A few days later, I saw Chelsea's post. It was a collage of our family photos, except I wasn't in them. The caption dripped with a sarcastic tone.

"A family should stick together. If you don't appreciate it, don't come back."

I scrolled away without a word.

When the holidays ended, Cameron suddenly called.

"Cass, I need you to do me a favor. My girlfriend's a senior this year. Can you get her an internship position? Nothing too fancy, just a placeholder job. Pay her whatever—maybe ten or 20 thousand—it doesn't matter."

He said it as if it were perfectly reasonable. I frowned so hard it hurt, and refused without thinking.

"No way. The company has its standard hiring procedures. We don't employ people to do nothing," I said. "Besides, paying up to 20 thousand for an intern who won't do a thing? Do you think my money grows on trees?"

"Geez. You're so—"

I hung up before he could say more.

I thought that would be the end of it, but that afternoon, someone showed up at the company building. I couldn't tell security to throw them out, as it would look terrible if things escalated.

And so, Cameron's girlfriend, Lexie Houston, bowed the moment she saw me. She looked shy.

"Nice to meet you, Cassidy. Cam told me to see you…" she said softly. "I hope I'm not causing any trouble."

Seeing her so polite and well-mannered, I felt half of my anger subsiding. I figured, maybe Cameron had been talking nonsense, and his girlfriend actually seemed sincere.

"Well, since you came all this way, I can't just send you home empty-handed, can I?" I said, looking over her resume. "But there are no special privileges here. You'll do the same work as every other intern and get the same pay. Can you accept that?"

Lexie's eyes lit up. "Yes, of course! Thank you for the opportunity, Cassidy! I promise to work hard!"

So, I let her join. She was assigned to the administration department, doing basic tasks alongside the other interns.

Three days later, Cameron called again, furious.

"Cassidy, did you put Lexie through hell over the last three days? She came home crying, saying you're picking on her and making things difficult! Are you trying to embarrass me? Move her to an easier position and pay her at least 30 thousand—now!"

I laughed in disbelief and hung up. I hadn't expected that the sweet, timid Lexie was talking behind my back, twisting the truth.

That afternoon, I decided to talk to her face-to-face. However, in the break room, I overheard her chatting with other colleagues.

"Hey, Lexie. Is Ms. Cage really your boyfriend's sister?"

"Yeah…" Lexie answered. "But I'm telling you, she's in her 30s and still unmarried because her personal life is a mess. I heard she used to offer… special services. I bet she has plenty of sugar daddies out there. Otherwise, how could a woman possibly be so successful?"

"Oh my gosh, really? She seems pretty proper to me."

"Probably just a front. I mean, you never really know how some people are…"

I pushed the door open, and the break room went completely silent. Lexie froze, panic written all over her face as she looked at me. "M-Ms. Cage…"

I pointed coldly toward the door. "I heard everything you just said, Lexie. Pack your stuff and leave right now. My company can't afford a freeloader like you."

Her eyes instantly welled up. She bit her lip, looking like the world had just done her a huge injustice. There was a hard edge in her gaze as she left.

No sooner had Lexie left than Cameron's angry calls started blowing up my phone. I didn't answer a single one.

The next morning, the receptionist came rushing to my office, knocking frantically. "Ms. Cage, your mother just barged in with your brother. We couldn't stop them!"

Before she even finished, the office door was pushed open. Mom strode in like a storm, with Cameron and Lexie trailing behind.

Lexie's eyes were red and puffy, an obvious sign that she had been crying. She kept her head low, hiding behind Cameron, too afraid to meet my gaze.

"Cassidy, how could you drive out a woman as kind as Lexie after just three days of interning?" Mom snapped instantly. "Who are you trying to humiliate here? We're all family—how could you do this?"

I let out a cold laugh and swiveled my computer screen to show the surveillance footage.

"See for yourself, Mom. Everyone else is working seriously, finishing their tasks on time, but she's either playing games or gossiping with others during work hours. I told you from the start that I don't employ slackers for my company."

Mom glanced at the footage but didn't seem to care. "So what? She's family now. Does she really need to work like an outsider? How can you, as the eldest daughter, act so petty?"

I was speechless. I pulled up the recording from the break room yesterday.

I stared at Lexie. "And what about this? She spread vicious lies about me, ruining my reputation. Is that something the family should do, Mom?'

Cameron's face darkened, but he still proceeded to defend her. "She's just young and naive! What's the big deal if she said a few things? Did you really have to take it this far?"

I stood up, tired of arguing. "I've saved a copy of the footage. Your girlfriend is now legally responsible for defaming me. If you don't leave, I'll call the cops right now."

At that, the pitiful act Lexie had been putting on fell apart. She panicked, afraid that a tarnished reputation would hurt her graduation.

She tugged on Cameron's sleeve and whispered, "Cam, maybe we should just forget it… I don't want to blow things out of proportion… I didn't mean it anyway…"

Mom, seeing she couldn't get her way—and not wanting the police to intervene—glared at me hard. "That's what you want to do, Cassidy? To send your own family to the cops? You know what? Don't come to us for anything from now on!"

With that, they muttered and cursed as they stormed out.

Not long after, my assistant, Bonnie Racey, called. "Ms. Cage, your mother's premium medical insurance is up for renewal this afternoon. Should we continue to deduct the payment from your card as usual?"

That was when I remembered I had been covering such a huge expense all this time.

I said coldly into the phone, "No. Cancel all of it—the insurance, as well as all VIP services under my supplementary cards. From now on, do not renew anything."

After being kicked out of the company, Mom decided to cheer up Lexie by taking her shopping. "Don't cry, Lexie. Cassidy doesn't care for you, but I do!"

She patted Lexie's hand. "Come on, let's go buy some jewelry and bags! We'll go to the most expensive stores and piss that little brat off!"

The moment Lexie heard "jewelry" and "bags", her tears stopped running. She looped her arm through Mom's and cooed, "Thank you! You're the best!"

Cameron hurried to reassure her, too. "See? You have nothing to worry about. Cass' money is Mom's money. From now on, you can spend whatever you like!"

Mom led them straight to the luxury store she frequented. Since I was a top VIP there, the manager and I became old acquaintances. Mom used to be treated like royalty every time she came.

When she stepped inside, she barked at the store manager. "Bring out all you new arrivals for this season."

Instead of the usual smiling welcome, the manager just glanced at her coldly. "Sure. As long as you can afford it."

"What did you just say?"

Mom laughed with fury. She grabbed a dress priced over 80 thousand and tore off the tag. "I'll show you what it means to be rich, you cocky fool!"

She tossed the dress to a stunned new clerk. "This, that, and that bag—I tore off their tags. Can't return them now, right? I'll take them all. I want every one of you to watch as I pay for them!"

Lexie's eyes sparkled, her face flushed with excitement. "You're so good to me, Mrs. Cage! I like that one, too."

In just ten minutes, the counter was piled high with dresses and bags, all with their tags ripped off, totaling about 150 thousand dollars. Other customers in the store were stunned and quickly pulled out their phones to take photos.

"Ring them all up!"

Mom waved her hand dramatically, deliberately pointing at the new clerk. "You, young lady, ring them up. This million-dollar commission is yours! Let's teach some people who look down on others a lesson!"

With that, she dug into her bag and slapped the supplementary card down on the counter.

"Swipe it. There's no pin needed."

The clerk's hands trembled as she tried to swipe the card on the POS machine. A single beep sounded. The clerk froze. "I'm sorry, ma'am… but there's a problem with this card. It… can't be processed."

"How's that possible?" Mom yelled, brows furrowed. "Your machine is probably broken. Swipe it again!"

The clerk did as told, but the result was the same.

Mom began to panic. "Well? Get another machine!"

They tried three different machines, but the card still wouldn't go through. "Ma'am, it's still not… working. The card has been frozen, so it can't be used."

From behind, the store manager sneered. "Mrs. Cage, if you can't pay, we'll have to call the police."

"Shut up! I have the money!" Mom seethed, pulling out her phone. "I'll call that brat right now and demand an explanation! How dare she freeze my card!"

She swiped open her phone, but her eyes froze on an unread message. It was from the bank.

"Dear customer, the supplementary card ending in 8888 has been canceled by the primary cardholder. All transaction functions have been disabled."