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All Chapters of A Lesson At The Mall: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

My chest burned, and anger surged up inside me. However, even that humiliation couldn’t compare to the sight of my sister’s red, teary eyes. That alone nearly broke me.I forced down my anger and asked, “Are you part of the Jennings family?”I had spent many years studying overseas, so my understanding of the family’s affairs back home was somewhat out of date. I didn’t want to start a conflict with someone who might be related to us. If there were a misunderstanding, it would be better to clear it up.However, the woman froze for a moment after hearing my question. Then, as if she had just heard the biggest joke in the world, she burst out laughing. Her crimson fingernail shot up again, nearly poking me in the eye.“Who the hell do you think you are? You think you’re worthy of asking about the Jennings family?”I grabbed her wrist and told her, “If you want to talk, talk. Pointing fingers at people isn’t exactly good manners.”Her wrist was caught in my hand. I wasn’t even using

Chapter 2

My sister had never been treated like that growing up, and under Linda’s stream of filthy insults, she finally burst into tears. Her small body trembled violently in my arms.My heart twisted painfully at the sight. I didn’t have the patience to argue with Linda anymore. All I wanted was to take my sister away as quickly as possible and calm her down.Holding her tightly, I tried to walk past Linda from the side, but Linda stuck to us like glue. She blocked the path and even deliberately stretched out her foot to trip me.“I’ll say this one more time. Move,” I said through clenched teeth.“What? Feeling guilty now, are you? Too scared to talk back? I’m not moving. If you’ve got the guts, you can–”Before she could finish her sentence, she saw that I was really about to leave. Suddenly, she reached out from behind and shoved me hard.I was completely unprepared. Still holding my sister, I staggered forward and fell, my knees slamming hard against the marble floor. As a dull thud e

Chapter 3

Linda’s eyes lit up, and the arrogant attitude she had just moments ago vanished instantly. In its place, she put on a tearful expression, as if she might cry at any second. Swaying her hips, she hurried over in small steps.“Henry! You’re finally here! These two bullied me!” As she spoke, she pointed at the coffee on her clothes while pretending to sob. “Look! They ran into me and spilled the special coffee the jewelry boutique had prepared for me all over me. It was so hot! I tried to reason with them, but they even got physical.”Linda rolled up her sleeve and showed him her arm.“See? She twisted my arm until it turned red! And with this little girl crying, anyone who didn’t see what happened would think I was the one bullying them!”Hearing that, I gasped. Most of the coffee had splashed onto me; only a few drops had landed on her, and she had the nerve to twist the story like that.Henry frowned as he helped to steady her. When his gaze swept over my sister and me, there was

Chapter 4

A flicker of confusion appeared on Henry’s face. He muttered my name under his breath, repeating it slowly.“You said your name is Joni Jennings? Do you even know who Joni Jennings is? She’s the eldest daughter of the Jennings family! Who are you to impersonate the Jennings family’s young heiress?”Seeing his reaction, Linda covered her mouth and laughed. “So she’s not some country bumpkin; she’s just crazy, running around pretending to be some rich young lady. Everyone knows the real Miss Joni has been living in Milan for the past few years. Henry, if you ask me, this woman’s probably done this before. Who knows how many times she’s pretended to be Miss Joni to scam people out of their money?”Henry let out a cold laugh. “Linda’s right. For the sake of the Jennings family’s reputation, we can’t let her walk away today. Otherwise, it would be a disgrace to the Old Mr. Jennings after all the care he’s shown me.”Holding my sister in my arms, I stepped forward, and my gaze drifted to

Chapter 5

I frantically reached into my bag for the emergency inhaler. My fingertips had just touched it when Linda suddenly lunged forward. She snatched my bag away and hurled it to the ground.Everything spilled out across the floor. The life-saving inhaler rolled away and stopped right at Henry’s feet.“Trying to fake an illness to get out of paying?” Linda sneered.Then, she stepped on my bag and crushed the inhaler beneath her heel, grinding it slowly. The sharp cracking sound made my heart shatter.I stared at her in disbelief as she shouted. “I knew you were all a bunch of scammers! First, you stage an accident, then you pretend to be sick, and now you impersonate the young lady of the Jennings family? Do you think the Jennings family is filled with idiots?”Beside me, Susie’s cough was growing weaker and weaker. It felt like my heart had been thrown into a shredder, torn into pieces with every second that passed.“Give me the medicine! My sister has asthma! You’ve worked for the Je

Chapter 6

Seeing Billy rushing over with a group of senior executives, a smug smile immediately crept across Henry’s face. He assumed the old man, who had served the Jennings family for more than forty years, had come to back him up. After all, he was considered one of the rising stars in Jennings Group now.He had planned exactly how he would exaggerate the story, accusing us of trying to scam them, just so Billy could see how he could deal with a pair of country bumpkins.“Billy, you came at the perfect time,” he said as he stepped forward, pointing at Susie in my arms. “These two are causing trouble in the mall. They even tried to extort Linda–”Before he could finish his sentence, the dragon-headed cane in Billy’s hand struck the back of his knee.Caught off guard, Henry’s legs buckled, and he dropped straight to his knees. Pain twisted his face as he gasped, “Billy?”“You disgraceful wretch!” Billy trembled with fury, his voice shaking with rage. “Old Mr. Jennings may be overseas right

Chapter 7

Bundles of crisp banknotes were stacked neatly inside the case. In an instant, every pair of eyes in the area was drawn to it.People around us gasped. Someone’s phone slipped from their hand and clattered to the floor. Others instinctively covered their mouths in shock. For a moment, the air itself seemed to freeze under the weight of that box of money.“How much is that?”“Oh my, those two were actually the impostors, and they even tried to mess with the real Miss Joni.”“Tsk, tsk. Just look at how arrogant they were a moment ago.”“Here is ten million, and not a penny less,” I said as I stood up, holding Susie in my arms. A dull pain shot through my knee, making me stagger slightly, but Felix quickly stepped forward to steady me. I handed Susie over to him before I walked to the case and lightly kicked one corner of it.“You wanted an apology. I brought it. Didn’t Linda say she wanted ten million? Go ahead and count it. This ten million should be enough to buy ten of your so

Chapter 8

He turned and glared at Linda, who was still sprawled on the floor. The hatred in his eyes was so vicious that it looked like he wanted to kill her.“It was you! It’s all your fault, you wicked woman! You said it yourself just now that they were dressed so plainly and that they were obviously poor people trying to scam our money! It’s all your fault! It’s always you! I was just confused for a moment!”Linda lost it. “Henry, you’re so full of it! You’re the one who always jumps at any chance to bully people just to show off your authority, and now you’re pushing everything onto me? Are you even a man? What kind of man are you?”Henry’s expression changed instantly. He scrambled to his feet and tried to lunge at her, but the bodyguards pinned him down before he could reach her. All he could do was struggle uselessly.“You’re the jealous one! You can’t stand seeing anyone look better than you. First, you deliberately bumped into them, and then you tried to grab their medicine! Linda,

Chapter 9

“I guess you’ve forgotten them, haven’t you?”His shoulders shook violently, his head bowing lower and lower, almost touching the floor.“Miss Joni… I–”“You don’t need to explain,” I said, letting my gaze sweep over the scattered cash. “You said Linda was the one egging you on, but it was you who used my sister’s life to threaten me. It was you who called me a fraud, and it was you who spat those cruel words at me.”I laughed. “Henry, don’t lie to yourself. This isn’t about her egging you on. You were just using her as a shield for your own misdeeds. Deep down, you’ve decided that the Jennings family’s kindness to you is something from a past life, haven’t you?“You think that now, as my brother’s trusted right-hand man, the rising star in the Jennings Group, and someone who can casually throw around a million-dollar custom order, you can lay a hand and humiliate people like me, who come to the mall with nothing, and it’s fine, don’t you?”“No! That’s not it!” Henry raised his h

Chapter 10

I reached out and took the baseball bat. The weight in my hands felt reassuring.Immediately, the noise around us stopped. All eyes turned to me, including those of Henry and Linda, still tangled on the floor.Henry’s face was streaked with tears and snot, but his mouth twitched into a nervous, ingratiating smile. “Miss Joni… you…”However, his words didn’t get any further, because I swung the bat, the air whistling as it cut through, and slammed it hard across his back. He screamed, landing in a grotesque, contorted posture. He tried to lift his head and forced a desperate, pitiful smile.I stepped toward him with the bat in my hand and pressed my high heels into his neck, looking down at him from above. The noon sun streamed through the glass dome of my family’s mall, casting bright patches of light at my feet.I stood in the sunlight, while he sprawled in shadow like a beaten, abandoned dog.“Henry,” I said calmly, “you claimed earlier that the Jennings family is your family?”

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