Chapter 4Trading Fates: The Gilded Cage and the Sunlit Path

In my past life, our last public appearance together was at Harper's wedding.

The groom was dangerously thin and had a shifty, rat-like face. His ill-fitting suit hung loosely on his frame, a giant, tacky red flower pinned to his lapel.

His mother shared his exact facial features, though she was short and stout.

She looked overjoyed, chatting with guests while spitting sunflower seed shells everywhere.

Harper stood under the brutal sun, eight months pregnant, her heavy, overly-rouged bridal makeup doing nothing to hide her awkwardness. She stood lost amidst the noise.

She had dropped out of school at sixteen, went out to work, and became one of the millions of warehouse workers for Amazon.

On the assembly line, there was a guy named Tyler who made no secret of his attraction to her.

Harper originally looked down on him, but the attention from the opposite sex satisfied her vanity.

Ignoring our mother's advice and strong opposition, she moved in with Tyler.

Then, she accidentally got pregnant. Under Tyler's relentless pleading, she kept the baby.

At the clinic door, she remembered Tyler's promises and refused to go in.

"Mom, Tyler said he'll marry me! I can't get rid of this baby!"

"You're only eighteen! You have your whole life ahead of you. This Tyler guy has no money, no looks, and his mother hasn't even come to see you once since she found out you were pregnant. You've completely lost your mind!"

Harper argued back, "Tyler said his mom respects me a lot. She promised to give us an eight-thousand-dollar wedding gift."

My mom's face darkened significantly. "Is eight thousand dollars a lot? Are you really that desperate to marry into his family?!"

They parted on terrible terms.

Tyler's mother arrived from the countryside carrying a massive load of cheap luggage, squeezing into the tiny apartment Harper and Tyler shared.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Harper, don't worry. From now on, I'll be your new mom!"

Harper looked at the "nutritious meal" Tyler's mom served her: instant ramen with a cheap hot dog, a fried egg, and two sad leaves of lettuce. She felt a mix of complicated emotions.

Her pride wouldn't let her back down to our mother. She touched her stomach, thinking: Everything will get better. But as her belly ballooned, her mother-in-law never mentioned the eight thousand dollars again.

The cheap, outdoor barbecue wedding in the rural town was loud and dusty. Harper twisted a cheap, thin gold bracelet on her wrist—one her mother-in-law had borrowed from a neighbor—eagerly waiting for her family to arrive.

A fleet of ten luxury black SUVs sped toward the venue, the guests whispering in obvious envy.

"That's a huge motorcade. Who's got that kind of money?"

"Look, they're slowing down. Are they here for this wedding?"

"Did Tyler meet some rich friends working in the city?"

...

The sleek, aggressive luxury sedan came to a smooth stop. A dozen bodyguards stepped out instantly, lining up in two rows, opening the doors for Rowan and me.

A young woman screamed, "Oh my god! Rowan Vance! That super-rich tech CEO!"

"Wow, he's so handsome! Way better looking in person than in the magazines!"

Some girls whispered, "The woman next to him must be his fiancée."

"She looks so elegant! No wonder he doesn't date models."

"I love a guy who doesn't hide his relationship and is completely devoted!"

The older folks didn't recognize him, but hearing he was a billionaire, they quickly pulled out their flip phones to take pictures.

I wore a simple, elegant gown. With Rowan's gentlemanly guidance, my delicate ankles in diamond-encrusted heels stepped gracefully out of the car.

The surrounding crowd gasped. "So beautiful, like an angel came down to earth!"

"Those clothes, that car... they look incredibly expensive. I didn't know Tyler's family had connections to high society."

"But his wife doesn't look like she comes from money at all."

"Hey! Look closely. The woman getting out of the car looks a little like the bride. Could they be sisters?"

"You're right! I heard the bride has a sister who's three years older. But their parents divorced. The older sister went with the dad, and the younger one went with the mom. The dad is a university professor, you know!"

"Tsk, standing next to each other, you can't even tell the age difference. The older sister looks ten years younger than the bride."

"Exactly! If the younger sister had gone with her dad back then, maybe she'd be the one living the high life right now!"

...

The crowd's gossip wasn't hidden at all. Every word landed in Harper's ears.

Her face flushed bright red, glaring fiercely at her mother-in-law and husband nearby.

They were both wearing fawning, sycophantic smiles, eager to go over and network with Rowan and me.