Chapter 3

Before I could even react, Chloe cut in, cursing, "Bullshit! Lynn died the most... Look, there is no way in hell it’s her!"

Master Lee's eyes remained dead serious: "It is her—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a dozen burly bodyguards in black suits barged through the door. They gagged Master Lee, shoved him to the floor, and dragged him away by force.

Right behind them, the billionaire himself stepped into the room. His aura was suffocating as he walked up to us.

"Go on back, girls."

"Master Lee is suffering from poor health. He needs to be hospitalized for treatment and shouldn't be receiving guests."

With a single sentence, he sealed Master Lee's fate. We were so terrified that we didn't dare utter another word about the man.

Only after the billionaire left did the choking dread fade, allowing us to gasp for breath.

Once my heart stopped hammering, I said flatly, "Maybe the person he wanted to adopt really was me."

Chloe shook her head violently, gripping my hand tight. "Lynn, that fraud was talking out of his ass. If it was really you, why did the old bastard stab you seventy-seven times?"

Mia quickly backed her up. "She's right, Lynn. I know we've treated you like crap, but when I found out you got murdered too, I cried for hours!"

Yet there were only three of us. Mathematically, there were no other possibilities left.

I stood up and told them, "You two head back first. I'm going to see him alone."

Something crucial had slipped through the cracks. I had to find the answer myself.

Truth be told, before he brutally murdered me in the last timeline, I had firmly believed I was his intended daughter through all three lives.

Long before he formally proposed the adoption, he had frequently visited the shelter just to see me, repeatedly telling me how much I looked like his poor, late daughter.

Even later, when he adopted Chloe and then Mia in the other two timelines, he had still secretly sent me financial support. Chloe and Mia never received a single dime of that secret help.

"Lynn, what brings you here?"

As soon as I stepped into his luxury town car, a warm, grandfatherly smile spread across the billionaire's face. "Have you girls made up your minds? Are you going to be the one to take my daughter's place?"

Looking at him, all I could picture was this exact same man carving into my flesh with a blade, torturing me alive until my last breath!

I dug my nails into my palms to keep my emotions under control, keeping my voice light and innocent: "Mr. Vance, was I really the one you wanted to adopt the most?"

His smile twitched for a split second before returning to its warm, paternal facade: "Who else could it be, sweetheart? You look the most like my daughter, after all."

My heart sank like a stone. He had dodged my question.

He only said I looked the most like her; he never actually confirmed that I was the one he truly wanted.

I tried acting like a spoiled, curious child to pry out more information: "Mr. Vance, if I'm the one you wanted all along, why didn't you just pick me from the very start?"

He let out a soft chuckle, his eyes completely devoid of genuine warmth:

"If you weren't willing, I couldn't very well force you, could I?"

"Master Lee's divination revealed that the daughter I need to adopt is among the three of you."

"But Lynn, I promise you this: in my heart, you are the closest thing to my own flesh and blood. If you agree to come home with me, I will shower you with all the love in the world and never let you suffer a single grievance."

With that, he pulled out a strawberry hard candy.

Strawberry was my absolute favorite flavor. I never expected him to carry them around with him wherever he went.

His gentle tenderness had once brought real warmth into my miserable existence. In that cold, unforgiving shelter where getting pushed around was daily routine, his sudden appearance had felt like a beam of pure light, giving me a reason to hope.

In my previous life, after he adopted me, his care had been beyond meticulous. A powerful billionaire had personally cooked three meals a day for me, tutored me with my homework, and watched me grow up with endless patience.

Yet just when I had truly come to love him as my own father, he pumped my veins full of adrenaline on my eighteenth birthday and turned my life into a living hell!

"It's not you! It was never you! Why did you steal her place, you imposter?"

"You filthy, disgusting thing. Your very soul makes me sick to my stomach! What makes you think you're worthy of replacing my daughter?"

"Die! Just die and get out of her seat..."

Right now, the raving lunatic who had slaughtered me felt like a completely different person from the gentle man sitting in front of me.

His soft voice pulled me out of the paralyzing nightmare of my memories: "Lynn, what are you daydreaming about? You haven't answered me yet. Are you willing to come home with me?"

He raised his large, warm hand and gently stroked my hair.

As his fingers ran through my messy strands, a few hairs snapped, sending a tiny jolt of pain across my scalp.

And in that exact fraction of a second, my eyes widened in pure horror as a dozen forgotten details clicked into place!

Overwhelmed by sudden, suffocating panic, I stared at the billionaire in disbelief: "The... the person you really wanted to adopt... is... is—"