Parental preference

I was kidnapped. The kidnappers called my parents demanding a ransom.

My parents said they were throwing a birthday party for their daughter and called the kidnappers liars.

I knew they were throwing a lavish coming-of-age party for Chloe Rogers, my adopted sister.

But today was supposed to be my birthday.

Chloe had stolen everything that should have been mine.

The kidnappers, unable to get the ransom, tortured me for a month.

Finally, bruised and battered, I escaped and returned to the Rogers' house, determined to leave them all behind.

But they cried and begged me not to go.

1

When I appeared near the Rogers' mansion, ragged and covered in wounds, I caused a stir.

The story of how heiress Avery Rogers had been kidnapped on her 18th birthday, and how the Rogers family not only refused to pay the ransom, but publicly declared Chloe their only daughter, had already spread through our social circle.

"Avery had it coming. She was always so mean to Chloe."

"Chloe's the one who deserves to be a Rogers."

"If I were Avery, I'd rather die out there than come back after this humiliation."

People pointed and whispered, but my face remained expressionless. I walked on like a zombie, a far cry from the arrogant girl I once was.

That Avery Rogers was dead, dead since the day of the party, dead since the night my parents refused to pay, dead from the days of endless torture.

I dragged my broken body into the Rogers' mansion.

Inside, I saw my parents and Chloe sitting on the sofa, eating fruit and watching TV, a picture of family bliss.

Their smiles froze when they saw me.

I was an intruder in their perfect picture.

Mom frowned, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust. "Avery, where have you been? Look at you! You're a disgrace to the Rogers family."

I remained silent.

They didn't care if I had been hurt, only that I was an embarrassment.

Dad glared at me. "If only you were half as well-behaved as Chloe. You're becoming more and more unruly."

Chloe soothed them. "Avery must have been through something difficult." Then, she looked at me, her eyes full of defiance, but her voice dripping with false concern. "Avery, where were you? We were so worried."

Looking at Chloe's fake concern, I felt sick to my stomach.

Chloe was my parents' adopted daughter.

She was the daughter of my dad's army buddy. When she was ten, her parents died, and with no other family, she was facing the orphanage. My parents, feeling sorry for her, took her in.

As kids, Chloe and I played together a lot. I was excited when she arrived, thinking I had a little sister, determined to be good to her.

I didn't realize it was the beginning of my nightmare.

Chloe constantly played the victim, telling my parents I bullied her. They always sided with her, scolding me.

I wasn't used to being treated unfairly, so I often fought back.

Over time, everyone knew Avery Rogers as the spoiled brat, and Chloe Rogers as the sweet and gentle one.

Even my own brother, Jason, starte...