When I Swapped Bodies with the True Heiress

I was surrounded by the Smiths' overwhelming care. Everyone pampered me, indulged me. Breakfast was brought to my bed, and every snack was so exquisite, even the pickles were arranged like art before being served. To keep me from getting too bored, they would carry me out into the garden to bask in the sun every day. This was the first time I had ever stepped into a garden since being brought to this family from the orphanage. The sunlight hit my body-or rather, Catherine's body-warming me, soothing me. I ordered someone to bring "myself," the body Catherine occupied, outside too, hoping the exposure would hasten my recovery. Once I was better, I could switch back. It would be a healthy body then, I thought. "You'd better give my body back, or you'll regret it." Catherine's voice cut through my thought. "I don't know why our bodies swapped. Maybe it'll change back one day," I said, . "If you don't change back, I swear I'll make you suffer like your dead parents," she snarled. Her words struck me like a thunderclap. My parents? I had no memory of them. Who were they? "Tell me-who are my parents? What happened to them?" I asked, my voice rising in desperation. Catherine smirked, clearly enjoying my panic. "The more you want to know, the less I'll tell you. Help me, and I'll tell you everything." Anger surged. I needed to know. Then it hit me-a way to make her talk. Just then, a few servants entered the room. "She's too dirty, clean her" They were the same brutish women who had once scrubbed me harshly, dragging Catherine into the bathroom just like they had with me. They took their steel scrubbing brushes to her back. My body might be precious, but if the cost of truth was pain, I was willing to pay it. Half an hour later, they dragged her out, gasping for breath, tears streaming down her face. The servants left, and I approached Catherine with cold eyes. "Well, can you talk now?" "You're cruel," she sobbed. Cruel? I had only done to her what she had done to me. "Do you want another wash?" "Rachel..." At the sound of my voice, Catherine collapsed, trembling. "Please, don't... I'll tell you." "Your parents... they were the housekeeper and the maid here," she confessed, voice shaky. "Your mother tried to seduce my father, but when he exposed her, your father... he killed her in a fit of rage." A wave of nausea hit me. My mother-dead? Killed by my father I had no memory of them. No recollection of my family, just flashes of brutality. I couldn't process it all. My heart ached for the truth. "Where's my father now? Where is he?" I demanded. Catherine smirked, clearly relishing my pain. "Why would he come for you? He's probably long gone by now." I couldn't accept it. I had to find him. But there was something wrong with her story. It didn't sit right with me. Henry was a monster, but this felt... off. Was it just a lie? I couldn't stay here. I had to find my father before I returned this body to Catherine.. From the moment I entered this house, I had sensed the strange mix of luxury and dread that hung in the air.