Chapter 2

Returning from the hospital, I looked at the spacious and elegant apartment located in the prime real estate of downtown and laughed heartily. Ah, the joys of wealth!

My grandfather named me Nora.

I have two brothers. My eldest brother, Asher, is an elite and handsome man, composed and stylish. He took over the family business at a young age and doubled the company's market value, making him the undisputed CEO. Although he's reserved with outsiders, he dotes on me, his sister.

My second brother, Jasper, is cheerful and outgoing, exceptionally talented. He became a top idol, the kind whose smile makes female fans scream. Despite his carefree demeanor, he's the one who would cry for his sister.

Though their personalities are completely different, they both adore me immensely, eager to present the world's best things to me. From the day I was born, they played by my crib every day, even saving up their pocket money to buy me snacks and toys.

In middle school, when boys bullied me in class, my brothers found out in the morning, and by the afternoon, those boys had been dealt with. Once, even on the day before an exam, just because I threw up during a meal, Jasper sneaked out from a film crew to take me to the hospital and stayed by my side all night without sleep. He returned to filming the next day with dark circles under his eyes.

I grew up surrounded by love, hoping this carefree life would last forever. But the nightmare of my eighteenth birthday still came.

That day was a display of opulence. At the party, Grandpa handed me the keys to the newest model Rolls-Royce. Asher, in a grand gesture, bought me a villa in the city's best location, saying it would be my confidence for life. Jasper gifted me a new Hermès bag, personally designed for me by a designer.

Mom and Dad shook their heads with a sigh, saying, "You're going to spoil her!"

Asher affectionately patted my head, saying, "So what if she gets spoiled? We have the means to protect Nora for a lifetime."

The atmosphere reached its peak with that statement. I excitedly hugged Asher. Just as I was about to say something, the door was suddenly kicked open by a plainly dressed girl.

The luxurious birthday party was filled with political and business elites she would never meet in her lifetime. Those important figures were all smiling, surrounding me at the center. The table in the middle was piled with expensive gifts, and even the necklace around my neck was valuable enough to buy a house in a second-tier city.

Jealousy threatened to overwhelm her as she looked at the extravagant scene with resentment and shouted, "I'm the real young lady of the Taylor family! Nora is just a fake!"

Adeline had come, after all, on my eighteenth birthday.