Party

Everyone froze. They did not think I'd confess this quickly. Queenie stammered and tried to say something, but I stormed off. No way I was letting her hurt me again.

When I was out of their earshot, I opened up all my shopping and delivery apps, then I put down as many orders as my fingers allowed me to.

Queenie thought my silence meant I was scheming something, but when she noticed her growing balance, a grin stretched her lips wide. She texted me, 'They want you to buy them something, or your apology's not accepted. Get them some coffee.'

I sneered. 'Okay.' And I got that delivery. But the moment it hit our doors, I asked for a refund due to hygiene.

That wasn't the only one. I did it for all orders I made. The money I spent came back to me, but when I checked the user interface, I found out the account that asked for the refunds was not mine.

It was Queenie's.

I knew it. Her system could only give Queenie the money I spent. If I were to cancel my purchases or ask for refunds, the system would register the refund requests under her name to make sure things stayed balanced. It was a mandatory move to make sure Queenie's income source was justified.

Good news. This was excellent news. I nearly jumped from joy. Yep, she would have hell to pay. I spent nearly 450 grand on shopping. Once I got the items, I asked for refunds and came up with all sorts of excuses. I didn't care even if the purchase was one dollar. I asked for a refund anyway.

Underwear, snacks, pads, designer bags, houses on auction, I got everything and refunded everything.

Even so, it did not stop my heart from beating faster, like something bad was going to happen.

I was reminded of my previous life. Of how quickly my body wasted away. It was the weekend, so I went back to my villa.

The first thing that hit my eyes was a party. Queenie and Harold were holding a party at my house, and our schoolmates were huddled around them.

They noticed me and had nothing but disgust.

"Oh, you're back, Wendy." Queenie was in a custom-made dress. She put down her '82 Lafite and approached me.

"It's Harold's birthday today. He really, really wanted to have a party at the villa, so I brought him and the gang. The cellar's nearly running out. Get a few hundred more bottles for us, please."

I stared at her shining, beaming face. I froze. Yeah, clothes made the woman. And this woman had a total makeover thanks to the millions she stole from me.

No one would've expected that she was a housekeeper's daughter who wore patched-up hand-me-downs a few years ago. She came to my place with her mother.

I wondered how she managed to bind me to her.

My silence annoyed her. She pointed at me imperiously. "Well, don't just stand there. Go! I went out of my way to hold this party for Harold. If you waste my time, there will be hell to pay! And get more of that '82 Lafite. Harold loves it! And get me Blackswan's most expensive cake! The one with eighteen layers! And get me a spot at a five-star restaurant."

Wow, if the Olympics held an event for shamelessness, she'd run laps around all the other contestants.

This woman stole my money to enjoy a life of luxury, and now she wanted me to help her keep up appearances while paying nothing?

Sorry, but life did not work that way.

Greed

I remained in my spot. My eyes were on the empty bottles all around them. Hundreds of them. All I could offer was a silent prayer.

If my father found out these people drank through his precious collection, one that he built for years, he would tear them limb from limb.

A drunk Harold wobbled up to us. Behind him were the disgruntled schoolmates.

"Are you deaf, Wendy? You're a lowly housekeeper's girl! Queenie's the heiress here, so you do as she says! Get us our order now!"

"Yeah, if you laze around and ruin Harold's birthday party, Queenie's going to make sure your mother's fired! You'll be homeless and on the streets!"

The watch on Harold's hand was gone, replaced by a watch made of pure gold. It was as thick as a wrist.

A limited-edition Rolls-Royce key hung from his waist. This man was not shy to show off his money.

No wonder people respected him. Queenie probably spent more than a million on him. That made me laugh. No wonder she wanted to extract more money from me.

"Sorry, milady. I barely have 200 for myself every month. I can't pay for anything. Fire my mom if you want to. I'll tell her to move out right now. She can quit this job."

I spun, but someone yanked my hair.

"Don't you take that attitude, Wendy. Don't talk to Queenie like that, you filthy housekeeper spawn!"

Harold. His eyes were coated in venom, and they were locked on my face. "I could've dated Queenie, but you stole her identity and tricked me! I'll let you know your place!"

He gave his order, and a dozen lackeys came pinning me down. With horror, I looked at them as they approached me. I thrashed and struggled. "Let me go! Are you out of your mind?"

Harold grinned evilly and slapped me across the face. "I'll teach you a lesson, you filthy servant!"

The slaps fell like rain, and they hit my face. Blood trickled down my mouth. Queenie was watching the show. She was not going to lift a finger to help.

She sighed. "I've let you run free far too much, Wendy. Seems I've spoiled you. A lesson will do you good. That'll teach you who the real heiress is."

The world around me was spinning. I shouted for the butler. I wanted these people out of the house. Then, I realized that the servants were all dismissed. No one could help me.

Guess a lot had changed in this place while I was boarding.

…

Half an hour later, Harold was tired out, and he stopped hitting me. Then, his greedy eyes fell on my diamond necklace. "No way that's yours! You stole from someone, didn't you?"

His eyes gleamed with avarice, and he tried to yank the necklace off me. My neck was creaking in pain. I shouted, "Let go! My mom left me that!"

He did not believe me. Instead, he slammed his foot into my chest and spat at me. "Your mom? With how little she makes, she can never afford something this fancy. I bet you stole it while Queenie wasn't looking!"

He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and tried to cut the necklace up and take it from me. This was the only thing my mother left me before she died. I would never give it to anyone!

I fought and tussled and struggled. Fine, if I were to die here, so be it.

But then, someone at the entrance gasped. "What are you doing? Stop right now!"

Change of Necklace

I raised my head. Helena Zimmerman was back. She was the housekeeper. And my housekeeper was covered in precious items from head to toe. She could pass as a rich man's wife.

Queenie lifted the hem of her skirt and approached her mother. She said cutely, "You're back early, Mom."

Harold and his friends stepped aside and said hi to Helena. "Hello, Mrs. Wood."

I sneered and spat a mouthful of blood. "Mrs. Wood? I had no idea my father remarried."

Half a year. That was how long my father had left, and now these people were trying to steal this family's wealth.

I was lying on the ground, hurt and bruised. A hint of guilt flickered in Helena's eyes, but she put on a stern mask.

"Do not take that attitude with me, girl. You're nothing but a housekeeper's spawn." She turned around and looked at Queenie lovingly. "Queenie, how many times must I tell you not to stoop to a slut's level. You are an heiress. Act the part. Well, you've done what you wanted to her. Now toss that little slut out of my house! Do not let her sully this place!"

Queenie giggled and signaled to her sycophants to deal with me. But then she raised the necklace Harold took from me and showed it to Helena like she wanted to be praised.

"Look, Mom. Good thing I got this back, or she'd have taken it."

To everyone's surprise, the sight of the necklace itself drained all the color from Helena's face. She grabbed the necklace and came darting back to me just to wear it around my neck.

"What are you doing?" She was looking at me, shuddering. Her voice was trembling as she defended me in a hurry, "The housekeeper bought this for her so she could brag. The diamonds are plastic. It's not what you think! Don't touch this necklace again, you hear me?"

Hm, that was odd. That also made me think about a bold possibility. Could this thing be linked to Queenie's system? Weird, she did not seem to notice it herself.

"It's plastic? I thought it was worth something."

"Heh, vain Wendy. Couldn't get a real one, so she got a fake."

Someone clicked their tongue. "Housekeeper's girl. What'd you expect? Lowly filth."

Everyone threw me looks of disdain and derision, then they kicked me out of my house.

With all the strength I had, I crawled back up and took off the diamond necklace. Then I texted my dad and told him to come back ASAP.

I went to a jewelry store and bought the same model of necklace for 450 grand, then I wore it.

The moment I changed the necklace, my whole body flowed with strength. Even the weight crushing my chest was gone.

Still, this was not the time to alert Helena and Queenie. Besides purchasing and refunding everything I could get my hands on, I showed off this diamond necklace on my socials every day.

Even though everyone mocked me and wanted to see me fall, I kept posting the diamond necklace.

Harold couldn't hold it in. He commented, 'Holy shit, you're showing off a fake necklace? I'll show you the real deal!'

He then posted a video that was nearly five minutes long. He wore a custom-made suit and held up a ring with a diamond the size of a bird's egg. Then, he went on one knee before Queenie. Loudly, he proclaimed, "Will you marry me, Queenie?"

Queenie blushed, but she nodded anyway. The petals for the proposal were replaced by a rain of cash money.

This extravagant video got a lot of comments.

"Whoa, the rich guy and the heiress of a big family are getting married? What a combo! This is perfect!"

"I checked the price of the ring. It's nearly 900 grand. And with all that money in the video? It's probably a million!"

"Wendy's a joke now. She keeps showing off her fake necklace. Of course Harold didn't choose her. Of course he wants Queenie!"

The comments only made me laugh. Besides amusement, I felt nothing else.

According to our local law, refunds over 450, and without returning the purchased items, were enough to be classified as a scam. A crime.

I could not wait to see the look on Queenie's face when she found out she had a refund history of 4.5 million.