Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1 She’s Finally Moved On

At a private hospital in Irisport, Alicia Delaney lay in bed, her gaze unfocused as she stared out the window.

She never expected to travel to the past after dying.

Suddenly, a notification rang out, snapping her back to reality. She picked up her phone to check it.

It was a link to a trending topic that had blown up a few hours ago, sent by her assistant. She tapped on it.

It read: [Nicole Hammond’s concert not only had top idol Nicolas Moore as a special guest, but the VIP section was packed with even more big names!]

The post started by gushing about how amazing Nicole’s two songs were and how insanely popular she was.

Then it showed a few photos of Nicolas and Nicole singing together on stage.

Finally, it included pictures of the VIP section, where some of the biggest names in the industry were sitting.

There was up-and-coming director Caleb Hammond, Hammond Group CEO Kevin Hammond, top investor Austin Hammond, Delaney Group CEO Collin Delaney, and esports superstar Maxwell Delaney. All of them were big shots.

Alicia scrolled down and tapped on the comments. As she had expected, besides all the praise for Nicole, there were plenty of negative comments toward her.

Alexrow: [I’ve been saying Nicole is the Hammond family’s little princess, and some people didn’t believe me. But look at all these VIPs here tonight. This is the best proof.]

Matt_hill: [Gotta say, the Hammond family really dotes on Nicole. All three brothers showed up to support her.]

Jasonlee77: [Nicolas, Maxwell, and Collin are all super close to Nicole too. They totally spoil her.]

Lucas_w: [I wonder if that clout-chasing wannabe is feeling embarrassed right now after seeing this trending topic.]

Quietjon: [No idea if she’s actually embarrassed, but she’s probably burning with jealousy and envy, totally losing it right now.]

Latecoffee: [She really had the guts to claim she was the Hammonds’s daughter, Nicolas’s childhood sweetheart, and Collin and Maxwell’s cousin.]

Bluewindow: [None of them showed up for her performance yesterday. She got smacked by a stage light, and not one of them visited her in the hospital. But today, they all rushed over from everywhere just to support Nicole’s concert. Honestly, the secondhand embarrassment is real.]

Oldcam: [Yeah, she’s in the same company as Nicolas, but I bet he doesn’t even know she exists.]

Sundaynoise: [She’s totally desperate to be famous.]

Softstatic: [Nicole’s just too nice. She didn’t even make a fuss when Alicia pretended to be the Hammond family’s daughter.]

Halfawake: [If Nicole wanted, with all these big shots backing her up, she could get that clout-chaser blacklisted in a heartbeat.]

Afterten: [Blacklist her? She’s already so hated. She’ll probably end up getting herself booted from the industry soon enough.]

Lowbattery: [She loves the drama and the clout. No way she’d give that up. I just wish she’d leave LUMIA already and stop holding the other girls back.]

stillonline [Same question every day. When is Alicia finally leaving the group?]

In her previous life, seeing this trending topic and all those comments hit Alicia hard. After she got out of the hospital, she even confronted those people she thought were important to her and caused a stir.

But now, she was totally chill. She didn’t care about them anymore.

She was really a Hammond, also Kevin, Caleb, and Austin’s biological younger sister. She was Collin and Maxwell’s cousin and Nicolas’s childhood sweetheart.

Nicole was just Alicia’s stepmother’s daughter, who took the Hammond name, but Nicole wasn’t actually related to any of them by blood.

Next, Alicia logged into her X account. Aside from a handful of fans asking how she was doing after the accident, the rest were just a flood of hate comments.

People were roasting her for going to the hospital and supposedly screwing up LUMIA’s upcoming shows.

They asked her to quit the group and stop dragging the other girls down.

Alicia’s entertainment company and her agent didn’t give her any support or issue any announcement. They just watched the drama unfold and didn’t do a thing.

Just then, Alicia’s phone lit up with a call from Kevin, her oldest brother.

Alicia picked up and said, “Yeah?”

Kevin’s voice came through. “Nicole told me you got hurt. You alright?”

Alicia let out a sarcastic laugh. “It happened yesterday, and you’re just asking now?

“And you wouldn’t have called if Nicole hadn’t told you, huh? You’re such a great brother.”

Alicia knew Nicole had told them on purpose, not out of kindness, but just to get under her skin.

After all, Alicia had asked them to come to her show, but none of them bothered to show up. She got hurt, and they didn’t even notice. It really stung.

Kevin was silent for a few seconds, then he spoke up, “Which hospital are you at? We’ll come to see you.”

Alicia replied coolly, “Don’t bother. I wouldn’t dare trouble you.”

Kevin frowned, “What are you trying to pull?”

He paused, then finally tried to explain, “We really did have things going on yesterday. That was why we couldn’t make it to your show. None of us expected you’d get hurt on stage. We…”

They knew the Hommonds would never step up and admit that Alicia was really one of them.

Whenever people started questioning Alicia online, her family just kept quiet and never bothered to set the record straight.

It turned out that Nicole and her mother played it just right. The Hommonds didn’t say a word about the truth.

It basically let everyone believe that Alicia was just chasing clout, so she got dragged through the mud online.

Alicia added, “Let’s be real. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted? You’d rather pretend I don’t exist. You guys only want Nicole to be your family, right? Fine. I’ll make it easy for you.”

Kevin took a deep breath, his anger flaring. “You’re seriously threatening to cut us off just because of something so petty?

“We never said anything like that. You really need to stop acting out. Why can’t you be more like Nicole and just behave?”

Alicia knew Kevin would never believe her. He’d just think she was throwing a fit, as always.

Ever since Nicole and her mother moved in, anything Alicia did was just called her acting out. It was honestly ridiculous.

In Alicia’s previous life, she valued family so much that she kept putting up with everything, always backing down for their sake. But in the end, she became public enemy number one.

This time around, she was completely over it. Family, childhood sweetheart, or whatever, she wanted them as far away from her as possible.

Alicia let out a cold laugh. “So having one obedient sister is all you ever needed, huh?

“I’m not making a scene, and I’m not threatening you.

“Let me make this clear one last time. From today on, I’m cutting ties with every single one of you in the Hammond family.

“All my expenses growing up came from my mom, so I don’t owe the Hammond family anything.

“Just pass it on to the rest of the Hammonds for me. I won’t tell the rest of them myself.

“Let’s not contact or see each other ever again. That’s all.”

She ended the call right after saying that.

Then she blocked every single one of the Hammonds, including her father, brothers, plus Collin, Maxwell, and Nicolas.

Since she was cutting ties with them, she was going to do it for real.