After high school graduation, my illegitimate sister trended on Twitter and TikTok. Everyone was saying the wealthy Kensington family produced brilliant daughters. The older sister was the state valedictorian and an Ivy League admit, while the younger sister was the top recruit for Juilliard's dance division. Just as that illegitimate daughter tried to use this wave of clout to force her way into our home... I had someone break her legs. 1 It was the night of my college acceptance gala. My father brought his illegitimate daughter to the banquet, where she dropped to both knees. Tearfully, she begged my mother to let her into the family. The surrounding guests gasped in shock. Just as the bodyguards stepped forward to drag her away, my mother stopped them with a single glance. I stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the show. I wanted to see what kind of nonsense this illegitimate daughter could spit out. She cried, looking like a fragile, rain-soaked flower: "I have Kensington blood flowing through my veins! Please, have mercy and let me through the doors!" "I can sing and dance, and I'm not ugly. I won't embarrass the Kensington family!" After saying that, she shuffled forward on her knees. Just as she was about to speak again, Liam Sterling, the heir to the Sterling family standing next to me, recognized her. He pointed at the illegitimate daughter, his voice filled with unconcealed surprise: "Aren't you that girl who got top marks in Juilliard's admissions this year? The one who danced that viral 'Swan Song' piece?" Seeing that someone remembered her, Chloe nodded eagerly. She had hoped Liam would say a few more complimentary words. Instead, Liam clapped his hands and laughed out loud: "My grandma was just saying your dancing had a noble, unyielding spirit to it. I didn't expect you to drop to your knees this fast." Hearing this, snickers erupted from the surrounding crowd. Chloe's face instantly turned pitch black. Seeing her look as if she were about to faint from humiliation, I didn't step in to defend her. Instead, I stood there holding my champagne, smiling as I watched her make a fool of herself. Amidst the surrounding mockery, my father's face darkened. He was the one who brought her; Chloe being mocked meant he was losing face too. He looked around, but not a single person stepped forward to smooth things over. After all, my father had squandered his side of the Kensington family's wealth long ago. It was my mother's family who had seized the market trends over the years, propelling us into Manhattan's upper-crust elite. Everyone attending my gala was here out of respect for my mother. Father bringing his illegitimate daughter to publicly force my mother's hand was a foolish move. Even for the sake of future business ties, no one was going to speak up for him. I watched coldly from the sidelines until Chloe had been humiliated enough. Only then did I leisurely set down my champagne glass and clap my hands. The bodyguards waiting outside immediately entered the room, dragging the limp Chloe up by one arm. I first smiled and apologized to the surrounding guests: "I am truly sorry. Our security was a bit lax tonight, and you all had to witness a farce." Then, I gave the bodyguards a look. Understanding perfectly, they hauled the struggling Chloe away, marching her straight out the doors and tossing her out of the Kensington estate. Father watched Chloe being handled with an ashen face, but he was powerless to stop it. He could only smash his glass in anger and storm out of the venue. Meanwhile, my mother, sitting at the head of the room, maintained a look of amiable grace. She smiled warmly as she watched me take out the trash. 2 The gala ended. I changed out of my heavy, intricate evening gown and slipped into a comfortable silk dress. I loosely pinned up my hair and was led back to the living room by the staff. In the living room, my father and mother sat opposite each other. Kneeling on the floor to the side was Chloe, the very girl who had just been thrown out. She was currently wearing a white dress, crying pitifully. Seeing me come downstairs, Mother waved me over to sit beside her. She looked at Chloe kneeling on the floor and said casually: "Do you want to enter the Kensington family that badly?" Chloe nodded eagerly, just about to start begging again. Unexpectedly, Mother agreed immediately: "Of course you can." With that, Mother narrowed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips: "If you're willing, I'll hold a press conference tomorrow and announce that you are my biological daughter." A flash of shock crossed my father's eyes, and he moved to stop her. But Chloe agreed without hesitation: "I will! I'm willing!" The moment the words left her mouth, Mother smiled and turned to my father: "But she isn't my biological flesh and blood after all." "If you want me to claim her, you must hand over every single cent of the assets your father left for my daughter in his will." The atmosphere in the living room instantly grew tense. Father gritted his teeth, glaring at Mother. Mother just smiled fearlessly and took a sip of her tea. I lowered my eyes, remaining silent. Years ago, knowing my father was incompetent, my grandfather arranged a business marriage between him and my mother, a woman with immense capability but a slightly weaker family background. And the daughter my mother gave birth to—me—inherited her brilliant mind. Grandfather was incredibly pleased. He even considered bypassing my idiot father entirely and handing the Kensington Corporation directly to me. Unfortunately, before he could do so, he passed away from cancer. Fortunately, he left a will stating that once I turned eighteen, 20% of Kensington Corp's shares would be transferred to me. Until then, my father was to hold them in a trust. But three months had passed since I came of age, and my father acted as if nothing had happened, delaying the transfer. Looking at it now, wasn't he just trying to save those shares for his illegitimate daughter? Seeing my father remain silent, Mother let out a light chuckle. She turned and instructed the butler: "Since Mr. Kensington is unwilling, please escort this young lady out." Seeing her chance to enter high society slipping away, Chloe cried out to my father in a panic: "Dad, please think about me... Ah!" Before she could finish, Father, as if making a painful decision, grabbed the butler who was stepping forward. Gritting his teeth, he hissed: "Fine! I'll give them to her!" Mother nodded in satisfaction, then clapped her hands. A lawyer who had been waiting in the next room stepped forward. He pulled the documents from his briefcase, waiting for my father to sign. Seeing the matter practically settled, Mother patted my shoulder with a smile: "Victoria, you're going to be an older sister." "Since we have some free time, why don't you take Chloe for a tour around the estate?" I smiled, nodded, and extended a hand to Chloe, who was still kneeling. No matter how reluctant Chloe was, she had to play the part of a sweet, obedient girl in front of my mother. She took my hand. The sharp diamonds on my bracelet dug viciously into her scraped wrist. She struggled slightly, but I held her in an iron grip. While my father was busy arguing over clauses with the lawyer, I dragged Chloe out of the living room. 3 Before my father tanked his side of the business, the Kensingtons were Manhattan royalty. Thus, the estate was nothing short of magnificent. I dragged Chloe down the long corridors until we reached the courtyard. Seeing that there were no servants around, she dropped her mask instantly, violently swatting my hand away. I leaned lazily against a pillar, watching her agonizingly inspect her injured wrist. Dancers are most afraid of leaving scars on their bodies. Chloe was no exception. Seeing her panicked expression, I feigned surprise: "Oh my, look how clumsy I am. I didn't even notice my dear sister was hurt!" I took a step forward, but she slapped my hand away again: "Back off! You hypocritical bitch!" She hit me hard. I looked at the red mark on the back of my hand, my expression unreadable. Finally, I looked up at her and let out a cold laugh: "Who do you think you are? You dare lay a hand on me?" "An illegitimate bastard who was just kneeling on the floor, kissing my mother's feet to get through the door, and now you have the nerve to call me a hypocrite?" As I spoke, I looked Chloe up and down with mocking disdain. Chloe had been spoiled and arrogant her whole life. Hearing my words, she almost exploded with rage. Forgetting my father's instructions to endure, she sneered: "Victoria, don't get too smug." "So what if I'm illegitimate? Don't you know marriage is a woman's second reincarnation?" "I'm beautiful, and I'm the top recruit at Juilliard. Father can pick any elite family for a marriage alliance, and I'll live a much freer life than you!" "What are you? Just a boring valedictorian. You're not as pretty as me, you have no charm, and in the end, no one's going to want to marry you!" She looked me up and down like a victor, clinging to her delusion as a lifeline. I watched her smug face, too lazy to argue. I twisted the ring on my finger, turning the sharpest edge toward my palm. Then, I grabbed Chloe by the hair with one hand, and with the other, I slapped her across the face, hard, several times! The sharp edges of my jewelry slashed her delicate, pretty face, leaving ugly, red handprints. She immediately squatted on the ground, covering her face. Taking the opportunity, I kicked her off the veranda and straight into the flowerbed. Amidst the chaos, I heard her furious, hysterical screaming. Lazily, I watched her struggle to climb out, and then I kicked her right back in. Only then did I speak: "You're new here, so you probably don't know yet. I, Victoria Kensington, am not someone you want to mess with." "So what if your last name is Kensington now? In my eyes, the Kensingtons on your father's side are just beggars." "You're nothing but a dancing toy meant for others' entertainment. Relying on the half of our blood we share, you actually think you can covet what belongs to me?!" I stepped heavily on the hand she used to grip the stone paving, grinding my heel down. Unsurprisingly, she wailed in pain. Through her sobs, Chloe stammered: "If you treat me like this, Dad won't let you get away with it!" Looking at her pathetic state, I laughed out loud: "He's a nobody. Just a piece of trash who ran his company into the ground. Threatening me with him is less intimidating than threatening to take a dump in our living room." With that, I stood up straight. I dusted off my clothes, though there was no dirt on them. Leisurely, I said: "No one is coming to save you tonight. If you can climb up, climb up. If you can't, sleep in the garden." "Everyone in this estate works for me. You better learn your place." I grabbed a decorative fan left on the veranda and fanned myself as I walked back to my room. 4 Chloe had been pampered her whole life. She had never suffered such humiliation. The very next day, she ran to complain to our father. When I was called down to the living room, I found my furious father and a pitiful, teary-eyed Chloe covering her face. Father pointed at Chloe's face and interrogated me: "Victoria, why did you hit your sister?" "How could you be so vicious!" I had just woken up. Ignoring my raging father, I looked at Chloe hiding behind him: "Didn't I tell you?" "Instead of whining to Dad, you'd be better off taking a dump in the living room. It's way more intimidating." Father grabbed my arm: "Answer my question!" "Stop provoking your sister!" I rolled my eyes to the ceiling and slapped his hand away: "She's an illegitimate bastard. I hit her. So what? Do I need a reason?" "Instead of interrogating me here, you should be figuring out how you're going to explain to the shareholders of your last remaining company why you're bankrupt again." Sure enough, a look of guilt flashed across my father's face. I let out a scoff and flipped off the illegitimate daughter before walking away. Seeing my completely shameless attitude, Father nearly popped a blood vessel. When Mother returned, he complained to her again. But Mother brushed it off with a few light words. When he tried to push the issue, she smiled and struck his weak spot: "If you keep talking nonsense, I was planning on hosting a welcome gala to introduce Chloe to society." The moment she said that, Father shut his mouth. Even Chloe, hiding behind him, stopped her whimpering. I knew why Chloe was so obsessed with her face. Mother's company was launching a new product line soon. Her Manhattan connections were supposed to be smoothed out at my acceptance gala. But my idiot father ruined a perfectly good networking opportunity by bringing his illegitimate daughter. To fix this, Mother was using the excuse of welcoming the illegitimate daughter to host another gala and rebuild those connections. And Chloe genuinely thought she was the star of the night. Smug and delighted, she immediately started preparing. On the afternoon of the gala, she even booked an emergency appointment at a high-end medspa to salvage the face I had ruined. I, however, stayed at the estate. My phone buzzed endlessly with messages from the elite group chat. [I heard the Kensingtons are officially letting the illegitimate daughter in. True or false?] [True. Tonight's gala. My mom got the invite directly from Mrs. Kensington.] The questions in the chat quickly shifted from curiosity to disbelief: [Wait, Victoria didn't skin her alive? Since when is her temper that good?] Laughter emojis flooded the chat. I typed back, exasperated: [I slapped her face so hard it swelled up like a balloon. She's at a medspa getting emergency repairs right now.] I added a few more insults for good measure. The wealthy heirs in the chat clearly understood my attitude toward Chloe. They knew exactly how to treat her tonight. 5 When Chloe returned from the medspa, the butler was just bringing in the haute couture gown she requested. I was sitting in the living room drinking tea. When I looked up, I saw Chloe staring at the dress with thrilling excitement. She was just a brainless fool greedy for wealth and status. Destined to be cannon fodder in high society. Thinking about this, my eyes filled with pity. A pawn meant to be used from the moment she logged on. Truly pathetic. Half an hour before the gala started, I threw on a simple, elegant gown and went downstairs to wait. Chloe came down wearing a magnificent, overly elaborate dress. The luxurious fabric wrapped tightly around her curves, making her look undeniably beautiful. Adorned with diamonds, she really did look like a high-society heiress. But that was only what she thought. Once the gala began, Mother gave her a brief, perfunctory introduction before taking me, dressed in my understated elegance, to network with the VIPs. The scenario Chloe had imagined—being surrounded by admirers—never happened. Holding my wine glass, I stood a short distance away, smiling as I watched Chloe sit entirely alone on a sofa. The young heirs and heiresses clustered in small groups around her, pointing and whispering. After the first round of networking ended, Mother finally let me go, telling me to catch up with the younger generation. I smiled and nodded, walking toward the smaller banquet hall where the heirs had gathered. Harper, a girl from a family closely allied with ours, saw me and immediately rushed over to link arms with me. I raised an eyebrow, looking at the isolated Chloe on the couch: "Why are you all leaving my 'good sister' hanging like that?" Chloe astutely looked up at me. I smiled and raised my glass to her, not missing the flash of hatred in her eyes. Harper curled her lip: "She's just a bastard daughter, yet she acts so high and mighty, expecting us to initiate a conversation with her." "She even looks down on the smaller families. A guy from a lesser tier tried to chat with her, and she literally rolled her eyes at him." I glanced at the pretentious Chloe and played along: "Exactly. Does she really expect us to suck up to her?" Then, as if suddenly remembering something, a smile curled on my lips. I whispered to Harper: "Let's go mess with her." I quickly gave Harper a few instructions. Harper understood perfectly. While Chloe went to the restroom, Harper briefed the group chat on the plan. When Chloe returned, she suddenly noticed a change. Several heiresses, as if suddenly enlightened, warmly linked arms with her and started chatting. Dazzled by the sudden attention, she didn't even sense anything was wrong, comfortably accepting their fake goodwill. During their chat, Harper suddenly pointed at a handsome young man standing not too far away and casually introduced him: "That's Carter Harrington, the eldest son of the Harrington family, and the sole heir to his generation." "The Harringtons are one of the top elite families in New York, and Carter himself is incredibly outstanding." "We were all just joking around, wondering who the future Mrs. Harrington will be." Harper side-eyed Chloe, easily catching the eager, calculating look on her face. To add fuel to the fire, Harper added: "I heard your mother is very fond of Carter and is planning to arrange a marriage between him and Victoria!" Hearing this, Chloe couldn't sit still anymore. A man approved by my mother? He was an absolute golden ticket in the marriage market! She had to seize this opportunity. If Carter Harrington fell for her, she could leap to the top of society as Mrs. Harrington. Then even that bitch Victoria would have to smile and bow to her! Harper watched Chloe practically vibrating with eagerness and almost burst out laughing. She added: "Carter loves ballet, by the way. I heard you're a dance major?" Chloe nodded modestly. Harper dramatically clapped her hands together: "That's perfect! Why don't I introduce you two?" Feigning reluctance but secretly overjoyed, Chloe let Harper lead her toward Carter. Chloe was already mesmerized by Carter's handsome face. She completely missed Harper turning her back to hide a massive grin. 6 The upper crust of Manhattan is a very small circle. We had all known each other for over a decade. We knew exactly what everyone else was really like. On the surface, everyone pretended to be proper and sophisticated, but in reality, they were just a bunch of wicked kids who loved playing pranks. I had just told Harper to set this up in the group chat, getting everyone to help Chloe act out a cliché romance novel trope. And Carter Harrington, the "male lead," was the unlucky guy who rolled the lowest number in the group chat's dice game. Watching Chloe approach Carter, the messages in the group chat exploded: [What do you guys think her first sentence will be?] [I don't know, 'Venmo me $50 for Taco Tuesday'?] [To the person above, stop.] I smirked and casually typed: [I bet a pack of spicy Cheetos she says: 'Are you my sister's fiancé?'] Carter immediately replied with a question mark in the chat. [When did I become the fiancé of the Grim Reaper?] Harper quickly explained: [I just gave you a backstory to make your character more compelling!] Sure enough, Chloe walked up to Carter. Carter discreetly put away his phone, and the very first sentence he heard was: "Are you my sister's fiancé?" Carter's mouth twitched. Victoria, the ultimate prophet. Just like that, under the group chat's instructions, Carter chatted with Chloe. From high art to the mundane, they eventually even talked about the price of canned tuna at Whole Foods. Chloe didn't sense anything amiss. She just joked: "I didn't expect Mr. Harrington to be such a domestic man, knowing the price of tuna." Carter forced a smile. He didn't seem to want to accept her compliment. Meanwhile, Harper, acting as the conductor on the other side of the phone, was dying of laughter on the couch. I couldn't watch anymore and nudged her: "Be serious, or she'll notice." Carter roared in the group chat: [Please, let's talk about normal things! How the hell would a young master like me know the price of canned tuna?!] A wicked heir immediately replied: [Just say you're the king of seafood. After all, your reputation as a 'player' in New York is pretty well-known.] The chat erupted into laughter, leaving Carter to awkwardly deal with Chloe. It wasn't until a Harrington family servant came looking for Carter that he politely ended the conversation. Harper immediately texted: [Chloe looks really smug right now. Why don't we give her and Victoria a chance to interact and see what she says?] The chat was full of chaos-loving instigators. The motion passed unanimously. I laughed and told them to wait in the upstairs restroom so we could watch a showdown. 7 Seeing me excuse myself to the restroom, Chloe quickly followed. When I came out of the stall to wash my hands, she blocked the door: "Sister, did you see that just now? Your fiancé and I had a lovely chat." I leisurely shook the water off my hands, slowly stood up straight, and met her eyes: "And what exactly are you trying to say, Chloe?" She thought I would panic and threaten her for stealing my man. Instead, I looked completely unbothered, observing her like a monkey in a zoo. She gritted her teeth and laughed arrogantly: "I'm saying, you're nothing special after all." "Your friends are nice to me, and your fiancé is attracted to me. You're just a clown throwing a tantrum." "You don't deserve to be the Kensington heiress!" "I want you to watch me take your inheritance, marry your fiancé, and become the most outstanding lady in the Kensington family!" I looked at her like she was an idiot and burst out laughing. Then, I swaggered out. I waited outside, casually inspecting my manicure. This illegitimate daughter was playing at such a low level, I couldn't even be bothered to fight her. The heiresses hiding in the stalls pushed the doors open. Every single one of them wore an expression of utter boredom. Harper rolled her eyes: "With that IQ, she got top marks at Juilliard?" I shrugged: "Dancers use their feet, not their brains." "With that pig brain of hers, if she had to take a real academic test, she'd be waiting tables." When we returned to the banquet hall, the heirs gathered around to review Chloe's performance. "This batch of illegitimate kids generally has pretty low IQs. That kid from the Miller family was the same. Took the bait effortlessly." A guy standing nearby laughed and chimed in: "People who dream of climbing the social ladder in one step are never that smart to begin with." "They fantasize about using their newfound status to hook a golden ticket, but in reality, they're just clowns." I nodded in agreement. After chatting a bit more, Mother sent someone to find me, taking me to meet another group of VIPs. It wasn't until the gala ended that I saw Chloe again. She was still keeping up her glamorous facade, glowing as she stood by the door seeing guests off. When she saw Carter, the affectionate, longing look she gave him gave me goosebumps. Mother wasn't an idiot. After the guests left, she asked me what happened. I told her exactly how the night went down. When I got to the part where Chloe threatened me in the bathroom, even my usually serious mother couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she patted my shoulder, telling me not to play too hard, lest Chloe die of anger when she found out the truth. I nodded and chatted with Mom for a while longer.
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