Chapter 3

The courtyard of the mansion my father had just bought for me had been completely remodeled into a mess. Clothes were even hung out to dry on the balcony.

Sarah stood at the entrance in her pajamas. She had her hands on her hips and was blocking the movers from going inside.

“Ms. Harper, are you sure this is the right place?”

The mover looked embarrassed, as though he had never encountered a situation like this. I then recalled what Robert and Margaret had said about helping Sarah pick out furniture for her new place. I had assumed that she had bought a new house and needed to furnish it. I never imagined that her new house was actually the mansion my father had given me.

I also remembered a phone call in which my father mentioned sponsoring a female student.

I looked at Sarah and roughly understood what was going on.

So the female boss Robert had been bragging about was nothing more than a fraud who used my house and pretended to be me to flaunt some wealth!

Robert, Rayan, and Margaret had all been fooled by Sarah. They genuinely believed they had latched onto a wealthy woman.

I was about to expose Sarah’s identity, but she spoke first. “Ms. Harper, my father bought this house for me. What are you even doing here? This is a high-end neighborhood, you know. You wouldn’t be able to afford anything you’d break. I know you don’t really have any family left on your side. Unlike me, my parents would give me the moon if I asked.”

She lazily ran her fingers through her hair with a smug expression.

I could not be bothered to argue with her. I took out the property deed and said calmly, “This house belongs to me. Get out now.”

After I said that, Rayan popped out from behind Sarah. He was holding the latest gaming console in his hands.

“Mom, don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s a limit to showing off. If you could actually afford a place like this, don’t you think I would already have gotten a gaming console? Did the surgery’s anesthesia mess up your head?”

Then Margaret came out and chimed in, “Grace, enough already. Quit humiliating yourself here.”

Sarah, standing nearby, laughed at the scene.

“Your mansion? People will laugh themselves silly. Not that I want to sound like I’m looking down on you, but with your four-thousand-a-month salary, you couldn’t afford this even if you worked forever. Besides, you don’t even have that four-thousand-dollar job anymore!”

She then turned to look at the security guards who had rushed over.

“So this is how you handle security? Letting any random person just walk in? If something goes missing, can you even afford to replace it?”

The security guards quickly smiled and apologized. Then they turned to glare at me with a threatening look.

“How did you get in here? You’ve got three minutes to leave, or I’m calling the police.”

The moving truck had blocked the entrance. Slowly, a crowd of onlookers gathered nearby.

“What’s going on here? I thought this mansion was a gift from Mr. Hartley to Ms. Hartley. Where did this other owner suddenly come from?”

“Is she a mad woman? Look at her outfit; it’s so plain. She doesn’t look like someone connected to the Hartley family.”

“Maybe she’s an illegitimate daughter.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Mr. Hartley dotes on his wife like crazy. There’s no way he has an illegitimate daughter.”

Everyone was chattering away. Sarah listened to the constant stream of compliments. She looked extremely proud.

Robert suddenly pushed his way through the crowd.