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

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

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

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

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,

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?”