I am the child of a mistress. The year I turned seventeen, my biological father died. At his funeral, wearing my school uniform, I stood before a room full of business magnates, brilliant young scientists, and A-list actresses, trembling as I said: "I... I'm here to fight for my inheritance..." Before I could finish, the legitimate children all stared at me. I burst into tears from fear. "If... if you don't want to give me any, that's fine too..." The actress's eyes lit up: "A little sister? A soft, squishy little sister?" The scientist spread out paper and pen: "A high school senior? Come here and solve this calculus problem so I can see where you're at." The billionaire pulled out a black card: "What's there to want from the old man's measly savings? Call me 'brother', and I'll give you ten times as much." 1 My mother was a high-level manipulator, a "canary" kept by a rich man. Originally, the deal was simple: the sugar daddy provided the money, she provided her looks, a fair exchange with no strings attached. But when you live the good life for too long, greed easily takes root. She got pregnant, and relying on her pregnant belly, she staged a classic "canary runs away with the baby" trope. Before running away, she broadcasted her address all over her social media. Terrified that people wouldn't be able to find her. She fantasized that her sugar daddy would lock down the entire city just for her, embarking on a domineering pursuit of love. That his wife would break down from an inferiority complex and willingly step aside. Unfortunately. She played herself. The sugar daddy didn't even bother looking. He didn't want her, or the baby. How could she accept this? Heavily pregnant and nearing her due date, she blocked the entrance to the sugar daddy's mansion. Two bodyguards dragged her out and threw her by the garbage dump. They also passed on a message from the sugar daddy's wife: "If you have the capability to take my husband, go ahead. Give birth to the child and give it to me to raise. Money? You won't get a single cent!" After her relentless pestering proved fruitless, she finally gave up. But it was too late for an abortion. Harboring resentment, she gave birth to me and raised me haphazardly. Not out of love, but for money. The sentence she said to me the most was: "You are his seed, does he get to just say he won't give us anything and that's it?" "Dream on! Even if he dies, you're entitled to a share of his estate!" And so, as she wished, the year I turned seventeen, my biological father kicked the bucket. Upon hearing the news, she swiftly dumped me at the funeral home. "Chloe Smith, remember this! Including you, your dad only has four kids! You get a quarter of his estate!" "Today is your last chance. If you don't get the money, don't bother coming back to see me!" Her contorted features terrified me. "Mom, don't leave me here, I'm scared..." "Scared, scared, all you know is being scared. What did I raise you for? To make money!" "For over a decade, you've eaten my food, used my things, and delayed me finding a new man. Shouldn't you compensate me?" "Get that inheritance, give it to me, and after that, I'll still be your mom!" She walked a few quick steps, then suddenly stopped. She turned back, rummaged through my pockets, and took away the only ten dollars I had. I was stunned. Without money, I couldn't take the bus. This funeral home was halfway up a mountain. Relying on my own two legs, I wouldn't be able to walk back even by nightfall. She shoved me hard: "Only by cutting off your retreat will you work hard!" "If you get the money, you can take a taxi back. If you don't..." She casually pointed to the surrounding mountains. "This whole area is a graveyard. You can just stay here and keep the ghosts company!" 2 The cold wind in the mountains blew, sending shivers down my spine. It felt like every little mound of earth in the deep mountains had eyes staring at me. I braced myself and walked into the funeral home. The funeral service had ended, and the guests were all gone. The room was empty except for the sugar daddy's three legitimate children, discussing the final wrap-up with the lawyer. "According to Mr. Vance's dying wishes, his estate, totaling two hundred million, will be divided equally among the three of you." Two hundred million! So much money! No wonder my mom was so crazy. Jumping up and down for over a decade just to get a piece of the pie. And what I had to do today was try to get a quarter of that two hundred million. Fifty million! My palms were sweating with nervousness. With so much money, who would be willing to let a mistress's child take it away? It looked like I was definitely going to get a beating. I just hoped they'd go easy on me when they hit me. I have an exam tomorrow, and I still need my hands to write... While I was thinking this, the division of assets over there had already begun. Sitting at the head of the table was the eldest sister, Mia Vance, a wildly popular A-list actress who had just swept the top domestic film awards. A simple black dress couldn't hide her breathtaking beauty. Her soft, slender fingers took the document, glanced at it, and casually tossed it to the second brother. "Just this? Is it even worth wasting my time?" The second brother, Ethan Vance, dressed in black and white, wore silver-rimmed glasses that added a touch of maturity to his delicate, baby face. He kept typing on his laptop, not even looking at the piece of paper worth two hundred million. "Money is useless to me." I had heard of him, the most brilliant young scientist in the country, a trailblazer in cutting-edge tech. It was true he didn't need money; everything he needed was provided by the state. That piece of paper fluttered into the hands of the third brother, Liam Vance. He pinched it with his prominent knuckles, then casually tore it to shreds. "Two hundred million is worth a will? Just donate it." Liam carried an aura of casual ruthlessness. For him, a regular on the Forbes rich list, two hundred million wasn't worth his time. The eldest sister and second brother raised their eyebrows, neither having any objections. Seeing that the lawyer was about to draft a donation agreement instead, I weakly raised my hand. "Um... excuse me..." As soon as I spoke, the three legitimate children and the top lawyer—four pairs of eyes—all stared straight at me. My scalp tingled. The lawyer asked: "May I ask what business you have here?" I swallowed hard, speaking carefully: "I'm sorry, I... I'm here to fight for my inheritance..." 3 By the time I came back to my senses, I was already surrounded. The three legitimate siblings were tall, strikingly attractive, and possessed extraordinary auras. Compared to them, in my school uniform, I looked like a scrawny bean sprout in the corner. I was on the verge of crying from fear. Even though they didn't treat money like money, it didn't mean they were willing to throw it at a mistress! I shivered: "If... if you don't want to give me any, that's fine too..." Could you just lend me two dollars... So I can take the bus? I sneakily glanced up, terrified by their overwhelming presence, my whole body trembling. Forget it, forget it, it's only a twenty-mile mountain road. Walking is fine too... I quietly shuffled toward the exit. I had barely taken a few steps when Mia grabbed the collar of my shirt and hauled me back. "Tsk, too light. She's all bones." Mia inspected me from top to bottom, her beautiful face full of disgust. "First, gain twenty pounds. She needs some meat on her bones to be healthy." "Her hair is dry and has split ends, needs treatment. Her face is sunburned, needs repairing." "Her uniform is frayed, her shoes don't fit, the zipper on her backpack is broken." "Change, change, change, everything must be changed!" She pulled out her phone and called her stylist: "Height 5'3", weight 88 lbs. Prepare a full outfit from head to toe." "Who is it for?" Mia's tone became light and cheerful: "For my little sister, of course!" 4 I felt terribly awkward and uneasy: "Do... do you know who I am?" Mia threw an arm around my waist, her aloof face animated with excitement: "I know, the old man's illegitimate daughter, right~" She pointed at her brilliant scientist brother and her billionaire brother, complaining to me: "Ethan here has been a prodigy since childhood. Memorized vocabulary at three, did advanced math at five. Take him out to play, and within five minutes he's pulling out test papers to solve problems. Boring as hell!" "Liam is shrewd and cunning, full of schemes from head to toe. Started digging traps for me as soon as he could talk, and researching how to charter racing teams as soon as he could go out. Completely immune to being cute!" "Being the eldest sister is just an empty title, I have zero real authority." "Now that I've finally caught a normal human sister, I don't care about anything else, let me just enjoy the thrill of being a big sister first!" Mia said this while opening her makeup bag, getting ready to wash my face and do skincare. Ethan pushed her aside with his hip. He pulled out a pen and paper, an excited gleam shining from behind his silver glasses. "Little sister is a senior in high school? How are your grades?" "Come, solve this calculus problem first so I can see where you're at!" Looking at the block of English letters on the paper, I went numb. "I... I don't know how..." I'm a senior in high school, not a senior in college. Who learns calculus in high school? Ethan scratched his head in confusion: "That shouldn't be. Even the dumbest person should have figured it out by seventeen, right?" Liam sneered, shoved him aside, and leaned in close to me. "You said you were here to fight for your inheritance?" That one sentence brought us back to the main topic. I looked at Liam nervously. This is it, this is it, finally time to talk about money and get beaten up, right? Liam pulled out a black card, his sharp features softening. "How much could the old man possibly have? Be a good girl, call me 'brother', and I'll give you ten times as much." Their enthusiasm made me feel a bit uneasy. This was completely different from what my mom had told me. Before I came, she repeatedly instructed me: "The richer people are, the stingier they are! If they don't give it to you, just throw a tantrum on the floor!" "Getting beaten is even better! The harder they hit, the more money you can demand!" She said the Vance family were our sworn enemies. But the way these "enemies" looked at me... was a little warm? 5 I kept feeling like they were playing a simulation game with me. Like right now. I was brought back to the Vance family's old mansion. Mia canceled all her recent schedules and hovered around me all day. On the first day home, she ordered a truckload of beef, lamb, fish, and seafood, and exquisite dishes were served one after another. I was overwhelmed by the favor. To not waste food, I kept my head down and ate until I was ready to throw up. Mia was shocked. She stopped me: "You're going to make yourself sick like this." "We made all these dishes just to see what you like. You don't have to eat what you don't like." I was a bit confused. Did she mean I was allowed to be a picky eater? But my mom said being a picky eater was bad. When I was three, she brought back some leftover spicy stir-fried pork. I took one bite and cried from the spice, pushing it away with tears in my eyes. She got angry, grabbed me, and hit me: "So young and already picky? Want to eat well? Do you have the destiny for that?" But it was really too spicy, it hurt my mouth just eating it. I cried and only ate plain rice, staying far away from that dish. But she still wasn't satisfied with that. She said I was being dramatic and that this bad habit must be broken. That plate of spicy pork was saved for the next meal if I didn't eat it, and saved for three days if I didn't eat it for two. I couldn't eat new food until I finished it. I starved for three whole days and finally, crying, choked down that spoiled spicy pork. That night, I ran a high fever. After the fever broke, she stood next to me and lectured: "Being picky is bad. Mom is teaching you this for your own good, do you remember?" I remembered. So facing a table full of food, I ate with all my might. Hoping to finish it before it went bad. Preferences? Favorites? There were none. I had no right to be picky. Mia couldn't stand watching anymore. She snatched my chopsticks, softened her tone, and said: "Chloe, don't be afraid. You're still a child, you can eat only what you like." A wave of grievance suddenly welled up inside me. It felt like my three-year-old self, forced to eat chili peppers, was being hugged, a gentle voice comforting me: Did the peppers hurt your mouth? Be a good girl, we won't eat it, we'll eat something else! I gathered my courage and said in a low voice: "I... I can't eat spicy food..." With a wave of Mia's hand, several maids stepped forward and quickly removed all the dishes with chili peppers. And that wasn't all. From that day on, I never saw another chili pepper on the dining table. So this is what it feels like to be favored. One sentence of "I don't like it" could make that thing disappear from my world entirely. Under her meticulous care, I quickly filled out, gaining healthy weight like a balloon. My hair also visibly became dark and shiny. She was very satisfied, constantly showing off her results to her two younger brothers. 6 Not to be outdone, after doing a comprehensive assessment of all my subjects, Ethan was shocked that my grades were so abysmal. I'm already a senior in high school! I don't understand Fourier transforms in math, I know nothing of quantum mechanics in physics, and I'm clueless about supramolecular chemistry. Tsk! How could someone be this dumb! He stopped going to his lab, took me to my high school to request a long leave of absence, and planned to personally create a customized tutoring curriculum for me. His car stopped at the school gate, attracting a massive amount of attention. Even though it was the most low-profile car the Vance family owned, it was still the most eye-catching presence on the street. He opened the door and carefully shielded my head from the frame. Just as I stepped out, I ran into my classmates. "Oh~ isn't this 'Mistress' Chloe? Haven't seen you for a few days, hooked a rich guy?" "What's so surprising about that? A mistress's daughter naturally becomes a mistress, it's perfectly logical!" The group of them burst into loud laughter. My face burned hotly, and I opened my mouth to defend myself: "No, he's my brother!" Isabella retorted rudely: "Oh, please! Who doesn't know your mistress mom only had you? You're so shameless, claiming relatives out of thin air!" "Hey big bro, you might want to stay away from Chloe, or her mom will latch onto you and fleece you alive!" The classmates nodded in agreement. Actually, they weren't like this at first. Even though they knew I was an illegitimate child, they didn't discriminate against me. Isabella, seeing my tattered clothes, even begged her mom to give me her old clothes to wear. We became good friends. But the good times didn't last. One weekend, I went home happily wearing a red dress Isabella gave me. My mom grabbed the dress like a madwoman and interrogated me: "Who bought this for you?" I trembled as I explained that a classmate gave it to me. She launched into a frenzied tirade: "Are you that desperate? Accepting any piece of trash?" "Do you have any taste? You are a Miss of the Vance family! Not a beggar begging on the street!" She took scissors and cut the red dress into shreds. My heart ached terribly. I'd rather be a beggar on the street! At least beggars don't have crazy mothers like mine! She dragged me to the school, caused a huge scene, and insisted Isabella was bullying me and insulting me with old clothes. I tried hard to defend Isabella, but she wouldn't listen at all. She threw a tantrum in front of the school administration, demanding Isabella's parents pay me compensation for emotional distress. Out of options, the school administration made Isabella apologize to me face-to-face. The way Isabella looked at me changed. From that day on, all my classmates knew that not only was I an illegitimate child, but I also had a greedy, money-grubbing mistress mother. They gave me the nickname "Mistress," and no one ever wanted to speak to me again. Ethan patted my shoulder and stood in front of me: "Isabella? I've heard of you, the girl who helped our Chloe before. Thank you!" Isabella was dumbfounded, blushing and stammering: "I-I-I spoke to Chloe like that, wh-wh-why are you thanking me?" Ethan started to laugh, making him even more approachable. At this moment, the homeroom teacher arrived after hearing the news. He hurriedly invited him into the classroom and proudly introduced him: "Ethan Vance, the valedictorian of the city's high school entrance exam, national champion in physics and chemistry olympiads, and a genius from Capitol University's gifted youth program!" 7 Gasps erupted throughout the classroom. Among the students in the city, who didn't know Ethan's famous name? He was practically the synonym for a study god! Oh my god, a god-like figure like this is Chloe's biological brother? The classmates secretly observed me, their previous disdain replaced entirely by surprise and envy. I quietly straightened my back. Having a brother like this, I'm really awesome! Upon learning that Ethan took a leave of absence for me to personally tutor me, the classmates couldn't sit still anymore. One by one, they came up to add me as a friend and pull me into group chats. "Chloe, could you share some study materials?" "Chloe, can I study with you when you're free?" "Chloe, my house is nearby, come over sometime~" "Chloe..." I was overwhelmed by the sudden attention, but I also knew it was all directed at Ethan. I asked for his opinion. He ruffled the hair on top of my head and said: "Why so cautious? Being an older brother means letting your little sister boss you around!" The satisfaction in my heart was about to overflow. In this class where I had spent over two years. After being pitied, humiliated, and isolated, this was the first time I truly integrated with my classmates. 8 If Mia was nourishing my body, and Ethan was nurturing my grades. Then Liam was much more straightforward and crude—he was fattening my wallet. After getting me a custom-made, pink "Princess" card, his performance began. First, he took me to the biggest mall in the city. Those stores I usually only dared to peek at through the glass were cleared out just for me. He sat on the sofa: "Pick whatever you want~" I recognized these brands. They were the things my mom dreamed of, the things she could only look at repeatedly in magazines. "Once you get the old man's inheritance, I'll buy all these new collections!" "My bags, my jewelry, my clothes, they will all be mine!" She had also possessed these things once. During the years she was a kept woman, my biological father was very generous to her. But she was never satisfied. Given regular leather, she wanted exotic skin; given silver hardware, she wanted diamond-encrusted. Eventually, she even thought about kicking out the lawful wife to take the position herself, having a child to abuse the legitimate heirs. Unfortunately, she gambled away her good life. The bags and jewelry she had accumulated were also gradually sold off and the money spent. I sneaked a peek at Liam, who was sitting on the sofa controlling the entire scene, and then looked at myself. There was no comparison at all. "What are you spacing out for? Pick." I shook my head: "Third Brother, there's no need. I've already troubled you guys enough." Liam frowned slightly and lectured me: "A girl shouldn't be so petty. Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson." Anything I glanced at for more than a second was immediately wrapped up. Bags, watches, bracelets, haute couture—it was blinding. By the time we left, a whole bunch of sales associates behind us had their arms full. When he swiped the card, the price was longer than my lifespan. I jumped anxiously: "Third Brother, I'm still in school, I don't need any of these things at all." Liam said carelessly: "Oh, can't use them, right? Let's go, we'll go sell them." He turned around and took me to the nearest luxury consignment store. Without even opening the packaging, he threw everything on the counter: "Don't want it anymore, calculate the total." The sales associate was only stunned for a second before her fingers flew across the calculator in a blur. After the final tally, in and out, in just half a day, we lost six million dollars. My heart ached so much my jaw almost dropped. Seeing me like this, Liam smiled slightly: "Don't feel bad, all the shops on this street are mine." I shook my head. That's not how accounting works! One thing is one thing. Even if it's the family business, this six million was a real, tangible loss. Liam raised an eyebrow: "Don't rush~" A few minutes later, over a dozen reporters rushed in with their cameras and microphones. Liam shielded my face, letting the reporters take photos. In less than half an hour, the reports were out and quickly climbed the trending charts. [Vance Group CEO Spends Millions on Mysterious Woman] A few minutes later, several related trending topics popped up: [Filthy Rich! Why is the Vance Family So Wealthy?] [Deep Dive into the Wealthy Vance Family: Assets Include...] [The Legendary Business Journey of Liam Vance, Head of the Vance Family] Liam opened the stock page to show me. Half an hour after the news broke, the Vance Group's stock hit its daily limit up. With this single move, their market value saw a net increase of many hundreds of millions. He played with his phone, sitting in the car, and said to me: "Although this saying is vulgar, it's common sense." "The best way to demystify something is to own it. Your mom wants money but can't wait, forcing you to fight and snatch it, which easily gives you a misguided desire for money." "The best way to correct this is to spend money, making you the master of money, not its slave." He waved his phone, adding: "Ultimately, you must become the invisible hand that manipulates money." In a very good mood, he transferred money to my Princess card, saying it was pocket money and telling me to spend it however I liked. Looking at the balance on it, I felt a bit like I was in another lifetime. I don't know if I got my dad's inheritance or not, but anyway, my pocket money was already over five hundred million.
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