I tried to explain, but before I could speak, Martha kicked me hard in the stomach. I doubled over on the floor, pale with pain.
“Ethan and Richard pay their staff well. And yet you dream of taking what doesn’t belong to you!” Chloe spat.
“Do you know how much they hate women with scheming hearts like yours? So many others tried to worm their way in before. Guess what happened to them?”
She paused, her eyes flashing with jealousy.
“But I’ll admit, you do have a pretty face.”
She eyed the bracelet on my wrist, her gaze lighting up before she ripped it away.
The Browns had come from the mountains to the city, nearly homeless until Richard pitied them and gave Martha work, even funding Chloe’s college education. Chloe had been clever and gradually earned a bit of favor from Richard and Ethan.
But greed has no end. The two of them grew more and more ambitious, spending money on luxury and even coveting the role of mistress of the house. Chloe began to act as if she were the true heiress.
At her coming-of-age, she secretly took my sports car from the garage to show off and ended up injuring a child in an accident.