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The servant,Mrs.Clark,prodded me with a mop,grinning.
“Sorry,dear.Accidentally splashed some toilet water on you.Didn’t see you standing there.”
I snatched the mop,smiling.“I know how it is when eyesight starts to go. But you really should see a doctor. Going blind is no joke!”
“Hmph!”
“Mrs.Clark,that’s enough.Be more careful next time!”
Mrs.Clark huffed,and a woman in a long dress and tiara stepped forward—Sophia Bradley,all dressed up but rotten to the core.
She sneered,covering her nose.“Ugh,you stink!”
“Aren’t you that poor farmwoman I once helped?What,are you stalking me now?”
I frowned my brows,confused by her words.
As a crowd gathered around us,I tried explaining,“No,I’m here for my hus—”
Sophia cut me off.“Unbelievable!I felt sorry for you,helped you out,and now you ’re trying to crash my birthday party,cornering me in front of everyone!If I don’t help,what’ll people think?”
She started fakeing crying, playing the victim to perfection.
I smirked to myself.She was trying to frame me and turn the crowd against me.
Sure enough,whispers spread through the crowd, with people calling me shameless.
In a flash,I grasped the power of public opinion.Sophia had some cunning.
No matter what I said in my defense,no one was going to believe me.
To them,Sophia,the Harper heiress,wouldn’t lie or bully a poor woman.
They branded me a gold-digger chasing the Harper name.
Encouraged by Sophia,the elite guests piled on.
“If you want money so badly, kneel down and beg. Maybe I'll toss you a few thousand dollars!”
“Never seen such a brazen freeloader.Miss Harper helped you,and you’re still greedy!”
“I'll pay a thousand dollars for each slap on her face. Any takers?”
Their insults flooded my ears.
“Look at her bag!”a man shouted,standing out.
Sophia opened my bag,revealing the chili peppers,and laughed.“Chili peppers?Really?”
“Miss Harper,you’ve got it all wrong.I brought homemade peppers to thank you.It was just a coincidence that I ran into your birthday party!”
I played earnest,eyes sincere.
“Hmph!What a convenient coincidence.I’m kindhearted,but you bring peppers to make fun of me?”
I dropped to the ground,wailing,takingout my phone to record.
“I just wanted to thank Miss Bradley.She insists I’m here to climb the social ladder with the Harper family.Look,everyone,I can’t defend myself!Miss Bradley doesn’t trust me and leads this mob to humiliate me!”
Seeing my phone,the crowd covered their faces,backing off.
Sophia froze,speechless,caught off guard.
Sophia,you’re not the only one who knows how to play the crowd.
Families like yours dread online backlash,don’t they?
