Chapter 1

When they told me I was the real heiress, I was already 45.

Married, with three kids.

The day I was supposed to return, before seeing my elderly biological parents, I overheard a conversation between my biological younger brother and the fake heiress:

"Why bother bringing her and those mutts back? She's been out there for decades; who knows what she's become, what kind of man she married, or what kind of no-good degenerates her kids are?"

"You're the only sister I've ever known…"

Mutts? No-good degenerates?

Were they talking about my son, a celebrity who’s been a household name since he was 20?

Or my twin daughters, who enrolled in an elite university’s accelerated program in their early teens?

I was 45 when the police department informed me that my biological parents had finally found me.

I stood there stunned for a long time after hearing the news.

I found out I wasn't their biological child when I was 20.

My adoptive parents said they found me as a newborn, just a few days old.

They initially tried to find my family, so my information was always in a DNA database.

But after years with no news, they legally adopted me.

Now, decades later, I was told I was born into a prominent family.

How could a wealthy family abandon their child?

There had to be some hidden secret I didn't know about.

My husband was currently on a business trip abroad, and my son was busy with his national concert tour.

So, it was my two daughters who specifically took time off from school to accompany me to meet my blood relatives.

"Mom!"

"Mom, mom, mom…"

My 15-year-old girls chattered excitedly. Soon after we met, all I heard were repeated calls of "Mom."

It was quite a twist of fate.

When my son was four, Julian and I discussed having a second child, preferably a boy and a girl, but two boys would also be fine.

When I got pregnant and went for a check-up, it turned out to be twins.

I spent my entire pregnancy on edge, terrified I'd end up a mom to three boys – it felt like the equivalent of raising three wild wolves at home.

Thankfully, they were two girls.

Just as rambunctious, though.

But adorable.

Raising three healthy, beautiful children took a lot of effort, but at least they all turned out successful.

When Caleb was little, his celebrity aunt took him to a film set. A director spotted him and cast him in a child role, and since then, acting offers kept pouring in.

Julian and I saw that our son loved it, so we let him pursue it. After all, it’s good to develop in every aspect.

Later, he picked up other talents; now he's a triple threat: singing, dancing, and acting.

As for his two younger sisters, they’re like Julian and me—smart.

That kind of intelligence clearly superior to other kids their age. They skipped grades from a young age and are now both in an elite university’s accelerated program.

"Ms. Hayes, please step into the car."

It was a chauffeur sent by my biological parents, and the car was a luxury model.

Chloe and Maya were used to riding in similarly priced cars, but they still excitedly looked around, chattering away.

"Mom," Chloe poked me, "you're going to meet your biological parents. I heard they're really rich. Aren't you excited?"

"..."

Just their childlike enthusiasm. They’d been studying for ages and finally got a chance to go out.

They were treating the Maxwell family visit more like a fun trip to an acquaintance’s home.

But from an adult perspective, if they really cared, they wouldn't have just sent a chauffeur.