Linda’s eyes lit up, and the arrogant attitude she had just moments ago vanished instantly. In its place, she put on a tearful expression, as if she might cry at any second. Swaying her hips, she hurried over in small steps.

“Henry! You’re finally here! These two bullied me!” As she spoke, she pointed at the coffee on her clothes while pretending to sob. “Look! They ran into me and spilled the special coffee the jewelry boutique had prepared for me all over me. It was so hot! I tried to reason with them, but they even got physical.”

Linda rolled up her sleeve and showed him her arm.

“See? She twisted my arm until it turned red! And with this little girl crying, anyone who didn’t see what happened would think I was the one bullying them!”

Hearing that, I gasped. Most of the coffee had splashed onto me; only a few drops had landed on her, and she had the nerve to twist the story like that.

Henry frowned as he helped to steady her. When his gaze swept over my sister and me, there was not a hint of familiarity in his eyes. His brow furrowed even deeper as his gaze landed on my stained skirt and my sister’s tear-streaked face.

He said with contempt, “So it was you two who bullied Linda?”

“Mr. Jennings,” I cut in, “you can check the surveillance cameras and see exactly what happened.”

I forced down the anger rising in my chest.

The last time I saw Henry was years ago, the year he managed to study his way out of that remote mountain village. Back then, he had stood outside the gates of our family manor with a heavy sack of sweet potatoes slung over his shoulder. He had rubbed the corner of his shirt nervously, his face red as he tried to thank my grandfather. At that time, there had still been a kind of rustic innocence in his features. His eyes were filled with hope for the future, nothing like the slick opportunism he carried now.

Grandpa had always cared deeply about the village where he was born and raised. That was why he had been funding the education of that village’s students for years.

Thinking of Grandpa, I slowly unclenched my fists. Fine. For Grandpa’s sake, I would give him one more chance. Whether he seized it or not would depend entirely on him.

Henry gave me a cold stare, his gaze fixed on the large dark coffee stain across my chest. His expression was flippant, and his tone was thick with disgust.

“Surveillance? Why would I need to check that? I trust my girlfriend’s word. An adult who can’t even walk properly? I’d say you did it on purpose.”

Linda immediately cried even harder and shrank into his arms. Her fingertip brushed across the barely visible coffee speck on the hem of her dress.

“Henry, it’s not that I care about the coffee. I’m just worried they might have gotten burned. After all, if something happened in our own mall, it wouldn’t sound good. But they pushed me. Look at this dress, it’s the one you gave me.”

Henry’s brows knitted tightly together as if he had just heard something unforgivable.

“This dress was custom-made for Linda by an Italian designer. It’s the only one in the world, and it’s worth a million. Now that you’ve dirtied it with coffee, even repairs won’t restore it to its original state.”

My grip around my sister’s arm tightened, disbelief washing over me. I had seen that dress in a fashion magazine just last week. It was an entry-level luxury brand piece, listed on the official website for only three thousand dollars.

How was it worth a million now?

“Mr. Jennings, are you sure you weren’t scammed? A million for that dress?”

I suppressed the bitter taste in my mouth. Even my voice trembled slightly.

Back then, Grandpa had pulled them out of the mud by funding his education, paving the way for his future, and even bringing him into Jennings Group to work. And now, for the sake of a compulsive liar, he was humiliating the granddaughter whom Grandpa cherished the most.

“What did you say?” Henry snapped, as if someone had stepped on a sore spot. “How would a country bumpkin like you know? Who are you to comment on Linda’s clothes? I think you’re just trying to dodge responsibility! Apologize to Linda right now and compensate us one million dollars. Or I’ll call the police immediately and have you arrested!”

I took a deep breath. Then, deciding to give him one final chance, I said, “Henry Jennings, my name is Joni Jennings.”

A flicker of confusion appeared on Henry’s face. He muttered my name under his breath, repeating it slowly.

“You said your name is Joni Jennings? Do you even know who Joni Jennings is? She’s the eldest daughter of the Jennings family! Who are you to impersonate the Jennings family’s young heiress?”

Seeing his reaction, Linda covered her mouth and laughed. “So she’s not some country bumpkin; she’s just crazy, running around pretending to be some rich young lady. Everyone knows the real Miss Joni has been living in Milan for the past few years. Henry, if you ask me, this woman’s probably done this before. Who knows how many times she’s pretended to be Miss Joni to scam people out of their money?”

Henry let out a cold laugh. “Linda’s right. For the sake of the Jennings family’s reputation, we can’t let her walk away today. Otherwise, it would be a disgrace to the Old Mr. Jennings after all the care he’s shown me.”

Holding my sister in my arms, I stepped forward, and my gaze drifted to the watch on his wrist. It was a gift from Grandpa.

“Henry,” I said, “the watch you’re wearing is one I bought in Milan. Grandpa said you had just secured a major project for the Jennings family in the Southeast Region, so he wanted to give it to you as a reward. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Henry’s expression shifted. For a moment, he hesitated. Perhaps, deep down, he didn’t want to believe that he might have offended the real daughter of the Jennings family.

After steadying himself, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Sonny, has Miss Joni returned yet?”

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t told anyone about my return home yet.

I was just about to call out to Sonny, but before I could speak, Linda suddenly covered my mouth from behind. With my sister still in my arms, I couldn’t break free.

All I could do was watch as Henry’s face darkened while he hung up the phone. When he looked at me again, his gaze was the same one he’d give a lunatic.

“Hah. I must be too kind to believe the nonsense from a lowlife like you. Miss Joni is currently in Milan attending an exhibition. It looks like you just got lucky with your guess. What magazine did you read that interview in—the one where Grandpa mentioned giving me this watch? And you thought you could use that to pretend to be the young heiress?”

I stared at Henry’s arrogant face. The last bit of hesitation in my heart, held back only because of Grandpa, vanished. Instead, disappointment washed over me.

Just as I was about to signal for the mall staff and have them contact Jennings Group’s legal department, the sister in my arms suddenly began coughing violently. Her little face turned bright red, and her breathing grew rapid and shallow.

“Susie?”

All the blood in my body seemed to freeze. Those were the signs of her asthma attack!

I frantically reached into my bag for the emergency inhaler. My fingertips had just touched it when Linda suddenly lunged forward. She snatched my bag away and hurled it to the ground.

Everything spilled out across the floor. The life-saving inhaler rolled away and stopped right at Henry’s feet.

“Trying to fake an illness to get out of paying?” Linda sneered.

Then, she stepped on my bag and crushed the inhaler beneath her heel, grinding it slowly. The sharp cracking sound made my heart shatter.

I stared at her in disbelief as she shouted. “I knew you were all a bunch of scammers! First, you stage an accident, then you pretend to be sick, and now you impersonate the young lady of the Jennings family? Do you think the Jennings family is filled with idiots?”

Beside me, Susie’s cough was growing weaker and weaker. It felt like my heart had been thrown into a shredder, torn into pieces with every second that passed.

“Give me the medicine! My sister has asthma! You’ve worked for the Jennings family for so many years. Don’t you know my sister has asthma?”

I lunged forward as I shouted hoarsely, but Henry grabbed my shoulders and pinned me down.

“Still acting, are you? Sure, you even managed to look that up. Miss Susie does have asthma, that rich-people illness. But who the hell is your sister? Now you’re making her fake an asthma attack just to escape responsibility? Apologize.” Henry’s voice was as cold as ice. “Apologize to Linda, pay one million dollars in compensation, and I’ll give you the inhaler.”

“Are you insane? She’s having an asthma attack!” My tears mixed with anger as they fell onto the back of his hand. “This is a mall under your management! Are you really going to let something happen to us here?”

“Henry, I am Joni Jennings, and you’ll regret treating us like this. How can you face Grandpa after everything he’s done for you?”

At the mention of what Grandpa had done for him, Henry’s eyes widened. For a moment, I thought he might finally hand the inhaler back, but instead, he laughed a sinister laugh.

“What are your lives worth anyway? I'll say this one more time. Stop pretending to be a member of the Jennings family and going around scamming people. I can give you the inhaler, but you have to pay the price for what you did today.”

The surrounding crowd had fallen silent. In Harbor City, everyone knew the Jennings family. If someone from the Jennings family so much as clears their throat, the entire city would suffer for it for three days.

“Henry, stop wasting your breath on her. You want the inhaler? Sure. Kneel and beg me for it. Then, I’ll give this piece of junk back to you.”

Susie’s breathing was getting weaker. Her little face had turned as pale as paper. Looking at her frail state, a chill ran down my spine. I knew I could wait no longer.

“Fine,” I said. “You want one million? I’ll give you ten million.”

Both Henry and Linda froze, clearly not expecting me to give in. They immediately handed me a phone and told me to gather the money.

“It looks like your family will have to sell your house, your car, and even your blood to come up with that much. Take it as a lesson. Next time, don’t mess with people you shouldn’t provoke.”

Even while we waited, Linda kept making things difficult for me.

“Well? Where’s the kneeling? You still have to kneel!”

Linda lifted her chin proudly, waiting to enjoy the sight of me humiliating myself.

I held Susie tightly and slowly shifted my position. However, instead of facing Linda, I turned slightly to the side and nodded toward a man in a black suit who had just rushed over from a distance.

“Felix,” I said, my voice calm again, “pass down the orders. First, freeze all of Henry Jennings’s authority within the Jennings Group. Effective immediately, suspend him pending investigation.

“Second, contact the legal department and file charges against Linda Miranda for intentional assault and extortion. Third, call in a helicopter ambulance and have it arrive at the rooftop helipad as fast as possible to pick us up.”

Felix Hall, my assistant, nodded and immediately began issuing instructions.

Henry’s expression changed drastically.

“Who are you talking to? Do you even know what you’re saying?”

Linda shrieked, “Who are you putting on a show for? Hurry up and kneel for me!”

I ignored them. Lowering my head, I kissed Susie gently on the forehead and whispered, “Susie, don’t be afraid. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Susie rubbed against me weakly.

“Joni, I’m okay… Don’t worry about me…”

Just as Henry was about to make a move against me, a group of executives in Jennings Group uniforms rushed over, surrounding an elderly man with graying hair. It was none other than Billy Porter, the highest-ranking executive administrator of the Jennings Group, a man who had long since stepped away from public affairs, and his face was pale.

Looking at the crowd, he barked, “What are all of you standing there for? Arrest those two bastards immediately!”