Chapter 2

Serena froze instantly, the delicate veil of gentle sorrow on her face crumbling to bits.

She yanked her hand back with sudden force, her voice pitching up into a shrill screech: “No! Dad gave me this for my birthday—it’s my only keepsake from him! How could I pawn it?”

“Are your personal keepsakes more important than our cousin’s education?” I threw her own self-righteous logic right back in her face.

“Serena, didn’t you just say that money can always be earned back? You’re so kindhearted—are you really going to stand by and refuse to help? How would you sleep at night?”

Serena choked on her words, rendered entirely speechless. Tears welled up in her eyes, making her look as though she were suffering the greatest injustice in the world.

If it had been my past life, I might have felt a pang of guilt. But now, it only made me nauseous.

Uncle Jack’s eyes were glued to the wrist Serena was desperately trying to hide behind her back.

Between three thousand dollars and a watch worth much more, even an idiot knew which to choose.

He pivoted instantly, throwing himself to his knees in front of Serena and locking his arms around her calves.

“Serena, darling! Hazel is a cold-blooded monster, but you’re different. You’ve always been so sweet and kind, and you practically watched Jeremy grow up. Just lend me the watch. I’ll write you an IOU—I swear I’ll pay you back!”

Uncle Jack possessed the strength of a ox. Serena stumbled under his crushing grip, nearly tumbling to the floor.

She stared in sheer terror at the man clinging to her like a leech, thrashing wildly to break free. “Uncle Jack, let go of me! I can’t give you this watch! Hazel, help me pull him off!”

I leaned nonchalantly against the peeling wallpaper, crossing my arms as I watched them with indifference. “I wouldn’t dare. If I interfere, I’d be stopping you from performing an act of charity. Weren’t you so eager to play the living saint? This is your moment.”

“Serena! If you refuse to help, I’ll bash my skull in right on your doorstep!” Seeing his tears weren’t working, Uncle Jack began flailing and making a bigger scene. He even reached up to yank violently at her arm, trying to tear the luxury timepiece off by force.

Serena shrieked in terror, her meticulously styled hair falling into a disheveled mess.

She had always presented herself as the epitome of poise and elegance. Never in her life had she encountered such an act of thuggery.

Caught under Uncle Jack’s forcing and the weight of her own moral high ground, she finally gave in.

“Stop grabbing at me! I’ll give it! I’ll give it to you!”

Sobbing hysterically, Serena unclasped the watch from her wrist and slammed it furiously into the man’s chest.

Cradling the watch as if it were a divine treasure, Uncle Jack scrambled to his feet. Without so much as a word of thanks, he bolted out of the door like a bat out of hell, terrified Serena might change her mind, and vanished into thin air.

Silence fell over the small apartment. Serena stared blankly at her bare wrist, her heart bleeding in agonized anguish.

She snapped her head up, glaring at me with eyes full of rage and resentment. “Hazel! Why did you push me into that? You knew Dad left that for me—”

Before Serena could finish her tearful accusation, the flimsy door vibrated from a deafening, bone-rattling crash that shook the entire frame.

Before we could react, the door was violently kicked open from outside, its lock snapping out of shape.

Five burly men with heavily tattooed arms barged into the room, wielding baseball bats and steel pipes, sneering menacingly.

Leading the pack was a bald man with a long, jagged scar running down his left cheek, looking like a demon from hell.

His eyes scanned the dilapidated apartment before locking onto Serena and me. Letting out a low, sinister laugh, he raised a heavy boot and crushed the flimsy coffee table in the center of the living room to kindling.

“Here you are, the heiresses. You sure know how to hide. Five million in principal plus another million in interest. Hand over the money, or neither of you will walk out of this door on your own two feet!”