Chapter 2

Yolanda did not miss the contempt in Diana's tone. She looked up slowly as her clear and shrewd gaze fell upon the older woman. She asked, "What do you mean I can't go through the front door?" Diana was about to say something when Zora, who had been in the living room, came to the front door. Her high heels clacked against the polished floor as she approached Yolanda with a smug smile. Upon seeing Yolanda up close, she gasped. "Goodness! Yolanda, is that you? What has three years of being in the juvenile detention center done to you? Where did all this extra weight come from? "Diana, you ought to bring her to the dermatologist before that horrible acne scars her face! You wouldn't want men to run at the sight of her, would you? It's bad enough that she's a talentless and an unambitious student, but to lose a pretty face…" Her words cut Diana like knives. In the past, Diana had made similar remarks about Zora's daughter when Yvonne was around, but only because Yvonne was an exceptional child. Now that Yolanda was back, the scales had tipped in Zora's favor. "Oh, I just remembered. With the new school term coming around, Yolanda's bad grades and less-than-savory permanent record would be a cause for concern. She wouldn't get into first-rate schools. "I have a cousin who is a school vice principal. She'll be attending an art exhibition in three days. Maybe you could bring Yolanda with you, and I could introduce you," Zora offered. Zora's smug expression belied her generosity. Yolanda saw through the former's act and interjected coolly, "No, thanks. The only admissions exam I'll take will be for the best high school in the continent." Upon hearing this, Diana stiffened. Even Zora shot Yolanda an incredulous look. For some reason, she felt small under Yolanda's gaze. It was as if Yolanda was more powerful than her. Yolanda spoke with certainty and left no room for questions. "The best high school? What talent or academic achievements do you have under your belt?" Diana demanded furiously. She lashed out at Yolanda after enduring Zora's merciless taunts. "I wouldn't have to beg for favors if you were half as brilliant as Yvonne!" She then turned to address Zora. "It's very kind of you to offer, Zora, but I won't be bringing Yolanda to the art exhibition. Yvonne will go with me instead." Yolanda fixed an icy stare at Diana as the words "half as brilliant as Yvonne" echoed through her mind. "Diana, you'll have to reintegrate Yolanda into society now that she's been released from the juvenile detention center. We can't have the rest of fine society calling you a wicked and self-serving mother," Zora pointed out. She covered her mouth, but not before she snorted and left the house. Diana looked like she had just swallowed a fly. She was starting to get sick of hearing about the juvenile detention center. "This is all your fault!" she snapped at Yolanda. "Are you happy now?" She stared at the heavy set and acne-covered young lady before her. How could she have birthed someone so ugly? Why did she have none of Yvonne's beauty and intelligence? "I'll hire a painting instructor to begin lessons with you from tomorrow onward. I don't want you to embarrass me with your philistine tendencies when we show up at the art exhibition," Diana added spitefully as she huffed and stormed back into the living room. Left on the doorstep, Yolanda looked up and surveyed the Henderson residence. Her eyes were like icy orbs of onyx as she stared at Diana's retreating figure. "So, this was what my brothers meant by favoritism." … Yolanda had been assigned a room on the second floor. She stopped in front of the master bedroom, which was also Yvonne's room, when she passed by it. She glanced at Yvonne's room, which had been decorated with opulence in mind. As for Yolanda's room, it was so basic that even the desktop was an out-of-date behemoth that took up considerable space. "This is Yvonne's room," Diana informed when she noticed Yolanda taking in Yvonne's room. She added frigidly, "Your room is next door. Don't be upset that it's all you deserve. Yvonne is slated to get into a first-rate university soon, so she naturally gets the best room." Yolanda tipped her head to one side and looked up at Diana imperiously. "Do you believe privilege is something only an academically gifted child deserves?" "Yes! If I had a choice, I would never have given birth to you. You kept stealing money and getting into fights in the past. If Yvonne's accomplishments hadn't made up for it, I would have died from sheer embarrassment!" Diana did not mince her words, but they were so sharp that they could certainly inflict some serious damage. Yolanda had considered fulfilling daughterly obligations after she inherited this body from the real Yolanda, but it seemed she didn't have to go to such lengths. "I'm not your daughter. She's already dead," Yolanda said lightly as she opened the door to the guest room. "You—" Diana's fingers trembled with the urge to hit Yolanda. "I guess three years in the juvenile detention center has taught you nothing if you could still run your mouth like that! Why did you even come back here? You should have died in the center!" Yolanda heard each word loud and clear, but she was unruffled. She was no better than a robot. Her face was reflected on the desktop. The acne had spread all over her face. It marred her features until they looked like they were bridged by it. She had looked better, and in her past life, she had been stunning. She turned on the computer and began typing. She clicked on the link that redirected her to the Intercontinental Web. She was about to key in her password and inform a few members of her circle about her survival when a sudden beeping sounded. A pop-up appeared: "Wrong password." Yolanda frowned and keyed in the same password again, but the beeping ensued with indication that she had typed in the wrong password. It was impossible. Not two days had passed since the plane crash, and Yolanda was the only one who knew the password that let her access the Intercontinental Web. She even logged onto it mere minutes before she got on the plane. "Nydia?" she muttered under her breath. Nydia Hoffman was her adoptive younger sibling, who was of similar age and had similar skill sets. She was the only other person who knew the password to the Intercontinental Web. Nydia had selflessly gone on missions in Yulia's stead in the past life. At the thought of this, Yolanda picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number. It belonged to the Hoffmans' landline in Creybia. The call was put through after several rings. "Hello, you've reached the Hoffmans. Who's on the line?" came the weathered voice of the Hoffmans' butler. "I'd like to speak to Isaac," Yolanda said. The butler felt a chill run down his spine when he heard the familiar icy tone. The voice was different, but it made him squirm anyway. "Who… Who are you? Identify yourself!" "Michael, who's on the line?" Suddenly, a voice so eerily similar to Yulia's rang through the background. Yolanda felt the air around her go still when she heard it. "Ms. Hoffman, the person on the line wishes to speak to Mr. Isaac," Michael Green, the butler, answered dutifully. "Isaac? Here, pass me the phone," the woman in the background said. Having gotten the phone, she put it to her ear and asked in a tone often used by Yulia in her past life, "Who is this?" The simple question made the sirens in Yolanda's head go off. She thought about the mission she went on and the plane exploding. There was more to the plane crash than she initially believed. Yolanda's gaze darkened as she bit out gravely, "Yulia was the only Ms. Hoffman in the household, and she died in a plane crash in the early hours of yesterday morning. Who are you?" The question hung in the air. There was a beat of silence before the person said something that made Yolanda's skin prickle in alarm. The two words that the person uttered were the most preposterous Yolanda had ever heard: "I'm Yulia."