The Fake Daughter Who Held The Empire Together Novel by Astra Marlowe _ Novel





The Fake Daughter Who Held The Empire Together Chapter 01

Today is my engagement party. And Dina's big stage to show me up.
Five years after she returned home as real heir. She spent every waking moment poisoning their minds against me.
"You look so sophisticated, Olivia. I spent my life feeding pigs in the mud. Even in designer couture, I’d still feel like a fraud."
"Take that dress off!" My mother hissed, clawing at the fabric of my engagement gown.
"Give that necklace to Dina," my father snapped. "It was never yours to begin with."
So, I walked into my own engagement party looking like a ghost in a plain, cheap dress.
But Dina stared at the diamond on my finger, her face crushed.
"You stole my life for twenty years. My fiancé, my money... it’s all mine. How do you sleep at night, Olivia?"
Every eye in the room turned on me, heavy with cold judgment.
My fiancé stood among them, secretly wishing it was Dina who was about to become his wife.
Fine. You want me gone?
I’m gone.
But don't even think about begging me to come back.
...
The rage I’d buried for years finally snapped. I swung at her, my fist hitting her square in the face.
The next second, Mom and Dad slammed the engagement cake over my head.
"Olivia, have you lost your mind? Dina is your sister! How could you put your hands on her!"
"Check yourself, Olivia! Was a single word Dina said wrong?"
Sticky frosting dripped down my hair, blurring my vision and muffling the sound around me. But I could still hear Mrs. Sterling’s piercing scream.
I let out a dry, hollow laugh. Even now, all I could think was that I had finally managed to look decent for once, only to have it ruined in an instant.
I wiped my eyes with a blank face, just in time to see Dina rushing forward. She looked like she was in a panic, trying to wipe the frosting off me. Her voice was thick with fake pity.
"Mom, Dad, please don't be mad at Olivia. I said the wrong thing. I shouldn't have set her off. It’s my fault..."
Mr. Sterling was shaking with rage, but he stayed silent. I took a step back, dodging Dina’s hands.
Right then, Kelvin walked toward me. He held a handkerchief. Before I could breathe a word, he turned away from me. He leaned in to wipe the tears from Dina’s eyes and the frosting off her hands.
His touch was so gentle. His eyes were full of pity—for her.
No one cared if I was hurting. No one asked why I’d swung that punch. No one even offered me a single tissue to clean the pathetic mess on my face.
"Kelvin," I said, my voice hoarse.
"Who exactly is your fiancée?"
Kelvin’s fingers froze. He looked at me, his eyes narrowed.
"Olivia, Dina has suffered enough. She just made a comment. Did you really have to hit her? Where is the girl I used to know? Why are you being so bitter and jealous?"
"Jealous?"
I whispered the word. It was so ridiculous it hurt.
"Apologize to Dina right now," Mrs. Sterling snapped, "or don't ever come back! The Sterling family has no room for someone as selfish as you!"
The hall went dead silent.
I looked at these people, all the people who were supposed to be my world. Suddenly, the knot that had been tight in my chest for five years just... unraveled.
"Fine," I said calmly.
They froze. They didn't expect me to back down so easily.
The next second, I slipped off my diamond engagement ring and tossed it into a glass on the champagne tower.
Clink.
Mrs. Sterling stared at the ring, trembling.
"How dare you! Are you trying to humiliate us? In front of all our guests, you’re still throwing a tantrum?"
Kelvin frowned, a flash of panic in his eyes. His voice softened.
"Olivia, stop acting out. Clean yourself up and apologize. We can still save this engagement."
"Save it?"
I let out a cold sneer.
"Why would I give you what you want?"
I ripped the corsage off my dress, threw it on the floor, and stepped right over it.
Behind me, the Sterlings were screaming curses, and Dina was wailing her head off.
I didn't look back. My footsteps only grew faster.

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