Love Story7–Chapter1
A month before my engagement to Christian Torres, my parents found their biological daughter, Gianna Barnes.
had to admit, she inherited my mom’s beauty–her delicate features stood out even in plain clothes. However, from the first time we met, her attitude toward me was anything but friendly. She immediately adopted the demeanor of the rightful daughter, pointing at me and demanding:
“Mom, Dad, now that your real daughter is back, shouldn’t she leave?”
My parents looked conflicted but tried to mediate.
“Gianna,” my mom said gently, “we know you’ve suffered all these years, but you also know Margaret’s biological parents are no longer around. From now on, can’t you two treat each other as sisters?”
“No, I won’t,” Gianna snapped. “Why should I? She’s stolen my life for so many years. Now that I’m back, she should get out of this house. I’m your real daughter, aren’t I?”
I stayed silent throughout, understanding that her anger was not unreasonable. But my father, Jacob, was furious.
“Enough!” he scolded. “You are our biological daughter, but Margaret has been our daughter for all these years too. All of this is our fault for not protecting you, not hers. From now on, we’ll do everything we can to make it up to you, okay?”
Gianna, seeing that Jacob was upset, dropped the subject and stormed off to her room in
silence.
I told Christian about everything because I didn’t want to hide anything from him. He paused for a moment before responding in an incredibly gentle voice,
“Margaret, the person I love has always been you, and it has nothing to do with your
status.”
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identity.
by his words, knowing how much the Torres family valued lineage and
But everything changed when Christian met Gianna.
Gianna quickly adjusted to her new life, hiring a professional stylist to craft her wardrobe
and look, fully embracing the image of a wealthy heiress. Compared to her, I seemed merely practical and mature.
When Gianna saw Christian, she immediately latched onto him, calling him “Chris” with an overly familiar tone. Even though Jacob and my mom repeatedly tried to stop her, she ignored them.
“Chris,” she said with a sly smile, “technically, the one you should be marrying is me. After all, I’m the biological daughter of this family. But oh well, you’re marrying my sister, the adopted one. Still, I wish you two the best.”
Christian looked visibly uncomfortable but didn’t push her away when she clung to his arm. She even insisted on getting his contact information, which he gave without resistance.
From that point on, Gianna constantly played petty tricks whenever Christian was around. She once slapped herself in front of me and claimed I’d hit her. At a party, she jumped into a pool and said I had pushed her. On a rainy day, she stood in the pouring rain and called Christian, sobbing that I had kicked her out of the house.
Each incident was more absurd than the last, but Christian believed every word. He accused me of being jealous and cruel. After a while, I stopped defending myself–what was the point?
Perhaps I had been too confident in our relationship, or maybe just in myself. I thought none of this mattered because our engagement was set in stone. Gianna’s antics seemed like nothing more than a way to vent her years of resentment.
She wanted to switch rooms with me–I agreed. She wanted the designer bags, jewelry, and clothes I liked–I gave them to her. Whatever I liked, she wanted to take, including Christian.
I never imagined that Gianna’s arrival would turn the man who once swore he loved me into someone who, at our engagement ceremony, would publicly shove my hand away and
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Love Story! Chapter1
humiliate me with harsh words in front of everyone,
