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Semua Bab The Real Heiress Says Yes, but the Fake Heiress Gets Nowhere: Bab 1 - Bab 8

8 Bab

Chapter 1

The room went dead silent.My brother, Ethan Bennett, froze with one foot still raised from kicking in my door.Fiona stood there stunned for several seconds. Then her eyes reddened, and she bit her lower lip.“Maybe I remembered it wrong. I was so scared Nina wouldn’t like me that I got confused.”She sniffled and added softly, “I just didn’t realize she hated Grandma’s bracelet that much.”Mom immediately pulled her into her arms.Ethan’s face darkened.“Even if you didn’t steal the bracelet, what kind of attitude is that? Fiona tried to give you something out of the goodness of her heart, and you just tossed it aside?”I looked up in confusion. “Did I?”Mom sighed. She patted Fiona’s back, then turned to me with a weary expression.“You’ve barely been home a day, and you’ve already frightened Fiona this badly. She’s lived with us for eighteen years, and now you’ve suddenly come back to take her place. Of course she’s scared. Can’t you try to be a little nicer to her?”I t

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Chapter 2

I was sound asleep in the guest room when Fiona knocked on my door again, her eyes red.“Nina, the primary bedroom on the second floor was always supposed to be yours. I’ve been using it for eighteen years, but it’s time I gave it back.”She lowered her head, her voice soft.“You should move in. I’ll sleep in the storage room.”I glanced past her into the hallway.The bedroom door stood half open. Inside were floor-to-ceiling windows and a walk-in closet. The vanity alone was bigger than the bed I used to sleep in.“Sure. Thanks!”The corner of Fiona’s mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.Then she bit her lip and walked away.I went back to bed.Early the next morning, the sound of someone crying woke me up.When I went downstairs, I found more than a dozen suitcases piled by the front door.Fiona was crouched beside them, clutching a pillow and sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.“I’m fine. Nina’s your biological daughter. If she wants my room, then she can have it

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Chapter 3

The Bennett family threw a formal gala to welcome me home.Crystal chandeliers glittered overhead. One wall was covered in flowers, and a large sign by the entrance read:'HOMEWARD BOUND FAMILY REUNIFICATION CHARITY GALA'Fiona’s picture was displayed in the center, complete with a poised smile and the title:'Fiona Bennett, Bennett Heiress and Charity Ambassador'Half an hour before the event began, Fiona came to find me.“Nina, there’s been a last-minute change to the schedule. The family reunion ceremony has been pushed back, so please wait in the lounge for now.”I gave her an okay sign.“Got it!”This time, she didn’t simply turn and walk away.She personally escorted me to the lounge, sat me down on the couch, and instructed the two bodyguards by the door.“Keep Nina safe. Don’t let her go anywhere.”Before leaving, she turned back and asked, “Nina, the foundation would like to use your story in its promotional materials. Is that okay?”“Sure.”She smiled and walked

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Chapter 4

At breakfast, Fiona set down her fork.“Nina, I can teach you everything I’ve learned about running the foundation. I’ll walk you through the finances, the procedures, all of it.”Mom put one helping of food on my plate, then gave Fiona three.“Fiona has such a big heart.”Ethan glanced at me.“She’s doing everything she can to help you. You’d better appreciate it.”Still, he had replaced my hard plastic chair with a padded leather one.As Dad got up, he patted me on the shoulder.“Do a good job.”I nodded around a mouthful of biscuit.“Sure, sure.”When I arrived at the foundation, the accountant slid a banking security token and a stack of account documents across the desk.“Miss Bennett, please check everything and sign the handover form.”“Sure. I’ll do it right away!”Then I turned around and locked the token and documents in the safe.That evening, Fiona sent me several messages in a row.'Nina, did you see the emergency fund transfer scheduled for tonight?''I’v

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Chapter 5

The video began to play, and everyone in the living room held their breath.The image quality wasn’t great, but what happened was unmistakable.Fiona walked alone into another room inside the unfinished building.No one followed her.No one shoved her.No one grabbed her by the throat.She pulled a thick rope from her purse, wrapped it around her wrists several times, and pulled until bruises appeared.Then she repeatedly checked the marks on her neck using her phone’s front-facing camera.When they didn’t look convincing enough, she added another.Nina hadn’t even been inside the building at the time.Another camera showed her climbing out through the unfinished balcony ten minutes earlier.She stumbled when she landed, then regained her balance and waved cheerfully at the camera.Ethan’s face slowly drained of color.He looked down at his right hand.Five minutes ago, that hand had slapped Nina hard enough to knock her to the floor. It had grabbed her hair and forced he

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Chapter 6

After Fiona’s phone was seized under warrant, the digital forensics team spent two days extracting everything on it.When the results came back, the head of the financial crimes unit studied the report for a long time before closing it.“She’s only eighteen?”There were six burner accounts on the phone.Each one had profiles on different social media platforms.The same week Nina returned to the Bennett family, those accounts had begun posting nonstop.'I heard the Bennetts’ biological daughter was raised by a man who stole e-bikes.''What kind of manners could someone from a family like that possibly have?''Fiona is the only real Bennett heiress. Too bad good people always finish last.'Dozens of posts.Hundreds of comments.More than ten thousand shares.Fiona had orchestrated all of it herself.The voice recordings were even worse.One of her calls with the foundation’s accountant had been saved in her voice memos. She’d apparently forgotten to delete it.“Use the te

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Chapter 7

The verdict came quickly.Nina was eating hot pot alone in the guest room when the news broke. She’d already ordered three plates of beef.Her phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.'Fiona Bennett sentenced to fifteen years on multiple counts of fraud and attempted murder.''Adopted heiress embezzles millions in charitable donations while biological daughter is brutally attacked by her own family.''#BennettFamilyAbusedBiologicalDaughter trends with more than three million views.'Nina glanced at the notifications, picked up a slice of beef tripe, and swished it through the broth for exactly fifteen seconds.Then she coated it in sesame sauce and popped it into her mouth.Delicious.Things downstairs weren’t going nearly as well.Dad’s phone hadn’t stopped ringing since morning.Business partners.Banks.Board members.Every call meant the same thing.“Mr. Bennett, we need to reevaluate our relationship.”In plain English, they were bailing.The Bennett family business lost near

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Chapter 8

“Yes?”“Do you think you’ll ever call me Dad again?”Nina looked at him.For a long time.“I heard you,” she said.Exactly the same as before.She didn’t say, “Okay.”She didn’t say no, either....Two years later, Nina opened her own company.It was a nonprofit auditing firm with twelve employees and a modest office.They specialized in performing financial checkups for small and midsize nonprofits.Whenever people asked why she’d chosen that line of work, she answered, “I’m used to documenting everything. I figured I should put the habit to good use.”A note was taped above her desk.'DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.'At first, her coworkers thought she was strange.She photographed every document, recorded every handoff, and kept two backups of every financial record.Then they uncovered a major accounting discrepancy for their first client.When the client asked how she’d found it, Nina pointed at the thousands of screenshots organized by date on her computer.“I looked.”T

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