Lydia Norwood was just a quiet girl from a tiny mountain town — until the day she found out she was actually the real daughter of the Norwood family, the richest, most powerful family in the country. Overnight, everything changed. Now she’s got the world’s most powerful parents, four ridiculously overprotective brothers, and a fake sister who’s been living her life — and definitely doesn’t want to give it up. “You? With that country bumpkin background? Know your place.” Lydia smirks. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll know it real soon.” Because Lydia’s been keeping a few secrets of her own. The fashion queen the world’s obsessed with? Her. The underground racing legend? Also her. The miracle doctor billionaires can’t even book? Still her. As everyone scrambles to get her attention, Connor Jefferson, ruthless CEO and king of the business world, pulls her into his arms and says, loud and clear: “She’s mine. Anyone got a problem with that?”

Chapter 1Fat raindrops splashed against Lydia Smith’s skin, a little sharp but cool and refreshing. She glanced up at the sky, now heavy with storm clouds and streaks of lightning, then lowered her head and kept explaining to her viewers. “This one’s Burdock Root, a root that helps clear heat, cool the blood, and nourish the body. We usually harvest it in autumn. It’s only July right now, so it’s not ready yet.”She aimed her camera at a purple-red flower blooming in the tall grass. The video was clear, her voice light and lively. Up in the corner, the viewer count was already over two hundred thousand.Comments were flying in nonstop.[I love Chief Lydia so much. I even went to her city for treatment, and she actually cured my tendonitis.][Me too! Her herbal medicine is amazing. I felt better after just a few doses.][Is it raining over there, Lydia? It looks like a downpour. Quick, take cover.]Lydia agreed. The rain was coming down harder now, and she had already picked all the herbs she needed. She started walking toward the thick shade of a nearby tree, saying, “It’s really coming down here. That’s it for today. I’ll stream again another—”Before she could finish, her foot caught on something, and she crashed to the ground.Grass filled her mouth and nose. She spat and muttered a curse, frowning as she pushed herself up. Her fall had already ended the livestream. Setting her phone aside, she caught her breath and turned to see what had tripped her up.She expected a branch or a root. Instead, she found a man.He was lying in the thick grass, dressed in a black suit. With the sky so dark and the rain pouring, he almost blended right in.Lydia stared, taken aback for a moment. The man’s features were striking, sharply carved and handsome, like something out of a magazine. But his eyes were shut tight, his brows drawn in pain. His face was ghostly pale, his lips a deep, unhealthy purple.Lydia frowned. He was poisoned.Out here in the mountains, that usually meant a snakebite.She shifted closer and lifted the fabric on his pant leg. Sure enough, a nasty, swollen black-purple bite marked his left ankle.He was in real danger.“Well, looks like you got lucky running into me out here,” Lydia muttered, slipping off her bamboo basket and pulling out a small medical kit from the herbs. She always carried medicine and antivenom, just in case.She grabbed a scalpel and cut open the wound to let the blood flow. Her hands moved fast, not exactly gentle. The man groaned as pain jolted him awake.Lydia didn’t even look up. “Stay still if you want to live.”Connor felt like his left leg didn’t belong to him anymore. He couldn’t move it at all. His vision was hazy, his mind swimming, but he could feel someone working on his leg. It hurt, but he could handle it.About fifteen minutes later, Lydia had wrapped up the wound and given him a shot of antivenom. He was out of immediate danger.“I’ve treated the bite. Call your family,” she said, her voice brisk. She didn’t bother asking what he was doing alone in the woods. That wasn’t her problem.Connor Jefferson’s forehead was slick with cold sweat, but the rain had drenched him so thoroughly it was impossible to tell sweat from rain anymore.He tried to make out who was standing in front of him, but everything just stayed hazy, no matter how hard he looked.“No signal…” He forced out the words, breathing heavily.Lydia frowned at him. Great, just what she needed.“Where’s your phone?”“In my pocket.”She bent down to search, her small hands moving quickly over Connor’s broad chest. Before she could get too far, Connor grabbed her wrist, his grip weak and voice even weaker. “Inside, right side.”Lydia shot a look at him. He looked like he might faint again at any second. Still, she reached into his suit’s inside pocket and pulled out his phone.Connor kept his eyes shut, barely whispering, “First contact.”Lydia opened his contacts, didn’t bother checking who it was, and hit call. The phone rang once before someone picked up, panicked and breathless.“Sir! Where are you? It’s pouring on the mountain. Are you alright?”Connor didn’t answer. After a moment, Lydia spoke for him. “He’s hurt. You need to come and get him, fast.”The person on the other end sounded like the world had ended. “What? He’s hurt? Miss, please, how is he? Where is he right now?”“I’ve taken care of his wound. He’s…” Lydia looked around, taking in the hills, then spotted a patch of hawthorn trees not far away. “There’s a hawthorn grove west of the halfway point up the mountain. There’s a small path next to it. Come get him there.”It wasn’t much to go on, but everyone around here knew about that wild hawthorn grove.She hung up, just as the phone’s last bit of battery died. Lydia slid it back into Connor’s pocket. “Feel any better? Want me to help you over there?”Connor nodded. “Yeah.”Ever since this girl appeared, he’d started feeling like he might actually make it out alive. That creeping sense of death had finally started to fade.Lydia bent down to pull him up, surprised at how heavy he was. She liked to think she was pretty strong, but he was no lightweight.For the first time ever, Connor found himself leaning against a girl for support. She was small, soft, and yet, somehow steady enough to hold him up.He couldn’t help himself. “What’s your name?”If she hadn’t shown up tonight, he probably wouldn’t have survived till morning.Lydia was exhausted and not in the mood. “You don’t need to know.”From the second she saw him, Lydia could tell he wasn’t someone she wanted to get involved with. Complicated people meant complicated problems, and she had enough of her own.Connor pressed on, saying more to her than he ever had to any girl before. “You saved my life. I can give you whatever you want.”She didn’t hesitate. “Medical fee is eight hundred and eighty-eight. Most payment apps are okay with me, but no IOUs.”Connor just stared at her, stunned. He was the richest man in the Capital, and this village girl was acting like he might not be able to pay?“I’ll pay you as soon as I get back…”“Forget it. I have things to do. Wait here for your people. I’m leaving.”With that, Lydia dragged Connor over to the edge of the path and left him in the grass. She slung her medicine basket onto her back and turned to go.Connor was too weak to follow, but as she started to walk away, he used the last of his strength to grab the edge of her shirt. Lydia wasn’t expecting it and lost her balance, falling right on top of him.And somehow, impossibly, their noses bumped, lips pressed together, with her on top of him.Connor froze, completely thrown off guard.His eyesight had always been poor due to an old injury, especially in the dark. Now, with poison clouding his mind, everything seemed fuzzy. He couldn’t make out Lydia’s face at all, but he felt her lips brush against his. They were impossibly soft, with a hint of sweetness that lingered.Without thinking, his lips moved ever so slightly. That tiny reaction was all it took. Lydia shot up like she’d been zapped, scrambling away from him, her cheeks burning. “You… you jerk!”She wiped her mouth hard with the back of her hand. For a second, she wanted to slap him, but remembered he was injured. So, still fuming, she spun around and stormed off.Just her luck, really.She’d tried to save someone and ended up losing her first kiss to a total creep.Connor lay on the ground, watching her blurry figure disappear into the rain. He held a small object tightly in his hand and murmured, “I’ll find you.”Drenched from head to toe, Lydia trudged down the mountain carrying her medicine basket. She reached the front gate of the Smith family’s old house, only to spot a mud-splattered figure standing up from near the wall. The man rushed toward her, grinning from ear to ear. “Miss! I’ve finally found you!”Startled, Lydia dodged to the side as the muddy man nearly collided with her. He stumbled, then flashed an awkward, toothy smile. “Sorry, Miss. Didn’t mean to scare you.”Lydia eyed him warily. “Who are you?”Before he could answer, a woman’s impatient voice rang out from inside the house. “Lydia, you’re not a Smith anymore. Your new surname is Norwood. He’s here from the Norwood family to pick you up. Go with him.”Lydia looked up and saw two figures standing at the top of the steps: Sandy, the real Smith family heiress, and Milana, Lydia’s adoptive mother.Two months ago, her pampered ‘brother’ had gotten into a car accident that left him with kidney damage. As the neglected daughter, Lydia was the first to be tested for a match. But what the test revealed was far more shocking—she and her ‘brother’ weren’t related at all.The news blindsided everyone, including Lydia.Her adoptive father, Jenson, spared no expense or effort tracking down his true daughter. After two months of searching, he finally found her. Jenson’s quest had made headlines everywhere, since he was the richest man in town.Now that the real heiress had returned, Lydia, who was never favored and raised in the countryside by her grandmother, was kicked out on the spot. She’d only lingered these last few days because her grandmother’s bad leg had flared up in the damp weather, and Lydia wanted to gather herbs and make medicine for her. The Smiths, though, assumed she was just refusing to leave.Then yesterday, she got a call. Someone said they were her biological parents and would come get her today. Lydia hadn’t really believed it, but, unbelievably, here they were.The muddy man took another step closer, grinning wide. “Miss, I’m Jack. Your parents sent me to bring you home.”Before Lydia could say a word, Milana cut in again, voice cold. “There’s five thousand dollars in this bag for you. It should last a while. We raised you for eighteen years, so don’t come asking for more when you run out.”She tossed a black backpack at Lydia’s feet.Just to be sure Lydia would actually leave, Milana and Sandy had packed up her belongings while she was out picking herbs, ready to send her off the moment she came back. Milana didn’t know much about Lydia’s real family, except that they came from a poor village up north, were out of work, had four unmarried sons and an elderly grandfather at home. It was obvious they weren’t well-off.Chapter 2Fat raindrops splashed against Lydia Smith’s skin, a little sharp but cool and refreshing. She glanced up at the sky, now heavy with storm clouds and streaks of lightning, then lowered her head and kept explaining to her viewers. “This one’s Burdock Root, a root that helps clear heat, cool the blood, and nourish the body. We usually harvest it in autumn. It’s only July right now, so it’s not ready yet.”She aimed her camera at a purple-red flower blooming in the tall grass. The video was clear, her voice light and lively. Up in the corner, the viewer count was already over two hundred thousand.Comments were flying in nonstop.[I love Chief Lydia so much. I even went to her city for treatment, and she actually cured my tendonitis.][Me too! Her herbal medicine is amazing. I felt better after just a few doses.][Is it raining over there, Lydia? It looks like a downpour. Quick, take cover.]Lydia agreed. The rain was coming down harder now, and she had already picked all the herbs she needed. She started walking toward the thick shade of a nearby tree, saying, “It’s really coming down here. That’s it for today. I’ll stream again another—”Before she could finish, her foot caught on something, and she crashed to the ground.Grass filled her mouth and nose. She spat and muttered a curse, frowning as she pushed herself up. Her fall had already ended the livestream. Setting her phone aside, she caught her breath and turned to see what had tripped her up.She expected a branch or a root. Instead, she found a man.He was lying in the thick grass, dressed in a black suit. With the sky so dark and the rain pouring, he almost blended right in.Lydia stared, taken aback for a moment. The man’s features were striking, sharply carved and handsome, like something out of a magazine. But his eyes were shut tight, his brows drawn in pain. His face was ghostly pale, his lips a deep, unhealthy purple.Lydia frowned. He was poisoned.Out here in the mountains, that usually meant a snakebite.She shifted closer and lifted the fabric on his pant leg. Sure enough, a nasty, swollen black-purple bite marked his left ankle.He was in real danger.“Well, looks like you got lucky running into me out here,” Lydia muttered, slipping off her bamboo basket and pulling out a small medical kit from the herbs. She always carried medicine and antivenom, just in case.She grabbed a scalpel and cut open the wound to let the blood flow. Her hands moved fast, not exactly gentle. The man groaned as pain jolted him awake.Lydia didn’t even look up. “Stay still if you want to live.”Connor felt like his left leg didn’t belong to him anymore. He couldn’t move it at all. His vision was hazy, his mind swimming, but he could feel someone working on his leg. It hurt, but he could handle it.About fifteen minutes later, Lydia had wrapped up the wound and given him a shot of antivenom. He was out of immediate danger.“I’ve treated the bite. Call your family,” she said, her voice brisk. She didn’t bother asking what he was doing alone in the woods. That wasn’t her problem.Connor Jefferson’s forehead was slick with cold sweat, but the rain had drenched him so thoroughly it was impossible to tell sweat from rain anymore.He tried to make out who was standing in front of him, but everything just stayed hazy, no matter how hard he looked.“No signal…” He forced out the words, breathing heavily.Lydia frowned at him. Great, just what she needed.“Where’s your phone?”“In my pocket.”She bent down to search, her small hands moving quickly over Connor’s broad chest. Before she could get too far, Connor grabbed her wrist, his grip weak and voice even weaker. “Inside, right side.”Lydia shot a look at him. He looked like he might faint again at any second. Still, she reached into his suit’s inside pocket and pulled out his phone.Connor kept his eyes shut, barely whispering, “First contact.”Lydia opened his contacts, didn’t bother checking who it was, and hit call. The phone rang once before someone picked up, panicked and breathless.“Sir! Where are you? It’s pouring on the mountain. Are you alright?”Connor didn’t answer. After a moment, Lydia spoke for him. “He’s hurt. You need to come and get him, fast.”The person on the other end sounded like the world had ended. “What? He’s hurt? Miss, please, how is he? Where is he right now?”“I’ve taken care of his wound. He’s…” Lydia looked around, taking in the hills, then spotted a patch of hawthorn trees not far away. “There’s a hawthorn grove west of the halfway point up the mountain. There’s a small path next to it. Come get him there.”It wasn’t much to go on, but everyone around here knew about that wild hawthorn grove.She hung up, just as the phone’s last bit of battery died. Lydia slid it back into Connor’s pocket. “Feel any better? Want me to help you over there?”Connor nodded. “Yeah.”Ever since this girl appeared, he’d started feeling like he might actually make it out alive. That creeping sense of death had finally started to fade.Lydia bent down to pull him up, surprised at how heavy he was. She liked to think she was pretty strong, but he was no lightweight.For the first time ever, Connor found himself leaning against a girl for support. She was small, soft, and yet, somehow steady enough to hold him up.He couldn’t help himself. “What’s your name?”If she hadn’t shown up tonight, he probably wouldn’t have survived till morning.Lydia was exhausted and not in the mood. “You don’t need to know.”From the second she saw him, Lydia could tell he wasn’t someone she wanted to get involved with. Complicated people meant complicated problems, and she had enough of her own.Connor pressed on, saying more to her than he ever had to any girl before. “You saved my life. I can give you whatever you want.”She didn’t hesitate. “Medical fee is eight hundred and eighty-eight. Most payment apps are okay with me, but no IOUs.”Connor just stared at her, stunned. He was the richest man in the Capital, and this village girl was acting like he might not be able to pay?“I’ll pay you as soon as I get back…”“Forget it. I have things to do. Wait here for your people. I’m leaving.”With that, Lydia dragged Connor over to the edge of the path and left him in the grass. She slung her medicine basket onto her back and turned to go.Connor was too weak to follow, but as she started to walk away, he used the last of his strength to grab the edge of her shirt. Lydia wasn’t expecting it and lost her balance, falling right on top of him.And somehow, impossibly, their noses bumped, lips pressed together, with her on top of him.Connor froze, completely thrown off guard.His eyesight had always been poor due to an old injury, especially in the dark. Now, with poison clouding his mind, everything seemed fuzzy. He couldn’t make out Lydia’s face at all, but he felt her lips brush against his. They were impossibly soft, with a hint of sweetness that lingered.Without thinking, his lips moved ever so slightly. That tiny reaction was all it took. Lydia shot up like she’d been zapped, scrambling away from him, her cheeks burning. “You… you jerk!”She wiped her mouth hard with the back of her hand. For a second, she wanted to slap him, but remembered he was injured. So, still fuming, she spun around and stormed off.Just her luck, really.She’d tried to save someone and ended up losing her first kiss to a total creep.Connor lay on the ground, watching her blurry figure disappear into the rain. He held a small object tightly in his hand and murmured, “I’ll find you.”Drenched from head to toe, Lydia trudged down the mountain carrying her medicine basket. She reached the front gate of the Smith family’s old house, only to spot a mud-splattered figure standing up from near the wall. The man rushed toward her, grinning from ear to ear. “Miss! I’ve finally found you!”Startled, Lydia dodged to the side as the muddy man nearly collided with her. He stumbled, then flashed an awkward, toothy smile. “Sorry, Miss. Didn’t mean to scare you.”Lydia eyed him warily. “Who are you?”Before he could answer, a woman’s impatient voice rang out from inside the house. “Lydia, you’re not a Smith anymore. Your new surname is Norwood. He’s here from the Norwood family to pick you up. Go with him.”Lydia looked up and saw two figures standing at the top of the steps: Sandy, the real Smith family heiress, and Milana, Lydia’s adoptive mother.Two months ago, her pampered ‘brother’ had gotten into a car accident that left him with kidney damage. As the neglected daughter, Lydia was the first to be tested for a match. But what the test revealed was far more shocking—she and her ‘brother’ weren’t related at all.The news blindsided everyone, including Lydia.Her adoptive father, Jenson, spared no expense or effort tracking down his true daughter. After two months of searching, he finally found her. Jenson’s quest had made headlines everywhere, since he was the richest man in town.Now that the real heiress had returned, Lydia, who was never favored and raised in the countryside by her grandmother, was kicked out on the spot. She’d only lingered these last few days because her grandmother’s bad leg had flared up in the damp weather, and Lydia wanted to gather herbs and make medicine for her. The Smiths, though, assumed she was just refusing to leave.Then yesterday, she got a call. Someone said they were her biological parents and would come get her today. Lydia hadn’t really believed it, but, unbelievably, here they were.The muddy man took another step closer, grinning wide. “Miss, I’m Jack. Your parents sent me to bring you home.”Before Lydia could say a word, Milana cut in again, voice cold. “There’s five thousand dollars in this bag for you. It should last a while. We raised you for eighteen years, so don’t come asking for more when you run out.”She tossed a black backpack at Lydia’s feet.Just to be sure Lydia would actually leave, Milana and Sandy had packed up her belongings while she was out picking herbs, ready to send her off the moment she came back. Milana didn’t know much about Lydia’s real family, except that they came from a poor village up north, were out of work, had four unmarried sons and an elderly grandfather at home. It was obvious they weren’t well-off.Chapter 3Fat raindrops splashed against Lydia Smith’s skin, a little sharp but cool and refreshing. She glanced up at the sky, now heavy with storm clouds and streaks of lightning, then lowered her head and kept explaining to her viewers. “This one’s Burdock Root, a root that helps clear heat, cool the blood, and nourish the body. We usually harvest it in autumn. It’s only July right now, so it’s not ready yet.”She aimed her camera at a purple-red flower blooming in the tall grass. The video was clear, her voice light and lively. Up in the corner, the viewer count was already over two hundred thousand.Comments were flying in nonstop.[I love Chief Lydia so much. I even went to her city for treatment, and she actually cured my tendonitis.][Me too! Her herbal medicine is amazing. I felt better after just a few doses.][Is it raining over there, Lydia? It looks like a downpour. Quick, take cover.]Lydia agreed. The rain was coming down harder now, and she had already picked all the herbs she needed. She started walking toward the thick shade of a nearby tree, saying, “It’s really coming down here. That’s it for today. I’ll stream again another—”Before she could finish, her foot caught on something, and she crashed to the ground.Grass filled her mouth and nose. She spat and muttered a curse, frowning as she pushed herself up. Her fall had already ended the livestream. Setting her phone aside, she caught her breath and turned to see what had tripped her up.She expected a branch or a root. Instead, she found a man.He was lying in the thick grass, dressed in a black suit. With the sky so dark and the rain pouring, he almost blended right in.Lydia stared, taken aback for a moment. The man’s features were striking, sharply carved and handsome, like something out of a magazine. But his eyes were shut tight, his brows drawn in pain. His face was ghostly pale, his lips a deep, unhealthy purple.Lydia frowned. He was poisoned.Out here in the mountains, that usually meant a snakebite.She shifted closer and lifted the fabric on his pant leg. Sure enough, a nasty, swollen black-purple bite marked his left ankle.He was in real danger.“Well, looks like you got lucky running into me out here,” Lydia muttered, slipping off her bamboo basket and pulling out a small medical kit from the herbs. She always carried medicine and antivenom, just in case.She grabbed a scalpel and cut open the wound to let the blood flow. Her hands moved fast, not exactly gentle. The man groaned as pain jolted him awake.Lydia didn’t even look up. “Stay still if you want to live.”Connor felt like his left leg didn’t belong to him anymore. He couldn’t move it at all. His vision was hazy, his mind swimming, but he could feel someone working on his leg. It hurt, but he could handle it.About fifteen minutes later, Lydia had wrapped up the wound and given him a shot of antivenom. He was out of immediate danger.“I’ve treated the bite. Call your family,” she said, her voice brisk. She didn’t bother asking what he was doing alone in the woods. That wasn’t her problem.Connor Jefferson’s forehead was slick with cold sweat, but the rain had drenched him so thoroughly it was impossible to tell sweat from rain anymore.He tried to make out who was standing in front of him, but everything just stayed hazy, no matter how hard he looked.“No signal…” He forced out the words, breathing heavily.Lydia frowned at him. Great, just what she needed.“Where’s your phone?”“In my pocket.”She bent down to search, her small hands moving quickly over Connor’s broad chest. Before she could get too far, Connor grabbed her wrist, his grip weak and voice even weaker. “Inside, right side.”Lydia shot a look at him. He looked like he might faint again at any second. Still, she reached into his suit’s inside pocket and pulled out his phone.Connor kept his eyes shut, barely whispering, “First contact.”Lydia opened his contacts, didn’t bother checking who it was, and hit call. The phone rang once before someone picked up, panicked and breathless.“Sir! Where are you? It’s pouring on the mountain. Are you alright?”Connor didn’t answer. After a moment, Lydia spoke for him. “He’s hurt. You need to come and get him, fast.”The person on the other end sounded like the world had ended. “What? He’s hurt? Miss, please, how is he? Where is he right now?”“I’ve taken care of his wound. He’s…” Lydia looked around, taking in the hills, then spotted a patch of hawthorn trees not far away. “There’s a hawthorn grove west of the halfway point up the mountain. There’s a small path next to it. Come get him there.”It wasn’t much to go on, but everyone around here knew about that wild hawthorn grove.She hung up, just as the phone’s last bit of battery died. Lydia slid it back into Connor’s pocket. “Feel any better? Want me to help you over there?”Connor nodded. “Yeah.”Ever since this girl appeared, he’d started feeling like he might actually make it out alive. That creeping sense of death had finally started to fade.Lydia bent down to pull him up, surprised at how heavy he was. She liked to think she was pretty strong, but he was no lightweight.For the first time ever, Connor found himself leaning against a girl for support. She was small, soft, and yet, somehow steady enough to hold him up.He couldn’t help himself. “What’s your name?”If she hadn’t shown up tonight, he probably wouldn’t have survived till morning.Lydia was exhausted and not in the mood. “You don’t need to know.”From the second she saw him, Lydia could tell he wasn’t someone she wanted to get involved with. Complicated people meant complicated problems, and she had enough of her own.Connor pressed on, saying more to her than he ever had to any girl before. “You saved my life. I can give you whatever you want.”She didn’t hesitate. “Medical fee is eight hundred and eighty-eight. Most payment apps are okay with me, but no IOUs.”Connor just stared at her, stunned. He was the richest man in the Capital, and this village girl was acting like he might not be able to pay?“I’ll pay you as soon as I get back…”“Forget it. I have things to do. Wait here for your people. I’m leaving.”With that, Lydia dragged Connor over to the edge of the path and left him in the grass. She slung her medicine basket onto her back and turned to go.Connor was too weak to follow, but as she started to walk away, he used the last of his strength to grab the edge of her shirt. Lydia wasn’t expecting it and lost her balance, falling right on top of him.And somehow, impossibly, their noses bumped, lips pressed together, with her on top of him.Connor froze, completely thrown off guard.His eyesight had always been poor due to an old injury, especially in the dark. Now, with poison clouding his mind, everything seemed fuzzy. He couldn’t make out Lydia’s face at all, but he felt her lips brush against his. They were impossibly soft, with a hint of sweetness that lingered.Without thinking, his lips moved ever so slightly. That tiny reaction was all it took. Lydia shot up like she’d been zapped, scrambling away from him, her cheeks burning. “You… you jerk!”She wiped her mouth hard with the back of her hand. For a second, she wanted to slap him, but remembered he was injured. So, still fuming, she spun around and stormed off.Just her luck, really.She’d tried to save someone and ended up losing her first kiss to a total creep.Connor lay on the ground, watching her blurry figure disappear into the rain. He held a small object tightly in his hand and murmured, “I’ll find you.”Drenched from head to toe, Lydia trudged down the mountain carrying her medicine basket. She reached the front gate of the Smith family’s old house, only to spot a mud-splattered figure standing up from near the wall. The man rushed toward her, grinning from ear to ear. “Miss! I’ve finally found you!”Startled, Lydia dodged to the side as the muddy man nearly collided with her. He stumbled, then flashed an awkward, toothy smile. “Sorry, Miss. Didn’t mean to scare you.”Lydia eyed him warily. “Who are you?”Before he could answer, a woman’s impatient voice rang out from inside the house. “Lydia, you’re not a Smith anymore. Your new surname is Norwood. He’s here from the Norwood family to pick you up. Go with him.”Lydia looked up and saw two figures standing at the top of the steps: Sandy, the real Smith family heiress, and Milana, Lydia’s adoptive mother.Two months ago, her pampered ‘brother’ had gotten into a car accident that left him with kidney damage. As the neglected daughter, Lydia was the first to be tested for a match. But what the test revealed was far more shocking—she and her ‘brother’ weren’t related at all.The news blindsided everyone, including Lydia.Her adoptive father, Jenson, spared no expense or effort tracking down his true daughter. After two months of searching, he finally found her. Jenson’s quest had made headlines everywhere, since he was the richest man in town.Now that the real heiress had returned, Lydia, who was never favored and raised in the countryside by her grandmother, was kicked out on the spot. She’d only lingered these last few days because her grandmother’s bad leg had flared up in the damp weather, and Lydia wanted to gather herbs and make medicine for her. The Smiths, though, assumed she was just refusing to leave.Then yesterday, she got a call. Someone said they were her biological parents and would come get her today. Lydia hadn’t really believed it, but, unbelievably, here they were.The muddy man took another step closer, grinning wide. “Miss, I’m Jack. Your parents sent me to bring you home.”Before Lydia could say a word, Milana cut in again, voice cold. “There’s five thousand dollars in this bag for you. It should last a while. We raised you for eighteen years, so don’t come asking for more when you run out.”She tossed a black backpack at Lydia’s feet.Just to be sure Lydia would actually leave, Milana and Sandy had packed up her belongings while she was out picking herbs, ready to send her off the moment she came back. Milana didn’t know much about Lydia’s real family, except that they came from a poor village up north, were out of work, had four unmarried sons and an elderly grandfather at home. It was obvious they weren’t well-off.