Chapter 3

"I honestly thought you'd still be fighting it," he said, pulling out a chair.

I shrugged, replying, "Once you figure out the pattern, whether I resist or not is really just a mood thing."

I waved him down.

"Sit. Eat first, talk later. The fish here is incredible. I had them fly in some jumbo Maine lobsters just for this meal. You won't find anything fresher. Try it."

Leonard was a seafood fanatic, and that dish was ordered specifically with him in mind. Everything else with high calories on the table was all mine.

I had barely taken my second bite when a scream tore through the room.

The door slammed open so hard it bounced off the wall, and Emily stormed in like a woman possessed, roaring, "Claire, you are not eating that!"

She caught sight of me shoving a fat chunk of chocolate cake into my mouth and completely lost it. She lunged for me, but my bodyguards caught her at the threshold, holding her back.

I didn't even flinch, taking a deliberate sip of milkshake to enjoy the sweetness coating my tongue. Emily was shaking from head to toe. Her eyes were wild with panic and rage.

Ryan charged in right behind her. His gaze swept the room and landed on Leonard sitting beside me, and then his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Claire, you're an absolute disgrace," he spat. "Your father told me he wanted you to spend more time with me when you got back. But seeing this? Forget it.

"Seriously, what kind of heiress stuffs her face in public like this? You're a walking embarrassment to the Sterling family."

I shot Ryan a cold look and bit into a potato chip. At the sharp crunch, Emily looked ready to crumble, and Ryan was seething so hard that I thought he might actually pass out.

"Claire!" he barked.

"Inside voice, Ryan," I demanded and chewed slowly. "I can hear you just fine."

I waved lazily, and Lesley appeared with a linen napkin. I wiped my fingers one by one, taking my sweet time.

"I'm the Sterling family's sole heiress," I said, inspecting my nails. "Top of the food chain in this city's social scene. So what if I'm carrying a few extra pounds? My family has more money than God.

"My parents set up a trust fund for me before I could walk. I could literally never work another day in my life and still have more money than everyone in this room combined. So why exactly should I care about any of this?"

I picked up a slice of cheesecake and took a massive bite. Emily slapped both hands over her face. Through her fingers, I could see pure panic in her eyes.

Someone in the hallway blurted out, "Hold on. Does Claire look thinner than she did earlier? Like, noticeably?"

"Yeah, her face is definitely slimmer!"

"How is that possible? She just ate enough for three people!"

Emily's hand drifted to her own cheek. I watched her fingers press into the soft flesh there, and I smiled at her. "Well, I've got company to attend to," I said. "You'll have to excuse me."

My bodyguards didn't need to be told twice. They escorted both of them out with zero ceremony.

Emily shot me one last resentful look on her way out. I just gave her a serene little wave and brushed my hands off.

I had just consumed enough calories to fuel a marathon runner for a week, yet my waistline didn't budge. I smoothed my dress, feeling the fabric gap slightly at my hips.

This was only the beginning.

Once the two parasites were finally gone, Leonard slid a folder across the table.

"For the past three years, you completely stopped studying finance and investment strategy," he began. "As a result, Ryan's knowledge plateaued. His only profitable channel has been live-streaming, and even that's on shaky ground.

"He privately invested in six other projects. Every single one tanked. He's been burying the losses.

"As for Emily, her beauty is no longer stable, and her 'perfect' figure is failing her. Our monitoring confirms that the system attached to you has started glitching intermittently.

"It's exactly what we predicted. As long as you stop resisting and do the opposite of what the system expects, you can destabilize it from the inside.

"And the system's frequency pattern is almost fully mapped. I'm certain we can isolate and capture it."

I leaned back in my chair, deeply satisfied.

"Professor Grant," I said, my voice dropping low. "I'm doubling your funding. I need you to make absolutely sure those two get exactly what's coming to them."

He asked, "You want to destroy it?"

A slow smile spread across my face as I said, "No. Destroying it would be such a waste.

"I'm keeping it. I have much bigger plans."

I wanted Emily and Ryan to see exactly how I used this system to take back my crown and burn their playhouse to the ground while I was at it.