Rebirth of the Unwanted Daughter

I was their biological daughter. What’s so wrong about picking a room I like?

I wondered, filled with doubt.

My mom’s expression shifted again, as though she wanted to say something but held back.

My dad appeared more stern than usual, yet he stayed silent as well.

Leila stepped forward to help me make the bed. “Sister, just stay here. This house is yours, after all. You can live wherever you like.”

And so, I settled in.

In the rural town, my days were filled with pots, pans, and endless fields.

Now that I was in the city, it felt like that was all I knew how to do.

But here, there were no pots, no pans, and no fields to be found.

So, I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.

I had only been in Leila’s room for half a day before Shane, who rushed back, dragged me out.

He was furious.

With anger seething in his voice, he yanked me away from my book and into the hallway. “Don’t you have any manners? This is Leila’s room! How could you just take it over so shamelessly?”

I was completely stunned, not just because it was my first time meeting him but because I couldn’t understand how I was “taking over” anything.

Frightened, I called for my parents.

They hurried upstairs, but Shane spoke first.

“Mom, Dad, how could you let this happen? This is Leila’s room. Don’t you realize how unfair this is to her? Aren’t you worried about hurting her feelings?”

“This…” My parents’ expressions turned complicated, unsure of what to say.

But I caught a flash of irritation in my mom’s eyes as she looked at me.

I froze for a moment.

I knew that look all too well.

My late foster father used to look at me like that when he was alive.

Mom was angry at me!

So, it turned out, I really was an intruder.

Since that day, I trod cautiously and endured one precarious year after another.

In the end, I leapt off the high-rise.

How foolish I was.

This time, I couldn’t afford to be foolish.

In this lifetime, I resolved not to fight, not to compete, not to cry, and not to make a scene. Most importantly, I vowed never to love them again.

A faint smile crossed my lips as I pointed to the smallest room at the very back.

“I want that one.”

My parents froze for a moment, then quickly showed expressions of relief, though they pretended to scold me. “That’s the storage room. Why would you pick that? Choose another.”

“I’m used to small rooms. They make me feel safer.”

My tone carried a hint of self-mockery.

After a sigh, they agreed.

Just like that, they agreed to let their biological daughter, who had been missing for ten years, live in the storage room.

Leila, their fake daughter, returned right on cue.

She ran upstairs and looked visibly surprised when she saw me in the storage room.

I glanced at her, calm and composed.

She thought I didn’t know her little schemes—that she had deliberately placed a panda plush in her room to lure me into choosing it.

From the moment I came home, I already fell into the traps she meticulously laid out.

She spent three years fighting for our parents’ love and ultimately emerged victorious.

And I, through death, came to understand one simple truth: “The best way to gain love is to love myself.”

I moved into the storage room and closed the door behind me.

Leila came over with the panda plush. "Sister, here’s a toy for you. I’m sure you’ll like it."

"I don’t like toys, thank you," I replied through the door and began unpacking the books I brought from the countryside.

From the moment I was reborn, I already had a plan.

I would love myself.

There were many ways to do that, but for me now, the best way was to gain knowledge, achieve independence, and stand on my own.

"Sister, do you dislike me? It makes sense. I’m the one who took over your place…" Leila’s voice came from outside the door, tinged with sadness.

She seemed to be speaking to me, but in reality, her words were meant for our parents to hear.