Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mom and Dad prepared a new room for Su Ying, right next to mine.

Since we were close in age, they hoped we would get along peacefully.

They moved quickly to enroll Su Ying in my school, telling us to look out for one another and asking me to help her integrate into school life as fast as possible.

Once at school, Su Ying was placed in my class. When we were introduced as sisters, everyone was naturally curious.

“You two are about the same age and have the same surname. Are you cousins?”

Su Ying remained silent, staring straight at me.

I forced a smile. “We’re twins. My sister was in poor health before, so she was recovering elsewhere.”

“Twins? You don’t look alike at all.”

“Yeah, you don’t look even remotely similar.”

I could only explain that we were fraternal twins and that it was normal not to look alike.

Su Ying never spoke much, merely watching me with an inscrutable smile.

I felt as though she had seen right through my petty schemes.

I had intentionally claimed we were twins and avoided mentioning that I was the fake daughter so my classmates wouldn’t look down on me.

Children can be very competitive. In a prestigious private school, if people found out I was a fraud-and the daughter of such wicked people at that-I would be mocked to death.

After class, I found Su Ying and apologized to her.

“I’m sorry. I needed to protect myself.”

Su Ying simply nodded. “Whatever you want.”

Our school was a combined middle and high school, so there was no pressure from high school entrance exams. Learning was relatively relaxed, competition wasn’t fierce, and extracurricular life was rich.

Everyone was busy learning special talents or joining various clubs, but Su Ying was the only one who had a singular passion for academic subjects, throwing herself into her studies with a frenzy.

She loved reading and studying, so the family even hired a tutor for her who was a graduate of a top-tier university.

One night, while bringing her a glass of milk, I saw her still studying and curiously asked why she was working so hard.

She was now the eldest daughter of the Su Family. Mom and Dad always felt they owed her, treating her even better than my older brother.

She didn’t actually need to work this hard.

But Su Ying just looked at me and said indifferently, “Relying on yourself is better than relying on anyone else.”

I fell silent for a long moment. “You’re just like Mom and Dad. They told me the exact same thing.”

Only, I had heard it without truly taking it to heart.

But they were right.

Thinking of my biological parents, I began to work hard too.

I gave up those extracurricular talents and started studying as hard as Su Ying, joining her for the tutoring sessions.

Our grades improved by leaps and bounds, but Su Ying’s progress was clearly superior. She was ranked first in the city, while I could only barely be considered among the top tier.

Innate intelligence played a huge role. I had the brains of the Liu Family, and I was nowhere near as smart as Su Ying.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t match her grades.

I wanted to ask her how she studied, but I didn’t dare.

She seemed very cold; whether it was toward me, our parents, or our brother, she was always distant.

Mom and Dad thought she just hadn’t adjusted after coming back, but I felt she probably hated me. She had every right to hate me.