Chapter 3 They Humiliated My Mother

When Maria arrived at the villa, Yunice was throwing a party.

The villa I had carefully designed and decorated was now covered in chaotic splashes of paint. The outer wall of my room had the word "Wretch" smeared across it in red paint.

As soon as Maria stepped inside, a bucket of filthy water was dumped over her head.

Pinching her nose in mock disgust, Yunice sneered from a distance, "Well, look who's here! Isn't this the mother of that wretch? With the same filthy blood running through her veins, she's bound to be just as vile!"

Laughter filled the room. Maria fell to her knees in humiliation, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Yunice.

"Bethany only has her 'beauty' because she underwent plastic surgeries to look like me. If she actually looked like you, it would be laughable. She'd be a total disgrace."

"A wretch will always be a wretch. All she knows how to do is imitate me, seduce my man, and steal my family."

Yunice's face was full of smugness, her expression dripping with contempt.

Maria trembled with rage, her bloodshot eyes locked on Yunice. She almost lunged at Yunice, hands ready to grab her throat.

However, Spencer appeared.

He carefully wiped a speck of paint off Yunice's hand. "You need to be more careful."

"Seeing her mother just makes my blood boil," Yunice muttered. "Where's my stuff? I want that woman to kneel and hand it back to me."

Spencer looked behind Maria.

Not seeing me, he frowned. "Where's Bethany? Didn't you hear what Yunice said? Call her and tell her to come over here right now."

His tone was commanding and arrogant. He glanced at Maria as if she were a servant.

Maria stared at him before a bleak smile crept onto her face. "Bethany is dead."

…

Silence filled the room.

Even Spencer frowned, his gaze hardening. "What do you mean, dead?"

He took a step forward, crouching down with a flicker of hesitation in his expression.

For a moment, I thought maybe he cared, and that he would at least feel sorry after finding out I was dead.

However, as my spirit lingered near him, Yunice's mocking laughter broke the silence. "Dead? Dead! Hahaha…"

She covered her mouth, laughing wildly. "What a joke! You think she'd actually kill herself? She finally snagged the title of Mrs. Legrine and got to enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth. No way she'd give that up! I bet she's just making this up to avoid a divorce."

"Exactly. She wouldn't be dead." Yunice's younger brother, Jeremy Bippy, added, "Just this morning, we got a birthday gift from her for our dad, which was a golden figurine."

His face twisted in disdain. "She might look like my sister, but she thinks she's part of our family now? Even her gifts reek of poverty. My dad thought it was bad luck and threw it right in the trash immediately."

I trembled and froze in place.

During those years living with the Bippy Family, I had addressed Yunice's parents as "Mom" and "Dad" because I genuinely treated them as my own.

However, they had never truly accepted me. After Yunice died, Melinda came looking for me, longing for someone who reminded her of her lost daughter. I rebuilt my connection with them, but when Yunice "returned" from the dead, their warmth turned to indifference.

Yet every year, I sent birthday gifts to them in the name of repaying them for those few years they took care of me. I never thought those gifts would become a burden to them.

Maria looked down, gripping the jade bracelet so tightly her knuckles turned white. She repeated in a hoarse voice, "She really is dead. Believe what you want."

Spencer stood up, letting out a contemptuous snort. His cold gaze showed a hint of impatience. "She'll do anything to avoid divorce, huh? She really has no dignity at all, does she?"

He rubbed his temples, sarcasm filling his gaze. "If I agreed not to divorce her on the condition that she had to kneel and bark like a dog, she'd probably do it, right?"

"Spencer—" Maria looked up in disbelief. "How can you say that?"

Yunice's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Why don't we play a little game?"

She kicked Maria square in the chest, sending her tumbling back. "You're always talking about how much you love that tart, aren't you? I'll let her continue being my substitute and won't need her to divorce Spencer, but you'll have to kneel and bark like a dog for her. How about it?"

Cheers erupted from the crowd, their faces twisted in cruel anticipation. They huddled around and waited eagerly to hear Maria give in.

Maria clenched her hands so tightly that blood began to drip, staining the ground red.

"What are you waiting for? Bark!" Spencer ground his heel into her hand and crushed it with force.

At last, she raised her head, looking at this crowd of monsters.

The woman who had always sought peace and never raised a hand in anger suddenly broke Yunice's jade bracelet.

Taking one of the jagged pieces, she slashed it across Yunice's face.

A scream tore from Yunice's lips.

Maria, like a wild beast, pushed to her limit and lunged at her again, aiming the shard at her eyes.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed, her bloodshot eyes blazing with fury.