Chapter 1055

Heather stood motionless, speechless, likely shocked by her sister's words.

"'She should have repented and asked for my forgiveness in tears,' " Heather seethed, "'but she told me she wanted to be herself instead!'"

"Do you have any idea what you're saying? Have you lost your mind?" Heather exclaimed.

"I'm not crazy. I've never been clearer," Hannah replied, slowly rising. She realized she was slightly taller than Heather. The slight difference highlighted their distinctness. "How can two different people become one?"

"Heather, I obeyed you, did everything you wanted for years, but that's over. Can't I be myself? How can you enjoy your life while I can't even be myself in public? I just want people to know there's a Hannah in the Riggs family, that we're sisters!"

She reached for Heather's hand, but Heather recoiled as if burned.

"You're insane!"

"I'm not, Heather! Please. We're sisters. Let me be myself! I can still help you, as myself, not as your imposter." Hannah pleaded, her voice softening.

She had contemplated this, staring at her distorted ring all day and night. Even if Ralph rejected her, she wanted to meet him authentically; the deception tormented her.

"Shut up!" Heather slapped Hannah, leaving her cheek swollen. "Have you forgotten the family curse? That only one child can exist in the Riggs family? Be yourself, huh? Fine. Then be a dead one!"

Heather grabbed a paring knife from the coffee table and threw it. It clattered to the floor before Hannah, silencing her. Palming her swollen cheek, tasting blood, she stared at the glinting blade. Her mind went blank.

Only Heather's icy voice echoed: "'Outsiders think the Riggs family is small because of few offspring. They don't know about the curse—only one child can survive. Even if we had three, seven, eight children, all but one would die. '"

"'Have you forgotten Mom? She wasn't an only child. Her siblings were exceptional, but in the end, she's the only one left! Grandma couldn't choose who lived, who died, and the result was the same. If she had, she wouldn't have let our useless mother live, and the Riggs family wouldn't be in such bad shape. Nobody would push us around!'" Heather's words reverberated in Hannah's mind.

Hannah knew this history intimately. Having heard it since childhood, she lived in fear, knowing only one of them could survive. Otherwise, the family believed a terrible disaster would befall them.

Hannah doubted the curse's validity, but everyone else believed it. Even her parents had tried to kill her because Heather was deemed stronger, more suitable as the Riggs heir. Hannah, it seemed, had forfeited her right to live.