Chapter 4

Martha’s sixtieth birthday banquet invited many industry elites. Now that the new projects were being selected, ordinarily, I would have sought their advice, eager to learn about the new ventures.

But ever since the floating text revealed the truth, I no longer wanted to do business. Why earn money only for someone else to spend it?

I sprawled on the sofa, pulled out my phone, and started playing Call of Duty.

Serena, surrounded by a group of handsome guys, was laughing and chatting, but then she glanced over and saw me playing a video game. Her composure instantly shattered.

“Audrey!”

She pushed through the crowd of men and walked towards me, disbelief etched on her face:

“Aren’t you running an online store? The e-commerce start-up competition is so popular, and so many of our relatives are in that field. Why aren’t you going to learn something?”

“I’ve been doing business for so long, and it’s all been a loss. Even if there’s a project, it wouldn’t be my turn to talk about it, so why humiliate myself?”

I smirked, continuing my game without even looking up.

It was wonderful to play my game in peace, undisturbed. Other relatives and friends looked down on me and didn't want to talk to me at all.

The more I played, the better I got. My hands felt incredible, my shots were precise, my strategies ingenious. I won every round, laughing all the way to the end. My stats were amazing!

I skipped the banquet food and ordered a huge feast of my favorite extra-spicy Thai food, eating and watching variety shows, tears of laughter streaming down my face.

As I was about to head back to my room for a good night’s sleep, I noticed several pairs of men’s designer shoes placed outside my door.

“Audrey, you must be too insecure to approach those big bosses, right? I’ve already prepared gifts for them. Just give them these, and they’ll definitely be willing to share their business wisdom with you.”

Serena linked her arm through mine.

“Those few pairs of shoes cost two thousand dollars in total. Remember to transfer the money to my account. And an extra hundred dollars for my service fee, send that too.”

She smiled, about to go back and chat with the men, but I spun around and piled all the shoe boxes in front of her.

She stared at me, astonished, but my face remained utterly calm.

“Who told you to prepare these for me? If you want to give gifts, give them yourself.”

I’d always spoken softly to Serena, but today my voice was louder, my attitude harsher.

She looked embarrassed, her face flushing with anger.

“I spent two thousand dollars on these gifts to help you earn more money! What do you mean by returning them now? Even if I earn a lot, my money is still money, isn’t it? How can you be so wasteful?”

I responded coldly, “Stop pretending to be a good person. I didn’t ask you to prepare anything for me. You wanted to buy these yourself, what does it have to do with me?”

Serena looked at me, utterly desperate, her face a mix of shock and fury. Then, tears started dripping onto the floor, a picture of absolute heartbreak, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ve always treated you like my sister-in-law, like family. Everything I do is for your own good. If you don’t appreciate it, fine, but to humiliate me in front of so many people? What is wrong with you?!”

She collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, gasping for breath.

Her pitiful display instantly made outsiders feel an overwhelming urge to protect her.

Everyone glared at me, seething.

Several wealthy young gentlemen from prominent families even looked like they wanted to rush forward and hit me.

“Audrey! So this is how you usually bully your sister-in-law! You’re ugly and your heart is cruel. If I were Serena, I’d beat you to death! You must apologize to her immediately, and give her all your savings from these past years to cheer her up!”

Their unbelievable thought process shattered my perception of reality.

“She wants to buy and give you shoes? Fine, go ahead and give them. Why drag me into it? It has nothing to do with me.”

Martha happened to walk out of the kitchen, carrying a steaming platter of pot roast.

“Serena!”

She rushed nervously to Serena’s side, quickly putting an arm around her shoulder to check on her, even calling an ambulance.

Before leaving, Martha didn’t forget to glare at me, as if I were her sworn enemy.