CHAPTER I: THE BULLY IN Aisle SIX

The dazzling atrium of the Grand Horizon Galleria hummed with affluent shoppers moving between luxury boutiques. Diamond rings glinted under the crystal skylights, and the air was filled with the subtle scents of expensive perfumes.

Sophia—the newly married second wife of Richard Vance—strutted confidently down the marble corridor, her high heels clicking loudly against the polished floor. Dressed in a silk designer dress and dripping in gold jewelry, she exuded an air of arrogant superiority.

In stark contrast, lagging several paces behind her was eight-year-old Lily. The frail little girl was practically swallowed whole by nearly a dozen heavy shopping bags from Chanel, Dior, and Gucci. Her small arms trembled violently under the crushing weight, and sweat beaded on her pale forehead.

“Hurry up, you useless little brat!” Sophia snapped, spinning around with a sneer. “Do you have any idea how much those bags cost? They’re worth more than your entire school tuition! Drop one, and you won’t be getting dinner tonight!”

Terrified, Lily tried to pull the heavy shopping bags higher against her chest. But as she stumbled forward, her foot caught the edge of Sophia’s trailing coat. Lily lost her balance and crashed hard onto the cold marble floor. The luxury bags scattered everywhere.

“You clumsy idiot!” Sophia screeched. Without a shred of sympathy, she stepped forward, raising her manicured hand to land a vicious slap across the young child’s face.

SLAP!

A violent, sharp crack echoed through the mall corridor.

However, before Sophia’s hand could touch Lily, another hand darted out of nowhere, delivering a thunderous strike straight across Sophia’s cheek.

The sheer force of the blow sent Sophia reeling back, collapsing onto the floor. Her lipstick smeared, and her left cheek instantly swelled into a deep, angry crimson mark.

CHAPTER II: THE QUEEN ARRIVES

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME?!” Sophia shrieked, clutching her burning face as tears of rage welled in her eyes.

Standing over her was a tall, striking woman clad in a tailored beige trench coat, radiating an aura of absolute authority. Her piercing cold eyes looked down at Sophia as if she were nothing more than a stain on the floor.

It was Clara Sterling—the founder and majority shareholder of Sterling Global Commerce, and Lily’s biological mother.

“Mommy… Mommy!” Lily recognized her mother’s voice and burst into desperate sobs, crawling over to wrap her tiny arms around Clara’s legs.

Clara instantly dropped to her knees, pulling her daughter into a tight, protective embrace. Seeing the deep, red indentations carved into Lily’s wrists by the heavy shopping bags, a wave of lethal, icy anger surged through Clara’s veins.

She stood up slowly, keeping Lily shielded behind her. “So you’re the cruel stepmother Richard brought home?” Clara asked, her voice dangerously quiet. “You dare treat my daughter like a pack mule?”

Sophia scrambled back onto her feet, adjusting her disheveled hair. Looking at Clara’s understated attire—since Clara had rushed straight from a business meeting—Sophia mistook her for an impoverished ex-wife.

“Oh! So you’re Richard’s penniless ex-wife!” Sophia laughed bitterly, her eyes flashing with malice. “This brat lives under our roof and eats our food! She works for it! Do you want me to call Richard right now? One word from me, and he’ll cut her child support to zero!”

Clara remained silent, her expression cold and unbothered.

Emboldened by Clara’s silence, Sophia sneered, raising her voice so the gathering crowd could hear: “I’m going to make you pay for that slap! Do you know who my husband is? Richard Vance is the CEO of Vance Logistics! With a single phone call, my husband will use his power to crush whatever pathetic little company you work for, bankrupt you, and throw you out on the street to beg! Don’t you dare crawl back crying to us when you’re ruined!”

CHAPTER III: THE PARASITE’S RECKONING

A few murmurs broke out among the onlookers. A few people recognized the name Vance Logistics—a prominent firm in the city’s supply chain industry.

Yet, Clara didn’t show a hint of fear. Instead, a faint, mocking smile touched her lips.

“You say… Richard will crush my company?” Clara pulled out her phone smoothly.

“That’s right! You scared now?!” Sophia crossed her arms, holding her head high with arrogant pride. “Richard adores me! If I shed a single tear, he’ll destroy your life!”

Clara didn’t bother arguing. She dialed a number and pressed speakerphone.

After just two rings, a frantic, sycophantic voice answered from the speaker: “Clara? Clara, why are you calling? Did the quarterly dividend payment clear into your account? I transferred it this morning…”

The entire corridor fell dead silent. The groveling, nervous tone of the “powerful CEO” on the phone was the complete opposite of the grand picture Sophia had painted.

Sophia’s face drained of all color. She tried to snatch the phone, but Clara’s two personal bodyguards, who had just arrived, stepped in and blocked her cold.

“Richard,” Clara said coldly into the phone. “Your new wife is standing in the middle of Grand Horizon Galleria, forcing my daughter to carry her shopping bags like a servant, and threatening to use Vance Logistics to destroy me.”

There was a three-second silence on the line, followed by the sound of shattering glass and a terrified scream from Richard: “WHAT?! SOPHIA! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!”

“Richard! What’s wrong with you?!” Sophia yelled frantically toward the phone. “Your pathetic ex-wife slapped me! Bring your men and destroy her company right now!”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, YOU BRAINLESS FOOL!” Richard roared through the speaker, his voice trembling with absolute panic. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO YOU’RE TALKING TO?! VANCE LOGISTICS?! THE ENTIRE COMPANY BELONGS TO CLARA!”

CHAPTER IV: THE PRICE OF GREED

Sophia stood frozen in place. Her eyes widened in horror, her body shaking like a leaf. “What… what do you mean? The company is… hers?”

Clara reclaimed her phone, her tone calm yet sharp as a razor blade: “Let me enlighten you, dear.”

Clara stepped closer, staring down at Sophia’s ghostly pale face.

“When we divorced years ago, Richard left with nothing because of his infidelity. But because I loved Lily and wanted her to have a father who appeared successful, I invested ten million dollars to establish Vance Logistics and hired him as a proxy CEO. He is nothing more than a parasite living off the monthly allowances I grant him.”

A collective gasp echoed through the crowd, followed by contemptuous whispers directed straight at Sophia.

“No… No way… Richard said he was a self-made entrepreneur…” Sophia stammered, collapsing onto her knees.

“Self-made?” Clara scoffed softly. “The designer bags you’re holding, the sports car you drive, the luxury penthouse you live in… all of it was funded by the child allowance account I transfer to Richard every month. You used my money, abused my daughter, and then tried to use my own company to threaten me?”

Right at that moment, Richard arrived, breathing heavily, his suit wrinkled and messy. Ignoring Sophia completely, he threw himself onto his knees right in front of Clara.

“Clara! Please! I’m so sorry! I had no idea she would treat Lily like this!” Richard began slapping his own face repeatedly. “Please don’t take the company back! I beg you!”

Clara looked down at her pathetic ex-husband with utter disgust.

“Your last chance ran out today, Richard,” Clara said, turning to her legal counsel who had just walked up. “Attorney Miller, initiate proceedings immediately to revoke all shares of Vance Logistics. Terminate Richard’s contract effective today, and file formal criminal charges against Sophia for child abuse.”

“Understood, Ms. Sterling,” the lawyer nodded.

“No! Clara, please!” Richard sobbed hysterically. Turning around in a rage, he kicked Sophia hard in the shoulder. “You evil woman! This is all your fault! You ruined everything!”

Sophia lay sobbing on the cold floor, surrounded by the scattered designer bags that now stood as a bitter mockery of her shallow greed and arrogance.

Clara didn’t look back. She gently lifted Lily into her arms, wiping away the tears from her daughter’s bruised cheek.

“Let’s go home, sweetheart. No one will ever hurt you again.”

Under the glittering lights of the shopping mall, Clara walked away holding her daughter tightly, leaving the two parasites behind to destroy each other in the ruins of their own greed.