5 11:57 Sat , Oct 18 M ... < : In the days that followed , the atmosphere in the Blackwood house became eerily strange . Serena became the center of attention . 82 My mom , Eleanor , took her to all the luxury boutiques , and my dad , Richard , hired the best nutritionist to improve her health . Julian even personally drove her to and from school , tutoring her hands - on for her final competition sprint . The three of them - chatting , laughing , looking like a truly happy family . And I ? I became an outsider in this house . Their overly polite behavior seemed designed to make me understand my place . The paperwork for studying abroad was processed incredibly fast . My dad didn't even ask which country I wanted to go to , simply had his assistant apply for a prep program in the UK . He handed me a sleek black card , the kind reserved for VIPs , but his eyes never met mine . " Aspen , Dad knows we've wronged you . The password is Serena's birthday . You ... don't suffer once you're over there ." I stared at the cold card , barely suppressing a laugh . A bank card with your biological daughter's birthday as the password , given to your adoptive daughter ... This was truly unprecedented shamelessness . I took it with a straight face and thanked him politely . - 11:57 Sat , Oct 18 ... ر 82 " Thank you , Dad . " Meanwhile , Serena , having officially gained her " rightful " status , grew increasingly smug . She began to brazenly move into my room , using my things . She even wore one of my favorite custom - made designer dresses , parading back and forth in front of me . " Sister , can I have this dress ? Mom says it looks better on me than on you ." She stood before me , her arrogant demeanor brimming with boastfulness . I leaned back on the sofa , flipping through my physics textbook , couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid . " It's an old dress I've worn before . You can have it. " Her face instantly froze , the smile congealed on her lips . " You ! " " Me what ? " I raised my eyelids , my gaze sweeping over the dress she was wearing . " Oh , right , a reminder : the questions in the national finals are much harder than that one you solved at the birthday party . Don't embarrass yourself by not even being able to hold a pen when you get on stage ." With that , I turned and left . " You just wait ! " I heard Serena stomp her foot behind me, furious . 11:57 Sat , Oct 18 M ... < ୪ 82 " I'll win the gold medal ! I'll prove I'm a hundred times better than you ! " A hundred times better ? I smirked inwardly . Someone who can even copy an answer incorrectly has the nerve to claim they'll win an award ? That problem at the birthday party , she solved it quickly , but there was a fatal logical flaw in her process . Everyone present was fooled by her " genius from poverty " persona , too stunned to notice it . But I did . A true genius would never make such a basic mistake . Unless ... the answer wasn't her own doing at all . What exactly had she been through these eighteen years ? How did Brenda Hayes , an ordinary working - class woman , manage to cultivate a " fake genius " ? How did someone with no money and no background discover her daughter was a prodigy ? There had to be other secrets . The more I thought about it , the stranger it seemed . Back in my room , I opened my laptop , my fingers flying across the keyboard , typing lines of code . 11:57 Sat , Oct 18 M ... 82 The mind Fate had granted me didn't just make me a bookworm . Masking my IP , I silently infiltrated the city's education system database . The first thing I found was Serena's file . The file was unnervingly clean . Average grades from childhood , no competition awards whatsoever . Her " genius " seemed to have been conjured out of thin air on my birthday . The trail seemed to end there . Unwilling to give up , I started tracking Brenda Hayes . What secrets could an ordinary woman possibly have ? I hacked into her bank account , watching rows of transaction records scroll by . But they were all trivial - utility bills , shopping expenses . Just as I was losing heart and preparing to give up , a transfer record from three months ago pierced my eyes . A massive sum : five hundred thousand dollars ! It came from an unfamiliar company account , deposited into Brenda's personal account . And the name of that company was all too familiar . It was my dad's biggest rival - the Davis Group . The hairs on the back of my neck stood up . 11:57 Sat , Oct 18 ... This whole thing was far more complicated than I'd imagined . This was absolutely not a simple family reunion drama . What were they trying to do ? Have Serena replace me , snatch the scholarship , then publicly spread a scandalous " true and fake heiress " story to make the Blackwood family the laughingstock of the entire business world ! All to attack my dad's company in the media , then seize the Southside development project we were currently bidding for ! What a brilliant move to undermine us at our core ! As I was thinking , my phone vibrated on the table . It was a text from an unknown number , just a brief message . " Ten tonight , coffee shop behind the school . Don't let anyone know . " The sender was Julian . I stared at the text , my heart pounding uncontrollably . A moment later , another text arrived . " Don't let anyone but me know about your investigation . " " 6