My brother borrowed $7.5 million from me to open a luxury pet grooming salon, promising me free services for life.
But just as my dog, Muffin, finished her treatment and I was about to leave, a staff member with a dramatically made-up face called out to me.
Miss, you haven’t paid yet. How can you just leave?
I politely explained, showing her my lifetime free access card.
But the woman simply flung it back at me, hitting my face, her expression full of scorn.
“Miss, if you can’t afford it, don’t bother coming! Who are you trying to fool with this card?! Pay up now!”
With that, she shoved the bill right into my face. It was $280,000?!
I was stunned. “Are you robbing me?! That’s outrageous! I invested in this place! Your boss is my brother! Do you think I don’t know the prices?!”
But she sneered, then signaled for a group of burly men to surround me.
“We *are* robbing you! Don’t think I don’t know – you’re just an adopted orphan!”
“Today, you’re not only paying this $280,000, but every penny you’ve ever cost Mark, from childhood until now, is coming back to him!”
I scoffed, my anger bubbling into laughter, and immediately called my assistant.
“Withdraw my $7.5 million investment!”
I wanted to see who, in the Caldwell family, was the real adopted orphan!
1
Before the other person could reply, the woman lunged at me.
She smashed my phone to the ground, shrieking.
“Miss! If you don’t have money, just say so! Go find your sugar daddy! Why smash up our little salon?!”
“Besides, don’t you know this salon is owned by the Caldwells, the richest family in the city?!”
“How dare you cause a scene here!”
Everyone’s eyes landed on me, and they started whispering.
My face flushed with rage as I clearly saw the name on the woman’s badge: Brittany, Manager.
“What are you talking about?! What do you mean ‘my sugar daddy’!”
Brittany scoffed, crossing her arms and looking at me coldly.
“Dressed so expensively but you have no money? You’re probably just kept by some sugar daddy.”
“Did your sugar daddy not give you any cash? He’s so stingy, tell us who he is so everyone knows!”
The whispers around me were incredibly harsh.
“Doing this kind of thing so young, no wonder she’s here – probably trying to hook a rich guy!”
“You’ve got a good figure. Your sugar daddy must have a blast with you! Who knows, maybe she’s been ‘used’ by everyone already!”
Brittany sneered, casually scanning me from head to toe.
Anyone hearing that wouldn’t just quietly endure it.
Enraged, I lunged forward, ready to slap Brittany across the face.
But she grabbed my hand tightly, leaned close to my ear, and whispered.
“You bitch, trying to lure men, trying to get them to spend money on you. Look at yourself, what kind of trash are you?!”
“Be smart, pack your things and get out!”
I froze for a moment. So, this was my idiot brother’s new, big-chested, empty-headed girlfriend.
I was utterly speechless. Had my stupid brother not told her he had a biological sister?!
“Brittany, don’t you recognize me?”
“I’m Lily Caldwell, your boyfriend Mark Caldwell’s biological sister!”
Brittany coldly shook off my hand, her voice icy.
“I know, Mark told me all about you ages ago, you freeloader who only knows how to spend money!”
“Everything you spend belongs to Mark’s future inheritance. Besides, you’ve spent so much since you were little, aren’t you satisfied?”
“Pay up now. With me here, you won’t get a penny from Mark!”
With that, Brittany glared at me fiercely, as if I were a villain trying to steal Mark’s fortune.
I glanced at Brittany with disdain. Did she not know that Mark had no fortune at all? He was just an orphan my father brought home to raise!
What right did he have to an inheritance?!
“I advise you not to cause a scene. I, after all, have a secret about you, don’t I?”
I raised an eyebrow, looking at her indifferently.
“You’re not some heiress at all! You’re just an orphan! Good thing I secretly overheard it.”
“Otherwise, Mark, the ‘son’ of the family, would have to split half his future assets with you!”
Brittany’s eyes were full of challenge and triumph, as if she held my life in her hands.
I sneered, looking at her like she was a clown, picked up my phone from the floor, and called Mark.
“Mark Caldwell! I’m telling you, if that woman, Brittany, ever steps foot in our house, I’ll change my last name!”
Brittany rushed over, snatched the phone, and replied in a sickeningly sweet voice:
“Mark, it’s nothing, just a little misunderstanding with your sister. I’ll handle it.”
Hearing Brittany’s voice, I gagged a few times, utterly disgusted.
“Sis, Brittany’s just a bit blunt, please bear with her. I’m busy, gotta go!”
Before I could say anything, Brittany hung up the phone.
Suddenly, Brittany’s face turned grim, and she looked at me coldly.
“You won’t take the easy way, so you’ll have to take the hard way. Guards, take her away!”
With that, three burly men, one covering my mouth, the other two holding me tightly, dragged me inside.
“Excuse me, everyone, but this is how we deal with people who can’t pay their bills!”
I was thrown into a small, dark storage room.
Then, Brittany walked in, carrying my dog, Muffin.
2
She casually tossed Muffin aside, and the dog whimpered, making my heart ache.
“What, feeling bad? It’s just an animal, why be so precious about it?!”
With that, Brittany brutally kicked the cage, sending it flying against the wall.
I stared at her, my eyes red.
“What are you going to do?!”
Brittany’s high heel harshly kicked my body.
She yanked my hair, then slapped me across the face, her eyes filled with malice.
“What am I going to do? Just make you pay what you owe!”
“Pay back the $280,000, and then pay back all the expenses Mark has covered for you since you were little!”
“These are all Mark’s things. He’s too polite to say it, but I’m not!”
“I’m going to be his wife, so you spending his money is just spending mine!”
A sharp pain shot through my scalp, and I couldn’t help but cry out.
Brittany pulled out a list from behind her, detailing all my expenses since childhood.
From a single piece of candy I ate to the Porsche my parents bought me, everything was included.
“Does Mark Caldwell not have to pay anything back?!”
Brittany scoffed, her face full of ridicule.
“Mark is the male heir, the only son of this family. Everything in the Caldwell family will be his.”
“You freeloader, you’re just a girl who’ll marry out anyway, a drain on resources. Everything you spent, of course, has to be paid back!”
“Not to mention, you’re just an adopted daughter. Even if I kill you today, Mark wouldn’t say a word!”
Brittany looked down at me.
“You won’t take the easy way, so you’ll have to take the hard way. Since that’s the case, I don’t need to be polite with you. Guards, beat her!”
The two burly men didn’t hesitate, landing punch after punch on my body.
I cried out in pain, tears streaming down my face.
I curled into a ball, trying to dodge the fists, but I was yanked up by my hair.
My head was violently shoved to the ground, and blood immediately seeped out.
Brittany chuckled, walked over, and pressed her heel hard on my wound.
“How pathetic. I’ll give you a chance. Pay back $280,000, and you can leave!”
I clenched my jaw tightly, my face pale, the intense pain forcing me to submit.
“Alright, if you let Muffin go first, I’ll give you the money!”
“What right do you have to negotiate with me? Look at how pathetic you are, like a beggar!”
“But, you did remind me. Guards, bring that animal over here!”
My eyes widened instantly, and I shook my head helplessly.
“Please, spare it! I’ll give you double!”
Brittany ignored me, teasing Muffin.
Suddenly, Muffin found an opportunity and bit Brittany hard.
“Ah!”
Brittany screamed, throwing Muffin away. With a thud, it hit the wall.
Muffin was the birthday gift my father gave me before he died!
Watching Brittany get closer and closer to Muffin, I couldn’t hold back anymore and screamed.
“Don’t hurt it! What do you want?! I’ll give you anything!”
Brittany picked up the barely breathing dog, walked over, and handed me a “Voluntary Waiver of Inheritance Rights” agreement.
“Sign it!”
I signed my name without hesitation, then looked at Muffin.
“Now, can you give him back to me?”
Brittany sneered, looking at me like I was an idiot, and twisted Muffin’s neck.
“This animal probably cost tens of thousands a year, right? Good, now it’s dead, lessening your burden!”
“Muffin!”
I glared fiercely at Brittany, my eyes filled with hatred.
Suddenly, I heard a sound at the door, and someone walked in.
3
The person who came in was Mark Caldwell.
He saw my terrible state and froze, his voice filled with hesitation.
“Lily? What happened to you? Who did this? I’ll get revenge for you, sis!”
Before I could speak, Brittany clung to Mark’s arm, complaining tearfully.
“Mark, your sister couldn’t pay, and I just… disciplined her a little for you.”
“And that dog, it bit me, then ran into the wall and died.”
“Look at my wound, it hurts so much!”
Mark gently took Brittany’s hand, blew on it, his eyes tender.
“That animal’s dead, it’s no big deal. I’ll take you to get a tetanus shot right away, don’t want it getting infected!”
I couldn’t help but speak, my voice agitated.
“Mark Caldwell! That dog was a gift from my dad before he died!”
Mark looked at me hesitantly.
“Lily, it’s just a dog. Dad’s gone, he can’t come back. I’ll buy you ten or even twenty more, pick any you like.”
“This time, please, give me a break and don’t make a big deal out of it!”
I looked at him in disbelief. He had promised me on Dad’s deathbed.
He had said he would protect Muffin no matter what.
But now, for some insignificant woman, he said, “it’s dead, it’s dead!”
I stumbled to my feet, pointing at Brittany, and yelled:
“What about me? Can’t you see all these wounds on my body?! She’s the one who beat me!”
Brittany pretended to trip, falling into Mark’s arms, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Mark, I did it all for your sake. She spent so much of your money, wasn’t it right for me to make her pay it back?”
“These things were originally yours. I just got them back for you!”
“She just has a tiny scratch!”
She called the blood gushing from my head a “tiny scratch”?
Brittany’s words enraged me, and I lunged, wanting to slap her directly.
“You absolute bitch! Do I have to be dead for you to consider this a real injury?!”
But Mark’s hand stopped me. He gripped my hand tightly, then coldly threw it aside.
I lost my balance and crashed hard against the wall.
Instantly, I felt an intense pain throughout my internal organs.
Mark, however, embraced Brittany, watching me with cold eyes.
“How long are you going to keep this up?!”
“It’s just a tiny scratch, and Brittany didn’t mean it anyway. An apology is all that’s needed, right?!”
“She’s going to be your sister-in-law. Be a bit more generous!”
“And is Brittany wrong? All these years, you’ve lived off the family, used the family’s resources!”
“Brittany just got it back early. I’m telling you, even if she didn’t demand it now, I’d demand it back from your future wedding settlement!”
Brittany flashed me a triumphant smile, her eyes full of provocation, silently saying.
“See? I told you, Mark will always side with me!”
“Mark, this is the waiver of inheritance rights she signed. From now on, Caldwell Group will be all yours!”
Mark’s face immediately lit up with surprise, and he kissed Brittany passionately.
I slumped to the ground, watching them powerlessly.
Mark had no idea that Mom had already made sure I knew all the top executives.
I held the real power. Mom had put Mark in the company, yes, but only in a position that looked good on paper, completely useless in reality. So, even with that contract in his hand, it was worth absolutely nothing.
And Mark knew nothing of this.
“Mark, why don’t you go on ahead? I’ll call an ambulance for your sister and then I’ll be right out.”
With that, Mark, holding the agreement, excitedly walked out.
Brittany smiled at me and walked over.
I subtly broke the chain on my wrist and sent my location.
4
Her heel ground down on the back of my hand, twisting it.
“You think someone’s coming to save you?”
“Well, too bad. You and that animal can just die together!”
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