Chapter 2Rewriting My Fate: The Billionaire's Forgotten Daughter

My dad, Arthur, said that on the day he and my mom got married, an eccentric fortune teller wandered into town.

The man seemed half-crazy, rambling on and on about bizarre things.

He claimed that the world we lived in was actually a book.

He said their second daughter would be the female lead of this world. Once she was born, our family's wretched fate would instantly change, because the female lead was destined to grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth.

My dad believed him completely. After the wedding, he and Mom continued to slack off at home, refusing to lift a finger.

I originally had an older sister. When she was born, they were disgusted that she was a girl—just another useless mouth to feed—so they abandoned her in the woods behind our town.

When I was born, they assumed I was the female lead the psychic had prophesied. They treated me decently, but our house remained dirt poor.

Until my mom got pregnant again.

The very day she found out she was expecting, the county issued a massive commercial buyout notice for our area.

Our family owned acres of useless, undeveloped land. Almost instantly, we became the wealthiest family in the county.

My dad had a sudden, terrifying realization: the baby in Mom's belly was the true female lead they had been waiting for all these years.

To test his theory, on the day we received the buyout funds, my dad took half his net worth and headed to the casino.

A week later, he drove back home in a luxury sports car.

He scooped my mom, Fiona, into his arms, practically tossing her into the air.

"Fiona! This baby is our savior, our guardian angel! She's basically my god!"

My mom looked at the towering stacks of expensive supplements and designer gifts he had brought back. Pushing out her barely-there pregnant belly, she paraded around the neighborhood for hours.

She was positively glowing with arrogant pride.

I stared at the yard full of fancy food, reaching out to touch a box here, a tin there. My dad fiercely swatted my hand away.

"Greedy brat! This is to nourish your mother's body. If you starve your little sister, I'll end you!"

My mom's previously elated mood soured the moment she looked at me. "You useless, unpresentable thing! All of this belongs to your sister. Don't even think about taking a bite!"

With that, she placed her hands on her hips and started ordering my dad around. "You better serve me well! If I get upset, Claire will be the first to punish you for it!"

My dad nodded profusely. "Yes, yes, of course!"

For the next few months, he waited on her hand and foot.

Until it was time for the delivery.

My mom had a difficult labor with Claire. She begged my dad to come into the delivery room with her.

My dad got a phone call about a massive business deal and walked away.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to literally shove me into the delivery room in his place.

He stubbornly refused to authorize a C-section, repeating over and over: "This is our family's golden goose! She absolutely cannot be touched by a scalpel!"

In his ignorance, he was terrified that the surgeon's knife might accidentally graze Claire.

And so, my mom took out all the agonizing pain of childbirth—and all her resentment toward my dad—entirely on me.

She grabbed my arm and bit down with everything she had. By the time Claire was finally born, the exhausted doctors and nurses realized that a massive chunk of flesh had been bitten out of my arm.

When Mom was wheeled out of the delivery room, my dad scooped up Claire, hovering obsessively by Mom's bedside. "Look, Fiona! Our precious baby girl. She's absolutely stunning."

Only I stood shivering at the door of the hospital room, completely lost.

I had been so terrified by my mom's screaming that I had wet my pants, completely forgetting the searing pain in my arm.

Smelling dirty and gross, my dad blocked me from entering the room.

"Get lost! If you stink up the room for your mom and sister, I'll skin you alive!"

Mom lay weakly on the hospital bed.

Dad excitedly explained everything to her. His factory permits had been instantly approved, and he had just signed a multimillion-dollar contract.

"Fiona! Claire really is our lucky charm! I just sat at home, and the money practically delivered itself to our doorstep!"

"Of course she is. Claire is our family's greatest hero!"

And Claire certainly didn't disappoint them. From a very young age, she was the most dazzling existence in any room.