Five years ago, my family suddenly went bankrupt. My sister got cancer, and the entire family relied on me to survive. But when I returned to the villa we used to live in, I found the lights blazing inside. My parents and my sister, who was supposed to be gravely ill, were enjoying a lavish dinner in the living room, their mouths greasy with food. They were watching a video of me working three jobs a day, pointing and commenting. “No, she’s still not ruthless enough. She can’t even compare to us when we started from scratch.” My mother, Eleanor, said, eating premium Kobe steak. “She needs to suffer a bit more before she’s worthy of being our heir.” My sister, Chloe, casually tossed the birthday teddy bear I bought her into the trash. “Olivia still isn’t working hard enough.” I was utterly heartbroken. It turned out the bankruptcy was fake, the illness was fake, everything was a lie concocted by them to pressure and “educate” me. So, I partnered with my arch-rival and had all of my family’s assets seized. You said I wasn’t working hard enough, not ruthless enough? Well, now that I am ruthless, why are you crying and begging me?
It was four in the morning, and Northwood City’s sanitation trucks hadn’t arrived yet. As usual, I carried a woven bag bigger than myself and skillfully slipped into the greenbelt outside The Summit Estates. This was Northwood City’s wealthiest neighborhood. I felt a pang of guilt because my parents had repeatedly warned me not to come near here. “The debt collectors are waiting around there for us; whatever you do, don’t go near it.” But I often came secretly. After all, my face was so rough now that I barely recognized myself. And the rich people here were too lazy to even break down cardboard boxes they’d only used once. For a scavenger like me, it was more cost-effective. “Olivia, we’re still short five hundred for this week’s medicine. You need to find a way.” Last night, before I left, my mom grabbed my hand, her eyes swollen like golf balls from crying. My dad, Robert, lay sprawled on the bed in our leaky basement, clutching his chest, looking like he could kick the bucket at any moment. To save those five hundred bucks, I hadn’t eaten dinner for three days straight. My stomach was churning with hunger. I sped up my rummaging. Suddenly, a flash of pink appeared, and my hand froze. On top of a pile of freshly dumped kitchen waste, a pink teddy bear lay face down. Its belly was torn open, revealing the stuffing, and one eye was missing. It looked utterly pathetic. Just last night. I had scraped every penny together from my living expenses, then spent two agonizing hours at the toy store entrance haggling with the owner, almost begging him, just to buy this defective bear for fifty dollars. It was my adopted sister Chloe’s eighteenth birthday gift. Because I couldn’t afford wrapping paper, I had clumsily embroidered a few words on the bear’s paw: “Chloe, Happy Birthday.” Now, that line of text was stained with coffee. I frantically dug it out. My hands began to tremble violently. Just yesterday, when I presented this bear, my dad slapped me across the face and cursed, “Our family can’t even put food on the table, and you’re buying this garbage! Vain! A spendthrift!” My mom, Eleanor, cradled “sick” Chloe and said with a pained expression, “Olivia, you’ve disappointed us so much. Your sister can’t even afford her medicine, and you’re wasting money.” I knelt on the ground, admitting my mistake, swearing I would gather the medicine money by tomorrow. But still, this was a gift I had painstakingly saved up for my sister. *Vroom—* A black Maybach slowly drove out of the villa district, breaking my thoughts. The car windows were tinted, but I recognized the license plate—it read ‘ELITE8’. Wasn’t this the car of the mysterious billionaire who supposedly bought our foreclosed house? The driver had a crew cut, and that profile… it was clearly Mike, our old family driver! Dad had said that Mike had gone back to his hometown after we went bankrupt, hadn’t he? Driven by an inexplicable urge, I dropped my woven bag. And followed the car. I watched, mesmerized, as the car drove towards the villa we used to live in. The villa was brightly lit; it looked nothing like a seized property. I crouched behind the bushes and, through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, witnessed a scene I would never forget. My dad, Robert, who was supposedly paralyzed and unable to walk in the basement, was now energetically cutting a cigar, full of vigor. My mom, Eleanor, was wearing a face mask, directing the staff to carry boxes of luxury goods upstairs. And Chloe, who supposedly had a terminal illness, held an Hermès bag, pouting in distaste: “This color is so old-fashioned, Mom. Your taste is terrible.” Mom wasn’t angry; instead, she chuckled and coaxed her: “Alright, alright, we’ll go change it tomorrow, as long as our Chloe is happy.” “Oh, right,” Chloe suddenly remembered, “I accidentally lost the teddy bear Olivia gave me.” Dad blew out a smoke ring and sneered: “Good riddance. Just seeing that thing irritates me.” “Only suffered for half a year, and already can’t control her spending? Wasting money buying things? No sense of saving at all.” *Boom—* My world completely shattered at that moment. No bankruptcy. No terminal illness. No debt. For the past six months, I had been working day and night, washing dishes, doing manual labor, collecting trash, selling my blood. I lived in a moldy basement, eating their stale leftovers. I thought I was saving this family. Turns out, I was just a monkey for their after-dinner amusement.
What could I do if I rushed in now? Demand answers? Cry and lament? I bit my lip hard until I tasted blood. I quietly crept around to the back of the villa, where the staff quarters were. A window there was always left open; it was my secret passage for sneaking out to play when I was a child. I climbed in and hid in the secret compartment of the wardrobe in the second-floor study. The view here was the best, and I could hear everything happening in the living room. In the living room, a huge projector screen descended. “Alright, alright, today’s episode of our ‘Tough Love’ reality show is starting.” Dad excitedly rubbed his hands, beckoning Mom and Chloe. The screen lit up. The scene showed a day of heavy rain. I was riding that rickety old scooter I’d salvaged from a dump, delivering takeout. The rain was too heavy, and the road collapsed. I, along with my scooter, tumbled into a mud pit. The takeout food spilled everywhere. I ignored the bleeding cut on my leg, knelt in the muddy water, picking up each container, crying as I wiped them clean. Because if that order got a complaint, I would have to pay twenty dollars. Twenty dollars, enough to feed our family ramen for three days. “Oh my gosh, Olivia is so clumsy.” Chloe’s gasp echoed from the living room. She pointed at the disheveled, mud-covered figure on the screen, frowning. “Dad, I don’t think Olivia is suited for hardship?” “Crying like that for twenty bucks, she has no foresight.” Dad, however, looked serious. “Chloe, don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand.” He pointed at me on the screen, using his cigar. “That look in her eyes is exactly right.” “People can only unleash their potential when they’re pushed to the brink.” “She used to spend ten dollars on books without batting an eye; now she’s kneeling for twenty dollars.” “What does this show? It shows her vanity has been crushed; she’s starting to understand the value of money.” “That’s exactly the effect we’re looking for.” Mom, Eleanor, walked over, holding a goblet of expensive champagne, taking an elegant sip. “We started from scratch, we know that building an empire is easy, but holding onto it is the real challenge.” “Olivia was too pampered before, too soft-hearted. If we don’t let her experience the hardships we went through, how will she take over the business in the future?” “Look how capable she’s been these past six months? Working three jobs a day, and she doesn’t complain about being tired.” “She’s a true heir of the Blackwood legacy.” Mom said, not noticing the resentment in Chloe’s eyes. The screen shifted, cutting to a different scene. It was me, standing outside a 24-hour convenience store, staring at the pastries inside, hesitating for nearly ten minutes. Finally, I turned and left, thinking two dollars each was too expensive. In the scene, I was forlornly nibbling on half a dry piece of bread I’d found. I rubbed my stomach, which was cramping from hunger, and reached for the beef they’d left on the table. As I ate, tears streamed down my face. Then, the scene shifted again. It was me washing dishes at a greasy diner. My old rival, with a group of rich kids, came to humiliate me. She splashed boiling hot oil from the fryer on my hand and threw two hundred dollars on the floor, telling me to pick it up. On the screen, I endured the searing pain, bent down, and picked up the two hundred dollars. Because back then, Dad was pretending to be sick in bed, saying his heart was hurting him to death. Seeing this, Dad nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent! She knows when to bend and when to stand tall!” “This is what it means to truly swallow your pride!” “She wasn’t picking up money; she was picking up her lost dignity. A qualified heir must learn to shed her pride.” Chloe pouted, a hint of jealousy in her voice: “Dad, how much longer are you going to test her?” “What if she finds out the truth and hates us?” “Hate?” Dad sneered. “She’s my blood, I’m her father.” “I’m doing this for her own good. This is the highest form of elite education.” “When she stands at the pinnacle of wealth in the future, she’ll kneel down and thank me.” My fingernails dug deeply into my flesh. So that’s how it was. My past six months of hellish living, in their eyes, was a meticulously planned reality show. They watched me bleed, watched me kneel, watched me beg for food like a dog. Not only did they feel no pity, but they were here, toasting and celebrating it.
I didn’t tip my hand. I returned to that moldy basement as if nothing had happened. For the next two days, I woke up early as usual, still rummaged through trash bins, but my eyes were no longer vacant. I began to discreetly observe this “poor” home. Before, I was too foolish, too desperate to save them, and I had overlooked so many obvious flaws. For example, Mom. Although she wore old clothes bought from a bargain store, her face had smooth, radiant skin. If you got close, you could still smell the subtle scent of a high-end moisturizer. How could a poor person have such a glowing complexion? Poor people, like me, have sallow complexions and chapped hands. Then there was Chloe. She was lying on the small bed, playing on her phone. Seeing me enter, she immediately hid the phone behind her back and weakly coughed twice: “Olivia… you’re back.” As she reached for a glass of water, I grabbed her wrist. It was a hand that had recently been meticulously cared for, nails perfectly rounded, even coated with clear nail polish, glowing with a soft pink sheen. “Chloe, your nails look great, like they’ve been treated at a top salon,” I said, a faint smile playing on my lips. Chloe’s face stiffened, and she recoiled her hand as if shocked: “This is… I just messed around with it myself.” I glanced at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner, which Mom had deliberately left for me to wash. I suddenly spoke, “Chloe, the bear I bought you…” “The bear… I’m sorry, Olivia, I accidentally lost it…” “But you’ll forgive me, right? After all, a bear like that, you can earn back by cleaning toilets for three days.” “But I…” “Enough!” Mom shoved me, shielding Chloe behind her, her eyes wide with fury: “Your sister isn’t well, and you’re still upsetting her! It’s just a silly bear, it’s lost, so what?” I staggered from the shove, my heart chilling to the core. But I wasn’t ready to give up completely. I wanted to give them, and myself, one last chance. That evening, Dad’s “condition” worsened. He coughed convulsively, as if his chest was tearing apart. He grabbed me, rehashing the usual drama: “Olivia… the doctor said the surgery would cost half a million… Dad doesn’t want to die…” Mom, beside him, dabbed her eyes, and then, her true intentions became clear: “Olivia, that crippled Mr. Wallace said that if you marry him, the dowry will be exactly half a million…” I took a deep breath, knelt by the bed, and stared intently into their eyes. “Dad, Mom. If I don’t marry Mr. Wallace, if our family really has to live in a basement and pick up trash for the rest of our lives, will you… still love me?” “Can’t we stop begging others? Just be together as a family, even if it’s a little hard, it’s okay?” The warmth in Dad’s eyes vanished, replaced by impatience. “Shut up! What’s ‘a little hardship is okay’? Without money, you’re worse than dirt! If you don’t want to save me, just say so. I raised you this long, and you won’t even make this small sacrifice? You ungrateful wretch!” Mom’s face also turned cold: “Olivia, don’t be so selfish. That’s your dad’s life! What’s wrong with you enduring a little hardship?” At that moment, I heard the sound of something in my heart completely shattering. They had money, yet they still wanted me to sell myself. They weren’t bankrupt, yet they pushed me to the brink. “Alright,” I lowered my head, hiding the tears and hatred welling up in my eyes. “I’ll raise the money. Even if I have to sell myself, I’ll get the money.” Dad lay back, satisfied, believing I had finally submitted. Late at night, when their snores were like thunder, I pulled out my burner phone from under the bed. The light from the screen illuminated my pale face. My fingers trembling, I transferred all the encrypted files to my cloud storage. After doing all that, I looked at my sleeping parents and softly said in my heart: Goodbye, Dad, Mom. This was the last lesson you taught me—push someone to the brink, and they will fight to survive.
When I walked out of the basement, the sky was just getting light. Chloe was standing at the top of the stairs, I don’t know when she got there. She held a cup of hot milk, not a hint of sickness on her face. She looked down at me from above, a malicious smile playing on her lips. “Olivia, are you going to marry that cripple?” “Actually, Mom and Dad are doing this for your own good. After all, you know, only those who truly enjoy the finer things can rise above. Anyway, even if we weren’t bankrupt now, Dad and Mom’s heir could only ever be me.” She took a step closer, leaning in to whisper in my ear. “So go on, be your crippled bride. I’ll enjoy the Blackwood family’s wealth and prestige for you.” She finished, covering her mouth with a triumphant giggle. I looked at her delicate face and nodded. “Chloe, you’re right.” “Some people are born to roll in the mud.” Only, that person might not be me. I didn’t look back, rushing straight into the curtain of rain. The cold raindrops stung my face, mixing with my tears. I didn’t hate the rain; the colder it was, the fiercer the fire in my heart burned. An hour later, I stood beneath the Titan Holdings building. This was Northwood City’s tallest building, and the only place that could truly overlook the Blackwood Group. Ethan Blackwood, Northwood City’s notorious business madman, was also my dad’s most feared arch-rival. I barged unimpeded into the top-floor office. Before the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, a man stood with his back to me. “Get out.” His voice was cold and sharp. I didn’t retreat. Instead, I walked forward step by step and firmly slapped the USB drive, still damp from the rain, onto his expensive office desk. “Mr. Blackwood, I have a business proposition I’d like to discuss with you.” Ethan Blackwood turned around. He looked at me, soaking wet, covered in mud, yet with eyes that burned with an alarming intensity, and his eyebrow slightly raised. “The eldest Miss Blackwood? What, here to plead for your father?” “No.” I lifted my head, meeting his eagle-sharp eyes, and a crooked smile played on my lips. “I’m here to take him down.” Ethan Blackwood picked up the USB drive, intrigued. “What’s in this?” “The very core of Blackwood Group’s operations.” My voice was hoarse, but every word was clear and strong. “Ledgers proving tax evasion, offshore money laundering schemes, and all the evidence of cut corners on the Bayview Towers project.” “Mr. Blackwood, my dad always said that a person needs to be wolf-like, to show no mercy, even to family.” “These past six months, he taught me a lot. Now, I’m here to show you what I’ve learned.” Ethan Blackwood scrutinized me for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled. “If you give this to me, the Blackwood family is finished. You’ll lose everything, and even bear the infamy.” “What do you want?” Thunder rumbled outside the window. I didn’t need money, nor did I need status. I stared at Ethan Blackwood, saying each word distinctly: “I want them utterly ruined.”
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