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"Let's go home, There's something I need to tell you," I urged, eager for his support.
Liam gave me an unreadable look and nodded.
Home by six-thirty, my parents were already setting the table.
Seeing Liam with me, they welcomed him warmly.
"Liam, honey, we didn't know you were coming. Dinner's simple tonight," Mom apologized.
Liam forced a smile, raising his glass. "Mr. Johnson, a toast?"
It should have been joyful, but the mood was strained.
Mom served me a bowl of clam chowder. I eyed the garlic bits, fighting a sneeze.
Then Mom remembered, flustered. "Oh, Bella hates garlic! How could I forget?"
Ethan chimed in sharply, "So picky. Sophia never was." He stopped abruptly, flushing. "Sorry."
My appetite vanished. I set my fork down.
I felt like an outsider in my own family.
"I hate Sophia. She stole my body, don't you get it?" I took a deep breath. "It was all an act!"
As usual, my parents' faces clouded with disapproval.
Dad slammed his hand on the table. "Enough! Sophia sacrificed herself so you could return, and here you are slandering her? Is this the daughter we raised?"
Mom intervened, but only to chastise me. "Bella, please, just drop it. That poor girl... she looked after us all these years. We might not even be here without her."
I scoffed. "That 'devotion' was fake! You have no idea what I went through!"
For three years, I'd fought relentlessly to reclaim my body.
Each attempt felt like electrocution.
But the thought of my family waiting kept me going.
Now, seeing their furrowed brows and dismissive eyes, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.
"Don't you believe me?" I pleaded, seeing Ethan's conflicted look. "Sophia did all this just to replace me!"
I refused to believe my own family preferred an outsider.
Before I could say more, Dad slapped me hard across the face. "You chose to throw your life away! Sophia saved you, and you repay her with lies? What kind of daughter are you?"
Tears welled. "I threw my life away? She saved me?"
Dad sneered. "All we asked was for you to change jobs and move closer to home. Instead, you threatened to kill yourself! Where is your filial duty? Where is your conscience? Some gratitude!"
Three years ago, my career was soaring.
My aging parents wanted me closer; I was torn. I planned to get settled, buy a bigger place with Liam after having kids, then they could come to help and live with us.
Instead, Sophia stole my body that very night.
Dad watched my silence, mistaking it for guilt, his fury rising. "We raised a selfish, ungrateful brat? And you dare come back?"
Those words shattered me.
To the family I yearned for, I was the villain.
