Not This Time

Scott suddenly froze. His dark eyes were fixed on me, and then he smiled.

"Sure."

From the comments scrolling across the screen, I realized I was living inside a novel.

I was what they called the "cannon fodder." Scott was the "male lead," and the real daughter of the Walker family, Tessa Walker, was the "female lead."

I curled my lips into a smile and tried asking, "Since the real heiress is back, shouldn't the fake one, Tessa, go home to her real parents? She probably misses her real parents too, right?"

As soon as I said this, Jane's face froze, and Scott's expression changed.

The comments immediately exploded.

"If the female lead goes back to that hellish family, she'll be tortured! Just thinking about it breaks my heart!"

"The female side character really thinks she matters. She just got back! Even if she's the Walkers' real daughter, she'll never get as close as the girl they raised themselves. Besides, they're just playing with her!"

"She must really hate the female lead. She must have always been jealous of her life. That's why she asked something like that."

I could see every disdainful word of theirs clearly, but I didn't care about any of it.

This time, though, they were wrong.

I didn't hate Tessa. If anything, I was grateful to her.

Especially since I was just a commoner born into a living nightmare and had never experienced love. Because of Tessa's jealousy, I got a shot at a better school and have enough food to eat. I didn't have to worry about being beaten or forced to do chores. I even got a chance to be with someone like Scott.

All of this was thanks to Tessa. She handed everything to me on a silver platter herself.

Before Jane could respond, Scott jumped in to refuse her. "There's no rush. Tessa's SAT is coming up, so it's better for her not to switch families now. It would be tough on her…"

I smiled innocently. "So, Tessa needs to take the SAT, but I don't?"

Scott was stunned for a second, then smiled as he pulled me close. "You're different."

"That's right, you're different," Jane echoed. "You're my little princess. Even if you never sit for any exams, you'll always have everything you want."

I nodded, still smiling. "Guess I'm really lucky, then."

That evening, they brought me back to the Walker residence. I had a brand-new bedroom—a room that finally belonged to me.

Growing up, my parents never cared about me just because I was a girl. My mother took out all her anger from my dad's family on me.

I never had a room of my own. I lived in a tiny storage closet my entire childhood. There were no windows, and it was damp and dark, with mold growing on the ceiling.

When my drunk father beat me black and blue and locked me inside, when my mom tried to marry me off at thirteen to a fifty-year-old man to save up for my brother's wedding…

I knew that my only way out was through school.

I didn't just work hard; I was actually talented. Other kids had to spend hours memorizing, but I just needed to read something a few times, and I would know it by heart. I could solve complicated math problems easily and even use what I learn masterfully. No questions were too hard for me.

But I also knew being too smart was a bad thing in my family.

When I managed to become the top scorer in a high school placement test, I ran home to tell my parents.

Yet, all I got was a slap.

My drunk dad, swinging a bottle, yelled at me, "What are you so happy about? Girls don't need that much schooling! I'm not wasting money sending you to high school!"

In the end, my middle school teacher came with my high school acceptance letter and scholarship, promising that high school wouldn't cost my parents a cent. Only then did my dad finally agree to let me study.

But even then, he warned me with a dark look.

"The moment you lose your scholarship, you'll drop out and get married. The younger you are, the more value you have! If I sell you off early, the wedding gift will be higher!"