Chapter 1
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Embarrassed by his reputation, I started telling everyone I was adopted.
So when the campus heartthrob rejected me, he sneered, "Pathetic. Stop following me around."
My brother stormed over and cracked his palm across the guy's face.
The heartthrob trembled, pointing between us. "I thought you said you weren't related!"
My brother yanked me close and kissed me. "Time to wake up, sweetheart."
A sense of impending doom washed over me as I numbly wiped my mouth.
The heartthrob froze like a deer in headlights, his eyes ping-ponging between me and Danny Lawrence.
His panic built until he clutched his head, let out a scream, and bolted.
Danny Lawrence scowled, his spiky red hair making him look like some demonic sea urchin.
"Disgusted by me, aren't you?"
I stared at him, utterly baffled.
Seriously? We're worried about "dirty" when we just kissed? His name is Danny Lawrence, mine is KaraLawrence—this is the kind of thing that gets you family therapy!
I clutched my head. "Who the hell are you? What have you done with the real Danny Lawrence? How much did he pay you to come here and freak me out? Whatever it was, I won't give you a cent—I'll just beat you senseless."
Danny Lawrence stared at me, his typically arrogant eyes now wounded. "That's not what you said before."
I blinked in confusion. "What? When? Did I say you weren't disgusting, or that I wouldn't beat you?"
The first I don't recall, the second I can't deliver on.
Danny Lawrence's face darkened. He spun on his heel and stormed off.
I threw my hands up, completely lost.
Actually, although Danny and I have the same surname, our surnames do not come from the same person.
I was born to the female protagonist of this story and took my mother's surname.
He was born to a side character and took his father's surname.
So technically, I outrank him.
Danny Lawrence's father was the school tough guy in his day, so Danny Lawrence followed suit. He's been raised in my family since childhood and calls me "sister."
We've always had this weird master-servant dynamic, traveling to school together while everyone assumes we're blood siblings.
In high school, girls started chasing after Danny Lawrence, constantly asking me to deliver their love notes and gifts. It drove me crazy.
But I didn't want to hurt Danny Lawrence's feelings. My mother always said children living in someone else's home deserve extra compassion.
So I started telling everyone I was just the adopted daughter, jealous of Danny Lawrence, the true heir.
After that, the love notes stopped coming my way, though people started calling me the brooding, jealous fake sister.
