Beast Tamer’s Rebirth: National Treasure Edition Novel – Sierra Sterling woke up in a dim room, her forehead damp with cold sweat. A sharp pain shot through her head. Just then, the door swung open. A man stood silhouetted in the doorway, tall and broad-shouldered. His voice was cold and detached. “Sierra, if you apologize to Nat, we can forget you ever pushed her down the stairs.” Sierra’s eyes shifted toward the voice. The man was her older brother, Jonathan Sterling. Sierra recognized this moment; she’d been here before. Soon, she knew that she had time-traveled back ten years, when she was about to hold Natalie’s parents accountable for their crimes.
Natalie Sterling, the girl who had been swapped with Sierra at their birth, had faked a fall and blamed Sierra. Once again, Sierra was taking the fall for everything. The Sterlings locked her in this storage room for a whole week. Realizing her situation, Sierra looked away, her expression distant and cold. “Why should I apologize to her?” Jonathan froze. He hadn’t expected Sierra to talk back. His expression darkened. “Nat is in the hospital because of you. You messed up. Can’t you even own it? If she weren’t so forgiving, you’d be behind bars right now.” Jonathan shook his head and sighed inwardly, ‘How could the two be so different? Nat is kind-hearted, but Sierra? She always causes trouble, and never takes responsibility.’ Sierra caught his judgmental look and let out a cold laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Jonathan snapped, disgust in his eyes. He could barely see her face in the shadows. “So you do know that when someone does something wrong, they should apologize and take the punishment, huh? Well, Natalie’s parents intentionally swapped us at birth. Now I’m trying to hold them accountable. So tell me. What did I do wrong?” Sierra retorted. In her previous life, Sierra had endured abuse from her adoptive parents and never knew what a real family felt like. When the Sterlings finally found her, she thought things would change.
She expected the Sterlings to announce her true identity and seek justice. But they never did. Back then, she blamed herself. She thought she wasn’t good enough and she tried hard to win their affection, to be part of the family. Hearing Jonathan’s accusation, Sierra stood up. Finally, Jonathan saw how pale and fragile Sierra looked. She was like she’d been drained of all life. Even though he was still pissed at her for what she’d done to Natalie, seeing Sierra so weak made him feel a pang of guilt. But then he remembered how Sierra always played the victim to get attention. His gaze turned icy. “Sierra, what game are you playing now?” Sierra met his eyes, unwavering. “From the day I returned to this family, no matter what I do, you all assume the worst.
If that’s how it is, why did you even bring me back?” “You’re still my sister,” Jonathan replied stiffly. “We couldn’t just leave you out there.” Just then, a girl in a white dress appeared at the door, looking delicate and tearful. “Jon, please don’t be angry with Sierra. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have stayed with the Sterlings.” It was Natalie, who was fresh from the hospital. Downstairs, the whole family was waiting for Sierra to apologize. In Sierra’s previous life, Natalie showed up just like this and made everything worse. Sierra was punished again. She was locked up for three more days without anyone hearing her side. Sierra fell seriously ill, and by the time the maid found her, Sierra had already lost her hearing permanently. Later, when a deranged fan of Natalie attacked her, Sierra couldn’t hear the warnings.
Sierra was stabbed repeatedly while her family stood by, more worried about Natalie’s trauma than Sierra’s life. They turned and left without a glance back. Sierra’s gaze turned hollow. There was no emotion left, just emptiness. Seeing this, Natalie lowered her eyes and bit her lip. “Jon, don’t be mad at Sierra. It was me. I slipped on the stairs. I shouldn’t have taken the attention that was rightfully hers. It’s all my fault. I’ll pack my things and leave.” Sierra smirked, her gaze sharp with sarcasm. “At least you know it. Go pack up and get out.” Natalie was pulling out all the stops to get Sierra kicked out. There was no way she’d actually leave on her own. All that talk about packing was just an act, meant to win the Sterlings over even more. In Sierra’s previous life, this kind of performance would’ve crushed her.
But now, she just watched Natalie put on the poor-little-me show like a bad soap opera. As expected, Natalie froze for a second at Sierra’s blunt reply. “Sierra, I’m really not trying to steal Mom and Dad’s love from you. You just came back. It’s natural that you’re not close yet. I’ll help them love you even more. I promise.” But since coming back to life, Sierra could finally see through Natalie’s two-faced act. She lowered her gaze, letting her long lashes hide the disgust in her eyes. “Cut the act, Natalie. It might work on the Sterlings, but it does nothing for me. Whatever I throw away, you’re welcome to pick up. I really don’t care,” Sierra said coldly.
Natalie’s face went pale. With eyes wet and red, she leaned into her victim role perfectly. “Sierra, I swear I never tried to take Mom, Dad, or the brothers from you…” She didn’t even finish before burying her face in Jonathan’s chest and bursting into tears. Jonathan felt Natalie’s tears soak through his shirt. His expression tensed instantly and any concern he’d felt for Sierra vanished. ‘Sierra has been home for three months, and she’s only ever schemed to get us attention. Now, bringing up the past is just another way to hurt Nat,’ Jonathan thought. He glared at Sierra in disgust, his voice growing even colder. “You and Nat are both Sterlings. Why can’t you two just get along? “Nat’s just starting out in the entertainment industry.
If people find out her parents are criminals, what’s that gonna do to her reputation? You’ve got the whole family behind you, but Nat has no one. Can’t you cut her some slack for once?” Sierra snorted, “She’s got no one? Really? Then who’s been throwing money and connections her way all this time? And when her fans dragged me online, where were the Sterlings then? Where were you, Jon?” Her eyes pinned them both in place. Jonathan fired back without thinking, “You’ve got a bad reputation yourself, and your education is nothing special. People see what they see. What did you expect us to do?” Sierra was tired of hearing the same excuses. She cut him off coldly, “If I’m really such a disgrace, then let’s just stay out of each other’s lives from now on. No reason we ever have to cross paths again.” Jonathan’s chest tightened. He stared at Sierra in shock.