Two weeks earlier
Morgan clutched the envelope in her hand tightly, trying to hold back a grin. She tried not to take a peep at the content one more time.
Music resounded from behind her. Morgan stood by the side of the house. There was a line of flowers in front of her. She threw her head to the side, catching sight of a red car. She had lost count of the number of cars that had driven in at this point.
It was her parents' 25th anniversary, and they had thrown a big party to celebrate. People of all calibre were invited, from politicians, businessmen, down to celebrities.
Returning her attention back to what was before her, she pressed the envelope to her chest, feeling a wave of different emotions wash through her, but it was mostly relief.
She felt whole, like her entire life was beginning to make sense.
She had sneaked out twenty minutes ago when one of the maids informed her about the arrival of a package with her name on it.
She had an inkling that it was the letter. That she had gotten admitted into the Doun modelling institute, but a part of her had doubts. She had never had it all in life.
She was an orphan until two years ago. The Graysons had made their way one afternoon to claim her as theirs, holding an envelope, a DNA result which proved their relationship.
She was suddenly ushered into wealth. She had all she had been deprived of all her life while growing up: a good house, good food, and siblings.
However, she sometimes felt empty. They never treated her like a daughter, not the way they did Vera, the girl that has been switched with her at birth, not even her supposed brothers gave her the attention she wanted.
But she tried to understand them. No one takes in a seventeen-year-old girl and immediately starts treating her with so much love. They needed time to adjust, and if two years wasn't enough, she was ready to give them more.
She raised the envelope to her face. Shen knew the best way to earn their love and attention.
They were heavy on success. If there was one thing the Graysons loved, it was showing off the success of their children to the world.
She had watched them praise Liam when he returned with a first-class degree from his postgraduate school, and it didn't change when he got an invitation for his master's into Landkard, the most prestigious university in the country.
A roar of laughter caught through the loud music. She could hear the click of cameras as they tried to get the best shot of each guest.
Thick dark clouds drifted over the sky, colouring the earth dark. The flowers in front of her danced slowly. Morgan pulled the hand of her dress and inhaled to calm herself.
A part of her wished Julie, her bestie, were here. But she hasn't spoken to Julie for two weeks. Her parents don't like Julie because of her background and have warned her to keep her distance from them several times.
Morgan pressed her lips on the envelope and then walked into the hall through the side door she had stepped out of earlier. She felt her chest swell with so much excitement.
The smell of different delicacies and drinks filled the hall, which was ornate with different designs. They were the most beautiful designs she had ever seen.
There were some people seated behind their table, chatting, drinking or eating, while the majority of others were on the dance floor.
Morgan walked through, her eyes darting around, in search of her parents; she couldn't wait till the end to show it to them. They should be somewhere around speaking to the guest since their designated chair was empty.
She walked past a waiter dressed in a white button-down which was tucked neatly into his pants, and on his hand was a trail of drinks.
There were others like him all around the hall.
After searching the hall for over five minutes, she walked out of the hall.
She placed one hand on her waist and sighed tiredly. Where could they be? Not ready to give up, she turned, about to make her way back into the hall to continue her search, when a hand tapped her on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.
She turned to see the same maid watching her.
"Madam wants to see you." She said in a low voice but loud enough for her to hear amidst the music.
The maid's eyes moved from side to side as if watching out if they were being watched.
Morgan follows her without question. The maid stepped into the sitting room first, and Morgan followed.
"Mom, Dad, here you are. I've been searching for you all over," Morgan said excitedly. She waved the envelope back and forth. "I got in. I did it, they accepted me to study there, now I don't have to sit in the house all day." She leaps a bit.
She stopped leaping when she realised no one was having the same reaction as her.
Mr. Grayson is seated on the left side of the couch, and standing behind him are Liam and Davis.
On the other side was Mrs. Grayson, holding on to Vera, whose head was on her chest, while her hand gently tapped on her back.
The maid who brought her had disappeared into the house.
They all had expressions she couldn't decipher. "What's wrong?" Her voice lowered as she studied each face. Her eyes landed right on Davis, and for a brief moment, she could swear she saw something flash through, anger?
She wasn't sure, it left just as it came.
"Who are you?" Her father asked.
Huh?
Morgan raised a brow. Why would he ask her that?
"Dad, why would you ask that?" She wanted to continue, but her words were stuck in the back of her throat when he glared at her.
"How much did you pay her?" He asked again, plunging Morgan deeper into the stream of confusion.
He slammed an envelope on the table.
"I said, how much did you pay her to lie to us? How did you even know about our family? Who sent you? What is your goal?" Morgan's eyes followed the envelope. She recognised the red edges it had. It was similar to the same envelope they had brought to the orphanage two years ago.
"I always knew she couldn't be my sister. We look nothing alike." Davis spoke from the side, his voice drenched in hate.
He never liked Morgan.
Morgan's hand trembled as she leaned over to pick up the envelope from the table.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Dad," she said while opening it and pulling the white paper out of it.
The heading read, "DNA report."
"I didn't know what this was about, why would I need to-" she stopped speaking when her eyes
caught sight of the words, "Negative." Morgan froze.
"You are not my daughter, who are you?"