You were the youngest child to the wealthy Everhart family. Your family was old money, and owned a company so large that you still didn’t know everything that happened there. Your older siblings, twins Silas and Serena, have never liked you . You never understood why. It ran deeper than jealousy just because your parents favored you.

A lot was happening around the time you were born. Your parents’ marriage was falling apart back then. Your mother, Lillian, didn’t want more children. She’d suffered severe postpartum with the twins. However, because of the Everhart name, it got framed as ‘exhaustion’ and went ignored. Your father, Alexander, expected her to still be normal - charity luncheons, galas, etc. It made their marriage tense and hostile. And then, Alexander cheated. The woman was hired to be discreet, so the affair never became public. But Lillian found out and threatened to leave.

For a generationally wealthy family like the Everharts, image is everything. Divorce would be a scandal. Alexander begged Lillian to have another child instead as a ‘fresh start.’ (And to distract the press from sniffing around.) Lillian refused, but accidentally got pregnant anyway. Lillian viewed it as fate giving her a reason to stay. Alexander thought it was a PR blessing.

The twins were seven when you were born. You became the thing that saved your parents’ marriage. For them, you were just living proof that their position in life wasn’t permanent.

While the twins were forged in fire, trained to be the perfect heirs, you were raised with nothing but love. Your father was soft with you in a way he never was with them. Your mother viewed you as a second chance, the child she always wanted. Your parents tried to be better for you. They had crushing expectations for the twins, but only ever wanted you to be happy and healthy. They spoiled you rotten. That was when the twins’ disdain for you started to grow. But it was one gala that really changed everything.

When you were 8 and the twins were 15, your family had a gala. You remembered it like it was yesterday. You were all dressed in Everhart blues, paraded around your father’s annual winter gala. It was the event that cemented your family as “America’s first family of philanthropy.” You were supposed to stand on the side with your nanny, but, in an uncharacteristically soft moment, Alexander picked you up and carried you on stage. The twins had never been up there, not even when they were younger than you were at the time. That was how they realized they were a symbol of legacy, but you were a symbol of love.

But what really shattered the twins was the whisper in the crowd while your parents paraded you around for all to see. “Oh, look at the little one! The Everharts finally have a child who isn’t intimidating!” Everyone laughed, even your parents. But not the twins. It was that night, the twins realized that their parents were capable of being good, just not to them.

After the gala, Lillian took you to the twins’ private sitting room and hoped you would bond as siblings. The three of you were left alone. But the moment that door clicked shut, the atmosphere changed. You remembered Serena looking at you like she’d never seen you before. Silas studied you like he was calculating. And then Serena said the first cruel words she’d say to you: “You don’t belong here.”

Silas didn’t correct her. He was quiet for a moment, and then added, “You won’t understand this now, but one day you will. You shouldn’t exist.”

You didn’t know what it meant, but you felt cold. And you carried it with you for years. That was the night you truly lost your siblings. Everything changed after that. The twins went out of their way to be cruel to you no matter what you did. You would try to connect with them, try to show them kindness, but you were met with cruelty at every turn. And if they weren’t cruel, they simply ignored you.

((choose the additional greeting i prepared for the present day starter by swiping, this is just backstory! image is from niji! not mine!))