Chapter 4

"Obviously it was me. I hired them to break your legs and pin it on Caitlin. I needed you to hate her — really hate her — so I could drive a wedge between you two, steal the shares that were rightfully hers, and force her to take my fall."

I looked a lot like John.

He'd run into me by chance one day, started to suspect something, had DNA testing done in secret, and then brought me back into the Brown family.

When I first came home, both he and my parents wanted to make up for the twenty-two years of family I'd missed.

They were planning to announce my identity as the true Brown family daughter at the company's anniversary celebration half a month away.

And to transfer my rightful shares into my name.

But just a few days later, John was dragged into an alley and had both his legs broken. He'd be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Based on the fake evidence the attackers had deliberately planted, he didn't even look into it. He decided I was responsible and hated me for it with everything he had.

My parents, nudged along by Freya's manipulation, grew colder toward me with every passing day.

John stared at the sister he'd cherished and spoiled for twenty-two years. His lips trembled:

"Freya... is that true?"

Now that I was in Freya's body, I had full access to her memories. That's how I knew all these details.

I laughed coldly:

"The guy who led the attack was named Jason. His number is... but you don't have to take my word for it. Look it up yourself."

John's face drained white, then darkened. He barked at his assistant over the phone, demanding they investigate immediately.

He made it clear — if Freya really was behind what happened to him, he would not let it go.

I clapped Freya's hands together with exaggerated delight:

"Good! Please, don't let me off the hook!"

"Send me to prison. Have me torn apart. Make it count — for your real sister."

He grabbed my wrist hard:

"What are you saying? What do you mean, torn apart? What do you mean, make it count?"

In order to put me behind bars and cover for Freya, they had falsified dashcam footage, altered surveillance recordings, and bribed everyone involved.

They'd successfully gotten me convicted and thrown in prison.

But then they'd also spent a small fortune bribing the guards and other inmates to look after me — to ease their own guilt, and so they could tell themselves I was fine and ought to be grateful.

What they hadn't counted on was Freya. Using the Brown family name, she had issued her own orders, overriding all of that — commanding those same people to beat me, humiliate me, and work me until I died.

I was laughing so hard my eyes burned with tears:

"Of course I was the one who paid them off. I had them beat Caitlin every single day until she was dead."

"Now no one can ever take the Brown family name away from me again."

John's brow furrowed. He seemed to be weighing whether to believe it.

Brandon shoved through the crowd and grabbed my arm:

"What the hell are you saying? How could Caitlin be dead?"

"Didn't you say just yesterday that Caitlin complained about the food in there and asked you to get three million from me?"

The situation was spinning out of control. Freya went frantic inside me — cursing me, clawing at the edges of her own mind, trying to force me out of her body.

No one else could see the two souls fighting for control.

From the outside, Freya just looked like she was losing her mind — one moment sobbing:

"John, please don't believe any of this! How could I ever want to hurt you?"

"It was Caitlin — she used some kind of witchcraft on me and made me say those things!"

"Brandon! I'm carrying your child! This is all Caitlin's doing, she's trying to destroy me..."

And the next second, slapping herself hard across the face, calling herself worthless — saying she had stolen someone else's life and deserved every terrible thing coming to her.

She even pulled out her phone to call the police and turn herself in.

Mrs. Brown rushed forward, knocked the phone out of my hand, pressed her palm over my mouth, and pulled me into her arms.