Chapter 1

At five years old, I was adopted by the Andres family.

But it took them ten years to find out that on the very day they adopted me, their real daughter had been there too.

They just happened to choose me instead.

I was the one who was supposed to die in her place.

After that, they were filled with regret and remorse.

They wished I had never entered their lives at all.

Cooper Andres stood by and did nothing, time after time, whenever I was falsely accused.

"Smile. You love smiling, don't you?"

"Back then, if you hadn't flashed that disgusting smile at me, I would have chosen Claire!"

"Daisy, you're the one who killed Claire. You."

When he found out I was carrying his child, Cooper forced me onto the operating table.

That time, I lost both my life and the baby's.

Then I opened my eyes again.

I was back on the day they came to the orphanage.

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"Daisy, what are you doing hiding up here?"

Ms. Laura, one of the staff at the orphanage, rushed over and carried me down from the rooftop.

"Ms. Laura, I... I don't want to go."

Laura gently patted the back of my hand.

"Silly girl, the Andres family is here today. They're loaded."

"If they pick you, you'll never have to worry about a thing for the rest of your life."

"Make sure you smile, okay?"

A chill ran through me.

I thought of how Cooper, in my past life, would demand I smile over and over again, no matter what was happening.

He made me smile when I was falsely accused of stealing.

He made me smile when rumors were spread about me.

And even when he found out I was pregnant with his child, he only paused for a moment before telling me to smile anyway.

To smile while I got rid of the baby.

I pressed my lips together.

And finally, the moment the luxury car pulled up, I slipped away and hid in the storage room.

This life, I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely refused to have anything to do with the Andres family ever again.

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because when they found me later, I heard that the Andres family had left without adopting anyone.

I didn't know why.

But I didn't care either.

That night, I lay in bed and looked around at the thirty-some kids sharing the dorm with me.

I had no idea which one of them was the Andres family's real daughter.

According to what the Andres family had said, she was somewhere in this room right now.

I didn't want any more contact with the Andres family than necessary.

But I also remembered the first ten years after they adopted me in my past life. Mr. and Mrs. Andres had been genuinely kind to me. Cooper too.

I thought, if their real daughter could find her way back to them in this life, maybe that would count as repaying the kindness they'd shown me before everything fell apart.

But before I could do anything about it, the Andres family came back a second time.

This time, all the girls around five or six years old were asked to give blood samples.

In my past life, that had never happened.

When I came out after giving blood, I saw Cooper walking toward me, his expression cold and unreadable.

Something stirred in me.

Word was that it had been the Andres family's young heir who requested the blood tests.

Could it be that Cooper had been reborn too?

I looked down and stepped to the side to avoid him.

A pair of expensive sneakers paused in front of me for just a moment, then continued past.

The next day, I noticed one of my dormmates was gone.

I remembered her — a quiet little girl who cried all the time. A total crybaby.

I never expected that the little crybaby would turn out to be the Andres family's real daughter.

The peace didn't last two days before the Andres family showed up again.

This time, they said they wanted to adopt a companion for their daughter.

And this time, I had nowhere to hide.

All of us, myself included, lined up in a row, waiting for the Andres family to make their choice.

The first one out of the car was their real daughter.

The little crybaby who used to cry at everything had already become a princess everyone wanted to protect.

Cooper held her the entire time, only setting her down when they reached us.

"Claire!" Several girls rushed toward her, eyes shining with excitement.

Even though we were all young, the kids here had learned to think ahead.

Everyone knew that if you got to go home with Claire today, you'd get to wear pretty dresses like hers someday.

You'd live in a big house.

You'd have people looking after you.

Every pair of eyes was fixed on Claire.

But for some reason, Claire walked straight up to me.

My body moved before my brain could catch up.

I shoved Claire to the ground.

"Claire!"

"Daisy!"

"Claire!"

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