Chapter 4

A couple of days later, Clarissa dragged me into a quiet spot and snarled under her breath, "Why didn't you tell me that Susan doesn't even own a house? Where did your demolition compensation come from?"

I laughed. "Would you have even believed me if I tried telling you about it before?"

Her gaze darkened. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do now!"

I pushed her away before offering a bit of advice. "Save up some money to survive first."

Clarissa froze. It'd never occurred to her that for some, even survival was a luxury.

In her eyes, I had only gotten lucky, and that's why I became a rich woman overnight. She had no idea how much effort it took and what sacrifices I had made to get there.

After I was forced to drop out of school, I started taking whatever jobs I could find. I didn't just have to support myself—I had to support Susan too, all while constantly guarding against her taking my money to gamble.

I worked three jobs a day, living off the cheapest food I could find. Sometimes, I helped Mrs. Porter, an elderly neighbor of mine, with her stall at the farmer's market. And when she was ill, I spent an entire week taking care of her.

Mrs. Porter had a hard life, too. Her husband had died, and her son didn't care about her. He left her alone in the house to fend for herself. As I felt bad for her, I was the one who would help her out from time to time.

In the end, when she passed away, she left her house to me.

When her son found out, he caused a huge scene, demanding that I return the house to him. Eventually, I gave him 20 thousand dollars to buy the house from him.

Well, it was now time to see whether Clarissa could endure the kind of hardship I had gone through.

It wasn't long before she looked visibly haggard. Her complexion turned sallow, and she spent the entire day yawning. She always looked like she got little to no sleep.

I did the math and figured that Susan would've probably revealed her true colors by now.

Sure enough, after class that day, Clarissa rushed off to get to her part-time job on time. When she got home that night, she still had to make dinner for Susan. She also got slapped and yelled at for not doing a good job with that.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

In my previous life, this was exactly when Susan forced me to drop out of school. The same should probably be happening to Clarissa, right?

Yet, for the next few days, I still saw Clarissa in school. Not only had she not dropped out, but things seemed to be going better for her. She no longer nodded off in class, and she stopped going to work after school.

What was going on?

Clarissa came up to me with a smug expression and said, "Well, Kayla? Even without relying on your stupid ideas, I'm still doing pretty well for myself. I don't need to drop out of school or go to work. You must be so jealous of me right now.

"It's such a shame. It won't be long before you realize that life with the Newmans is not a bed of roses. Eventually, you'll also get kicked out of the family, and your reputation will be destroyed!"

With my books in hand, I pushed her aside. "Gee, you're so incredible. Now, can you get out of my way?"

Clarissa snorted in disdain. "What a nerd you are. What's the use of studying all day anyway?"

Perhaps my indifferent expression ruined her fun, so she left me alone. As I watched her walk away, I fell into deep thought.

Something about this was definitely off. To make sure I didn't fall into the same fate as my previous life, I decided to have someone keep an eye on Clarissa so I could stay updated on her situation. I hired a private investigator, Peter Cassidy, for the job.

At the same time, I began preparing for my exams. This was the first major exam I'd be taking since being adopted by the Newmans. I didn't want to disappoint them.

While I spent all of my time studying, Clarissa finally stumbled into a spot of trouble.

Early the next morning, she ambushed me and dragged me into a corner. Her eyes were red as she questioned me. She asked, "You knew it was going to happen, didn't you? You've been waiting to see me make a fool of myself, haven't you?"

Her hair was disheveled, and her torn clothes revealed the bruises mottled across her skin.

I let out a faint sigh. "So, it finally happened."

She grabbed my hand tightly, and her expression became twisted. "Tell me what I should do this time!"

I pulled my hand free. "It's simple. Give them what they want."