At the age of 25, I inherited 200 million dollars from my parents.

After refusing to entrust the property to my aunt, Lauren Reed, for safekeeping, strange things happened at home.

One morning, I found peanuts in my milk, which I was allergic to. On my way home from work, a billboard nearly struck me as it fell.

However, when it was later revealed that the victim of these incidents was Lauren's daughter, Taylor Reed, Lauren couldn't stand it any longer.

——

My parents died in a car accident when I was 12 years old. For the next ten years, I was raised by Lauren.

As I recalled, Lauren had always been gentle to me but stricter with Taylor.

Taylor was only half a year older than me, and we had been attending the same school since childhood.

When I was a child, Lauren would beat and scold Taylor due to her declining grades. However, Lauren always treated me with tenderness, reassuring me, "Chloe, it doesn't matter if you can't get into a good university. I will support you for the rest of your life."

After I started working, Lauren arranged for Taylor to join the core department of the Mitchell Group. However, she decided to transfer me to the relatively less demanding Human Resources Department.

But I had always been luckier than Taylor.

During our senior year of high school, Taylor would study late into the night every day, yet she only managed to gain admission to a less prestigious university.

On the other hand, despite casually spending my evenings playing computer games at my friend's house, I effortlessly secured admission to the top university in the country.

After graduation, Taylor joined the Marketing Department of the Mitchell Group with the help of his parents.

Meanwhile, I received an offer from the Mitchell Group's R&D department due to being an honors graduate from a top university.

Not long after I started working, Lauren transferred me to the more leisurely Human Resources Department.

Afraid that I would be dissatisfied with her decision, Lauren repeatedly told me, "Girls don't have to work so hard. Chloe, you're pretty and will marry a good man. But Taylor is not that lucky and can only rely on her own hard work."

I just smiled faintly at that time and did not refute it because I knew that my argument would not bring me any benefit.

In the following years, Taylor toiled day and night, putting in overtime on projects, while I lived a leisurely life, working regular nine-to-five hours.

However, Taylor made frequent mistakes at work. If it weren't for Lauren who always cleaned up the mess for her, she would have been kicked out of the company.

But my situation in the company was very different from hers.

I had a minor in management in college and also interned at a well-known local manufacturing company during several vacations.

So now, even though I was no longer working in a field related to my major, I had gained the favor of company executives through my personal efforts and intelligence.

In less than three years, I was promoted from a specialist position to Human Resources Director.

Lauren had tried to suppress me.

However, over the past few years, the human resources informationization projects that I proposed and executed had garnered attention from company executives. As a result, Lauren could not do anything to me in the short term.

The Mitchell Group was originally my parents' business, but now, Lauren and her husband, Jake Reed, had become vice presidents of the company.

I became aware that Lauren's actions in recent years were driven by her fear that I would continue to excel and eventually reclaim control over the Mitchell Group.

But she seemed to have forgotten that the Mitchell Group had never truly belonged to them.

Just after my 18th birthday, I received an inheritance agreement.

The agreement was delivered by Aaron, my father's assistant and now one of the company's executives.

The agreement stated that when I turned 25, I would inherit the 200 million dollars in assets left by my parents while they were alive, as well as 45% of the shares of the Mitchell Group.

Aaron told me that my parents had drawn up the agreement when I was born and gave it to him for safekeeping.

Originally, my parents had planned to save this fortune as a birthday gift for my 25th birthday.

However, they never expected that within a few years, they would have an accident.

Now, this wealth had come back to me as an inheritance, serving as both a shield to protect me and a weapon empowering me to fight against others.

When I arrived home, Lauren appeared unusually enthusiastic.

"Chloe, you've been working hard lately. I asked Sadie to prepare your favorite food for you to nourish your body," she said.

"Aunt Lauren, I already ate outside. You enjoy your meal. I'm gonna go back to my room." Still immersed in the memory of my parents, I no longer wanted to force myself to act kindly towards Lauren.

Unexpectedly, Lauren stopped me, asking, "Chloe, did Aaron come to you today?"

I knew that Lauren had many spies in the company, and such a big matter as the change of equity ownership couldn't be hidden from her for long.

But I didn't expect her to ask so quickly.

"Chloe, I know your parents left their assets to you. But considering that you only graduated a few years ago, it might not be the safest option for you to keep such a large sum of money. Why don't you transfer the shares in your hands to your me..."

"Aunt Lauren," I interrupted her. "I went to visit my parents' graves today, and I'm still feeling sad now. Let's talk about it later."

With a few tears streaming down my face, I turned and went back to my room.

For the next several days, Lauren mentioned helping me keep my property.

But each time, I refused with red eyes. "My parents left me nothing but those assets. I just want to keep them as a remembrance of my parents."

Lauren couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Then what's the point in holding onto those property and stocks?"

"Aaron told me that this is a birthday gift from my parents, so I believe I should hold onto it. This way, I can feel my parents' presence beside me while working and spending the money. Aunt Lauren, you will understand this, right?"

Lauren tried to argue but eventually gave up. I knew that she had lost her patience with me.

The following morning, I got up and had breakfast as usual.

However, as soon as I took a sip of milk, I could tell that it tasted wrong.

I used to be allergic to peanuts as a child.

After accidentally eating peanuts, I developed rashes all over my body, vomited continuously, and was hospitalized for treatment.

Following that incident, peanuts and peanut products were eliminated from the household, and even the cooking oil was replaced with corn oil and olive oil.

Moreover, my father and Lauren took the whole family to check for allergens, concerned that other family members might have food allergies in the future that could potentially endanger their health.

Surprisingly, Taylor was also allergic to peanuts, just like me. I didn't know if it was due to her physical condition or if it was inherited.

So, after Lauren took me in, peanuts and peanut products never appeared in her house.

But today, my milk had been tampered with by adding peanut powder to it.

I guessed that this was a warning from Lauren for my recent disobedience.

Fortunately, although I hadn't eaten peanuts for many years, I immediately detected the unfamiliar taste in the milk with my first sip. Curiosity got the better of me, and I couldn't resist drinking a few more sips.

When Lauren came downstairs, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Taylor, your face! What happened to your face?"

Taylor was slightly stunned. However, before she could make sense of the situation, she fainted as she was about to stand up.

Lauren and the servant Sadie carried Taylor into the car. I promptly joined them, and together, we rushed to the hospital.

Soon, Jake also rushed to the hospital from the company.

I didn't expect that Taylor's allergic reaction would be more severe than the one I experienced as a child.

Upon arrival at the hospital, she was pushed into the ICU.

At this time, Lauren's emotions were somewhat out of control.

Jake was also puzzled and asked, "What's going on? The doctor said Taylor had gotten into shock caused by peanut allergy, but how could there be peanuts in milk?"

I sneered inwardly. They probably knew better than us how peanuts appeared.

However, I maintained a sorrowful expression and said, "Aunt Lauren, this is not a trivial matter. We haven't bought peanuts for a long time, and Sadie knows this very well. But now such a thing has happened. Is it possible that our family has offended someone and someone deliberately harmed us?"

"Don't talk nonsense. We are an honest business family. How could we offend anyone?" Lauren scolded me gently.

Then she asked, "Chloe, you and Taylor drank the same milk. Why are you fine?"

It seemed that Lauren was angry that the milk she had intended to use to harm me ended up being drunk by Taylor. Therefore, she wanted to find fault with me in another way.

I also feigned confusion, replying, "Yeah, I also drank a whole glass of milk. Why am I fine? Sadie served the milk. What do you think, Sadie?"

At this time, Sadie stood aside, also a little dazed.

Today's incident was originally planned by Lauren and her, yet they didn't expect that they would accidentally harm Taylor.

I guess at this moment, Sadie was also thinking about how to help Lauren teach me a lesson.

After pondering for a while, Sadie said, "Chloe, I heard you and Taylor quarreling last night."

"Chloe, did you?" Lauren asked.

"Yes. Taylor recently took a fancy to a bag, but she said that the pocket money was not enough and wanted me to pay for her. I did not agree, so she quarreled with me for a bit," I replied.

"Chloe, don't blame me for meddling in the family affairs. Even if you and Taylor don't get along, you can't harm her!" At this time, Sadie completely showed her true color.

I sneered, "Sadie, you can't be serious. It's just a small argument between family. How could it be called harm?"

"Allow me to be honest. I overheard Chloe complaining about Taylor on the phone before. She mentioned how Taylor quickly obtained a prominent position at the company, while she had been working as an ordinary clerk for several years and just received a promotion and salary increase this year. Considering last night's incident, I think Chloe must have been holding a grudge, so she took revenge on Taylor."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lauren slapped me in the face.

"Chloe, I treated you like my own daughter and provided for you with a good life for so many years. I never thought that you would be so ungrateful and harm my daughter."

Continuing in an angry tone, Lauren vented her frustration, "After your father passed away, I thought you were alone and helpless, so I took you in and raised you. I provided equal care for both you and Taylor in terms of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. But now that you have your parents' inheritance, not only do you not take me seriously, you also harmed Taylor. You are really too vicious. Don't come to work at the Mitchell Group anymore. We don't want vicious employees like you."

Lauren deliberately emphasized the word "the Mitchell Group", which attracted more people to gather around, and some even took out their mobile phones to take videos.

I knew Lauren wanted to ruin my reputation and make me dependent on her in the end.

Even if I still refused to listen to her, she could still use public opinion to drive me out of the Mitchell Group.

However, I didn't argue or explain. I just fainted on the floor as more and more people gathered around me.

I caught a glimpse of two nurses pushing through the crowd and rushing towards me. Shortly after, they lifted me onto an ambulance bed.

I slowly lifted my arms, and my sleeves slipped down, revealing the red rashes all over my arms.

The two nurses quickly pushed me into the emergency room. Before leaving, they turned around to complain about Lauren. "You said you treated her like your own daughter, yet you didn't even notice that she was allergic."

Another nurse also said angrily, "Both of them have allergies, but you put all the blame on your niece. You're just careless and wants to shirk responsibility."