Chapter 1Reborn with a Cold Heart: Goodbye, Toxic Family

Three years after my biological parents brought me back to the Sterling mansion, I died of a painful illness.

My soul floated in the air. I wanted to see how my family, who had always despised me, would regret their cruelty.

But Arthur, my father, only shook his head and complained coldly, "He was always nothing but trouble."

Eleanor, my mother, pursed her lips and let out a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted.

Victoria, my older sister, stood in front of Julian, protecting the adopted golden boy from seeing my pale, lifeless face.

But Julian still pretended to be terrified, throwing himself into their arms, making the whole family rush to comfort him.

I stared at them for a long time. Finally, I let out a self-deprecating laugh.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day I was first brought home.

* * *

Realizing I had traveled back in time, I sat in silence for a long while.

Right in front of me, my biological parents had red, teary eyes. They were sobbing, telling me how much they had missed me and how guilty they felt for losing me ten years ago.

They said they had searched for me for a whole decade.

In my past life, my eyes had welled up with tears of gratitude. I had thrown myself into their arms, naively believing that I finally had a home.

I thought someone finally loved me.

But three years later, I would die alone in a freezing, dark apartment. My appendix ruptured, and because I didn't get medical help in time, my heart stopped. Before dying, my fingers had clutched my phone. The last text message on my Snapchat was to my mother: "Mom, my stomach hurts so bad."

She never replied.

No one in this family had ever loved me.

So now, looking at them, my heart was completely numb.

"Is Logan still adjusting? It's okay. Let Mommy show you around our home first!" Seeing my silence, Eleanor took my hand and led me toward the dining room.

Arthur followed with a warm smile. At the same time, he called Victoria on FaceTime, urging her to come home quickly for this family welcome dinner.

Victoria only replied with one word: "Busy."

Arthur frowned. Eleanor quickly explained with an awkward smile, "Your sister is managing most of the family business now. She has a lot of business dinners. She’ll be back later."

In my past life, I believed her.

In this life, I didn't care anymore. If they wanted to play pretend, I would play along.

We walked into the spacious, grand dining room. There were five chairs placed around the long mahogany table. The head of the table was naturally Arthur’s. Eleanor and Victoria’s seats were right next to him on one side. On the other side, the seat closest to Arthur was empty, with a sparkling new set of silver plates and forks.

My gaze fell on that empty seat.

It was the best seat at the table. It was closest to Arthur, and there was even a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice—something I had mentioned tasting once on the farm and loving.

In my past life, I was immediately drawn to it. Believing my parents loved me, I had pulled out that chair without a second thought.

I had desperately wanted to be close to my father.

But when I did, my parents' expressions changed instantly. They exchanged a tense look, and Eleanor quickly said with a forced smile, "Oh, Logan, I forgot to tell you. This is Julian’s usual seat."

"Julian is such a sweet boy. He actually insisted on giving up this seat for you. He said his big brother should have the best spot..."

Back then, I had blinked, my heart swelling with gratitude. "My little brother gave up his seat for me? He’s so nice."

I had still wanted to sit there. I wanted to drink that orange juice.

My parents exchanged another look, wanting to say something but stopping themselves.

Blind by their fake warmth, I had already sat down, my hand touching the cold glass of juice.

Right at that moment, Julian walked down the grand spiral staircase.