Chapter 1My grandmother is America's richest woman, and I'm her only granddaughter.
Yet my two brothers let their sugar baby strut around pretending to be me.
Right before Sterling Group's centennial gala, Tiffany Miller slithered into MY seat—the heiress chair—and flashed me her signature fake-sweet smile.
"Ugh, if Alex hadn’t forced me to drag you along for a taste of high society—you, a pathetic loser. Would never step into Sterling Group."
"Play it smart tonight, got it? Don't embarrass me, or Alex will kill you."
In my past life, I was their punching bag. Scared, weak, always backing down from Tiffany's bullshit.
But I'm REBORN now.
While Miss Daydream was still flapping her lips, I kicked her a yard into the champagne.
"Excuse me, WHO are you exactly? Since when does some piece of trash dare to lecture me?"
My bold move instantly grabbed everyone's attention. Alexander Sterling rushed over to scoop up his precious Tiffany, while Benjamin Sterling backhanded me twice across the face.
Seeing their little toy get kicked across the room, both brothers nearly lost it. They turned on me with furious rage.
"What the FUCK, Lottie! Have you lost your goddamn mind? How DARE you lay a finger on Tiffany!"
Staring at these two assholes squaring up on me, I realized how pathetically stupid I'd been to ever think they gave a shit about me as family.
I pointed straight at their little pet cowering between them and let loose.
"Are you kidding me right now? She's your sugar baby, your little side piece! And I'M the Sterling heiress—the richest woman in America's granddaughter! If I can't put trash in its place, who the hell can?"
Alex's face went nuclear. He shoved me so hard I hit the floor.
"Lottie, Tiffany generously pays for your tuition out of kindness, and this is how you repay her?"
"Listen up, everyone! Tiffany Miller is Eleanor Sterling's real granddaughter and the true Sterling Group heiress!"
I stared at Alex in complete disbelief.
"SHE'S grandmother's granddaughter? The Sterling heiress? Alex, the audacity! Your shamelessness knows no bounds!"
Ben rolled his eyes with disgust.
"Lottie, did you forget to take your crazy pills today? You're having a full psychotic break."
Tiffany started her fake crying act.
"It's all my fault... I knew Lottie was mentally unstable, but I brought her anyway..."
Their twisted narrative echoed through the ballroom for everyone to hear.
Instantly, hundreds of eyes turned on me with pure contempt.
"Oh wow, so Lottie's just some charity case the real heiress sponsors? No wonder she looks so... tragic."
"Tiffany’s such a saint, helping someone so clearly insane and ungrateful."
Alex snapped his fingers at Mr. Johnson.
"Get security and throw this psycho out. She's banned from Sterling Group property permanently."
I locked eyes with Mr. Johnson as he approached with his guards.
"Mr. Johnson, you've worked for my father for decades. You really can't tell who the real Sterling heiress is?"
Mr. Johnson froze mid-step, stammering, "I... I..."
Ben shot him a glare that could kill.
"Johnson, Alex is the future head of this company. You defying him right now? Pack your shit and get out with her."
Mr. Johnson went white as a sheet, looking at me with genuine panic.
"Miss, I've got kids in college and elderly parents... This job feeds my family. Please don't make this harder than it has to be. Just... come with me quietly."
He gestured for security to grab me.
As they closed in, I snatched a crystal vase off the nearest table and hurled it at their feet.
"Back the hell off! I AM the Sterling Group heiress AND the sole heir to this empire! Touch me and find out what happens!"
Chapter 2
The crystal vase exploded against the marble floor, my roar echoing through the entire ballroom.
The crowd erupted in mocking laughter.
"Jesus, she's completely lost it! First she's pretending to be the heiress, now she thinks she owns the whole damn company? Absolutely ridiculous!"
"Right? Even if she WAS Eleanor's real granddaughter—which, hello, obviously not—women don't inherit empires, sweetie. That's what the two MALE heirs are for!"
I stared down my smug brothers and cut straight to the bone.
"Alex, are you absolutely sure you and Ben even HAVE inheritance rights?"
Ben's eyes flickered with panic before he grabbed Alex's sleeve.
"Bro, it's supposed to be a celebration. Grandmother and the board members will be here any minute... maybe we should just drop this?"
That flicker of fear in his eyes told me everything. Ben suddenly remembered who he really was—a charity case.
Because here's the truth: Eleanor Sterling, America's richest woman, only had one child. My mother. When Mom died, I became Eleanor's sole blood heir.
My two "brothers"? They're just Dad's nephews—orphans he took in out of pity when their parents died in a car crash.
Zero blood connection to Mom or Grandmother. Zero claim to the Sterling empire Eleanor built from scratch.
But Alex wasn't backing down, shooting Ben a disgusted look.
"She hit Tiffany! You really want to let that slide?"
"Lottie, your mental breakdown is getting worse. Maybe we should have Johnson escort you straight to the psych ward?"
The words "psych ward" sent hatred flooding through my veins.
Yes. In my last life, both my dear brothers sold me out—schemed, hurt, and handed me over just to win Tiffany’s favor.
Tiffany, the sweet little med-school prodigy, had one sick dream: to see, with her own eyes, how a living body compared to a dead one.
And my two brothers? They didn’t even blink. They helped her slice me open alive.
Eighteen years. I'd grown up with these monsters for eighteen years, thinking we were family. Instead, they handed me over to be dissected alive, just to make their little sociopath happy.
Love trumped blood for them. But what about love versus power? That would be interesting to watch.
I smiled coldly.
"Last chance, boys. Who's the real Sterling heiress and heir?"
Before they could answer, Chloe Fitzgerald—daughter of some mid-tier contractor—charged over and slapped me across the face.
"How DARE you cause a scene here! You're nothing but a charity case! Know your place!"
I knew Chloe's game. She'd been obsessed with Alex for years, desperate to become the future Mrs. CEO. Ever since she heard Tiffany was supposedly the "real heiress," she'd been kissing Tiffany's ass nonstop, thinking she was securing her sister-in-law relationship.
Too bad she was brown-nosing the wrong woman. Tiffany wasn't the heiress—she was Chloe's competition, Alex's side piece of several years.
I wasn't taking that slap lying down. I drove my stiletto into her gut.
"Who the hell are you to touch me? Daddy runs some third-rate company and you think that gives you rights? One word from me and your whole family's bankrupt by morning."
Chloe clutched her stomach, staring at me in shock.
"How dare you kick me! My parents have never even raised their voices at me!"
"You'll pay for this!"
Tiffany grabbed Chloe's hand with fake sympathy.
"Chloe, don't bother with her. She's mentally ill—I apologize on her behalf."
I looked at Tiffany with pure contempt.
"The only crazy one here is you, playing dress-up as an heiress when you should be back in your sugar daddy's bed where you belong."
I turned to my brothers, pointing toward the exit with royal disdain.
"Since you boys are so into your little role-playing fantasy, why don't you take your pet whore and get the hell out of MY building?"
Chapter 3
Both brothers glared at me with murderous rage.
"Listen here, Lottie—WE have real power in this company while you're just a college student. YOU'RE the one who needs to get out!"
"What's all this commotion? Why isn't everyone seated yet?"
A distinguished middle-aged man with commanding presence pushed through the crowd.
Edward Sterling—Sterling Group's CEO and my biological father.
But he rushed straight to Tiffany, gently wiping tears from her cheeks.
"Tiffany, sweetheart, don't cry. Who hurt you?"
"Tell Daddy—I'll make them pay right now!"
Alex jabbed his finger at me. "Who else but this witch bitch Lottie! She hit Tiffany right in front of us!"
Without hesitation, Dad backhanded me across the face.
"Lottie, you've got some nerve! How dare you bully Tiffany!"
"Get on your knees and apologize to her right now, or kiss your allowance goodbye for the next year!"
Watching my father immediately take sides without asking a single question, I felt nothing but crushing disappointment.
Same as my past life—Dad and my brothers worshipping their precious Tiffany like she was made of gold.
I'd expected this, but my heart still twisted with pain.
I'd never understood it before. I'm his actual daughter, while Tiffany was just my brothers' shared plaything.
But the moment Dad laid eyes on Tiffany, he became completely obsessed. When he discovered both brothers had been sleeping with her, he went ballistic—beat them with a riding crop for twenty-four hours straight.
I'd actually tried to protect them, begging Dad to stop. He accidentally caught me with two lashes that left permanent scars on my arm.
After that beating, Dad banned the brothers from touching Tiffany and pulled strings to get her into America's most prestigious university.
Then came his ultimatum: if they truly loved her, they had to compete fairly to win her hand in marriage. Whoever succeeded would inherit everything.
In my past life, Dad's bizarre behavior drove me to investigate Tiffany's background.
That's when I learned the truth—Tiffany was his first love's daughter.
She looked exactly like Isabella. The moment Dad saw that face, he recognized her instantly.
A dead woman's ghost, wielding power through her daughter's identical features, had stolen my father's soul completely.
My poor mother died never knowing her husband's heart belonged to another woman.
I stared at Dad with pure contempt.
"I'm not apologizing for shit!"
"But since my brothers are claiming Tiffany's their sister and the Sterling heiress, don't you have some explaining to do, Dad?"
Tiffany immediately turned those puppy dog eyes on my father, knowing he couldn't handle her tears.
Sure enough, watching her waterworks earned me two more slaps.
"Explain what? They're absolutely right—Tiffany IS my precious daughter and the Sterling Group heiress!"
Watching him lie with such conviction, I completely lost it.
"Edward Sterling! How can you do this to my dead mother? Look me in the eye and say that bullshit again—I DARE you!"
Dad ignored me completely, turning to my brothers instead.
"Throw this garbage out for hurting your sister."
Staring at my father's cold, heartless face, emotions crashed over me like a tidal wave.
This pathetic excuse for a man—THIS was who Mom loved her entire life?
THIS was the father I'd admired for eighteen years?
Mom never could have imagined that after her death, the two sons she'd lovingly raised would torture her biological daughter for some gold-digging whore. Or that her own husband would choose his dead girlfriend's kid over their flesh and blood.
Right now, I felt nothing but pity—for myself and my mother's memory.
I locked eyes with my father, my voice deadly calm.
"This is MY family's Sterling Group. A bunch of outsiders don't get to call the shots here!"
I made sure "MY family's" rang out crystal clear.
Dad went into a complete fury. He gestured for my brothers to grab me, pinning my arms so I couldn't move.
"YOURS? That's fucking ridiculous!"
He grabbed my hair and slammed my forehead against the glass wall.
"I've been running Sterling Group for years! Why the hell can't it be mine? Why can't I choose the heir?"
Tears stung my eyes, but I roared back defiantly: "Sterling Group belongs to my grandmother! I'M the only rightful heir!"
BANG BANG BANG—
He smashed my head against the glass with each word.
Dad kept screaming, "Wake up, Lottie! I already gave Sterling Group to Tiffany as her dowry last year! Whoever marries her inherits everything!"
The moment he said it, the room just erupted. Everyone stared at Tiffany with newfound hunger and calculation.
Then a razor-sharp elderly voice cut through the chaos from behind me.
"Edward Sterling, say that again if you've got the balls! WHO is the Sterling Group heir?"
