Chapter 4
As I sat in the audience, I couldn't help but laugh at the same old presentation.
Seriously, Marcel made no progress at all.
Just then, the host handed me the microphone.
"Evie, as Marcel's sister, what do you think of his plan?" the host asked.
It was exactly what the production team wanted me to say, something nice about Marcel to make our family look good on camera.
I took the mic and stood up. "Well, I think..."
I tilted my head, acting like I was deep in thought. "It's kind of..."
Everyone's eyes were on me.
"Honestly, this plan seems strangely familiar," I said.
Marcel's face twitched slightly.
I continued, taking my time, "Especially this core algorithm model and the market risk assessment. Why do they look so much like my college capstone project?
"Maybe Marcel loves me so much that he had to 'borrow' my thesis and put it out there.
"Marcel, you really pulled out all the stops for me."
The audience gasped in shock.
Marcel's face turned bright red. "That's not true. I did all this myself.
"Evie, stop making stuff up about me!"
"Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow, pulled out my phone unhurriedly, and opened a document.
I went on, "Hate to say, but my graduation project actually got first place nationwide. It's listed on my university's website and in the national academic database.
"Do you want me to show it on the big screen? Let everyone see which is better, your Soaring Plan or my award-winning project?"
I held up my phone for everyone to see. My thesis cover lit up on the screen, clear and bold.
It was written in black and white, complete with a title and an author.
Marcel swayed on his feet, looking like someone had taken away all his strength.
He glared at me, his eyes filled with fear and hatred.
He never thought I'd show up with all the proof ready to go.
In my previous life, he used the same scheme to impress everyone at the Sargent family's board meeting and secure his place as the heir.
Back then, I just sat in front of the TV, clapping like an idiot, proud of him.
I never once doubted him.
It wasn't until after I died, when I was a ghost floating in the air, that I saw Marcel, drunk, spilling his secrets to Willa.
He scoffed, "That idiot actually thought I gave a damn about her pathetic stuff.
"Anything she has is mine by default. She's family, after all."
Yeah, I was his family.
So, did that mean they could take my ideas, my life, and everything I have because I was their family? Who gave them that right?
The live chat was going wild, way crazier than during the necklace drama.
[Plagiarism! This is blatant plagiarism, and he's stealing from his own sister.]
[I want to puke. Is anything about this family even real?]
[Marcel stole his sister's thesis and tried to pass it off as his own? What a jerk!]
[Marcel, get lost. Fraud, academic thief, total disgrace!]
Holden looked awful. His face was so pale that it was like his whole world was about to fall apart.
The Sargent family's so-called "genius heir" had instantly become the internet's favorite target, an outright academic thief that everyone wanted to drag through the mud.
The Sargent family's reputation was in ruins.
As for me, I smiled sweetly at the camera, acting innocent as if nothing had happened.
Just wait. The real drama was still to come.
*****
The Sargent family had become complete outcasts.
Their stocks were plummeting, and partners were pulling out left and right.
Holden was struggling to cope. Within just a few days, the stress had turned his hair gray at the temples.
The way they looked at me was like their eyes were daggers.
If glares could kill, I'd be full of holes by now.
But they tried to fight back.
During one of the live streams, they went all out to announce a "welcome back gift" for me.
Right there was a shiny new red Ferrari, the keys sitting on the table in front of me.
Gracie put on her best doting mother act.
"Evie, this is our way of apologizing. From now on, we'll give you anything you want," she said.
It was a trap they'd set up with precision.
If I took the car, they'd spin the story, insisting all my issues revolved around money. They'd claim I was sold out for just a sports car and paint me as a typical small-town nobody who didn't deserve any attention.
If I turned it down, they'd call me heartless and ungrateful, saying they were genuinely trying to make things right, but I didn't appreciate it.
In my previous life, I fell for their trap.
I took the car, grinning like an idiot and thinking I had finally been accepted into the family.
But the very next day, every headline labeled me a gold-digger.
This time, I just stared at those shiny keys and laughed mockingly.
I picked them up, flipping the keys in my hand. "Compensation?
"You left me in that small town for eighteen years. I had barely enough to eat or wear, and everyone called me a brat without parents.
"Meanwhile, your beloved stand-in daughter lived like a princess, wearing fancy dresses, eating the best food, enjoying everything that should have been mine.
"Now you think handing me a car can erase the eighteen years you took from me?"
I tossed the keys back onto the table with a loud clang.
I said, "Mr. Sargent, Mrs. Sargent, is your conscience really that cheap?
"I don't need your charity. Just give me what I deserve.
"Twenty percent of Sargent Group's shares. My grandfather left those for me. Transfer them over, and do it quickly."
Gracie's face kept going from pale to ashen, completely rattled.