Chapter 1 Sign The Agreement

"Sienna, the Fairbank family raised you for twenty years. We've already done more than enough for you. Sign this agreement." Melvin Fairbank shoved a thick legal document across the desk toward Sienna.

Right after that, he slid a check for 200 thousand dollars beside it. "We were father and daughter for twenty years. Think of this money as our compensation to you."

Sienna stood in front of the desk, the faint scent of incense lingering in the air. A cold gleam of mockery flashed in her clear eyes.

"200 thousand dollars to cut me off completely, huh?" She curved her lips into a mocking smile. "Is that all I'm worth to you? Or is that all the mighty Fairbank family can scrape together?"

Three months ago, the Fairbanks found out she wasn't related to them by blood. They had spent time and money tracking down their real daughter—Jessica Fairbank.

And Sienna, the girl abandoned in the countryside as a child and only taken back four years ago, was now nothing but trash to them—easy to toss aside.

"What? 200 thousand dollars isn't good enough for you, huh?" Hazel Fairbank glared at Sienna, disgust written all over her face. "This is more money than your country parents could earn in years, and you're still complaining. Just sign it already. Once you do, we will go our separate ways. We won't owe each other a thing."

"Mom, don't say that." Money really did change people. Jessica had only been found two months ago, yet she was already wrapped in a designer dress and luxury jewelry, looking every bit the part of a rich young lady.

Her face was sweet and gentle, her voice soft. "Sienna did live as a wealthy heiress for twenty years. Of course, it must be hard for her to go back to the countryside."

She had heard plenty about Sienna's birth family—dirt poor—a sick grandfather stuck in bed, a father who never worked a day in his life, and three brothers who couldn't even afford to marry.

That family was nothing but a pack of leeches. Jessica figured that once Sienna went back, they'd probably sell her off just to make some money.

Jessica felt secretly pleased. She deliberately dragged out the word "countryside" while watching Sienna's face.

When she saw Sienna standing there—stunningly beautiful, her features glowing in the golden sunlight—a stab of jealousy flashed through Jessica's eyes.

Her smile only grew sweeter, her tone sickeningly fake. "Even if your family lives in the slums, they're still your blood relatives. That's better than staying here and living off charity."

She stressed the words "blood relatives" like she was showing off.

Her fake sweetness made Sienna laugh. She looked at Jessica with cold, detached eyes. "Did you live in the slums so long that even after coming back to wealth, you still don't know basic manners? But I guess it makes sense—you really are their daughter."

That jab hit Hazel and Melvin as well.

Hazel's eyes widened with rage. She slammed the table and stood up, ready to lash out. But before she could speak, Sienna's icy voice cut in.

"I'll sign." Sienna grabbed the pen without even glancing at the terms. She flipped straight to the last page and signed her name.

Her handwriting flowed sharp and clean, quick and decisive, showing no hesitation and no trace of regret. It carried the finality of cutting ties once and for all.

When she was done, she flicked her fingers. The pen clattered down next to the agreement. She pressed her fingertip on the check and tapped it lightly.

Hazel sneered at the sight. In her eyes, poor people's blood stayed poor no matter what. Sienna was just cheap goods that could be bought off with 200 thousand dollars.

But then Sienna picked up the check and flicked it. That thin piece of paper landed square on Melvin's face.

Her cold voice followed. "Take it. Use it for your funeral. As of now, you're all dead to me."

The check stuck to Melvin's face like a slap to everyone in the Fairbank family.

"Are you blaming me for this?" Hazel snapped, her voice trembling with anger. "I only did it for Jessica. Who knows if your mother left her anything? Why should some outsider share Jessica's inheritance?

"Every time I think about Jessica suffering outside for twenty years while that girl lived in her place, it tears me apart."

"Mom..." Jessica's eyes filled with tears as she clung to Hazel's arm. "I know you did everything for me. But it's because I came back that Sienna had to leave..."

Her voice trembled, her eyes shimmering as she sniffled. "Mom, I want to see Sienna off."

Hazel's heart softened. She stroked Jessica's hair. "You're just too kind."

Jessica ran after Sienna. She found Sienna in the living room with a canvas bag that had already been packed and waiting on the sofa. Sienna was unzipping it to take something out.

"Sienna." Jessica hurried over, her face filled with guilt. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to come back to this family, to be with Mom and Dad. I never meant to compete with you.

"I even wanted to convince them to let you stay, but they're worried I'd be wronged, so you had to sacrifice. And about Ernest..."

Her lips curved in a sweet smile, but the look in her eyes—hidden from the servants—was pure challenge. "Ernest said he wants to throw a huge engagement party in three months so everyone in Orlathis City knows I'm his fiancée.

"I heard you chased after him for a long time before I came back. Sienna, you won't hold it against me, right?"

Sienna's hand paused for a moment. She looked up at Jessica, her eyes flat and indifferent, with just a touch of disdain. "Congratulations."

She gave a cold laugh, her voice thin and sharp. "What you stole from me is just trash I'd already thrown away."