Chapter 3

I looked up and saw Justin walking toward us with eight bodyguards in tow.

The security guards holding me down got such a fright that they immediately let go of me and shied away to the sidelines.

Selena initially fell to the floor in fear. However, when she saw that it was Justin, she quickly heaved a sigh of relief and shot me another gloating smile.

Sandy, now bruised and battered with marks on her face, was shoved to the ground next to me by one of Justin's bodyguards. She looked like she was trying her best not to cry.

Justin walked toward us at this moment. First, he gave Selena a quick once-over. After making sure that she was fine, he then cast me an icy glance, the disgust clearly showing in his eyes.

"Fortunately for you, Selena seems to be unscathed. Otherwise, I'd never forgive a street beggar like you, no matter how much you groveled!"

In my past life, Justin would always side with Selena no matter what happened. To survive, I tried my best to mimic everything Selena did just to try and receive Justin's favor. Still, they treated me like a clown and kept bullying and humiliating me until I lost all of my dignity.

Eventually, people who didn't know any better came to believe that I was the adopted daughter instead of her.

This time, however, I finally understood that it was useless to curry favor with someone who already despised me. All my effort would be in vain anyway, so why bother?

I chuckled coldly and replied with a huff, "What? Trying to get me to act like Selena again? Did you want me to learn to be as ungrateful as her? Or learn how to be an impostor like she is?

"She's just an orphan. What is there for me to mimic about her? Justin Bloomberg, did you really think that you'd still be able to fool everyone with your pathetic act?"

When the guests saw that Justin was on Selena's side, they started rallying behind him.

"Oh my God! The street rat actually dared to talk back to Mr. Bloomberg while also bullying Ms. Selena? Talk about guts!"

"I think I finally understand what it means to be an ingrate. Just look at her! She's just a lowly peasant, yet she tried to steal the heiress title and replace Ms. Selena in elite society. Let her have it!"

Sandy, who'd been with me since I was a young child, wiped the tears from her face and pointed at Selena in anger.

"She is the one who was picked up from the streets! Ms. Sabrina Bloomberg is the true heiress of the Bloomberg family!"

Justin immediately went up to her and slapped her hard across the cheek. "How dare you accuse Selena of such a thing! I should kill you!"

Then, Justin turned to face me and glared at me with cold eyes. "Were you the one who told her to frame Selena?

"I've been too lenient with you, haven't I? That's why you've been causing so much trouble lately. I ought to teach you a lesson!"

Alvin hugged Selena like he was protecting her from me and said, "Selena is the only person I love. Don't you even think of marrying me, Sabrina Bloomberg. I'd rather die than lay a single finger on you!"

Immediately after that, Alvin handed the huge bouquet of roses to Selena and got down on one knee, proposing to her with a multi-million-dollar diamond ring.

"Selena, I will spend the rest of my life proving that you are the one and only person I love. Will you marry me?"

Selena covered her mouth in faux shock, so touched that tears began spilling from her eyes.

"Yes, I will!"

The first thing Selena did after Alvin slid the engagement ring on her finger was to gloat in private.

However, when she saw that I was still watching, she pretended to look upset.

"I thought Sabrina was quite pitiful in the past. I'd always thought of her as my own sibling, letting her have everything she wanted. But I never thought that this street beggar would turn out to be such an ingrate and try to replace me as the true heiress of the Bloomberg family."

While speaking, tears gathered in her eyes and slid down her cheeks, making her look small and pitiful. Justin and the other guests immediately went up to comfort her.

She pretended to wipe away her crocodile tears and turned to face the rest of the guests, continuing with her pitiful act to sway everyone's opinions such that they would take her side.

"Now, everyone should know by now who's the real heiress and who's the fake heiress."

Selena glanced at me briefly with a victorious look on her face. The provocation in her eyes was too obvious to all.

I chuckled to myself. She was just about to meet her doom, but she still didn't know it yet.

When Justin saw that I still hadn't apologized, he grabbed my wrist and started yelling in my face.

"You still dare to smile? Get down on your knees and beg for Selena's forgiveness! If not, I'm going to banish you from the Bloomberg family!"

Selena would have loved to chase me out a long time ago. However, because she was still trying to appeal to the guests' empathy, she had to pretend she was asking Justin to go easy on me.

"Don't be mad at her anymore, Justin. She's just an impostor with terrible acting skills. Nobody would ever be fooled by her terrible act.

"Sabrina, it's bad enough that you keep bullying and humiliating me daily at home, but have you ever thought what your actions today would do to the Bloomberg family's reputation? Are you trying to make us the laughingstock of the country?"

Justin kicked the back of my knees hard. "Get down on your knees and apologize!"

I put up with the pain and refused to budge.

Justin was just an older cousin of mine. Since he was young, he'd always used the excuse of visiting Mom and Dad to always appear at my house while mostly treating it as his own.

In truth, he just wanted to take advantage of my parents' influence to establish his spot in the elite society. And just as he wished, Mom and Dad introduced him to many of their connections when he was as young as ten years old. Thanks to that, Justin was now doing very well on his own.

I had always treated Justin as my own brother and was very respectful toward him.

Eventually, as Mom and Dad became busier and spent more time overseas, they decided to make him the head of the household for the time being since they trusted him very much.

However, Justin ended up favoring an outsider instead of his own family member.

I met Justin's cold gaze with another glare of my own. I wasn't the least bit scared of him.

"Justin Bloomberg, have you forgotten that you're just a guest in our family? Did you really think you had the power to make me get on my knees for someone?"

Justin chuckled. "You say I have no power? Your mom and dad aren't here, so my word is the truth now!

"Not kneeling, are you? Fine. Guards, throw Sabrina out of here. Also, she's now banished from the Bloomberg family for the rest of her life!"

Selena lifted her head in glee, unable to hide it in her eyes anymore.

"Did you think that I'd be as merciful as Justin and just let you off the hook like that?

"Well, since you refuse to admit your wrongdoings, you've got nobody to blame but yourself. Guards! Seize her and slash her face to ribbons, then pull her tongue out! We'll see how she tries to impersonate me then!"

Justin simply nodded in approval.

Selena thought that she was finally going to win this time.

Just then, a large team of bodyguards in black swarmed in through the front door, pushing all the guests aside and clearing out a path.

A loud, booming voice, laced with anger and iciness, then sounded from the door.

"Who dares to slash my daughter's face to ribbons and pull her tongue out?"