After sixteen years apart, Zhao Zhining was brought back to that dazzling gilded cage. What awaited her was not the warmth of blood ties, but a carefully calculated, bone-chilling arrangement. Her adoptive parents' marriage was built on nothing but mutual gain, and she was merely one piece in the scheme. Zhao Xingwan, the fake heiress who had taken over her life, had an unshakable position thanks to her outstanding grades and an engagement to the Wang family. So a lie was invented for public consumption: the two girls were twins, and Zhao Zhining was the younger sister, frail since childhood and raised in the countryside.
The original Zhao Zhining, sensitive and insecure, realized that all her suffering had failed to earn her even a shred of genuine affection, and that even her return home was merely a performance staged to save face. Her faith shattered, and she fainted.
When she opened her eyes again, someone else had taken her place within.
Facing the fake heiress who had usurped her life, and her calculating adoptive parents, Zhao Zhining raised her eyes. The timidity in them had vanished, leaving only a coldness tempered by fire. She gave a faint laugh.
This time, she would not back down. The board was set. It was time for someone else to make the moves.
