Sacrificed Heart: The Heiress's Vengeance

I stepped into the rumored Soul Shop. I pawned my ability to love. In exchange, I bought a second chance at life.

When my parents walked our new adopted sister, Sienna, through the front door again, my pulse stayed dead flat. I didn't scream or throw things like I did in my past life.

My parents looked right through me. I saw Brooks's curled lip. My fiancé Blaise's dirty secrets. This time around, I watched it all happen without blinking.

So why were they the ones dropping to their knees, clutching my clothes, and choking on their own tears? Chapter 1 Brooks tugged at my sleeve. "Leighton, you zoning out?

The new sister is almost here. Let's go down and meet her." Hearing that name again made my brain stutter. I hadn't gone by "Leighton" in six or seven years.

I turned my head to look at Brooks standing next to me. He had shrunk back down to a twelveyearold.

The halfgrown boy wore a perfectly tailored suit, staring at the top of the stairs with pure anticipation. One of his hands was still tightly gripping my arm.

I stared down at his clean, slender fingers. The image of those same hands—older, heavier—leaving a stinging red handprint across my cheek flashed behind my eyes.

I ripped my arm out of his grasp. Brooks blinked, his face going totally blank. "Leighton, what's wrong?" Downstairs, the heavy mahogany front doors swung open.

My parents' voices echoed up into the foyer. "Brooks! Leighton! Come on down, we brought your sister home!" Brooks's eyes lit up.

He ditched me on the landing and sprinted down the stairs. I stood alone at the top of the marble staircase, looking down at the pictureperfect family of four.

I pressed my palm flat against my chest. Strange. It felt numb, like TV static. The fleshtearing agony was gone. Brooks and I were twins.

For the first twelve years of our lives, we were the only heirs to the family empire. A boy and a girl—the perfect golden pair.

Our parents and grandparents treated us like untouchable royalty. Even though Brooks was only two hours older, he played the fiercely protective older brother.

He let me win at everything. They all treated me like a literal princess.

I remembered a business partner joking with my dad once. "With Leighton's temper, it's a good thing you locked down an engagement with Blaise so early.

No one else would dare marry her when she grows up." My dad's face had turned to stone. "My daughter wasn't born just to be married off. If no one wants her, she stays here!

I have enough money to keep her spoiled for life." My mom and Brooks hadn't said a word, just quietly piled more designer gifts and trust funds into my lap. They spoiled me rotten.

A halfmilliondollar Cartier diamond necklace was the most basic birthday present I got back then. It was also the last real birthday present I ever received.

That same year, when we were twelve, one of my dad's old military buddies died. On his deathbed, he begged my dad to take in his only daughter.

That girl, Sienna, became my adopted sister. From that day on, the attention, the trust, the unconditional love in this house bled out drop by drop. I admit it. I hated her.

Just watching her squeeze out two wet tears was enough to make my stomach churn. Those tears sent my parents and Brooks scrambling around her like she was made of spun glass.

I watched, my fingernails digging halfmoons into my palms, as she systematically stripped away everything that belonged to me. The paranoia gnawed at my bones.

I started throwing things. I screamed until my throat bled. It all hit a breaking point on my eighteenth birthday.

I walked into the estate gardens and found her pinned against a trellis, making out with my fiancé, Blaise. Something inside my head snapped. I confronted my parents.

I confronted my twin brother. I cornered the boy I was supposed to marry. "Why are you doing this to me?" They didn't blink.

They just stared down at me with identical expressions of pure, icy disgust. "Do you have any idea how you look right now?

You're acting like a psychopath." A laugh ripped out of my throat, wet and ugly. The crushing weight in my chest made my knees shake. I lunged at Sienna with the knife.

Brooks didn't hesitate. He planted his foot into my stomach and kicked me backward into the thorny rose bushes. Spikes tore through my dress and ripped into my skin.

Everyone swarmed Sienna. They shielded her, stroking her hair, whispering frantic apologies to get her to stop crying.

Not a single pair of eyes looked down at the blood dripping off my arms. None of them realized the weapon clattering out of my hand was just a flimsy plastic cake knife.

Chapter 2 My parents had me committed to a psychiatric ward. Unstable, they called it. My ribs were shattered from Brooks's kick.

I spent days and nights coughing up dark clots of blood into a metal basin. I begged the orderlies to call my family. Not a single call ever went through.

Finally, after another round of electroshock therapy sent a lethal volt through my skull, my heart gave out. And that was when I saw it—the rumored Soul Shop.

I traded every ounce of emotion I had left, my very ability to love, for a second chance at life. "Leighton, come down!

Haven't you been waiting for your new sister?" My mom stood in the entryway, gripping Sienna's hand and waving at me with a blinding smile.

Sienna tilted her pale, innocent face up and chimed out a sweet "Big sister!" My expression didn't shift a fraction of an inch.

I turned on my heel and walked straight to my bedroom. The heavy mahogany door clicked shut behind me.

Downstairs, my dad let out a heavy sigh. "Who set her off this time?" "She's probably just overwhelmed by having a new sibling," my mom offered, her voice stiff with embarrassment. "It's fine, I'll go bribe her with something later." Sienna's voice wavered, perfectly pitched to sound on the verge of tears. "Mom, Dad… does she hate me?" Brooks didn't even let them answer. "No, no way.

Leighton just throws tantrums. She's fine. Hey, don't cry.

I'll go chew her out later, okay?" Their laughter echoed up the stairs. "Brooks is growing up," my dad chuckled. "Make sure you take good care of your new sister." Their laughter bled right through the floorboards into my room.

The soundproofing in this multimillion dollar estate was absolute garbage. The noise scraped against my eardrums. I pushed off the bed and started taking inventory.

It had been lifetimes since I was twelve; I had forgotten the sheer scale of my own trust fund. Staring at the walkin closet, the heavy concentration of wealth was suffocating.

No wonder Sienna made it her life's mission to gut my room. Honestly? Even the adult version of me felt a twinge of envy looking at this stash.

I swept the velvet jewelry boxes off my vanity, dumping designer watches and diamonds straight into a leather backpack.

If I didn't lock this away right now, Sienna would spin some sob story to claim it by dinner. My fingers brushed against a bespoke emerald tennis bracelet.

The cold stone triggered a memory—the exact moment Sienna shattered it against the marble floor in my past life. That was the first time I ever slapped her across the face.

She had cowered behind the door frame, rubbing her red, tearfilled eyes.

She played the victim perfectly, acting as if I had just destroyed her most prized possession. "Leighton, I'm so sorry, I swear it was an accident…" she had whimpered. "I've just never seen anything so beautiful before.

I only wanted to hold it… it slipped." The second the fake tears spilled over, my parents and Brooks came sprinting down the hall.

That was the first time my dad locked me in my room. Sienna had buried her face in my mom's dress, hyperventilating like she was going into shock.

But when no one was looking, she tilted her head up and flashed me a deadeyed smirk. I pointed a shaking finger right at her face.

Before I could get a word out, Brooks shoved me hard in the chest, sending me stumbling backward. "Leighton! Are you a complete psycho?" he had yelled. "Sienna has nothing!

How could you lay a hand on her?" "It's just one stupid bracelet, you have a hundred of them!

Would it kill you to share?" I remembered biting the inside of my cheek until it bled, trying to swallow the suffocating lump in my throat. Just one stupid bracelet? No.

It was the birthday gift Brooks had bought me with the prize money from his very first coding competition. And he had completely forgotten. From that year on.

Chapter 3 I never received another birthday gift.

The endless stream of designer clothes, limitededition jewelry, and imported plush toys that used to flood my bedroom was rerouted straight to Sienna's door.

All because of one little lie she spun: "The kids at school laugh at me.

They say I'm tiny and dress like a charity case, not glamorous and perfect like Leighton…" She was lying through her teeth.

It was Brooks who orchestrated the whispers in the hallways, rallying the entire class to ice me out. He knew exactly what he was doing.

He watched it happen, and he never opened his mouth to defend me.

I just sat back as my parents' gazes shifted from adoration to flat disappointment, tilting all their weight toward the tragic little orphan.

I zipped up my backpack, locking away the last of my jewelry. A soft knock hit the wood of my door. "Leighton?

Sweetheart, dinner's ready." My mom's voice was impossibly soft, laced with forced patience. I didn't answer.

I just pulled the door open and let her drag me by the hand down to the dining room.

Sienna was sitting in my usual chair, her shoulders hunched in a pictureperfect display of shyness.

My dad and Brooks were both leaning over her, piling prime cuts of meat onto her plate. I turned to my mom. "Am I supposed to eat on the floor?" The room froze.

My mom's grip on my fingers tightened like a vise. "Of course not. It's Mom's fault, I forgot to have an extra chair brought out.

Brenda, fetch Leighton a chair, quickly." Sienna hesitated, then pushed herself up.

Her massive, innocent eyes instantly pooled with water. "Leighton, I'm so sorry." "I didn't know this was your seat.

I—I'll move!" Brooks shot up and shoved her back down by the shoulders. He shot me a glaring look. "Leighton, a chair is a chair.

Sienna just got here, stop trying to scare her." "Just sit on my left.

I'll sit between the two of you, okay?" My parents stayed silent, their eyes locked on me to gauge my reaction. Silent approval. A dry laugh scraped the back of my throat.

It was pathetic, really. My whole family putting on a stage play, and their acting was aggressively terrible. It completely killed my appetite.

I grabbed the heavy wooden chair from Brenda's hands.

I dragged it all the way to the farthest corner of the long mahogany table, putting as much physical space between us as possible. Brooks's hand paused over Sienna's plate.

His jaw worked like he wanted to say something, but he snapped his mouth shut. We ate the rest of the meal in dead silence.

I pushed my chair back and headed for the stairs, but my dad's voice stopped me in my tracks. He cleared his throat, forcing a strained smile. "Leighton.

Sienna is a year younger than you and Brooks. You're the older siblings, you need to be more accommodating." "She just lost her biological parents. She's traumatized.

We're her family now, so we need to step up and take care of her." My mom immediately backed him up. "Exactly.

Mom knows you're probably not used to having a sister yet, but look how sweet she is.

If you just try to spend some time together, you'll bond in no time." They shot panicked glances at each other across the table.

It was painfully obvious neither of them wanted to be the one to drop the actual punchline. My patience flatlined. "So?" I asked, the word dropping like a stone. My mom froze.

She had probably never heard that kind of ice in my tone before. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Chapter 4 My dad took a sip of his tea, a strained smile stretching across his face. "Leighton… Sienna just transferred here. Her physical and mental state isn't great.

We're really worried about her." "Why don't you and Brooks drop back a year? You can repeat sixth grade to keep her company.

How does that sound?" As if to seal the deal, he quickly added, "Brooks already agreed. We're just waiting on you." I shifted my gaze to Brooks.

He dropped his chin, refusing to meet my eyes. Here we go again. It played out exactly like this in my past life.

They made Brooks and me—already sitting comfortably in seventh grade—drop back to sixth just to babysit her.

A year later, my fiancé Blaise, who had already grown sickeningly close to Sienna, transferred into our class under the guise of "taking care" of me.

From then on, the three of them turned the classroom into their own personal soap opera.

They framed me for bullying Sienna, effectively turning the entire grade into a firing squad against me. Cute.

Too bad I wasn't in the mood to play stupid games with middle schoolers anymore. It was a literal waste of oxygen.

I tilted my head. "Does she really need two personal servants to walk her to homeroom?" My dad's chopsticks clattered against his porcelain bowl. "Leighton, what did you just say?" "I said, since Brooks is already volunteering to be her butler, leave me out of it." My mom grabbed my arm, her eyes wide with panic. "Leighton, what are you talking about?

Servants?" "We just want you kids to spend time together. We want you to bond!" "I don't have an obligation to bond with anyone.

Whoever wants to hold her hand can do it." I locked eyes with Brooks, who had been sitting frozen like a statue. I delivered the final verdict. "It's settled, then.

You two can go play in sixth grade. I'm staying in seventh. Stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours." I turned my back on them and headed upstairs.

Behind me, the dining room erupted into a chorus of soothing whispers, trying to quiet Sienna's theatrical sobbing.

Around nine that night, knuckles rapped against my bedroom door. "Leighton, are you asleep?" Brooks's muffled voice filtered through the wood. "What do you want?" "Um… Leighton?

Can you open the door?" "No." Dead silence stretched across the hallway.

Just when I thought he had finally given up and left, he spoke again. "You're mad at me, aren't you?" My hands stopped folding my tshirt. "No." "You are!

Leighton, is it because I paid too much attention to our new sister today? Do you feel left out?" A wave of pure exhaustion hit me. I wasn't upset. I just didn't care.

Dealing with them made my stomach turn.

The old Leighton—the girl who would have hyperventilated and choked on her own despair over feeling ignored—had already died alone on a cold psych ward floor.

I let out a heavy breath. "I'm really not. Brooks, do whatever you want. Hang out with whoever you want." "It's a free country. Just leave me alone." The hallway went quiet again.

When he finally spoke, his tone was dripping with helpless resignation. "Leighton, Sienna just has it so rough. Look at her—she's so tiny, and she's way too softhearted.

I'm genuinely worried she's going to get bullied." "Look, I'll stay back and keep an eye on her for a year. Once she's settled, I'll transfer back to your grade, okay?" Sure.

Whatever. Dad practically owned the school board; Brooks could play musical chairs with his grade level all he wanted.

I rolled my eyes and shoved my last sweater into the canvas duffel. The zipper hissed shut.

I jammed silicone earplugs into my ears, cut the lights, and dropped flat onto my mattress. Chapter 5 The next morning. I dragged my suitcase and backpack into the foyer.

The room froze again. I lifted my chin. Blaise was sitting right next to Sienna on the velvet sofa.

He was exactly my age, but already shooting up, sitting a good halfhead taller than Brooks. The second he saw me, he sprang to his feet.

His eyes crinkled into that signature, gentle smile, his voice practically bouncing. "Leighton! I'm here to take you to school!" My eyes dropped.

Sienna's fingers were wrapped tight around his forearm. "You don't need to pick me up anymore." I paused. "But if you want to be someone else's ride, be my guest." Blaise's smile completely dissolved. "Why?" I just tilted my head toward the heavy luggage at my feet.

My parents and Brooks stared at me, totally lost. "Leighton? What is all this?" Brooks asked. His eyes were bloodshot, locked on my suitcase. "Clothes. Toiletries.

And half a million dollars in jewelry." "I forgot to tell you. I'm moving into the dorms starting today." "What?!" The three of them barked in unison. My dad's face hardened.

He crossed the room and crouched down in front of me. "Leighton. You're boarding?" "Yeah." "Why? What's wrong with living at home? Did we upset you?" I kept my mouth shut.

My face was carved from ice. My dad reached out to stroke my hair, his fingers visibly shaking.

He cast a hesitant glance over his shoulder at Sienna. "Is this… because of Sienna?" Before I could even breathe, Sienna bit her lip and let out a strangled sob.

My mom rushed forward, sweeping the girl into her arms. She shot my dad a panicked, scolding look. "What are you talking about?

That's impossible." She turned to me, her voice desperate. "Leighton, tell him. Tell him why you want to board." "It's definitely not because of your sister.

You like her, right?" The whole room stared at me, holding their breath. They wanted me to play the spoiled brat.

They wanted me to say I was just acting out so they could brush it under the rug. I looked right through them. "Wrong." I didn't blink. "I don't like her.

I hate her." "And not just her." I scanned their faces. "I hate you, Dad. I hate you, Mom. I hate Brooks." "I hate Blaise.

I hate every single one of you." All the blood drained from my family's faces