Wild Fake Heiress

"Now that Claire is back, we want to make things right," her adoptive father said, his voice gentle but firm. "She's been through so much, and honestly, seeing you right now might just be too hard for her. So, we think it's best if you live somewhere else for a little while."

Her adoptive mother chimed in, holding out a debit card. "You're still our daughter. We might not be your biological parents, but we raised you as our own. You can use the money on this card for whatever you need, and I'll deposit an allowance into it every month. We've also put the villa you've been living in and your apartment officially in your name. Don't worry," she added, her smile a little strained. "Once Claire has had some time to adjust, we'll bring you back home."

Hailey Rose just looked at them, nodding along with a placid, agreeable expression.

One minute, she'd been a perfectly normal, slacker college student. The next, she'd woken up in the body of a fake heiress from a switched-at-birth novel, right at the exact moment the *real* heiress was welcomed back into the family. To keep the peace, her adoptive parents were sending her away, but they clearly weren't cutting her off.

And honestly? Hailey couldn't find it in her to be resentful. The years of luxury had been real, the money on the card was real, and the deed to her apartment was definitely real.

"I understand, Mom, Dad," she said, her voice soft. "Claire's suffered for so long out there. You should focus on taking care of her. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine on my own."

Are you kidding? A house, savings, and tens of thousands of dollars in allowance every month? She was living the dream.

Mr. and Mrs. Nelson both looked visibly relieved at how sensible she was being. They'd adopted Hailey from an orphanage after their biological daughter had been lost, specifically choosing her because her parents were gone and she had no other relatives. After twenty years, they'd grown fond of her, of course, but that affection was nothing compared to the place their real daughter held in their hearts.

In their minds, they were being more than fair. If she accepted the situation gracefully, that was for the best. But if she got delusional and tried to cling to a life that wasn't hers, they wouldn't hesitate to take it all back and show her what it was really like to be an ordinary person again.

The second her adoptive parents left, Hailey collapsed onto the sofa in a boneless heap. She hadn't been in this world long, but as soon as she'd figured out her role, she'd decided to just go with the flow. In the novel, the fake heiress was a villainous side character who made everyone's life miserable. But that wasn't *her*. Why would she go looking for that kind of trouble? Claire was the certified, 100% real heiress. Hailey was just a placeholder. She had no idea what gave the original owner of this body the confidence to fight that.

Nope. She wasn't going to be that girl. Life was too good. She was just going to be a slacker. Her adoptive parents clearly still cared enough that as long as she didn't mess with their precious real daughter or break any laws, her cushy lifestyle was practically guaranteed.

Just as she was settling in for a decadent life of snacks and binge-watching, her phone rang.

"Okay, I'm asking you, how long are you going to mope around like this?" a man's voice barked through the speaker. "So what if they found your sister? The Nelsons raised you for twenty years, that's got to count for something, right? You can't just give up on yourself!"

Listening to the guy on the other end, who sounded personally offended by her lack of fight, Hailey was completely lost. Moping? When had she been moping?

He kept going. "Get it together. The reality show I booked for you is about to start filming. You better get ready."

A reality show? Right. The original Hailey was a B-list celebrity. The guy on the phone was her agent, Perry, or as she'd privately nicknamed him, Perry the Panic-Attack. While she wasn't exactly a huge star, she had some fame, mostly because everyone knew her as the daughter of the Nelson family. The running joke was that she was just a rich girl playing at being an actress. Everyone knew she was adopted, but as long as the real daughter was missing, her position had been secure.

Now that Claire was back, however, things were more than a little awkward. Without her Nelson family status, she was sure the internet was having a field day at her expense. In these kinds of stories, if the real heiress was the main character, she usually crushed the fake one. If the fake heiress was the main character, she'd look down her nose at the real one. Unfortunately for Hailey, this was the first type.

"Um," she said, after a long pause. "Do you think I could just... quit Hollywood?"

Staying in the industry just to get dunked on sounded way worse than an early retirement. She had a house, savings, and a monthly allowance. Why work herself to death?

The other end of the line went silent for three seconds before he roared, "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"

Hailey yanked the phone away from her ear before she went deaf. "Okay, calm down, don't get so worked up."

She could hear Perry breathing heavily. "You have to do this show. The contract is signed. If you back out, you'll have to pay millions in breach-of-contract fees!"

Millions.

Hailey immediately sat bolt upright. "Why wouldn't I go? I was just joking," she said, her voice suddenly serious. "Don't worry, I'll be ready. I'm done moping."

Trying to take her money? Not a chance.

Perry let out a sigh of relief, though he still sounded suspicious. "I'm warning you, Hailey, don't cause any trouble, and you'd better ditch that spoiled-rich-girl attitude. There's also a mystery guest on the show. Even I don't know who it is, so for the love of God, don't go offending them."

Hailey popped a potato chip into her mouth. "Don't worry. Am I the kind of person who goes around offending people? If they don't bother me, I won't bother them."

But if someone *did* insist on starting something, she wasn't a pushover. She knew when to fight and when to just chill. As long as she stayed out of Claire's way, everything else was negotiable.

Meanwhile, at the Nelson family mansion, Claire was being welcomed home.

"Claire, we always kept your room for you. No one's ever stayed in it," Mr. Nelson said, sounding stiff and awkward as he spoke to the daughter he barely knew.

Mrs. Nelson was just as nervous. "That's right, honey. No one can ever replace you in our hearts. This is your home now. No one will ever bully you again."

Claire looked at her biological parents, her expression cool, but a flicker of warmth surfaced in her eyes. "I know, Mom, Dad. You don't have to be so nervous around me. We're family, right?"

"Yes! Yes, of course, we are," they said, both beaming with joy.

Claire hesitated for a moment. "Mom, Dad... you adopted a daughter, didn't you? Where is she?"