Lu Shiyan had always harbored a suspicion deep in his heart, one he had never shared with anyone.
He kept feeling that his younger sister, Lu Xiaoxiao, might have become someone else on the inside.
The thought came neither from malice nor from estrangement. Quite the opposite: it was because he cared too much about his sister and observed her far too closely.
As a professional actor who had spent years in the entertainment industry dealing with all kinds of people, Lu Shiyan was confident that he was better than most of his family at telling whether someone's behavior came naturally or was a carefully crafted performance.
He was utterly certain that every smile, every frown, every spark of vivacity in this bright, vibrant Lu Xiaoxiao-sometimes sly, sometimes warm, seemingly radiant with her own light-was genuine and came straight from her heart.
She was not putting on an act. She was simply herself.
Yet that was precisely what made the disconnect all the clearer.
Lu Shiyan remembered just as clearly what the "Lu Xiaoxiao" of long ago had been like-quiet, withdrawn, her eyes always carrying a lingering trace of wariness and timidity, like a startled fawn cautiously huddling in her corner, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.
Admittedly, the Lu family had never deprived her of anything materially. Her food, clothing, and daily necessities were all fit for a wealthy family's daughter, no different from Lu Jiaoyue's. But Lu Shiyan knew that for a long time, Lu Xiaoxiao's position as the family's "adopted daughter" had remained shrouded in an awkwardness that was difficult to put into words.
Most of the family, himself included, did care about her.
But that concern was mingled, to varying degrees, with complicated feelings projected from another girl-their biological daughter and sister, Lu Jiaoyue,