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Chapter 2 The Imitation Bracelet

  • Heather Gibson.
  • Breakfast was in progress in the Snyder household.
  • Heather Snyder, nee Gibson, was well aware that from the outside, the Snyders seemed like the perfect family. Her husband Victor was the CEO of the Sandbridge Corporation, which was a family business. Over the years, he had successfully managed the company in a skillful, well-organized manner.
  • Heather herself was a famous model who had since retired from the fashion world. Their daughter, Angelica, was an outstanding student. The girl could play the piano and was skilled in drawing; all her teachers and even the school principal thought highly of her.
  • If it hadn't been for Angelica's medical checkup, Victor and Heather would never have discovered that Angelica was not their biological child.
  • Victor was the son of an Alpha, while Heather's father was a Beta. However, Heather's wolf had yet to emerge, which was why they did not suspect anything when Angelica's wolf did not emerge either, even though she was now eighteen years of age. It did not occur to her parents to question her bloodline; they still loved her.
  • However, the school that Angelica attended had recently conducted physical examinations for the mandatory military reserve training that the students were to undergo. Angelica's medical report clearly stated that she had Type O blood, while Heather and Victor both had Type AB blood. Biologically, it was impossible for them to produce any offspring with Type O blood.
  • After investigating the matter further, they found out that a mix-up had occurred at the hospital where Heather had delivered her child. A young trainee nurse had accidentally labeled the baby bassinet with the wrong name, so Heather had taken home the wrong baby.
  • Heather and Victor immediately set about trying to find their biological daughter and finally located her.
  • The atmosphere of the entire household had changed when they decided to bring this girl into the family fold.
  • Currently, everyone at the breakfast table wore worried expressions. No one felt like eating, and the delicious food on the table went untouched.
  • Angelica fretfully played around with her fork and suddenly burst into tears. Hurriedly she stood up to leave the table.
  • "Where are you going, dear?" Heather immediately got up, stopping Angelica from running off.
  • Wrenching sobs shook Angelica as she gulped disjointedly, "M-mom, Dad, I'm not your d-daughter anymore now!"
  • Victor got up as well and went over to her. "Angelica, what nonsense is this? You'll always be our precious girl!"
  • "B-but…but my older sister's g-going to be p-part of the family now, so this won't be m-my home for much longer," Angelica sobbed.
  • "Silly girl, what on earth put that into your head? This will always be your home; you can't leave!" Heather pulled her into a hug. She felt extremely upset; after all, she had raised Angelica as her own for eighteen years. How could she possibly abandon the girl, just like that? Furthermore, her biological daughter, Amelia, was someone utterly unfit to be part of the Snyder family.
  • For a moment, she recalled the bits of information she and Victor had managed to discover about Amelia. The girl was eighteen years old and had only attended school up to junior high; her grades were passable, but she always skipped classes. After that, she had vanished for three years.
  • No one knew what had happened to her during that time. However, some less than pleasant rumors had circulated, saying that Amelia had run off with some older man.
  • Heather found it difficult to believe that a girl like this could be her biological daughter.
  • Right at that moment, Amelia came into the living room. Victor was the first to notice her.
  • "Amelia?" He asked uncertainly. As he studied her, he eased Angelica's hand away from his arm with a rather awkward expression.
  • Angelica's sobbing paused abruptly, and she turned her eyes toward Amelia as well.
  • "Amelia? Is that you? Do come in, don't stand there!"
  • Amelia gave a slight nod. She made her way over to the table and sat down beside Victor.
  • Heather studied her biological daughter. The girl had extremely fair skin; her build was delicate, and her features were exquisite, just like a porcelain doll. There was a definite resemblance to Heather in both appearance and the way she carried herself; without a doubt, the girl was her daughter.
  • Heather scrutinized Amelia from head to toe, weighing her up. "Amelia, this is your younger sister, Angelica." Her voice sounded a little forced and unnatural.
  • "Hi, Sis. I'm Angelica," Angelica said, choosing her words very carefully. This did not go unnoticed by Heather, who felt a sudden pang in her heart.
  • Amelia gave a faint half-smile. "Hi," she replied rather awkwardly.
  • "How do you feel, coming home for the first time?" Victor poured Amelia a glass of water.
  • "It's ok," Amelia answered, still with that faint half-smile.
  • Victor nodded. "Good, good. You're part of the Snyder family now, and your mother and I will take care of you. As your parents, we owe you that much, after all." There were eighteen missing years to make up for; they would do it slowly, one step at a time.
  • "Oh, that's right, Amelia. As I understand, you attended classes up until junior high, so you're still technically a high school student. I've arranged for you to study at Sierra High School; that's where Angelica attends as well! You'll start classes on Monday, is that alright?"
  • "Sierra High School is Sudbury City's most elite school. You're part of the Snyder family now, Sis, so you can't just stop at junior high," Angelica interjected. The meaning behind her words was very clear; junior high school was not good enough for a Snyder in terms of academic qualifications.
  • Even if Amelia were to attend Sierra High School, her academic records would still be a constant source of reproach and disgrace.
  • Heather felt that Angelica's unthinking comments might cause Amelia some embarrassment, but she said nothing.
  • Amelia's lips twitched faintly. "Thank you."
  • "Ahh, yes!" Victor suddenly remembered something and went into his bedroom, where he retrieved a carrier bag from the cupboard. He then placed it in front of Amelia. "This is for you. It's to celebrate the occasion of our meeting for the first time as father and daughter. Take a look and see."
  • Amelia studied the carrier bag for a moment, then slowly reached in and brought out a Louis Vuitton gift box. Inside was an exquisitely crafted Louis Vuitton necklace.
  • "What do you think?" Victor asked anxiously.
  • Amelia's smile was faint and rather distant. "Thank you."
  • "We're family; there's no need to stand on ceremony," Victor replied, his amiable face creasing in a smile. However, his attention was suddenly caught by Amelia's wrist, and he immediately fell silent.
  • Heather turned her eyes in that direction curiously. Her gaze fell on the ruby bracelet Amelia was wearing; it was this season's latest auction item from the country of Morania. It was a breathtaking piece of jewelry worth a king's ransom, the blood-red rubies inlaid in an exceptionally high-end, sophisticated, and elegant style.
  • When this particular bracelet sold at auction for 1.5 billion dollars, the buyer's identity was a mystery and had remained so. Rumor was that some Moranian big shot had purchased the item.
  • If that were so, though, how did Amelia come to be wearing it?
  • Heather glanced at her husband and saw the bewilderment and confusion in his eyes, which mirrored her own.
  • Could it be that Amelia had purchased an imitation bracelet because she had no decent jewelry? If she had been raised in the Snyder household all along, perhaps she wouldn't have become so pretentious.
  • As Heather watched, Victor bowed his head in self-reproach and did not say another word. As for herself, try as she might, she could not find a single topic she could converse about with Amelia.
  • The entire family might as well have been strangers.
  • Time stretched on interminably. Finally, Amelia excused herself from the table, took the box, and went upstairs.
  • Once Amelia had left, Heather sank onto the couch, looking relieved. Angelica sat down beside Heather and asked with concern, "Mom, why did you behave like that to Amelia?"
  • Heather massaged her forehead in frustration and replied, "Angelica, I don't want to be too specific, but are you aware that the bracelet Amelia's wearing is the latest auction item from Morania? It's valued at around one billion or so." She had no wish to embarrass Amelia in front of everyone; more importantly, she didn't want to embarrass herself either, so she had held her peace.
  • Angelica's eyes widened. "One billion?" she gasped in disbelief. "Why on earth would Amelia have a one billion dollar bracelet? Don't tell me she's somebody's mistress?"
  • Heather gave a long sigh and shook her head. "No, that's not possible. She'd never have been able to find a man who was that generous! My concern is that she can't afford such luxuries, but she's still vain enough to wear imitation goods. If anyone were to find out that a girl from our family was flaunting imitation jewelry around, I'd become the laughingstock of the entire city."
  • "Why didn't you say anything earlier, then?" Angelica asked, puzzled.
  • Heather sighed again and answered resignedly, "How could I? Do you think I want to embarrass myself?"
  • Angelica brooded for a moment, then said remorsefully, "Mom, it's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Sis wouldn't need to be so vain!"
  • "It's not your fault at all!" Heather put her arm around Angelica comfortingly. "You'll always be my precious daughter."