Chapter 1

One moment, I was still in shock from the news about the seven-million-dollar Hermès bill. The next second, realization struck me.

I let out a cold laugh.

"Jeffrey, let me guess. You saw people online saying the Greenwoods treat me badly, and you decided to call just to save your ass?"

"The Greenwoods treat you badly?" Jeffrey Greenwood laughed in exasperation. "Elizabeth Collins, with the way you've been burning through money, Mom wanted to throw you out months ago. Sending you on this reality show is the last chance I managed to fight for you.

"If you still refuse to change, even I won't be able to help you."

I lived on a hundred dollars a month, and I had hauled so many bags of cement that thick calluses had formed across my shoulders. And this family thought I spent too much?

I sniffled. "Jeffrey, how have I never realized that your family was this hypocritical? You barely give me enough to survive, then put me on a reality show to humiliate me. And when I try to earn enough money to eat, you accuse me of damaging the family reputation.

"If you're so worried about your reputation, then give me a little more money!"

Jeffrey sounded as though he was trying to suppress his anger as he said, "Mom has even cut down her own healthcare insurance budget for you. How much more do you want?"

"Sounds nice. I bet the Greenwoods are scared people will think they're stingy, so they sent you to put on this performance."

Silence stretched on the other end of the line. Then came a disappointed sigh.

"Elizabeth, when did you become like this?"

My eyes burned.

"Me? You're the one who changed first!"

The call ended. I stared at the words "Call Disconnected" on the screen. I didn't even have the energy to be angry like I used to.

Maybe I had gotten too worked up just now, for my head was spinning.

I hurriedly ate the last bit of wild greens on my plate, then leaned against the wall to rest.

I had been married into the Greenwood family for a whole year. Everyone thought I was living in paradise. But nobody knew that among the laborers hauling cement on construction sites, one of them was me.

Yes, I was high-maintenance. But I also had my pride.

If I so much as asked the Greenwoods for an extra few hundred dollars, the entire social scene would know about it by the next day, and I'd never hear the end of it from the women in the circle.

So, I kept up the appearance of a glamorous life. Then, behind everyone's backs, I put on a mask and worked laborious jobs.

Construction site meals were pretty filling, enough to keep me from starving.

I stretched out on a woven mat, patting my stomach contentedly. After having lunch, I could always gather more wild green later for a snack.

Honestly, being a billionaire's trophy wife didn't seem nearly as good as being a farmer!