Now, thinking about it, Clarissa let out a quiet sigh.

  She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite.

  The beef was tender, with just the right amount of spice.

  Surprisingly, her tastes weren’t all that different from the original Clarissa’s.

  Across the room, Clementine watched her anxiously. When she saw Clarissa actually eating, her eyes filled with unconcealed joy.

  She wanted to step forward, to ask if she liked the food—but years of being treated like a worthless servant held her back. Instead, she stood awkwardly, hesitant, simply watching.

  Clarissa, feeling the weight of her gaze, put down her chopsticks and looked up.

  Clementine flinched slightly. “I—I’m sorry, Miss,” she stammered. “I just wanted to see if you liked it. I’ll wait outside…”

  After Clementine finished speaking, she made a move to leave, but Clarissa called her back.

  “Wait a minute.”

  Clementine froze and turned. Clarissa gestured to her. “You haven’t eaten yet. Come, sit down and eat with me.”

  Clementine looked hesitant, visibly anxious, her hands trembling as she repeatedly said no. But Clarissa had already stood up and gently pulled her to sit down at the table.

  Seeing the way Clementine was trembling, Clarissa felt a pang of sympathy.

  As a mother... she’s humbled herself to the ground for me.

  But if Clementine didn’t truly love her, she wouldn’t have been so humble, would she? The choice to switch the children hadn’t been made out of malice—it was a desperate act.

  Everything had gone wrong because of bad fate. Clarissa couldn’t bring herself to hold any more resentment. She saw Clementine for what she really was: a pitiful mother who had suffered enough. It was time to let go of the past.

  She reached for a piece of food with her chopsticks and offered it to her. “Mom, you should eat too.”

  Clementine froze. “You… what did you say? You called me Mom?” Her voice cracked as tears welled up in her eyes.

  Clarissa smiled softly and picked up another piece of food, offering it to her. “You are my mother, right? Did I say it right?”

  “No… no…” Clementine was crying now, her tears falling into the bowl. “I never thought I’d hear you call me that again… not in this life.”

  Seeing her mother cry like that, Clarissa felt an unexpected lump in her throat.

  Her own parents had died when she was young, and she had grown up in an orphanage. Despite the director’s kindness, she’d always longed for the warmth of a real family.

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  Clarissa hesitated, but in the end, she reached out and gently took Clementine’s hand. “In the past, I was blinded by money and power. But now I’ve come to my senses. Let’s make the best of the future, okay? We’ll be alright.”

  Clementine’s body shook as she sobbed, nodding vigorously. “Yes… Yes, of course…”

  Clarissa smiled softly, wiping the tears from Clementine’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Hurry up and eat. The food will get cold again.”

  “Okay… okay...” Clementine sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve. Then, she quickly started peeling shrimp for Clarissa.

  She peeled one after another, but there were so many. Clarissa couldn’t eat them all, so she gently pushed her hand away. “Mom, you eat too. I can’t finish all of this by myself.”

  “Alright… I’ll eat,” Clementine said, still wiping her eyes, and took a bite.

  After the meal, Clarissa sat in front of the mirror in her room.

  She stared at her reflection, trying to shake off the remnants of the makeup she’d worn earlier. Once the heavy layers were gone, she was left with a face that was even more striking than she had imagined.

  For a moment, she couldn’t find the right words to describe her own beauty.

  In the dim, warm light, her features looked perfectly sculpted. The glow from the light made her long lashes seem almost golden, and her skin was as pale as snow—smooth, flawless, and almost translucent. Her face shone like the morning sun, her lips were as red as vermilion...

  It was the kind of beauty that would stun anyone who looked at her, and yet… Dorian doesn’t even like me?

  Clarissa sighed deeply. God can see it, but Dorian certainly is blind.

  She had heard stories about how beautiful Clementine had been when she was young. What was her father like? Clarissa wondered. He must have been quite handsome for them to have a daughter like her.

  But Clementine had always said that her husband died before she gave birth to Clarissa. She raised her daughter alone, never once revealing who Clarissa’s father really was.

  Some people had whispered that Clementine had been left pregnant by some bastard who had run off, refusing to take responsibility.

  Clarissa didn’t want to dwell on it. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out the check Dorian had given her.

  The amount was enormous, no doubt about it. There was no way it was fake.

  She hadn’t expected it, but suddenly, she was a billionaire. Clarissa couldn’t help but feel a little smug.

  So, dying wasn’t a complete waste after all.

  ......

  Clarissa was still just seventeen, in her third year of high school. She and Lyra went to the same school.

  Lyra had worked as a receptionist at Dorian’s company during the summer vacation and had met him there.

  What a bloody plot. If she weren’t so bored while on duty, Clarissa would never have read this type of trashy novel to kill time.

  But now that she’d somehow transmigrated, she needed to think about how to live her life from now on.

  She still had to finish high school. She planned to convert the money into cash and save it for the time being. Once she graduated, she’d move away with Clementine to a bigger, better city, far from the Lancaster family—a place full of nothing but trouble—and live a simple, peaceful life.

  The next day, Clarissa went to the bank. Because the amount was so large, she had to visit multiple banks to withdraw it. After a long day of running around, she was exhausted and just wanted to go back and get some rest.

  But as she walked down the street, the smell of fresh corn caught her attention. The fragrance was so tempting that Clarissa paused, her stomach growling with hunger.

  There were corn cobs roasting on the grill, along with some freshly made cakes and cookies on the stall. Clarissa had barely eaten all day—just some milk and two eggs for breakfast—and now she was starving.

  “Hey, boss, give me one of those corns,” she said.

  The vendor, seeing how pretty she was, immediately smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll grab you a big one. Anything else?”

  “No, just the corn,” she replied, shaking her head.

  As Clarissa reached out to take the corn, she suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her.

  Turning around, she saw a small child standing not far off. The boy was tiny, wearing a slightly worn white T-shirt, but his face was absolutely stunning.

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