Chapter 4 — I'm No Longer A Substitute

That night, I didn't understand why I dreamed about the past... Back then, I tried my best to please the Luong family. To the point of volunteering to be Luong Tieu's "ghost" artist, so that she could take my paintings and exhibit them under her own name. As a result, the other painting was disqualified, and the work I hid separately won the gold prize. At that time, I still felt guilty, but Luong Tieu was generous: "It's okay, I'm happy because you won the award!" She even specially organized a celebration party for me. At that time, I naively thought that Luong Tieu had finally accepted me. It was also at that party that I first met Giang Ha. She sat alone in the corner of the room, not talking to anyone. Beautiful face, brilliant and sharp beauty that makes people turn their heads. At that time, I didn't have any friends, so I took the initiative to start a conversation with her. But Giang Ha at that time was not very enthusiastic, even a little cold, making me think that she was like everyone else, looking down on me - a "fake genius". When the party entered its most exciting climax, Luong Tieu suddenly had someone carry out a stack of my paintings. Those paintings are arranged into a small, thick mountain. I clearly remember it was a cold winter. The fire in the fireplace flickered brightly, but my heart at that time was... cold as ice. I was pinned to the floor by Luong Tieu's henchmen, helplessly watching her throw all my heart and soul into the fire. The Luong family never gave me a penny to learn how to draw. I have to work extra to save every penny, save money to buy each pen, each tube of color. Each painting... is drawn by me sitting in a damp basement, under the weak yellow light, drawing line by line. Want to continue translating part 9? The next part is when the secret about the bloodline report is revealed, and at the painting exhibition there will be an extremely harsh "reverse" that will cause the Luong family to collapse in front of everyone. I guarantee that part is very refreshing. Do you want me to translate too? But Luong Tieu laughed loudly, mocked my paintings, and threw each painting into the fire, burning all the pieces. “Luong Am, from now on you are not allowed to paint anymore, do you understand?!” My heart was filled with resentment, and at that moment I suddenly understood - Luong Tieu kept me only to turn me into a green leaf for her forever. It all comes from the fact that the two of us have similar faces. In the past, she was kidnapped by a rival of the Luong family, and I was mistakenly identified as her, and only enjoyed a few short years of happiness. She aggressively stomped on my face with the heel of her shoe, her voice sharp: "Why don't you answer? In the past, I kept you here just so you could be my foundation, understand? Do you really think... I consider you my sister?" She leaned down, close to my ear, her voice like ice: "Do you know? Your biological parents' plane crashed. Haven't you always wanted to contact them? Then... go to the ground and ask!" My whole body felt like it was falling into a cold ice cellar, I couldn't utter a word. I could only glare and let her return with her friends and continue throwing my paintings into the fire. Right at this moment— "Hey! You guys bully a girl, is that considered bravery?!" While everyone was silent all this time, Giang Ha suddenly spoke up. I'm appalled Surprised to see her walk straight in front of Luong Tieu, then suddenly raised her hand and hit the fire alarm.

“Xiiiiii ——” The siren rang, the fire system immediately went into action, white columns of water poured down. Amidst the shrill screams of Luong Tieu and his friends, I took advantage of the chaos and struggled to escape control. Rushing to the fire that was being extinguished by water, I desperately pulled out the few remaining paintings, wet in my hands. Suddenly, my hand became warm. Giang Ha's long fingers gently grabbed my palm, pulling me out of the Luong family's house. We just kept running and running, like we were escaping from an old life. In my dream, I saw Giang Ha - her short hair gradually turned into long, flowing curls. She turned her head, her eyes shining, and said one sentence to me: "Take back the life that belongs to you!" I slowly opened my eyes, quietly wiping away the remaining tears at the corners of my eyes. Not knowing when, Nguyen Thanh entered the room. He sat on the edge of the bed, silently looking at me. “You… seem to carry a lot of suffering.” I smiled faintly: "Those things... are not worth mentioning." Outside the window, the sun gradually rose. I looked at the light shining through the curtains and asked softly: "Do you... want to know my past?" Nguyen Thanh sat there, half of his face hidden in the darkness, the other half illuminated by the dawn light, his voice was low but firm: "Actually... I know it all." He paused for a moment, then emphasized each word, his eyes locked on mine: "About everything related to you... I know." 9 City A's biggest annual art exhibition has finally begun. This time Luong Tieu is both the person in charge of the event and the author bringing his work to display. She dressed splendidly, her evening gown was exquisitely cut, showing off her noble temperament, walking confidently under the flash light.

I sat in the VIP lounge behind the scenes, quietly looking through the screen, seeing Nguyen Thanh and Luong Tieu together receiving interviews with the press. A reporter asked: "Today, why don't you go with Mr. Nguyen Thanh?" Before Nguyen Thanh could answer, Luong Tieu immediately interrupted with a dignified smile: "My sister doesn't understand these things, so today I'm going with my brother-in-law on her behalf." At that moment, a series of live comments appeared on the livestream screen next to him: 【I've never seen the young master of the Nguyen family take Luong Am to any event, maybe the two are about to divorce.】 【Actually, I think Nguyen Thanh and Luong Tieu are a very nice couple!】 【+1, I heard that Luong Am stole Nguyen Thanh from Luong Tieu, how can she be worthy of him?】 【That's right, Luong Tieu is both beautiful and talented, while Luong Am only studied in college, I heard that the Luong family itself doesn't like her.】 【That's right, who in a rich family would let their daughter study only in college!】 【I heard that she intended to study abroad, but then was exposed for cheating on her grades, so the school rejected her to her face!】 … I quietly watched each line of comments jumping up on the screen. Behind me, Giang Ha is helping me adjust the collar of my evening dress. She glanced at the screen, the corners of her lips curled slightly, and smiled coldly: "Today's event." Livestream the whole thing, there will be a lot of fun.” 10 The reporters asked Luong Tieu to introduce his painting. She held her head high, full of pride, leading everyone in front of a large painting. Nguyen Thanh's eyes flashed with surprise, as if strongly attracted. It's a picture of a sunrise — the golden lines look chaotic but blend perfectly with the red-orange light, creating a feeling of warmth and vitality. “This painting is my most recent work, it took me a full year to complete.” The reporters immediately jostled to take pictures continuously, the sound of "click click click click click" rang out continuously. On the large screen next to it, the live commentary from the outside audience was also scrolling continuously. There are compliments everywhere, praising the excellent painting. Just when everyone was immersed in an atmosphere of appreciation, Nguyen Thanh suddenly opened his mouth, his voice low: "This picture... you drew it?" Luong Tieu smiled charmingly and looked at him confidently: "Of course! Brother-in-law… don't you believe me?”

“I don't believe it either!” My voice rang out.

I slowly walked out of the darkness behind the light, each step making the space quiet. In that moment, countless flashes flashed, and the lenses of all the cameras immediately turned towards me. On the big screen, my image appeared clearly - a long, tight black dress that showed off every curve of my body, causing the entire auditorium to suddenly stir. The livestream comment section immediately exploded: 【Oh my god! Is this Luong Am?! It's so beautiful!】 【It feels like something big is about to happen! Looking at her aura, I probably didn't come here to make up!】 【Maybe she's jealous of Luong Tieu, she looks like she's about to destroy the exhibition!】 Luong Tieu saw me suddenly appear, her face stiffened a bit, but she still tried to put on the "generous older sister" mask: a tolerant, gentle appearance, pretending not to be moved at all. Luong Tieu quickly walked over, with a fake gentle look on his face, embracing my arm intimately: "My sister, why are you here now~ Come here, let's look at this picture together!" She smiled brightly, but her hand suddenly squeezed my arm, close to my ear, her voice cold as a knife: "Don't play tricks here... Be careful, I'll kill you later." I violently shook her hand away, my sharp voice echoed throughout the hall: "Luong Tieu! From now on, you will no longer have the opportunity to bully me!” I stepped forward, pulled out a small, specialized knife, and gently swiped it on the large painting hanging.

“Shush—” A sharp sound rang out, the golden paint began to peel off into falling powder. Right under the seemingly confusing lines, a familiar line of symbols clearly appeared: "ly 0627" - My own secret signature sign.

“Luong Am!” — Luong Tieu's voice almost screamed behind him — “What are you doing?!”