In the supermarket, my daughter unwrapped a chocolate before we’d paid. I immediately took her to the checkout to apologize and offered to pay. But the cashier pointed at the security monitor and screamed. “So you’re the thief who’s been stealing thousands of dollars worth of my merchandise!” Then she threw an invoice in my face. “$15,000! Pay now, or I’m calling the police!” I bit back my anger but couldn’t help arguing. “But this is our first time here today.” She crossed her arms, scanning me with blatant contempt. “My husband owns this whole street. Pay up, or I’ll have him sue you!” I laughed, a dry, joyless sound. How was it I didn’t know my husband had another wife? Just last month, the rent for every shop on this street was deposited into my account. Every cent, on time. She stood there, arms crossed, chin held high, her voice dripping with contempt. “Stop pretending. Look at yourself, dressed in cheap rags, you’re clearly trash. No wonder you raised a thief!” “You’re not leaving until you pay. Otherwise, I’ll have my husband send you both straight to jail!” With that, she lunged forward and grabbed for my daughter at my daughter. “Mommy, I’m scared…” My daughter, terrified, hid behind me, her small face pressed into my pant leg, trembling slightly. I glared fiercely at Tiffany and slapped her hand away before she could grab my daughter again. Then, I quickly bent down and scooped my daughter into my arms. Feeling her tiny body tremble, a fierce anger flared in my chest. “Pull up the surveillance footage, now.” I let my gaze drop to the name on her tag, my voice steady. “Tiffany, stick to the facts. If you’re so certain my daughter is a regular thief, pull up all the footage. Show me conclusive proof, and I’ll pay ten times the price.” I know my daughter. She’s three. She can’t even tie her shoes. And this is the first time we’ve ever stepped foot in this place. Tiffany’s eyes flickered. She then scanned us up and down with disgust, placed her hands on her hips, and sneered. “Footage? You think you can just demand that? Who do you think you are?” “In this store, I make the rules. We caught you. Pay now, or I’m calling my husband to have his men deal with you.” Her voice rose, sharp and carrying. “Everyone! Take a look! A thief and her little thief-in-training! A whole family of crooks!” Her shout drew the handful of customers in the store. They quickly gathered, a murmuring circle of onlookers, fingers pointing, eyes darting between me and my daughter. An older woman with a perm scoffed and shook her head. “Stealing so young, and the parent’s not even ashamed.” Another woman waiting in line nodded, her voice pitched high with judgment. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. If the mother had any morals, the child wouldn’t be a thief!” A younger woman from a nearby couple wrinkled her nose and tugged her boyfriend’s arm. “Disgusting. We come for milk and run into a crime scene. Let’s move before their vibe gets on us.” Her boyfriend’s gaze raked over my clothes, his lip curling. “Just look at her. Can’t even dress decently. Probably taught the kid to steal ’cause she’s broke. Pathetic.” Emboldened by the crowd’s murmurs, Tiffany swelled with self-righteous fury. She seized the moment, her voice swelling to a roar. “See? It’s downright cruel! Some women have no business being mothers! Too lazy to make an honest living, so they turn their own flesh and blood into little thieves. Kids raised like that are nothing but future leeches on society.” “I bet she’s a career thief. If she doesn’t pay today, we should strip her and march her down the street. Let everyone see what a real thief looks like!” Tiffany’s eyes raked over me as she spoke, hot with a vicious hunger, as if she were already picturing it. The whispers from the crowd felt like poisoned knives, stabbing me all over. Every word was laced with the most vicious prejudice and mockery, as if they wanted to nail my daughter and me to a pillar of shame, ensuring we’d never recover. “I didn’t steal anything.” Lily sniffled in my arms, tears dripping down. “Mommy, I really just unwrapped the chocolate by accident. I know I was wrong.” “But I really didn’t mean to.” Of course, I knew my daughter hadn’t meant to. And right from the start, I had offered to pay. It was Tiffany who was being greedy, refusing to listen to reason. I kissed my daughter’s forehead, then turned to Tiffany, my gaze turning icy cold. “I’ve already told you, my daughter unwrapped the chocolate by mistake, and when we came to the checkout, I immediately offered to pay. It’s you who is baselessly accusing us of stealing $15,000 worth of merchandise. I’m giving you one last chance: apologize now, or you’ll regret it.” Tiffany laughed as if she’d heard the funniest joke, her gums clearly visible. “Are you kidding me? Apologize? Can’t you see everyone here knows the truth? Who do you think they’re talking about? Apologize to you? You’re dreaming!” I clenched my fists, taking a deep breath. My head was starting to ache terribly. Then I spoke coldly, “You won’t apologize, fine. Then pull up the surveillance footage!” “If you can’t pull up the footage, then call whoever is in charge here, and let them pull it up! Or call your husband, that works too!” I quietly turned on my phone’s recording function, then found a stool to sit on, holding my daughter close and gently comforting her. My daughter couldn’t stop sobbing. “Mommy, I want to go home…” “Don’t be scared, sweetheart,” I gently wiped away her tears. “Once we get this sorted, Mommy will take you home.” Seeing me and my daughter calmly seated on the chair, Tiffany frowned. Then, as if an idea struck her, her expression changed, and she immediately plastered on a honey-sweet smile, pulling out her phone and dialing. “Hello? Honey, there’s trouble at the store, and a thief kid with her mom! Come quick, please.” Hanging up, she wagged her phone triumphantly. She slammed her hand on the counter, making the snack jars buzz. “My husband will be here any minute! This whole street belongs to him! You two are finished!” “Unless you apologize to me now and pay $100,000, I’ll call the police immediately and send you straight to jail!”
Was she crazy? Watching Tiffany’s ugly, greedy face, I almost laughed out loud. How could someone just make up prices like that? But before I could retort, my daughter was already crying hysterically, gasping for breath. After all, I’m an adult, I can handle the psychological pressure. But Lily was only three. The whispers and accusations from the crowd, and all the judgmental stares, were too much for her small body to bear. My daughter was crying uncontrollably, sobbing and clinging tightly to my leg. “Mommy, I’m scared… let’s go home… please, can we go home?” My heart ached as I squatted down to hug my daughter, gently patting her back, constantly reassuring her. It was then that a woman in a business suit, with long, wavy, tea-colored hair, walked in, carrying the latest Chanel bag. As soon as she entered, she frowned. “Tiffany, what’s going on? All this shouting.” Seeing who it was, Tiffany immediately said proudly, “My husband is a CEO and he’s too busy, so he sent his secretary, Scarlett, to help me!” “You’re finally here! This mother and daughter stole thousands of dollars worth of snacks from our store, and I just asked them to pay, but they not only refused, they tried to argue and accuse me of framing them! And they tried to hit me!” The woman’s face instantly darkened at her words. She immediately walked to the surveillance screen, glanced at it, and pointed at several blurry, unidentifiable small figures at different time segments. She then turned to me and said, “See for yourself, who else could this be but your daughter?” “Wearing a pink jacket, with a ponytail, exactly like this little thief next to you. The evidence is conclusive, what more do you have to say?” “Just pay the amount Tiffany asked for, or I’ll have my boss, the owner of this street, kick you off this street and never allow you to step foot here again!” I looked at the footage she pulled up and couldn’t help but sneer. That pink jacket looked nothing like my daughter’s, except for being pink. And there were countless little girls with ponytails across the country. Could they really condemn us based on such blurry footage? Besides, during those time segments she pulled up, my daughter and I were on vacation in Bali! I took a deep breath, just about to reveal my identity and tell them exactly whose property this street truly was, and expose that the woman wasn’t my husband’s secretary. But Tiffany suddenly stepped forward and shoved my daughter to the ground. “Stop dragging your feet! Pay up, or I won’t be so nice!” My daughter fell, and the soft palm of her hand instantly scraped, leaving a trail of blood. My rage instantly ignited. I swung my hand and slapped Tiffany across the face. “Who gave you permission to touch my daughter?” She froze, stunned by the slap, then let out a piercing shriek that almost tore through the roof. “You Bitch, who gave you permission to hit me?! I’ll fight you to the death!” With that, Tiffany waved her long, manicured nails, flailing her arms as she lunged at me. But her hand didn’t even touch me; I sidestepped, dodging her. Tiffany lost her balance and fell to the ground, becoming even more furious. “You dare to dodge?!” “I can’t touch you, but I can touch the little one! I’ll rip her face to shreds! I’ll make her just like you, learning bad habits at a young age! A thief when she’s little, and a cheap hooker when she grows up!” She yelled, reaching out again to grab my daughter. My daughter cried even harder, terrified. Seeing my daughter’s pale face, I immediately shielded her behind me, my eyes as cold as ice as I looked at Tiffany. “Try to touch her again.” “First, the amount you claim we stole keeps changing, from $1,500 to $100,000. Which is it? Are you playing some kind of price-gouging game?” “Second, watch your language. My daughter picked up a chocolate. From the moment I realized it, I offered to pay. There was no attempt to avoid payment. What you’re doing is extortion, plain and simple.” “I should be the one calling the police to arrest you!” Tiffany’s eyes darted nervously.
Her gaze flickered wildly, darting left and right. “Scarlett, listen to me…” The other woman only smiled, a faint, cold curve of her lips. Then she haughtily tilted her head back. She cast a scornful glance at me. “My sister doesn’t need anyone else to criticize her!” No wonder she was defending Tiffany so fiercely; they were sisters! “My sister says you stole it, so you definitely stole it!” “What’s a pair of thieves got to argue about?! And you had the nerve to lay a hand on someone! Let me make one thing clear: on this street, nobody talks to us sisters that way.” “A hundred grand is nothing. If my sister said a million, you’d pay it. This whole block belongs to her husband! His connections run deeper than anyone’s in this city. You don’t pay today, you’re going to jail. And I’ll make sure you can’t get hired to sweep a floor in this town. You’ll be finished here. Washed up. And you’ll crawl out of this city with nothing.” This was truly amusing. I couldn’t help but laugh. As the heir to a family with hundreds of millions in assets, it was the first time anyone had ever told me to get lost. But my smile froze before it could fully form. Tiffany swung her handbag and violently slammed it into my face. “Bitch! What are you laughing at?!” The metal zipper clasp swiftly cut a gash across my face, drawing blood. “Blood… Mommy… Mommy’s face is bleeding.” My daughter’s sobs paused, then erupted even more fiercely. “Daddy… I want to go home. Mommy, let’s go home. Let Daddy hit her… bad woman, she’s hurting you.” I believe in an eye for an eye. With my daughter’s cries ringing in my ears, I grabbed a handful of Tiffany’s long hair. I aimed for her elaborately made-up face and slapped her, hard, not once but several times. I yanked her hair hard, pulling her body flush against mine. Let me tell you something. Growing up, I didn’t just have wealth. I had strength, and I knew exactly how to use it. “No one has ever laid a hand on me. Who do you think you are, hitting me?” With that, I swung my palm again, giving her cheeks an even, matching swell. The surrounding whispers cut off, plunging the scene into dead silence. Then a powerful force struck me from behind. I was kicked hard, sending me sprawling to the ground.
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