Chapter 1

I was in the back of the diner, the smell of grease and stale coffee clinging to my clothes. The scholarship exam was in three days. This exam was my only way out of this town, my only chance at a life that didn' t involve cleaning tables and worrying about my foster mom Maria' s medical bills.

Suddenly, the bell on the diner door chimed, and two people who looked like they' d stepped out of a magazine walked in. A man in a tailored suit and a woman dripping with quiet elegance. The Parkers. My biological parents.

Behind them was a girl my age, Ashley. She had a perfect, sweet smile plastered on her face as she looked around the greasy diner with wide, innocent eyes.

"Hailey?" the woman, Eleanor Parker, said. Her voice was soft, but it carried across the room.

Ashley rushed forward and grabbed my hands. They were soft and warm. Mine were rough and smelled like bleach.

"We finally found you," Ashley said, her eyes shining. "We' ve been looking for so long. Mom and Dad have missed you so much."

Just then, something flickered in front of my eyes. Bright white text, like a live stream comment, materialized in the air.

[Ashley is so kind! Good thing she has the 'Luck-Siphon System' bound to the villain, or we wouldn' t have our perfect girl.]

I blinked, shaking my head. I must have been studying too hard.

My foster mom, Maria, rushed out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. She saw the Parkers, saw their expensive clothes, and her face filled with a mix of hope and sadness.

"Hailey, honey, they' re your real family," she said, her voice raspy from her chronic cough. "You should go with them. You deserve a better life."

Another comment popped up, this one a chilling shade of red.

[The foster mom is so tragic. Her eventual death in a house fire is an "unfortunate accident" that the villain (Hailey) shouldn't blame Ashley for.]

My blood ran cold. Villain? House fire? Luck-Siphon System?

I looked at Ashley' s perfect face, her concerned expression. It was a mask. I was the villain in her story, the evil stepsister destined for a tragic end so she could shine. And my kind, loving foster mom was just collateral damage.

Fine. If they wanted a villain, I' d play the part.

I dropped my hands from Ashley' s grip and looked at the Parkers.

"Okay," I said, my voice flat. "I' ll go."

I would move in with them. I would get close to Ashley. And I would take back every single thing she had stolen from me.