Chapter 2Trading Fates: The Gilded Cage and the Sunlit Path

I didn't tell anyone about my parents' divorce, but somehow everyone in my class found out. They looked at me with probing, curious eyes, whispering behind their hands.

The class representative, Paige, couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up and slammed her hand on her desk.

"Shut up! Every single one of you! If you have time to gossip, go memorize some vocabulary! Did you all ace the midterms or something?"

Paige was fiercely righteous and handpicked by the homeroom teacher, so everyone was a little afraid of her.

The crowd sheepishly fell silent, returning to their seats and burying their heads in their books.

Paige walked over to me and patted my shoulder. "Stella, you got first place again on the midterms. I'm going to work even harder for the finals and close that five-point gap between us!"

I waved my vocabulary booklet at her and smiled. "Let's work hard together!"

Paige lowered her voice. "About your family..."

Her expression was full of disapproval. "It was your sister who told everyone. She told everyone in her class that your parents split up, and you're basically not family anymore. So if she comes looking for you later...

"Ugh, I don't even know how to say it. Just... keep your guard up around her."

I nodded sincerely. "I will. Thank you, Paige."

It turned out that when the midterm honor roll was posted at the school gates, some of Harper's classmates teased her. "You two have the same parents, but you're miles apart. Your sister is a genius."

She furiously shot back, "Who is family with her? Our parents divorced ages ago! We have nothing to do with each other. Don't ever mention her name to me again, it's bad luck!"

Harper's grades had always been terrible.

She was lazy, arrogant, and incredibly vain.

No matter how much our mother pleaded with her, she refused to glance at her textbooks. If it weren't for that, she wouldn't have ended up working in an Amazon warehouse in our past life.

In this life, she eagerly accepted the wealthy stepmother's gifts—designer clothes from head to toe. Her vanity only multiplied.

Once, between classes, Paige went to the teachers' lounge to hand in assignments and saw Harper being lectured.

When Paige came back, her expression was complicated. "Your sister is really something else.

"Her math teacher was breaking down her weak spots and advising her to do more practice problems. Do you know what she said?

"She said, 'I'm going to study abroad anyway, so my grades don't matter. Only snobs like you care about test scores.'

"The math teacher was so furious he said he'd never teach her again.

"All the other teachers gave her terrible reviews too. They said having a student like her is pure bad luck."

I smiled, completely unbothered. "Sounds exactly like something she'd do."

That idiot. She hadn't even secured her footing in high society, and she was already acting like royalty.

Alienating her mother at home, offending her teachers at school.

Whatever. Her life had nothing to do with me anymore.

All I needed to do was focus on studying and get into the best advanced placement class in the school.

And, I needed to make absolutely sure I never crossed paths with Rowan again.

In our past life, to the outside world, I was the object of his intense, overwhelming affection.

But only I knew the truth. I was just a songbird trapped in a gilded cage, completely stripped of my freedom.

I had no privacy, no friends. Every single action was strictly monitored by him. I was isolated on an island he meticulously carved out for me.

Whenever he traveled for business, I could be eating breakfast and receive a call from him.

"Stella, drinking milk on an empty stomach isn't good for you."

I would look up, spotting the tiny red light of a hidden camera blinking in the darkness.