Chapter 3

With the poison duly spread, I made my way slowly back.

The moment I walked in, Shannon lobbed a toy at me.

"My bunny is dirty. Go wash it!" she demanded.

I picked up the toy with an icy stare and tossed it back at her.

"Aren't you Olivia's biggest fan? Why don't you ask her to wash it?" I said.

Shannon immediately jumped off the sofa, planted her hands on her hips, and shouted at me, "Olivia's hands are soft and delicate. She can't do dirty work. You gave birth to me, so you're supposed to serve me."

I looked at my own hands, rough and chapped from years of housework, and let out a bitter laugh.

"Since you adore Olivia so much, why don't you just let her be your mother?" I sneered.

"Hmph, I'd love that! Who wants you for a mother anyway?" she retorted.

As we were locked in this standoff, Charles and Olivia emerged from the bedroom together.

Seeing my stony expression, Charles's face also darkened.

"Is this any way to treat a guest? Olivia is our guest. How could you ask her to do chores?" he snapped.

Shannon nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's right. Olivia's nothing like you. You were born to be a servant."

Olivia scooped Shannon up, feigning distress but unable to hide the smugness in her eyes.

"Sophia, you know how children are—they say such foolish things without thinking," Olivia said lightly. "I'll take her out for a while so she doesn't bother you again."

She gestured toward a basket of dirty laundry. "Oh, and these are the underthings I changed out of today. Could you wash them for me?" she said, her voice sweet but leaving no room for refusal.

"They're pure silk, so they need to be hand-washed. The machine would ruin them."

I said nothing.

After the three of them left, I dumped the clothes into a sink of water. Then, with cathartic force, I savored the task of stomping until nothing remained but a ruined mess.

When Olivia returned and saw the ruined clothes, she was furious, as expected.

"I told you to hand-wash them. Look at this—they're ruined!" she shrieked.

"You did this on purpose because you're jealous I've moved in, didn't you?" she demanded.

Flushed with the memory of her past victory, Olivia took her place as the lady of the house, sulking to Charles and Shannon about my every fault.

Shannon also glared at me venomously.

"You're as useless as a fat sow!" she snapped.

Seeing the tension, Charles began to soothe Olivia.

"Pregnancy ruins a woman's brain. She's been like this since giving birth. Don't be angry over such a trivial matter," he said dismissively. "I'll buy you new ones to replace the ruined clothes."

Olivia fluttered her eyelashes. "So pregnancy makes a woman this dull? Good thing I skipped it."

As she spoke, she shot me a challenging look.

The implication behind her words was unmistakable.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms, but I couldn't afford to lose my temper.

To mask my rage, I lowered my head and let out a quiet sob, wringing my hands behind my back in a show of feigned grievance.

This earned me another round of scorn from Olivia.

"Sophia, you're no spring chicken, and you've had a child. Putting on a pitiful act at your age isn't very appealing—it's actually quite pathetic," she sneered.

"A housewife should know her place, don't you think?" she added mockingly.

Shannon clapped her hands in agreement. "That's right!"

Noticing my bowed head, Charles came over to me.

"Let's just forget about what happened today. But in the future, be more careful and stop upsetting Olivia," he said.

Thanks to my hidden cameras, I knew Olivia's bullying was part of their scheme.

She had no intention of waiting until fifty to marry Charles this time.

Their "good cop, bad cop" routine was a deliberate campaign to grind me down, to pressure me into filing for divorce myself.

That way, Charles could keep most of the assets and discard me without a hint of shame.

Little did they know, their brilliant scheme was already crumbling.

I had already compiled the evidence that would destroy it.