Chapter 1

I was a girl, but from the day I was born, the gender listed on my birth certificate was Male.

I always thought it was a clerical error.

Then, in 1993, I placed first in the county in the sciences on the college entrance exam, and my parents locked me in the cellar.

My mother pleaded with me, "Sam, you're the older sister, but you're also the older brother. Let your brother go to school in your place."

My father frowned around his pipe. "The two of you are twins anyway. You've been a tomboy since you were little. Who could tell you and your brother apart?"

In that instant, everything that had confused me since childhood finally made sense.

So this was why my parents had raised me as a boy all those years. It had all been leading to this one moment.

My brother took my place and went to college.

Meanwhile, my parents sold me to the old bachelor who lived at the edge of the village. The "wedding gift" paid for my brother's tuition and living expenses.

On my wedding night, I ran away.

The following year, I took the college entrance exam again under the name Taylor Selwyn and once more placed first in the county.

Today, a resume landed on my desk. The brother I hadn't seen in seven years sat across from me.

I looked at him and smiled softly.

Chapter 1

Today, a resume landed on my desk.

I stared at the name, Sam Thompson, and tapped a fingertip once against the solid wood desk.

It had been seven years.

The man across from me wore a sharp suit, with a practiced, confident smile fixed on his face. "Miss Selwyn, hello. I'm Sam Thompson, a Tarcona University graduate in computer science. Before this—"

"Sam Thompson?" I cut him off, my voice flat.

"Yes."

I picked up the resume.

In the photo, he wore a graduation gown. His face still looked young, almost exactly like mine had seven years ago.

As I stared at the photo, my thoughts drifted back to that time.

Seven years ago, in that dark, damp cellar…

My mother wiped away her tears and pleaded with me, "Sam, what's the point of a girl studying so much? You'll only end up getting married, having children, and raising them as part of someone else's family.

"Your brother is different. He's the future of the Thompson family. Let him go to college. Besides, your birth certificate has listed you as a boy from the very beginning. It's only right that your brother use it.

"You've always been a tomboy. Who could ever tell you and your brother apart anyway? It makes no difference which of you goes."

…

My mother's words still echoed in my ears.

That was the moment I finally realized I had been nothing more than my brother's steppingstone since the day I was born.

No wonder the gender box on my birth certificate said Male. No wonder my mother had dressed me only in boys' clothes since I was little. No wonder she had never allowed me to tell anyone I was a girl.

"Miss Selwyn?" the man across from me finally called out, pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked up.

I no longer saw Sam Thompson. I saw Cam Thompson, my biological brother, watching me with a smug, self-satisfied smile.

When our eyes met, he chuckled. "Before I came to your company, I already looked into the salary and benefits. I'm satisfied with them. If—"

Before he could finish, I gave him a faint smile. "I'm sorry, but since we suspect your credentials may have been falsified, we won't be extending you an offer."

The office fell silent.

The smile froze on Cam's face.

"What did you just say?" he asked, disbelief thick in his voice.

My assistant, Misha Davis, quietly tugged at my sleeve. "Miss Selwyn, this man really is a Tarcona University graduate. Several companies are already competing to hire him. This interview is just a formality..."

I raised a hand to stop her and kept my eyes on Cam. "There's a problem with your credentials."

Cam shot to his feet, and his chair screeched harshly across the floor.

His face flushed red. "If your company didn't want me, why did you headhunt me? Why bring me here just to humiliate me?

"You say my credentials are falsified, so let me ask you, Miss Taylor Selwyn, what proof do you have? I got into Tarcona University fair and square! What gives you the right to slander me?"

That blustering bravado was exactly the same as when he was a child.

I leaned back in my chair. "I said we suspect they're falsified. That means they need to be verified. We don't hire people whose backgrounds we can't confirm."

"You!" He jabbed a finger at me, nearly shoving it in my face. "So many companies are begging to hire me! And you're just some crappy little company. Who do you think you are, putting on airs with me?"

Misha hurried to smooth things over.

Just then, Cam fixed his eyes on my face and froze.

The anger in his eyes gave way to shock and suspicion. His gaze swept over me from head to toe.

His pupils contracted sharply. Then a contemptuous insult, colored by his thick rural accent, burst from his mouth. "You're... that cheap bitch?!"

Chapter 2

The air froze.

I rose slowly and met his eyes across the desk.

Seven years had passed, yet the look in his eyes had not changed one bit. He still wore the same arrogance, with the same cowardice lurking beneath it.

I smiled faintly. "That's right. It's me. The one whose college spot you stole. The one your parents nearly sold off. That cheap bitch."

Cam's face went pale. His bluster vanished in an instant.

Panic flashed in his eyes as he took half a step back. "You... You're talking nonsense! What do you mean I stole your spot? I'm Sam Thompson! I got into college on my own merit!"

"Oh?" I leaned forward and lowered my voice. "Then how do you explain the solution to the last question on the 1993 science paper? The one that went beyond the syllabus? I worked out that solution myself from an old textbook. No one else in the county knew how to solve it but me."

Cam's lips trembled. Panic robbed him of words. "I... I..."

I straightened and gave him his marching orders. "Cam Thompson, or should I call you Mr. Sam Thompson? The interview is over. Please leave."

"No!" He seemed to catch himself, and his voice grew steadier. "Even if you are... what proof do you have? My file is flawless! What right do you have to reject me? You're abusing your position to settle a personal score!"

"That's right. I'm settling a personal score." I picked up his resume, slowly tore it in half in front of him, and tossed the pieces into the trash. "Now get out."

Cam's face turned from white to a sickly green. He glared at me with undisguised hatred. "Taylor Selwyn! You'll regret this! Plenty of big companies want me!"

He slammed the door behind him and stormed out.

Misha patted her chest in alarm. "Miss Selwyn, this... What exactly happened?"

I waved a hand. "Prepare the next interview."

I walked over to the window. Before long, Cam appeared on the street below. He loosened his tie and shouted furiously into his phone, then kicked a trash can and hailed a cab.

I knew exactly where he would go: our rival, Daybreak Technologies.

They would take him.

"Good," I muttered.

…

That afternoon, my phone rang. The caller ID showed a number from my hometown.

I answered.

"Hello? Is... Is this Sam?" A woman's voice came through the receiver.

I knew it all too well. I belonged to my mother.

"Sam, I heard you're a boss now?" she asked cautiously, her voice catching slightly.

I said nothing.

After a moment, she gave a dry cough and continued hesitantly, "I also heard you interviewed your brother today, but you threw him out. How could you do that? He's your own brother!"

"My own brother?" My lip curled. "The 'own brother' I was locked in a cellar for? The one you nearly sold me off for so you could collect a bride price?"

Silence fell on the other end.

Then my father's rough voice echoed. "You little wretch! Watch your mouth! We had no other choice back then! Your brother's a college graduate now! Instead of helping him, you're tripping him up?

"You have no conscience! Your brother's been hired by Daybreak Technologies! A big company fought to get him! He's better than you!"

Memories flashed before my eyes.

The only chicken wing at the table always went onto Cam's plate. My "new" clothes were always his old ones cut down to fit me. On rainy days, my father carried him on his back while I trudged through the mud alone.

Then came the dim light of the cellar and the rusted scissors.

I closed my eyes for a moment. "How far can a stolen path really take you?"

"Why, you!" My father was so furious he could barely breathe. "He is better than you! I'm telling you, your brother got into a big company! Not like you, turning your back on your own family!"

"Oh, congratulations," I said.

My father erupted into a torrent of curses.

Beside him, my mother cried and pleaded, "Sam, what family holds a grudge overnight? You're the older sister. You should give way to him. You should help him..."

I laughed softly. "Look out for each other? Is that what you call trading my entire life for his? Selling me off to pay his tuition so he could have a future?

"Or maybe I was never your daughter at all. Maybe I was just a lifelong blood bag you raised for your son. Whenever he needed to feed, I was supposed to lie down and let him?"

Chapter 3

"Why, you!" My father's furious voice crackled through the receiver, but for a long moment, he could not form a coherent sentence. He was clearly beside himself with rage.

I listened to his labored breathing on the other end, then hung up without hesitation and blocked the number.

…

Sure enough, Cam was thriving at Daybreak.

His team targeted us on every project. He stole our clients, undercut our prices, poached our staff, and openly mocked us as a "small-time outfit."

At an industry mixer, he loudly held court. The moment he spotted me, he raised his voice even further. "Women are nothing more than appendages to a family in the end. A woman's proper place is at the stove and beside a man.

"Working yourself to death for a career gets you nowhere. You're better off finding someone to lean on and cashing in on your worth while you're still young."

The people around him laughed along.

I didn't say a word.

Misha's eyes reddened with anger. "Miss Selwyn, he's walking all over us!"

"What's the rush?" I said as I flipped through the reports. "Let him jump."

I needed him to jump even higher.

…

Then the opportunity came.

For the city's Smart Park project, Daybreak and our company emerged as the two strongest competitors.

Cam came at us hard. He submitted an absurdly low bid, promised a laughably short timeline, and poached one of our engineers, someone with access to some of our technical details.

Only I knew that some of the "details" the engineer had taken were things I'd deliberately allowed him to see. None of it touched our core technology, but it was tempting enough to serve its purpose.

Before the bid presentation, Cam and I crossed paths outside the venue.

He wore an expensive new suit and practically radiated confidence. The moment he saw me, he stopped and gave me a contemptuous smirk. "Miss Selwyn, we meet again. We're determined to win this project."

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Sam, don't waste your energy. This era is a battlefield for men. You'd be better off giving up those little games of yours while you still can and getting married. Maybe someday, if I'm in a good mood, I'll throw you a bone, sis."

Snickers rose from the crowd behind him.

I met his eyes calmly. "Is that so? Then I hope you get everything you wish for."

My composure only enraged him further. He scoffed and strode into the venue with his head held high.

…

When the presentations ended, Daybreak won the bid.

Amid the applause, Cam rose from his seat, turned toward me, and shot me a triumphant, provocative look.

I remained seated and unmoving. Only when he passed me, brimming with smug satisfaction, did I raise my hands and clap softly.

Each clap rang out clearly.

Cam's steps faltered. He frowned at me, unable to understand why I was so calm.

I stood, straightened my suit, and gave him the first genuinely relaxed smile I'd worn in months. There was no anger in it, only cold understanding and quiet mockery.

Cam froze. His smug expression vanished in an instant.

I didn't spare him another glance. I turned and headed for the side door.

Misha was waiting there with bright eyes and a thick folder in her hands. "Miss Selwyn, everything's ready."

"Good. Time to reel in the net."

Chapter 4

I walked out of the venue into the harsh sunlight.

My phone showed several missed calls from unfamiliar numbers back home, along with a text from my mother.

[Sam, your brother won the bid! It's a huge project! He knows he was wrong. Family should support each other. He said once the project is finished, he'll buy a house and bring us all over so we can live comfortably. It's not easy being on your own. Why don't you come work at your brother's company instead? A family business is always better than working for someone else.]

I read the message, smiled faintly, and deleted it.

Then I called our legal and PR departments.

"It's time. Follow the original plan. Release the material."

…

A few days later, Daybreak's winning bid came under fire after investigators exposed falsified core data. The key technology could not actually be implemented, and the proposed timeline violated regulations. The evidence was comprehensive, and public outrage erupted.

Immediately afterward, a whistleblower filed a report under their real name: Daybreak's project lead, who went by Sam Thompson, had allegedly stolen that identity along with his twin sister's admission to Tarcona University. The report included her transcript from that year, a group photo, and an audio recording:

"Sam, you're the older sister, but you're also the older brother. Let your brother go to school in your place."

"The two of you are twins anyway. You've been a tomboy since you were little. Who could tell you and your brother apart?"

It was academic credential fraud layered on top of project fraud.

Daybreak's stock price plummeted, and the company spiraled into crisis. Almost overnight, Cam became a pariah.

…

That afternoon, my mother stormed into my office with a disheveled Cam in tow.

The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees with a thud and wailed hysterically, "Sam! You can't be this heartless! He's your own brother! Are you trying to drive him to his death?!"

My father hauled her up, his eyes red with fury, then pointed at me and cursed, "You vile woman! You planned this from the start just to bring down your own brother! Was that project a trap you set for him? Do you want to see our whole family fall apart?"

Cam stood behind them with his suit rumpled and his eyes bloodshot.

He glared at me with pure hatred. "Taylor! You fucking set me up! Did you plant all that evidence? You let me win the bid on purpose! You've been scheming against me since the interview!"

Everyone in the office stared at the scene in shock.

Misha and another coworker moved to intervene, but I raised my hand to stop them.

I rose from behind my desk and walked toward my family. My mother sobbed on her knees. My father seethed with rage. My "brother" stared at me with venom in his eyes.

I studied them for a few seconds. Then I turned, returned to my desk, picked up the remote, and pressed a button.

The large screen across the room lit up. Secretly recorded footage showed Cam meeting privately with a supplier, accepting bribes, and promising to use materials that failed to meet code.

His face was unmistakable. So was his voice.

Cam turned deathly pale.

I couldn't have cared less.

I pressed the remote again. More evidence appeared on the screen: forged household registration documents used to transfer my university admission to his name, falsified enrollment records, and a "voluntary declaration waiving admission" bearing my father's signature.

My father swayed on his feet.

Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

The screen changed once more before freezing on a single line of stark, bold text:

[Investigation confirms that the 1993 Ivy League freshman admission physical examination report for "Sam Thompson" lists a blood type that does not match the enrollment records on file. The real Sam Thompson is female.]