As I stepped out of my older brother's newly opened supermarket, the alarm suddenly rang.

The sales assistant grimly reached out and grabbed me, "Miss, you haven't paid yet."

I remembered that my buttons were made of metal, which triggered the alarm. After patiently explaining and easing the atmosphere, I said, "The owner of this supermarket is my older brother. He'll pay the bill."

The sales assistant scoffed. "Your brother's the boss? Why not say he's your husband instead? You stole and refused to admit it. Pay up or I'll call the police immediately," she said and crumpled the receipt into a ball before throwing it at my face.

I endured the humiliation and unfolded it.

A baby pacifier for 100,000 dollars.

Two packs of baby wet wipes for 200,000 dollars.

Security personnel's hush fee, 300,000 dollars.

All of the miscellaneous expenses added up to exactly one million dollars.

I laughed in anger. "One million dollars? Why don't you just rob a bank? Go and get Chad Surrey. I want to see how I ended up with such a heartless brother."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend if you can't afford it, thief. Is Mr. Surrey someone you can see whenever you want?"

When my parents came to help me, I said, "Only one of us exists in this family. It's either me or her."

"Miss, could you hurry up and pay? Don't waste everyone's time." The sales assistant looked grim, pulling my arm with one hand and pressing the alarm with the other. She looked as if she would call the police immediately if I tried to run.

The onlookers whispered about me, and the voices calling me a thief never ceased.

Having explained it several times, I lost all patience. Just as I was about to call my parents, a hand knocked my phone away.

The sales assistant raised her voice and shouted, "Everyone, look at this. This woman came to the supermarket to steal, and now she's even calling for help."

My phone was smashed to pieces. I frowned, suppressed my anger, and muttered, "I'll tell you one last time. My name is Charlene Surrey. The owner of this supermarket, Chad Surrey, is my older brother. He’s posted many photos of me on his social media. Just check for yourself and you'll know."

I thought she would stop being so persistent after hearing my explanation, but unexpectedly, her face turned grimmer. She let out an exaggerated chuckle and called me a shameless liar right in front of everyone. "There are all kinds of people these days. Can you pretend to be my boss' sister just because you know his name? I also know Elon Musk. Would you believe me if I said that I'm his wife?"

The whole place erupted in laughter, and middle-aged men and women tutted and shook their heads at me.

"I've never seen such a young thief."

"She looks so slutty. Maybe she can sell herself to pay."

"Young people these days are shameless. They steal and have the nerve to make excuses. If I were her parents, I'd cut off all ties with her."

My facial expression darkened as I met the wave of curses. I was about to retort when the sales assistant suddenly yanked me forward. She taunted, "Sister? How funny. Do homewreckers flatter themselves like that these days? Chad gives you 100,000 dollars every month and you dare to take it. It's our joint property! I want you to return every penny you took."

I froze before looking down. Seeing the name tag on her chest, Kelly Farton, my mouth twitched speechlessly. It turned out that she was the poor college student Chad had insisted on being with despite our parents' objections. He was afraid her pride would be hurt, so he hid his identity and pretended to be poor.

However, I did not expect his so-called self-reliant girlfriend to be so mean. Not only was she framing me as a thief, but she also charged me a million-dollar bill to humiliate me.

As I was in a daze, Kelly thought I was guilty and laughed even more smugly. She called out to security, "You guys should lock this thief up right now. We'll deal with her properly when the police arrive!"

The security guard, armed with a baton, pressed me to the ground roughly. Panting, I struggled and shouted, "Kelly, you’ve lost your mind! My brother would never spare you if he knew you treated me like this!"

I had just finished speaking when she slapped me in the face. Then, she grabbed my chin and threatened me viciously, "Ha, you're not good enough. I'll show you who's more important in his heart."

She then dialed the phone and coquettishly said to the other end of the line, "Chad, where are you? I encountered a thief in the supermarket. She’s claiming to be your younger sister and said that you won't spare me if I touch her."

The man at the other end of the line sneered. "I'm on a business trip, Baby. Are you kidding me? I don't have any sisters."

I could not help but widen my eyes in disbelief as Kelly smugly handed over her phone.

Despite the burning pain in my cheeks, I yelled, "Chad, are you deaf? Can't you even recognize my voice? Don't forget. I paid for your supermarket!"

The man on the other end hesitated. He was about to reply when Kelly suddenly clutched her stomach and groaned. "Chad, my stomach hurts so much. The baby I'm carrying is probably upset. With me in this state, how can you be so patient with this thief?"

"Okay, okay, Baby. Handle it however you want. I'll handle all the consequences." With that said, he hung up, leaving me dumbfounded and Kelly even more smug.

She held her waist and touched her belly, raising her eyebrows provocatively. "Little wretch, you're no match for me. I'm pregnant with his child. After we get married, all of his money will be mine. Don't even think about taking a penny!"

I bit my lower lip as my gaze shifted to the pacifier and other items. Those were gifts my brother had asked me to carefully select for a business partner. I never expected them to be for her.

Seeing my unhappy expression, Kelly stepped on the back of my hand, grinding it repeatedly while smiling apologetically. "Sorry, everyone. This has caused quite the scene today. How about this? Everyone here will get their purchases for free. Just delete all the videos you took on your phone."

I gasped in pain, my heart skipping a beat.

People had been watching and had secretly taken a lot of photos and videos.

Without evidence, I could not hold her accountable even if I wanted to. I immediately interjected, "No! You can't delete them! If you don't delete the photos and videos, I'll give you tenfold in compensation!"

The long line of people waiting to get their phones checked by Kelly burst into laughter.

The man leading the line narrowed his eyes and looked at me kneeling on the ground. "Who do you think you are? Tenfold in compensation? If you can, pay that one million dollars first. If you don't have money, don't pretend that you do. I don't think you can even spare 100 dollars."

He claimed to be righteous, taking the moral high ground and scolding me profusely. He even raised his fist towards me indignantly, shouting that he would uphold justice.

Just as his fist was about to land on my eye, I jerked my head to the right, broke free, and pulled my card out of my pocket. "Who said that I have no money?"

Pinching the card between my index and middle fingers, I looked around, making sure I was within range of the security cameras.

"This is a top-of-the-line black card with a global limited production of only 100 pieces, with no quota limit. Whoever sends me photos of Kelly hitting me, I'll give them one million dollars."

To stir up the crowd, I set the price as high as possible. "One photo for one million dollars, with no upper limit!"

I had just finished speaking when someone immediately held up their phone and rushed towards me, saying, "Me, me.”

Kelly reached out her hand to block the person, forming a human wall with the security guards. She looked warily at the black card in my hand before smiling with relief as if she had thought of something. “You damned liar! It's not enough to just steal; you even forged a black card to deceive people. Do you know that forging bank cards is considered a crime and you will be imprisoned?”

She changed the subject and turned her head to speak to the restless crowd. “If there’s money in her card, it’s also illegal and will be frozen sooner or later. Not only will you not get a penny, but you'll also go to prison with her. However, I think she probably has no money and is playing tricks to scare people into siding with her. If she was really that rich, why would she even steal a baby pacifier?”

Kelly's remark immediately reversed public opinion. Some people who were originally driven by greed and were about to side with me changed their stance again.

“I think this sales assistant is right. If this woman were really that rich, why would she steal?”

"She always tells lies. There’s not a single word of truth. I wouldn't believe a thief."

“But what if it's true... That's a million dollars."

After arguing for a while, a woman took the lead in standing up. She expressed that she would believe me if I could afford the million-dollar compensation for the theft.

I agreed without hesitation.

The moment the black card was placed on the POS machine, an automated voice rang. “Sorry, the card isn’t recognized. Please use another bank card to pay.”

I could hardly believe my ears. "No way. How could it be? My black card is a coming-of-age gift from my parents. There must be something wrong with this machine!”

I grabbed the machine and shook my head frantically.

Kelly brought over three new POS machines. I tried several times, but the result was the same.

I shook my head in disbelief.

Kelly sneered and pulled out a similar black card. As soon as she tapped it on the POS machine, the machine immediately announced, "Payment successful."

The few people who had believed me also turned against me. They commented sarcastically.

"Why pretend to be rich when you don't have any money? How unlucky it is to run into a lunatic."

"She even said the POS machine was useless. It’s clearly a fake card. She almost scammed me."

"I think we should just let the sales assistant beat her to death. People like her are nuisances. If she pulls some kind of scam on us or our family, we'll be in big trouble."

"I agree. I agree!"

…

The chattering crowd was clamoring to beat me to death. Kelly took advantage of the situation and stood on a platform.

Holding a microphone, she directed the spotlight toward my face. "Anyone who punches this woman will receive 10,000 dollars from me. Anyone who slaps her will receive 20,000 dollars. The more severe it is, the higher the reward. I'll cover all the medical expenses!"

She mouthed silently to me. Just as I was about to be drowned in the crowd, I finally realized what she said. "I've already replaced your card. You're doomed."

The high reward excited the crowd and they surged over.

Punches rained down as I crouched on the ground.