The very day my father ‘died’, Liam Harrison called off our engagement. He immediately turned around and got engaged to his childhood sweetheart, planning to kick me out of my own home. He was sprawled on the couch in my family’s mansion, his expression chillingly indifferent. “Your dad’s gone, so there’s no need to hide it from you anymore. Amber’s pregnant with my child, and I have to take responsibility for her.” “If you can just stay by my side, be subservient and take good care of Amber and the baby, I might still throw you a bone. Otherwise, get out!” Liam’s mother, Maureen, who used to be our household help, stepped forward, hands on her hips, jabbing a finger right at my face. “I worked as a maid for the Vance family for twenty years. Your father just up and died, leaving nothing behind! This mansion? Consider it my compensation. From now on, you’re the maid here!” Looking at the arrogant sneers on their faces, a cold chill spread through my heart. My father’s ‘death’ was actually just a stunt, a strategic move in a brutal business war. Who knew it would expose the true colors of this mother and son duo so perfectly.
“Eleanor Vance, didn’t you hear my mother talking to you? Are you staying, or are you going to pack your things and clear out now?” Important documents in my father’s study, and my mother’s precious belongings – they’re all still here. I can’t leave. “I’ll stay.” A flicker of triumph flashed in Liam Harrison’s eyes. “Smart girl. Glad you know your place. If you’re willing to stay, then do as my mother says. From now on, you’re the maid of this house. Lunchtime is almost here, go make some food!” “Amber will be over soon. She loves honey-glazed salmon the most. Hurry up and make it! And remember, every single bone must be picked out clean!” I froze. Maureen suddenly lost her temper. “What are you staring at?! That’s my grandchild in Amber’s belly! What’s wrong with asking you to de-bone a fish? Still think you’re the rich heiress you used to be? Your dad’s dead! Didn’t leave you a single cent!” “Stop acting like some pampered princess! Get to the kitchen and clean that fish, now!” Maureen quickly ripped off her apron and flung it at me. “Hurry up and follow me! I’m only showing you once!” Liam, buttoning up his shirt, urged me on. “Faster, faster! Don’t drag your feet. If Amber arrives and you haven’t finished, you’ll see how I deal with you!” He casually picked up my father’s car keys and drove off. I watched Liam’s receding figure, feeling a strange disconnect. Just a month ago, he was kneeling before my father, repeatedly kowtowing, thanking him for agreeing to let me marry him. He was just a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, decent enough, but always lacking courage. He only really started making something of himself thanks to my father’s constant support and countless opportunities. My father had been vehemently against the marriage, but it was Liam’s meticulous attention, his always-agreeable attitude, that finally swayed his mind. Who would have thought that less than a day after my father’s ‘death’, he’d already morphed into a monster. “What are you looking at?! He’s not your man anymore!” A cold, fishy-smelling pair of scissors clattered onto my foot. Maureen roughly nudged me. “Stop daydreaming! Cleaning this fish is what matters now!” Ribbonfish bones are tiny and numerous. Maureen, fearing I wouldn’t be thorough enough, refused to let me wear gloves. My fingertips were a bloody mess, riddled with thorns, before I’d even cleaned half the fish. My father also loved ribbonfish, but he was never good at picking out bones. Yet whenever he asked Maureen to make it, he’d always say she was too old, afraid she’d hurt herself. He never made her de-bone them. I met Maureen’s ugly sneer with a cold smile of my own. Go on, dig your own grave. What goes around, comes around. Under Maureen’s relentless urging, the dishes were all on the table just as Liam walked in, his arm wrapped around Amber Reed’s waist. Honey-glazed salmon, barbecue ribs, creamy truffle pasta, and a rich beef stew – every single one was a dish Liam had specified, Amber’s favorites. Only the simple steamed broccoli in the corner – my favorite. Liam knew that, but he merely glanced at it before sweeping it straight into the trash can. “Eleanor Vance, how many times have I told you? Amber doesn’t eat vegetables! What’s the meaning of putting a plate of broccoli on the table?” “That’s my—” “Yours? When has my mother, the maid, ever sat at this table in twenty years? Is that a place for you, a maid?!” “For your insolence, you won’t be eating lunch today! Just stand by Amber’s side and serve her!” This wasn’t my first time seeing Amber. Every previous meeting, she’d been all smiles, calling me ‘Ellie-jie’ with sickening flattery. Now, her expression had soured. She daintily pointed a finger at the fish, her voice a sickly sweet whine. “Ellie, darling, could you please get me a piece of that ribbonfish? I’d love to taste your cooking.” “Amber, that fish is closer to you than it is to me…” “Eleanor! What are you blabbering about?! Amber told you to serve her, so serve her!” “And ‘Amber’? Is that how you address her? From now on, you call her Mrs. Harrison, got it?” Something inside me clenched. I mumbled for a few seconds, feeling utterly disgusted, but the words still wouldn’t leave my mouth. Seeing my hesitation, Amber snuggled deeper into Liam’s embrace, letting out a simpering giggle. “It’s fine, Liam, don’t bother Ellie. Just let her serve me.” Desperate to avoid any more sickening encounters, I picked up my forks and reached for the dish of fish. My forks had just touched the fish when Liam suddenly called out, “Wait!” He quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, exchanged a look with Amber, and then raised an eyebrow at me. “The Vance heiress serving others – now that’s a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle! How could I not go live? Wouldn’t want to disappoint all those guys who used to fall all over themselves for you, would we?” The moment I reached to serve Amber the fish, Liam went live…
“Make sure you check every single bone for Amber!” As I meticulously tore apart that piece of fish, checking every tiny fragment, I saw the live chat exploding with comments. “OMG! Isn’t that the Vance heiress? What’s she doing in an apron, serving people?!” “Of course! Her dad died, and now she’s serving her ex-fiancé’s new girlfriend – the one who’s already pregnant! What else is she gonna do? A fallen queen is worth less than a peasant!” Suddenly, a notification for a huge, extravagant gift popped up. “Hey streamer, here are ten Royal Supercars! How about you make the fallen heiress eat someone’s leftovers, right out of their mouth?” Liam’s eyes lit up greedily. He grabbed his phone, ready to respond. I quickly pulled his arm. “Don’t agree. I’ll give you all the jewelry from my box. It’s worth far more than those gifts.” Fearing Liam would refuse, I pleaded, “Liam, for the sake of all those years we spent together, leave some dignity for yourself—and for me.” “We never had ‘feelings.’ If I had any, they were for your dad. Now he’s dead, so what ‘feelings’ are you even talking about?” He snarled. “This house is mine now. Your jewelry? That’s my property too! Stop wasting my time!” The moment Liam typed “Okay” on the screen, Amber had already chewed up the fish she’d just put in her mouth and spat it out right in front of me. “Ellie, darling, go on, eat. I even left you a little flavor.” The live stream audience had already surpassed 1 million. Royal Supercars scrolled across the screen, one after another, as the comments section went wild. “Eat!” “Eat!” “Eat!” Before I could even react, Liam grabbed my head and shoved my face down towards the plate. The heap of filth Amber had spat out pressed directly against my lips. A putrid, fishy stench filled my nostrils. I couldn’t hold it in. I kicked Liam hard with all my might and retched violently. The comments section instantly exploded. “Didn’t even eat it, just threw up? What’s wrong, streamer? This isn’t good enough, refund! Or make her eat what she just threw up!” Liam grabbed my collar and yanked me up, his eyes cold and vicious. “Eleanor Vance, are you useless or what?! You absolute trash! Get that mess back in your mouth, now, or listen to what the top donor says!” The comments section boiled over again, constant notifications showing the stream being shared. “Wow, Mr. Harrison! Now you’re ordering around the Vance heiress? No longer a kept man, are we?!” “Mr. Harrison, you’re awesome!” “Mr. Harrison, my idol!” The sycophantic comments in the chat only inflated Liam’s already colossal ego. Seeing me hesitate, he stepped forward, intending to shove my face onto the table again, just like before. I’d only intended to play along with their cruel game, but this? This was beyond my limit. The instant Liam charged at me, I grabbed a dinner knife from the table and plunged it straight into Liam’s palm. “Ahhh!” Blood splattered across my face. Liam let out a piercing shriek of agony. Maureen and Amber instantly sprang from their chairs, rushing at me in unison. I pointed the knife directly at them. “Who dares move?! One step, and I’ll end you!” Maureen and Amber immediately froze, not daring to stir. Liam, seeing me holding the knife towards his mother and Amber, ignored the gash in his hand. He grabbed a nearby dinner plate, aiming to smash it at me. Maureen’s eyes darted around. After two seconds of frantic thought, she rushed forward to stop Liam. “Son, don’t be impulsive. She was a pampered heiress for over two decades. Who knows what powerful people she still knows? Going this far, this early, might not be wise.” “Anyway, she’s already been humiliated, and we’ve got the gifts. Let’s just leave it at that for today…” Liam gradually calmed down. He smashed the plate on the floor, then looked at me. “You’re a disgrace. Clean this place up! I’m taking Amber and my mother out for dinner. Keep your phone on and stay available. I’ll call you if I need anything!” “Oh, and clear out your bedroom for Amber. From now on, you’re in the guest room!” With that, Liam put his arm around Amber and, along with Maureen, stormed out, slamming the door behind them.
No sooner had they stormed out than I received a text from Chloe, the manager of the bridal boutique. [Ellie, a girl named Amber Reed just came in, demanding to try on your wedding dress – the one we just finished altering for you! We’re about to call the police.] [No, don’t. Let her try it. Make sure she’s well ‘served’.] Chloe is the daughter of one of my father’s oldest, most trusted friends. She was probably in on the whole ‘stunt,’ but we had to play the part perfectly. When my father ‘left,’ he’d repeatedly warned me not to let anyone suspect a thing. If this plan succeeded, the Vance family would be untouchable, securing the top spot among the country’s wealthiest families for the next three decades. This was no time for me to slip up. Thinking this, I also dismissed the idea of calling someone to clean up. I started to pick up the mess on the table myself, piece by piece. Halfway through, Liam called. “Get to the bridal boutique. Be here in 20 minutes.” When I arrived at the bridal boutique, I immediately spotted Chloe, her face a mask of furious indignation. Following her gaze, I saw Amber already wearing the wedding dress that had just been altered for me. She was much shorter than me, so the long train of the dress dragged ludicrously on the floor, looking quite comical. “Do you have any concept of time?! I told you to be here in twenty minutes! Look how late you are! Eighteen whole minutes!” To keep up appearances, all my premium credit cards had been frozen. A cab from our mansion would have cost hundreds of dollars. I’d taken buses and subways to get here. “What are you gawking at?! Can’t you see the dress is dragging on the floor? Go help Amber hold it up!” “Hey! What’s wrong with you?! This is Ellie’s dress! It’s one thing for Ellie to be generous enough to let her wear it, but you’re making Ellie serve her?! Are you out of your mind?!” Chloe furiously defended me. Liam sprang from his seat and aimed a slap at Chloe’s face. “You’re the crazy one! Her dad’s dead! You still think she’s some pampered heiress?!” I instantly stepped in front of Chloe and took the full force of the slap right across my left cheek. Perhaps the incident with the knife still rattled Liam, because when he saw he’d hit me, he didn’t say another word. My face swelled up instantly. Chloe looked at me, her eyes brimming with tears and guilt. I patted her hand, giving her a look that said I was okay. Then, I knelt down to help Amber hold up the train of the wedding dress. In the mirror, Amber looked at me, a highly provocative and mocking smile playing on her lips. Then, she deliberately leaned back, her fifteen-centimeter heel grinding directly into the back of my hand. Excruciating pain instantly shot from my fingertips, through my hand, and up my arm. Before I could even make a sound, Amber shrieked in a high-pitched voice, “Ellie, if you’re upset I’m wearing your dress, just say so! Why would you push me? I have a baby in here!” Seeing this, Liam immediately stepped forward, and a slap landed squarely on my face. “Eleanor Vance, how could I have never seen how evil you truly are?! I knew something was up when you suddenly became so agreeable, doing whatever you were told! You’ve been plotting something wicked all along, haven’t you?!” “Stop making a scene and embarrassing everyone! Get out of here and go home!” Unable to afford a cab, I had to take the bus. The moment I boarded, I became the center of attention. “Isn’t that the fallen heiress from the Vance family? I just saw her get slapped at the bridal shop! Look, you can still see the marks on her face!” “Right? If she doesn’t serve Mrs. Harrison well, she’ll get even more beatings later!” “Serves her right! She’s had it good for too long, it’s about time she got a taste of hardship!” Amidst the cacophony of cruel whispers and insults, I received a text from Chloe. [Ellie, just hang in there a little longer. My dad just sent a message. In three days, everything will turn around.]
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “301639”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #重生Reborn #励志Inspiring
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