<b>Chapter </b><b>1 </b>


    At the airport’s arrival hall, a girl stepped out into the bustle, long hair loose around her shoulders, sunsses and a mask half–concealing her striking features, wireless headphones resting around her neck. In one hand, she easily carried a small suitcase, her long, pale legs drawing more than a few lingering nces as she passed.


    People stared, some whispering, half–convinced they’d just spotted a celebrity in the wild.


    She halted, pushing her sunsses up with a careless touch.


    “Miss Alessia.” A middle–aged man in a tailored suit appeared before her, head respectfully lowered.


    Alessia Tate slid off her sunsses and tucked them into her cor. The small beauty mark beneath her eye only emphasized her allure.


    “Are my parents home?”


    “Yes, they’ve returned,” the man replied.


    Alessia’s expression didn’t flicker with excitement or even the slightest hint of nerves. It was as if the people waiting for her wereplete strangers.


    “Butler, don’t forget the rest of my luggage,” she reminded, her tonenguid.


    “Of course, Miss. I’ll have it brought to your room shortly.”


    She nodded and strode out of the airport without another word. The butler Dawson followed at a respectful distance. Outwardly, he betrayed nothing, but inside, he couldn’t help but admire Alessia’sposure.


    If it had been him–if he’d discovered, while traveling, that he’d been switched at birth–he’d have been a wreck, scrambling for the next flight home. It was one thing if the other family rivaled the Tates, but in this case…


    A trace of pity crept into Dawson’s gaze as he watched Alessia’s back. Poor girl, he thought. She probably had no idea what she was about to face.


    Alessia felt the weight of his stare but couldn’t be bothered to respond. In truth, she wasn’t anxious or heartbroken–if anything, she’d almost kept traveling abroad, only booking her return ticket once the Tates were confirmed back.


    At the curb, a ck sedan waited with its door already open. Alessia didn’t break stride, slipped inside, and pulled on her headphones the moment she settled in.


    15-34


    The car glided away toward Tate Manor.


    She watched the city slide by outside the window, her mood as calm as ss. When she’d first learned she wasn’t the Tates‘ biological daughter, she’d been shocked, of course. But then–relief had washed over her.


    It wasn’t that the Tates had mistreated her. Far from it. They’d always provided for her–financially, she’d been better off than any of her peers, with a monthly allowance that dwarfed theirs. But that was all there was to it.


    To the Tates, children existed to carry on the family name and produce the perfect heir. Three children meant a backup–a spare, in case the second wasn’t a boy. If the second child had, in fact, been a son, Alessia wouldn’t even exist.


    They never invested themselves emotionally. If you wanted something, you earned it with your grades. When the siblings reached the right age, they were shipped off to the most elite private academies in Europeworking was just as important as


    academics.


    Alessia’s luck was that she was a girl; she didn’t have to fight for what she wanted. The downside? Her parents never paid her the slightest attention. Even birthday presents were left to their assistant to arrange.


    As a little girl, she’d tried everything–excelled in school, hoping for a word of praise, anything to be seen. But she was never acknowledged, never celebrated like her brother and younger sibling. She let her grades slip, but even that failed to provoke a reaction.


    Nothing she did could ever change them.


    Eventually, she understood: she was nothing but a pawn, her only value lying in the marriage alliance she’d be expected to forge once she turned eighteen–one more calcted move to keep the Tate legacy strong.


    Now the real daughter was back. Perfect. Thanks to her, Alessia’s ns for escape had moved up by a whole year. The details had changed, but that was fine. If life had taught her anything, it was to stay flexible.


    “Miss Alessia, we’ve arrived,” Dawson announced, holding open the door.


    She stepped out.


    “I’ll have your luggage sent up shortly.”


    “Thank you,” Alessia replied quietly, then headed for the manor’s broad stone steps. The front door stood open, and Mae, the housekeeper, was waiting.


    213


    15:34


    “Miss Alessia, your parents are in the sitting room,” Mae said, setting a pair of slippers by the door.


    “Thank you. Please bring me some tea.”


    “Of course.” Alessia slipped into the slippers and strolled inside, unhurried.


    In the spacious living room, Mr. and Mrs. Tate sat side by side on the main sofa. Off to one side, perched on the edge of another couch, was a slender girl with her head lowered, hair curtaining her face sopletely, it was impossible to make out her features.


    15:34