Sophia, don’t be mad, okay? The second I find it, I’ll mail it to you right away..."
Sophia stepped back at once, cleanly avoiding her touch.
But somehow, Cecilia’s hand still brushed against Sophia’s bag.
And then, the next second, a silver bracelet actually slipped right out.
The whole scene froze. Everyone was stunned on the spot.
Cecilia widened her eyes and covered her mouth, looking like she couldn’t believe it either. "How... how is the bracelet in there...?"
