True Heiress with a Lovestruck Mind

I was the ultimate codependent fool. I had a bleach-blonde, deadbeat boyfriend who was undeniably hot, and I had already planned out our entire lives, down to the names of our future children.

Then, after eighteen years of surviving in an orphanage, I discovered I was actually the long-lost heiress of a billionaire family. There was already a fake heiress living in my place. On the day they brought me home, I dragged a battered suitcase in my left hand and my bleach-blonde bad boy in my right.

My fake sister, who had probably spent days preparing for an epic turf war with me, completely forgot to cry. She just stared at us in sheer, unadulterated shock.

My biological parents hesitated, finally asking me in hushed, nervous voices, "Sweetheart... Jude, who is this gentleman?"

I leaned affectionately against his shoulder. "Hes my boyfriend. Weve already decided to have a massive wedding first, pop out a baby, and then officially sign the marriage papers the second we hit the legal age."

My new older brother stared at Zack. Bleached hair, a slouch that screamed unemployed, a stained tank top, baggy basketball shorts, and a pair of cheap knockoff sneakers. Honestly, aside from his face, which was admittedly handsome, absolutely nothing about him was acceptable.

The entire room fell dead silent. I could practically hear them wondering if our ancestors were spinning in their graves.

Zack and I locked eyes and shared a subtle, knowing smirk.

The show was officially on.

My name is Jude Harrington. Before I got my fancy last name, I was just Jude, a parentless nobody at the local orphanage.

My proudest achievement in life was snagging an insanely hot boyfriend. His bleached hair was wild, and the moment I saw him, I was utterly obsessed.

It took a lot of chasing to get him to agree to date me.

Nobody understood our love, but that didnt matter. I was never letting him go.

So, on the day I was found and brought back to the Harrington estate, I literally wept, begging him to come with me.

"Zack, please! My family is rich, like, insanely rich! Come with me. I can't breathe without you!"

Zack gave me a look so dripping with disdain it made my heart flutter. "You said it yourself, babe. You are the one begging me."

I nodded frantically. Without him, I would literally wither away.

When the Harrington family butler arrived to pick me up, he took one look at Zack, his eyes filling with immediate disgust. "Miss, your parents sent me to bring you home. This gentleman, however..."

Zack scoffed. "You heard the man, Jude. It is not that I don't want to go. I won't stand in the way of your rich life. Let's just break up."

I threw myself onto him, clinging like a koala. "Don't you dare say that word! I will never let you break up with me!"

The butler stepped forward, trying to pull me off, his professional composure shattering into pure shock.

"Don't touch me! If I can't be with Zack, I am not going anywhere! What is the point of being rich if he leaves me?!"

Zack made a show of trying to walk away, and I wailed, holding onto his waist for dear life. Zack's ears flushed a bright red under his bleached hair as passersby stopped to whisper and watch the drama. The butler looked like he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.

"Miss! Fine! He can come! Just please, get up off the pavement!"

The moment I heard that, I beamed, looking up at Zack proudly. "See? You can come with me now! Please don't dump me, okay?"

He finally relented, giving a reluctant nod. My heart swelled with victory.

The butler opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out.

I told Zack to sit back and relax while I single-handedly hauled our heavy bags into the trunk. The butler and the driver rushed to help, and I thanked them profusely.

The butler shot an utterly bewildered look at Zack, who was casually picking his nails.

How on earth did an heiress grow up to be such a brain-dead, codependent mess in that orphanage?

But I did not care what they thought. I was in absolute paradise.

When the car pulled up to the Harrington estate, Zack stared at the massive, sprawling mansion.

I stared too. I had never seen a house this big in my entire life.

As we got out, I was greeted by the sight of my fake sister, Rose, weeping gracefully while my biological parents and brother desperately tried to comfort her.

My presence felt like a sudden intrusion, and I stood there awkwardly. It was only when the butler cleared his throat that the family finally noticed me.

My biological mother froze, her eyes locked on my face. The resemblance was uncanny; we had the exact same eyes.

Tears welled in her eyes as she rushed forward to hug me. "Jude... oh, my sweet Jude!"

I felt a sudden rush of warmth and my own eyes grew misty.

Rose clearly had not expected me to look so much like our mother. Her face went through a rapid succession of shock, jealousy, and fear. But when she saw my worn-out clothes, her expression softened into a pitying, guilty look.

Zack, seeing that the spotlight was entirely on us, cleared his throat loudly.

Mrs. Harrington blinked, looking from me to Zack, and then shot a questioning glance at the butler. "I thought you went to bring our daughter home. Who is this?"

The butler looked like he was swallowing glass. "This is Miss Jude's boyfriend. She insisted on bringing him along."

The courtyard fell dead silent. "B-Boyfriend?"

I blushed right on cue, looking down with perfect shyness. "Yes, Mom. This is Zack."

My new older brother, Nate, and my father stared at Zack. Their faces were a picture of pure disgust. They had expected to bring home a dignified daughter, not a girl trailing a street punk.

Mrs. Harrington immediately assumed I was being coerced. She could not bear to think of how much I must have suffered, being taken advantage of by a lowlife like him.

Her heart practically broke. She squeezed my hands tightly. "My poor Jude, you must have been through so much. Don't worry, your parents and your brother are here now. You don't have to be afraid of him. We will get rid of him right now."

Zack knew exactly how they felt about him. He nudged my foot with his cheap sneaker. "Well, looks like your family is too fancy for a guy like me. I'm leaving, Jude. Don't come looking for me. We are done."

I secretly glared at his foot, then instantly switched back to my dramatic, tearful act.

My eyes turned red in a second. "Zack, no! Don't be like this! My family will accept you!"

Before anyone could stop me, I dropped to my knees on the gravel.

Seeing that Zack still was not placated, I realized the obstacle was my new family. I turned around to face them. "Mom, Dad, Nate, Rose! Quick, get down here and kneel with me! Help me beg Zack so he won't leave me!"

My family's faces turned blacker than coal. The Harringtons, one of the most prominent families in Silverwood, kneeling to a bleach-blonde deadbeat?

If word of this got out, they would be the laughingstock of high society.

Rose looked like she had misheard me, tugging at Nate's sleeve in disbelief. "Nate, am I dreaming? Is she... mentally unstable?"

The Harringtons suddenly realized that their long-lost daughter might actually have a screw loose.

Mrs. Harrington's mouth twitched violently. "Jude, sweetheart, please get up first."

She had planned to shower me with affection and make up for lost time, but this sudden blow left her completely speechless.

"No, Mom! I can't live without Zack! We already planned our wedding and our first baby! He'll never leave me once we have a child, and we'll sign the papers the second we hit the legal age!"

What kind of outdated, toxic nonsense was this coming from an eighteen-year-old girl?

Mrs. Harrington swayed, nearly fainting on the spot. Rose rushed to support her.

"Sister, even if you want me gone, you don't have to hurt Mom like this. Do you know how much she looked forward to your return?" Rose scolded me, subtly implying that I was doing this on purpose to hurt the family.

Mr. Harrington's gaze turned cold and suspicious. I shot a quick glance at Zack, and he caught the cue instantly. "Fine, it's clear I don't belong here. I'll just go."

As he turned, I lunged forward, grabbing his legs. My knees scraped against the gravel, drawing blood, but I did not care. "Rose, you are trying to tear us apart! I don't even care about being a Harrington! If I can be with Zack, I'll happily sleep on cardboard and eat instant ramen for the rest of my life!"

With the neighbors from the adjacent villas starting to peek through their gates, the situation was spiraling out of control. Nate's head was throbbing, and Mr. Harrington's face was completely rigid. My legal documents had already been processed; they could not just let me run away.

"Enough! Everyone inside!" Mr. Harrington barked, trying to save whatever dignity they had left. "Rose, help your mother. And you... sir, come inside as well."

Zack smirked, finally looking satisfied. "Fine, since you're so sincere, Jude, I'll let it go this once. I won't dump you today."

I beamed and scrambled to my feet, leaving Mr. Harrington and Nate looking even more horrified.

Mr. Harrington was probably questioning whether there was a defect in the family gene pool. How else could their brilliant lineage produce such a codependent fool?

In other areas, however, my intelligence was undeniable. I had inherited the family's academic brains, consistently ranking first in my classes and scoring near perfect on my college entrance exams.

Once Mrs. Harrington recovered her composure inside, she introduced my siblings properly. "This is your older brother, Nate, and your sister, Rose."

"Jude, we know you've suffered. But we raised Rose as our own, and the hospital mix-up was an accident. We investigated and found that her biological parents wanted to abandon her anyway, so..."

At this, Rose started crying again. I wondered if she was made of water.

"Sister, I know I took your place and let you suffer for eighteen years," Rose sobbed. "I will pack my bags and leave the Harrington house. I'll give everything back to you."

Seeing her try to play the victim, I immediately cut her off. "Rose, don't say that! If it weren't for that mistake, I would have never met Zack!"

I leaned heavily on Zack's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around me, shooting a smug, provocative look at Rose.

Mrs. Harrington, trying to maintain her poise, walked over and gently pried Zack's hand off my shoulder. She even took a tissue and brushed off my sleeve, as if his touch had contaminated me.

Mr. Harrington quickly changed the subject. I did not mind. I knew they would never kick Rose out; she was a useful pawn, and she posed no threat to me anyway.

"Since Jude doesn't mind, we'll leave things as they are for now," Mr. Harrington said. "Jude, have you decided on a university?"

He had investigated my academic records before bringing me home. "I'm leaning toward Everton University," I replied.

Hearing the name of the prestigious Ivy League-equivalent school, Mr. Harrington looked pleased. "Good. Everton is excellent. Your brother graduated from there as well."

Rose lowered her head. Her grades were mediocre, barely scraping the minimum requirements for a decent local college, which made her even more insecure in this house.

I looked at Nate, and then delivered a line that shattered their fleeting joy. "But Zack's grades aren't very good. He didn't get in. I don't want to be apart from him, so I'm thinking of skipping college altogether."

Rose and Mrs. Harrington gasped. Nate stared at me like I had lost my mind.

"Nonsense!" Mr. Harrington roared, slamming his hand on the table. "How can you gamble with your future? You are a Harrington! With your potential, you could easily surpass your brother. You"

Before he could finish, Zack let out a loud, dramatic yawn, cutting him off. "Hey, I'm tired. Get someone to show me to my room."

I immediately turned to my parents, completely ignoring my father's rage. "Zack is tired. Can we get him a room?"

Mr. Harrington's face was practically purple. "There is a guest room on the first floor. Your room, Jude, is on the third floor, right next to Rose's."

Mrs. Harrington quickly added, "Yes, sweetheart. I didn't know what style you'd like, so I had it done in a simple, minimalist design. If you don't like it, we can hire a designer to completely redo it."

Rose chimed in, "Yes, sister. If you prefer my room, I can give it to you."

Zack ignored them all. He strolled up to the second floor, looked around, and pointed at a large master suite. "I'll take this one."

Nate's face darkened. "Absolutely not. That is my room."

Zack looked at him, then shrugged at me. "Whatever. Since there is no place for me here, I'll just leave. I don't do guest rooms."

The moment Zack threatened to walk, I threw myself onto the floor and locked my arms around Nate's legs. "Nate! It's just a room! Give it to him! If you don't, I'm never letting go!"

"No! No way! That is my room!" Nate yelled, trying to shake me off.

"Nate, it's just a room! How can you be so incredibly stingy?!"

"I'm stingy? He is trying to take over my space! He doesn't belong here!"

Nate was practically laughing from pure rage. But his words were a sharp sting to Rose, who sat quietly, feeling like the real intruder.

Mr. Harrington glared at Zack. "That room belongs to the heir of the Harrington family. Who do you think you are to demand it?"

Zack smirked. "So I'm not good enough, huh? Fine. I'll go back to the orphanage."

Hearing the word 'orphanage,' I burst into loud, hysterical wails. "When I was at the orphanage, Zack was the only one who protected me! He is my hero! Nobody is going to kick him out! You have no idea what I went through there! You are trying to drive away my savior and my only love!"

My screams were so piercing that even Zack looked stunned. This was not in our script.

"Enough!"

Mr. Harrington finally broke. He looked at me crying on the floor, at Nate who was trapped by my death grip, and at Zack, who was casually leaning against the second-floor railing.

"Nate... let him have the room for now."

"Dad?!" Nate could not believe his ears. He was being kicked out of his own room for a lowlife punk?

Zack offered a smug smile, walked into the room, and shut the door behind him.

Only my brother was left trembling with rage, looking like he was on the verge of a stroke.

Rose stood in the corner, thoroughly confused. This was not how the 'fake vs. real heiress' drama was supposed to go. Where was the rivalry? Why was she the only one stressing out in this house?

The next morning, Rose tried to orchestrate a classic trap. She poured a glass of milk over her own designer dress right in front of me, preparing to blame me.

When my parents rushed over to scold me, I looked at my empty glass and began to sob. "I just made that milk for Zack. He told me if he didn't get his morning milk, he'd break up with me! Now it's ruined!"

Suddenly, the family's glares shifted entirely to Rose.

Mrs. Harrington sighed. "Rose, if you wanted milk, you could have asked the maid. There was no need to ruin your sister's hard work."

Rose's face turned bright red with frustration. I ignored her, turning back to pour another glass. "Rose, please don't steal Zack's milk again."

"I... I would steal milk from that deadbeat?!" Rose gasped, clutching her chest to keep from fainting.

With Zack around, none of Rose's schemes worked. Instead, she was the one constantly ending up frustrated.

She initially thought I was putting on an act. But when she saw me hand-washing Zack's smelly, sweat-stained socks without a single complaint, she was finally convinced.

I was a hopeless, brain-dead romantic.

If anyone dared to ask Rose to wash socks like those, she would have had her bodyguards beat them half to death before taking a silk-bleach bath.

Too embarrassed to vent to her high-society friends, Rose completely gave up on competing with me. Instead, she opened her laptop and typed into the search bar: How to cure extreme codependency.