The True Heiress Reclaims Her Crown

The day my brother, Chester Rodney, came to the orphanage to take me home, my boyfriend Dominic Huxley looked at me coldly and said, "If you choose to acknowledge your birth family, we're over."

I knew he had his pride—he could never accept the difference in our social standing.

So, for him, I turned my back on the family I had yearned for my whole life.

In the decades that followed, I toiled without complaint, saving every cent to help him rise to success.

By the time I was not yet fifty, overwork had worn me down. Lying on my deathbed, my breathing shallow and weak, I watched Dominic on television. He was now an acclaimed scientist, just awarded the nation's highest research honor.

Tears welled in his eyes as he thanked another woman.

"All these years," he said, "I never felt worthy of Alicia. But now, maybe I can use this award as the prologue to a love I've owed her for decades."

The "Alicia" he spoke of was the woman mistakenly switched with me at birth—the false heiress the Rodney family raised as their own.

The camera zoomed out.

Alicia Rodney stood radiant, graceful, and perfectly preserved by years of luxury, blushing as she accepted the trophy.

"I waited for you for decades," she said sweetly, "but marriage is still something I'll need to ask my brother about."

Chester, who had long taken over the family, looked at her with an indulgent tenderness tinged with something unspoken.

"I was adopted by our uncle back then for one reason—to protect Alicia. Making the only princess of the Rodney family happy has always been my life's mission."

Only then did I realize—everything I thought I had chosen freely, every sacrifice I made without regret, was nothing but a trap, carefully woven by two men, all for Alicia.

The betrayal pierced my heart. I died without peace.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Chester came to take me home from the orphanage.

I glanced past the two men eyeing me with subtle disdain. Without hesitation, I stepped into the car.

"Take me home," I said.

This time, I'd send whoever stole my life back to the gutter they slithered from.

"Eliza, I'm telling you, if you go back to live your life as some rich young lady, we're done! I don't want people thinking I'm just after your money! I may be poor, but I have pride!"

Just like in my previous life, Dominic Huxley, whose arm I was holding onto for support, shook me off violently.

The dull pain as I hit the wall made me realize… I had been reborn on the very day Chester Rodney came to find me and claim me as family.

In front of me, the air was heavy with the scent of money and power. Chester glanced at his watch, brows knit in impatience.

"If you're not interested, don't waste time. It's not like our parents