Chapter 4

Edward wasn't about to back down, though. It was his perfect moment to show his loyalty.

I knew their game all too well. He and Charlotte were using each other.

Charlotte wanted his position as Vice President of Lewis Group, and Edward wanted the shares she'd inherited as the late CEO's widow.

They were both playing each other, and neither one cared.

Charlotte looked at me with this fake, generous expression plastered on her face.

She said, "Vivi, I know you're jealous of my mansion and all my money, and of course, my adorable son. I know your life isn't going so well right now.

"But I'm not going to hold any of that against you—we're cousins, after all. Just stay here at the house, and I'll make sure you're well fed and taken care of. That way you'll at least get to see Samuel every day, right?"

She smiled sweetly, but her words were pure poison. And she actually had the nerve to threaten me with Samuel.

In my past life, she had me completely under her thumb, but this time I didn't hesitate—I slapped her hard across the face, and she went stumbling backward toward the floor.

Edward lunged forward and caught her, then whipped around to glare at me.

"You fucking maid. How dare you? Get out—get the hell out right now. How dare you hit your employer? Do you have a death wish?"

He wanted to curse me out? Fine. I gave him a slap too.

The crack echoed through the room, and before he could even process what happened, my handprint was blazing red across his cheek.

"Edward, I actually thought you were smart," I said. "Turns out you're just another idiot."

Damian used to praise him all the time, saying he was reliable and got things done, so for the past two years, I'd barely paid attention to the company.

I figured with him around, nothing could go too wrong.

But I was so mistaken. He was a complete moron, and Damian had been blind to it.

A grown man like him couldn't handle getting slapped by a woman. He roared, "Bill! Get over here and drag this damn maid out. Throw her out now."

Bill was about to drag me away when Charlotte covered her face and put on her saint act again. "Forget it, Edward. She's still my sister, after all. I think she's just mentally unstable right now, so I'll take her to a psychiatric hospital tomorrow. Don't hold it against her."

Perfect. Charlotte was finally doing exactly what she'd done in my last life—accusing me of being mentally ill so she could team up with Mary and Bill to lock me up at home and abuse me.

And then starve me to death.

I let out a cold laugh. Tomorrow, I'd make her see who the real psycho in this house was.

Charlotte was afraid Edward would catch on to her act if he stayed around me, so she collapsed into his arms all delicate and helpless. "Edward, I don't feel well. I don't want to see her—she's sick. Can I go rest at your place tonight?"

Edward couldn't have been more thrilled. In his mind, winning Charlotte over meant getting his hands on 60% of Lewis Group's shares.

Nothing could matter more to him than Charlotte.

He scooped her up ecstatically and headed for the door, but not before shooting me one last vicious warning. "You better behave yourself, or I'll get rid of you and no one will even know. You're just a pathetic maid—who the hell would care about you?"

He was right. That was exactly how I died in my last life, and no one cared about me then. But things were different now.

Bill started to follow Charlotte out, but Mary grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you're going? Did you seriously forget who owns this house?"

Bill's face was full of contempt as he stared at me. "So what if she's the owner? Charlotte's the one running things around here now, and she doubled our salary. Of course I'm listening to her."

Ha. Doubled? I couldn't wait to see how Charlotte was going to keep doubling their pay once I cut off her access to my credit card.

I picked up my phone and made a call. "Starting tomorrow, cut off all funding to Sean Jones. I'm done paying his tuition and living expenses."

Before I could even hang up, Mary panicked, because Sean was her son.

He was studying abroad right now, and his expenses ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. He lived like a prince over there.

And Bill—just because Charlotte doubled his salary, he'd been willing to put my life at risk.

Mary said, "Mrs. Lewis, please, you can't cut off my son's money. If you do, he won't be able to finish school, and all that work will be for nothing!"

Right, but why should I care?

I sneered, "He's not my son. My money doesn't grow on trees—why should I let you people waste it?"

Mary dropped to her knees right in front of me and started begging, trying to guilt-trip me. "Mrs. Lewis, I've served the Lewis family for over ten years. Can't you be generous? Besides, Madam Lewis promised to pay for my son's education. You can't go back on her word."

But I could, and what was she going to do about it?

I remembered how in my last life, she'd helped Charlotte feed me spoiled food, forced me to drink urine, and even shoved the most disgusting things into my mouth.

My teeth clenched at the memory.

And she had the nerve to expect me to keep paying for her son.

I snorted, "Don't worry, I'm not giving you money, but Charlotte will. Isn't she your real employer? Bill, aren't I just the maid around here? Go ask her instead."