I, Estella Stanley, and my sister, Caroline Percy, gave birth at the same time.

Caroline had a healthy baby boy, and her husband, Bernard Percy, the Prince of Goldencrest, was elated. The entire Percy Manor was lit up in celebration for three days straight.

I, however, delivered a stillborn. I was branded as a bearer of bad luck, and my husband, Crown Prince Lancelot Stanley, was stripped of his title and passed away in despair shortly thereafter.

Caroline came to mock me at the desolate estate where I was cast aside. She said I was a jinx, a cursed woman who couldn't even bring a child into the world.

With my last ounce of strength, I fought back against her, but she forcefully pushed me into a pond and drowned me.

It was only after my death that I learned the stillborn was, in fact, Caroline's child. She and her mother, Donna Gordon, had colluded to swap our babies, destroying my life and my family.

When I regained consciousness, I was back to the day of my labor.

......

"Estella, look! My baby is so strong. He's been kicking so hard in my belly!"

I heard Caroline's overly cheerful voice and realized immediately I had been reborn.

She waddled around with her round belly, boasting about how active her child was, saying he would be quite the handful one day.

I looked at her belly, still as a rock, and smirked inwardly. "Who's she trying to fool? How can a stillborn move in her belly? That's quite the act."

But I chose not to reveal her lie. Instead, I turned to Donna and smiled sweetly.

"Donna, I'm sure my sister is carrying a fine heir! I'm just waiting eagerly for his birth. It will be the grandest occasion Percy Manor has ever seen!"

My words made both Caroline and Donna beam with joy.

Yet, I caught a glint of calculated malice in their exchanged glances.

Their intentions were so glaringly obvious. It was as if they had written their thoughts on their faces, yet I hadn't noticed in my past life.

Caroline and I were both the heiresses of Gordon Manor, but our lives were very different.

My mother died shortly after giving birth to me.

My father worried I wouldn't be properly cared for, so he married my mother's sister, my aunt Donna. Not long after, she gave birth to Caroline, making her the legitimate heiress of the Gordon family.

Caroline and I were two years apart in age. We grew up together, shared a close bond, and always wanted to emulate each other.

We even married on the same day. I wed the gentle and kind Crown Prince Lancelot, while she married the strong and esteemed Prince of Goldencrest- Bernard Percy.

We both became pregnant around the same time, found midwives and wet nurses together, and both returned to Gordon Manor to await the births of our children.

Little did I know, this was the beginning of my descent into despair.

After my death, my spirit was trapped in Gordon Manor, unable to leave.

I overheard Caroline and Donna's conversations, and only then did I learn the truth.

Caroline's baby had died in the womb a month before her labor, and the Court Physician advised her to terminate the pregnancy.

But she stubbornly refused, enduring for an entire month just so she could carry out her plan with Donna to switch my baby with her stillborn child on the day I gave birth.

Caroline had been married to Bernard for two years but never got pregnant. For Benard, this was patently unacceptable.

Thus, he had already taken four or five concubines in Percy Manor, and at the Velvet Curtain, he kept a famous courtesan as his mistress. Caroline had countless rivals vying for Bernard's favor.

He made it clear that if she failed to produce an heir, he'd divorce her and cast her out of Percy Manor.

That's why Caroline had to safely deliver this child, or she would lose her prestigious status as Bernard's wife.

That was when they set their sights on my child.

Donna selected both Caroline's and my midwives, all by herself. All the maids who attended us during labor were her trusted confidants.

While I was unconscious after giving birth, they swapped our children. Caroline's stillborn was placed in my arms while my son was taken to her.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed that Caroline, whom I had loved and pampered all my life, could have plotted against me like this!

Nor could I have imagined that Donna, who had treated me like her own daughter for all those years, would slander me as cursed and jinxed behind my back.

Because of them, I was imprisoned and forbidden to leave the estate. My husband, Crown Prince Lancelot, was stripped of his title and later died in despair.

They even came to mock me at the abandoned estate, calling me a jinx. And when I tried to defend myself, they drowned me in the pond!

Now, looking at their pretentious faces, I felt nothing but disgust.