Second Life, Zero Mercy Chapter 2

In our past life, Chloe and I were switched at birth.

She became the Sterling princess.

I was sent to a blue-collar family. When I was three, a car crash left me an orphan. I was tossed into the foster care system.

I spent over a decade living in fear.

Chloe, however, was pampered.

She was the jewel of the Sterling family, the only sister in Chase’s eyes.

She learned piano, ballet, and studied abroad. She had everyone's love.

I was finally brought back to the Sterling estate at eighteen.

I remember walking through those iron gates wearing cheap canvas shoes and a thrift-store dress, dragging a broken suitcase.

I saw Chase standing in the yard.

Tall, dressed in his uniform, backlit by the sun.

He frowned at me. "You're Penny? You look so... low class."

Chase became a top-tier Air Force pilot.

Chloe became an elite flight surgeon.

In photos, they stood shoulder to shoulder, smiling brilliantly.

Until that year I went to visit the base.

A training accident. The plane went down. Chase and Chloe were pinned under the wing, waiting for rescue.

The medic looked at me frantically. "I'm sorry, we only have the resources to extract one right now."

I hesitated for one second. "Save my brother."

Everyone blamed me for Chloe’s death.

But I didn't regret it.

I spent ten years nursing him. I gave up my youth to be his caretaker.

When Chase was on his deathbed, his pale hand covered mine.

His voice was weak, but the words were like daggers.

"Penny... I wish you had saved Chloe."

I froze.

It felt like a sledgehammer to the chest.

Even at the very end.

He never had a single word of gratitude for me.