Chapter 5

I looked up. It was Brenda Finch, Chloe’s mother—our estate's housekeeper.

Except today, she was dripping in diamonds and gold, looking like a wealthy Beverly Hills housewife.

Chloe gathered her skirt and ran over to her, whining.

"Mom, why are you back so early?"

Jackson and the colleagues immediately stood up straight, politely greeting her.

"Good evening, Mrs. Finch!"

I spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, "I didn't know my family's estate hired a new 'Mrs. Finch'."

My dad had only been out of the country on business for six months. He trusted Brenda, a long-time employee, to look after the mansion. And this was how she repaid him? By trying to steal our home?

Seeing my bloodied state on the floor, a flash of panic crossed Brenda's eyes, but she quickly masked it with a stern face.

"Hmph. You’re just a maid's daughter. Stop acting like you own the place!"

She turned to Chloe with a doting smile.

"Chloe, sweetie, how many times have I told you? You are a high-society lady. Why are you wasting your time dealing with this trash? It's beneath you."

"Since you've already taught her a lesson, throw her out! Don't let her dirty our floors!"

Chloe giggled and gestured for the coworkers to drag me out.

But then, she pointed at my bruised wrist and the watch, looking for praise.

"Mom, look! Luckily, I caught her trying to steal this watch. We can't let her keep something this valuable!"

But the moment Brenda’s eyes landed on my watch, the color drained from her face.

She lunged forward, slapping Chloe's hand away from my wrist.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Brenda's voice was visibly trembling. She looked at me with sheer terror, frantically trying to cover for me.

"This... this watch is just a cheap knockoff her mother bought from a street vendor to look rich! It's worthless junk!"

"None of you are allowed to touch Sera's watch ever again, do you hear me?!"

At that moment, her inner panic echoed clearly in my mind: *【My god! The microchip inside can't be damaged! If the signal breaks, the Trojan and the tracking device will completely fail!】*

Looking at her terrified expression, the puzzle pieces fell into place.

The watch held a micro-chip that boosted the spyware’s signal. It was the anchor for their entire theft operation! But Chloe herself had no idea.

"Oh? A knockoff? I thought it was real!"

"Figures. Sera is so vain, she'd wear fake trash just to fit in."

"Ugh, a maid's daughter indeed. So pathetic."

The crowd mocked me as they threw me out into the cold night.

I dragged myself up, immediately unclasped the watch, and sent a message to my dad telling him to return immediately. I also arranged for a trusted courier to take the watch to a tech-forensics lab.

Then, I ran to the luxury boutique, spent three million dollars to buy an exact replica of the watch, and bought a brand-new phone. I turned off my old phone and sealed it in a lead bag.

The moment I switched devices, the heavy, suffocating fog in my chest instantly cleared. I felt a surge of energy. It turned out the chip in the watch and the malware on my old phone had been emitting harmful low-frequency radiation, slowly poisoning my body while draining my bank account.

To avoid alerting Brenda and Chloe, I continued my routine.

Aside from ordering luxury items and filing for chargebacks, I posted daily selfies showing off my "new" watch on Instagram.

Even though the comments were flooded with hate and mockery, I remained unfazed.

Soon, Jackson couldn't resist leaving a comment:

*"Lmao, bragging about a fake watch? Let me show you what real wealth looks like."*

He immediately uploaded a five-minute video on Instagram.

In the video, he was wearing a bespoke designer suit, kneeling before Chloe with a massive, flawless diamond ring.

He shouted: "Chloe, will you marry me?"

Chloe wept tears of joy, and instead of flower petals, the venue was showered with crisp, hundred-dollar bills.

The extravagant video went viral instantly.

"OMG, the power couple of our department! I’m so jealous!"

"I looked up that ring—it's easily worth a million dollars! Not to mention the cash shower!"

"Sera Wood is officially a joke. Posting her fake watch daily while Jackson marries a literal billionaire!"

I scrolled through the comments, smiling.

In North America, credit card chargebacks and refund fraud over a certain amount are federal offenses.

I wondered what Chloe’s face would look like when the authorities presented her with millions of dollars in fraudulent transactions that she couldn't erase from her devices.