In the real estate office, Lina met a man who introduced her to several places to check out. Since she still had four months before finishing high school, she planned to stay close to her school until graduation.
She was looking for a place that provided a quiet and calm environment, and she expressed this preference to the man and he recommended few places to her. The booking process went quickly, and she was able to gain the man's trust even though she wasn't legally allowed to rent her own place yet.
To make sure she was doing things properly, she had already contacted Mr. Yang, her grandfather's lawyer and asked about her options in case she decided to live separately from her family.
The call gave her insight into information that wasn't available in her previous life. After speaking with the lawyer, she found out that the Choi couple were actually not her legal guardians—they never legally adopted her!
Instead, she was adopted by her grandfather, making her the younger sister of Father Choi.
"No wonder they were cruel to her," she couldn't help but think. "They're not her adopted parents!"
After her grandfather passed away, he left a will and requested that his friend become her guardian until she reached legal age. That friend happened to be their family lawyer. She had been completely unaware of this and was kept in the dark by the Choi couple, who only wanted access to her money.
After the call, she suddenly remembered the savings card her grandfather had left for her. In her past life, she never even saw that card. She suspected that Mrs. Choi had hidden it after cleaning her room—and used the money for herself instead!
Anger rose in her heart. How far did the Choi couple weave their lies just to take advantage of her? Since the moment of her rebirth, truths that were never revealed kept coming to light—as if they could no longer be hidden."Is this the effect of her rebirth?"
Moving forward, she suspected that more of their sinister plans would come to light. Only if she was careful enough to act ahead of them could she truly escape their grasp.
Luckily, she was able to learn about this beforehand, and Lawyer Yang fully supported her plan and helped her make the viewing reservation processed smoothly. He also allowed her to decide entirely on the place herself.
Lina couldn't help but feel a warm sting in her chest after hearing Uncle Yang's kind words and realizing that there were elders in her life who truly cared and supported her. If only she had known about their existence earlier.
After a long day, Lina came home to find the Choi couple in the living room, enjoying a popular TV show.
Mother Choi stood up and dragged her to the kitchen to talk about her birthday party. Knowing all the unfortunate plans this couple had prepared for her, she had already lost her excitement for her eighteenth birthday.
"I had this dress ordered from a famous designer in Country Y. It's a fabulous piece you can wear to the party," Mrs. Choi said, more excited than usual, while showing Lina photos of various dress designs in her phone.
"Mother, do we really need to have a big party? Can't we just have a small and intimate celebration?" she asked, ignoring the fake enthusiasm. She knew very well why Mrs. Choi wanted the event to be grander than planned.
On the day of the event, they would announce that she wasn't their real daughter, but an adopted child from an unknown family. They planned to use the occasion to gain sympathy—painting their family as unfortunate in front of high society.
The event would also mark Park Bora's debut and her return to the social scene, while Lina would be cast aside as an orphan and quietly pushed out of the spotlight.
Seeing Lina's disinterest in the subject, Mrs. Choi felt a wave of frustration.
"This adopted girl... I'm already giving you face, yet you still refuse to cooperate," she thought, displeased with Lina's dry reaction to the dress she had found online.
Honestly, If it were up to her, she wouldn't even bother planning an event to celebrate Lina's birthday. However, her husband had pointed out that they could use this opportunity to bring Bora back into the house.
Despite her reluctance, he strongly instructed her that Lina must not find out about their true plan. Though she didn't like the idea, she understood her husband's intention.
Reclaim the inheritance that her father-in-law had left to Lina and bring it back into their family!
At first, she didn't care much. Lina was known publicly as their daughter, so she thought it was only fair that the girl had something to use for her future. But last month, everything changed. She found out exactly how much had been given to Lina. After hearing the amount fortune the girl received, her heart boiled with anger and jealousy. She questioned her father-in-law's mentality for making such a decision.
A huge sum of money, shares in their company, and even a house in a country she had never heard of in Country Y!
How could he give all of that to an adopted child who wasn't even related by blood?!
No! Now that her Bora was back, she should have it instead. she deserved it all!
Because of this, Mrs. Choi had a change of heart and chose to fully cooperate with her husband's plan.
Lina observed Mother Choi's face—she seemed lost in thought. Deciding not to push the topic further, Lina chose to change the subject. If the two of them planned to throw an event, she would leave them to it. One thing was certain: she wouldn't be participating in their scheme.
"Mother, I have something to talk about with you and Father. Let's go to the living room," she said calmly.
Seeing that the girl had no interest in the dress, Mrs. Choi dropped the subject and followed her back to the living room, silently wondering what the girl was up to.
"Leave it. If she doesn't want to care about her own birthday, fine!" Mrs. Choi scoffed inwardly. "It's not like I really need to care about her anyway."
In the living room, Lina shared her plan to move into the school dormitory and stay there until graduation. She explained how busy she would be preparing for the university entrance exam, and how going home every day wouldn't help her studies. Instead, it only wasted her precious time going back and forth.
Since she already had a bed rented in the dormitory that had never been used, moving out shouldn't be difficult, and she planned to do it as soon as possible.
At first, the Choi couple pretended to be saddened by her decision, putting on the act of loving and supportive parents. But in their minds, they were secretly rejoicing at the news.
It had never occurred to them to send Lina away— in fact, they had completely forgotten about the dormitory bed they'd rented for her at the beginning of the year. This would totally solve their dilemma.
With Lina gone from the house, Bora could move in and stay with them. Since Bora had refused to return as long as Lina was living there, this news resolved everything perfectly.
"I understand your reason for this. However, your mother and I are still worried about you living away," Father Choi said with a concerned tone.
Lina tried hard not to roll her eyes at Mr. Choi's pretentious concern.
If only these two could see their own faces right now, she thought. It was obvious they couldn't wait for her to leave on her own accord.
She played the role of a loving and reluctant daughter—one who didn't want to leave her nest but needed to make a big decision to grow and learn from the outside world.
The conversation went smoothly, and Lina successfully achieved her goal of leaving the house. Tonight, she would start packing her things. With that thought, she could hardly wait for tomorrow to come.