They Let Me Die. Now They All Beg!

"Elizabeth, have you lost your mind?! Today is Claire's birthday! Not only did you ruin her cake, but you hurt her with a knife?!"

A sharp pain shot through her palm.

Elizabeth Perez knelt on the floor, her right hand pressed against the scattered porcelain shards.

The real pain left her briefly dazed.

She had clearly already died. Back then, covered in wounds, she had been stuffed into a sack and thrown into the sea.

Elizabeth suddenly lifted her head, her vision filled with familiar yet disgusting faces.

Her eldest brother Steven Wilson held Claire Wilson protectively in his arms, his face livid as he scolded her harshly.

Her second brother Aaron Wilson's face was full of disgust. "You've been jealous of Claire for a long time. On such a special day, how could you do something like this?!"

Her third brother Jeffrey Wilson had just pulled back the hand that shoved her. He looked down at her from above, his eyes ice-cold. "If I'd known your nature was this vicious, we never should have brought you back home."

Claire, the real instigator of this whole scene, was covering her right hand, her eyes red-rimmed, looking wronged.

"Don't blame Elizabeth. I didn't hold the knife steady myself. This has nothing to do with her."

Aurora Rivera patted her back sympathetically. She turned to look at Elizabeth, her gaze also filled with disgust and coldness.

"Elizabeth, look at how mature Claire is. You ruined her birthday cake and hurt her hand, yet she's still defending you. Can't you learn to be more mature?"

Elizabeth looked at the scene replaying before her eyes, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

She had been reborn. This was the day of Claire's twenty-second birthday, and also the day Claire had stolen her position as principal of the orchestra.

Elizabeth was the Wilson family's real biological daughter. Years ago, Aurora had a difficult birth and was sent to a community hospital. Due to staff shortages, she and Claire had been accidentally switched.

Eighteen years later, Raymond Wilson was diagnosed with leukemia. During family blood type matching, they discovered Claire wasn't blood-related, and only then did everyone find Elizabeth, who had been living outside the family.

She was brought back to the Wilson family, but no one truly accepted her.

Everyone's attention was focused on Claire, who had suffered a mental breakdown and developed depression after learning the truth about her identity.

For three whole years, she had humbled herself trying to please her family, but in the end was still ignored by everyone.

Later, Claire offended the mafia. Her brothers fled in panic with Claire, leaving her behind alone.

She was kidnapped by the mafia and tortured for three long years, not a single part of her body left unharmed. Finally, they lost patience, stuffed her into a sack, and threw her into the sea.

Elizabeth looked down at her bleeding right hand.

In her past life, her wound hadn't been treated in time. She missed the orchestra evaluation and lost the principal position.

In this life, nothing would repeat itself.

The orchestra's principal position, and her life—she would hold them both firmly in her hands. Everyone who had hurt her would have to pay the price.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Apologize to Claire right now!"

Steven grabbed Elizabeth, who was kneeling on the ground, and yanked her up.

Elizabeth raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

Steven's head jerked to the side, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"You actually hit me?"

Elizabeth smiled coldly. "Not only did I hit you, I'm going to wake you up. You have eyes, but you can't see the truth right in front of you. It was clearly Claire who bumped into me on purpose. Can't you see that?"

Jeffrey's anger flared, his tone full of rage. "You're still making excuses. Claire makes her living playing the cello. How could she possibly hurt her own hand on purpose?"

Elizabeth looked at Claire, whose eyes were darting away, her tone mocking. "That's exactly what makes her clever. She deliberately caused a minor injury—not serious enough to be disabling, but counting on you people to take her side. Even if it's just a superficial wound, you'll feel sorry for her and blame me without asking what really happened!"

A flash of guilt crossed Claire's eyes, and her tears flowed even harder. "Elizabeth, why are you thinking of me this way? I never thought like that."

Elizabeth watched her coldly, completely unmoved inside.

Claire had always been good at pretending to be weak. She was very skilled at this tactic. Elizabeth had long since seen through her fake nature, but the people around her remained fooled by appearances.

The Wilson family brothers gathered around Claire, comforting her softly.

Steven took a deep breath, his gaze carrying a warning.

"I can let go of you hitting me for now. But I absolutely won't allow you to keep slandering Claire. I'm giving you one last chance. Kneel down and apologize to her, and promise to give up the principal evaluation in three days. Do that, and we'll let today's matter drop."

A cold glint passed through Elizabeth's eyes, her heart full of mockery.

She had completely seen through the real purpose behind this birthday party.

Ruining the cake, getting hurt on purpose—it was all a show planned by Claire and her brothers together. They wanted to use everyone's pressure to force her to voluntarily give up the position of principal cellist.

In her past life, she had been weak and given in. In this life, she would never repeat that mistake.

"The principal position is earned through ability," Elizabeth said word by word. "If she wants that position, she can take the evaluation herself."

Claire shook her head while crying. "Elizabeth, I never wanted to take your position. I just admire you and hope I can perform on stage too."

Aaron was full of sympathy. "Claire, you don't need to humble yourself before her. If she had even half the responsibility of being an older sister, she should voluntarily give you the opportunity."

Jeffrey chimed in. "Elizabeth, compare yourself to Claire. She thinks of you in everything, but you keep targeting her. Do you have any kindness in your heart at all?"

Aurora sighed softly. "Elizabeth, can't you just give in a little? Claire has lost her status as the Wilson family's daughter. What's wrong with being more understanding toward her? Steven also said he'd help you connect with other better orchestras."

Hearing this, Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh, her smile full of sarcasm.

"I need to correct all of your wrong ideas. From beginning to end, I never took anything from her. On the contrary, she took my identity and enjoyed over ten years of stable, comfortable life in the Wilson family."

"I'm the biggest victim in this whole thing. I don't owe her anything, and I don't owe any of you anything."

She turned to look at Steven. "And as for the better orchestra you mentioned—is there a stronger team in the country than the Velvetine Echoes? Or are you planning to send me overseas to get me completely out of sight and out of mind?!"

Steven's expression changed. "What are you wildly guessing at?!"

Elizabeth let out a scoff. "Whether it's a guess or not, you know best in your heart. Over the past six months, you've canceled my solo concerts, turned down my opportunities to participate in international competitions, and even the performance slots I fought for myself—you transferred them all to Claire. Did you really think I knew nothing?"

The atmosphere in the living room instantly dropped to freezing. Steven's face looked terrible, but he couldn't refute it.

Elizabeth stopped looking at him and turned toward the door.

Aurora stood frozen. "You... where are you going?"

Elizabeth's steps didn't pause, and she didn't look back as she slowly spoke.