Chapter 1

I'm the vicious female foil a rich young heir uses to needle his first love.

The system gave me two paths:

The first was to drive out the first love and take her place as lady of the house.

The second was to absorb one hundred percent of the harm the male lead meant for his first love, and claim the entire jackpot.

I looked at the male lead's handsome face, then at the hundred million piling up in the prize pool, and muttered under my breath:

【Next time just skip straight to option two.】

The economy's this bad. Only a fool turns down money.

Besides, once I have lots and lots of money, I can have lots and lots of love too.

So when the male lead raised his hand to slap his first love, I calmly offered up my face instead.

Slap!

The moment I hit the floor, I stared at the two hundred dollars that had just landed in my phone and fell into deep thought.

After a long moment, I looked up and snapped:

【That was so weak. Did you skip lunch or something?】

1

Melvin Sanchez cupped my swollen cheek, stunned.

【Cicely Cooley, I was trying to teach Cecilia Perez a lesson for you. Why did you throw yourself in front of it...】

My brain crashed, but my mouth moved faster than my head:

【My cheek was a little itchy just now. I wanted you to scratch it for me.】

The second it was out, I regretted it. Everyone in the club was staring at me like I was an idiot.

But when I got a clear look at the damage value on my system panel, I was even more dumbfounded.

That slap only pushed the progress to 0.0002 percent.

At this rate, Melvin Sanchez would have to beat me to death before I could become a rich woman?!

Still, a mosquito's leg is meat too.

The most important thing now was to hurry up and take more of Cecilia Perez's suffering for her.

While Melvin Sanchez was still riding his anger, I threw myself into his arms and poured on more fuel:

【Melvin, it's all my fault. I couldn't hold it in and complained on your behalf.】

【I just think it's not easy for you, out there wining and dining every day to make money. But Cecilia always leans on you as her safety net, and the second she's short on cash she comes running to you. I'm afraid she'll get used to getting everything for free.】

Melvin took the ladder and climbed right up. He gathered me against him like something precious and said flatly:

【Cicely's right. I've spoiled you so much you've got the nerve to hold your hand out and demand money like you're owed it.】

Cecilia Perez's voice shook as she defended herself:

【I never touched her. She fell on her own.】

Melvin Sanchez didn't hear a word of it, as if I filled his whole heart and every inch of his sight.

Cecilia stood in front of him, hurt enough to press him:

【You think I'm lying?】

Melvin didn't let me down. Scum to the core as ever, he sneered without changing his expression:

【Haven't you told enough lies over all these years?】

【Back then, if it hadn't been for my money, would you have stayed by my side so willingly?】

But when he saw the tears she was holding back swimming in her eyes, Melvin softened fast.

He handed her a way out.

【Cicely just said it, and she was right. You've been living off other people for far too long.】

【Why don't you perform a little talent for us right now, and I'll give you a hundred thousand.】

Everyone there knew Cecilia needed that money to keep her father alive in the hospital.

She had no choice but to swallow the humiliation.

Melvin's pack of drinking buddies immediately shoved a microphone into her hand, jeering for her to sing the song that had made him fall for her at first sight all those years ago.

Cecilia kept her head down, her face burning with shame.

The other women around her cast her sympathetic looks. Only inside my chest, fireworks were going off.

Because the next second, I cut in with a different song.

I shot up like a bolt of lightning, snatched the microphone, planted myself in the middle, and belted out with feeling:

【Money come, money come, money come to me~】

【The rich boys round our way love a jade pendant on the neck~】

By the time I finished the song, ten thousand dollars had finally landed in my phone.

At least it was enough to coast for two months.

I'd figured Melvin would give Cecilia at least a little money, since I'd worked the mood up this far.

Turns out I underestimated just how rotten Melvin could be.

He lifted his head and said to her:

【Looks like your father isn't sick enough. An opportunity's right in front of you, and you don't even know to treasure it.】

【Cicely was kind enough to save you from all this, and you never even offered so much as an apology.】

【In that case, you don't deserve this money either.】

In the end, Cecilia didn't get a single cent. She was forced to stand off to the side and watch me and him put on a lovey-dovey show, then was ushered out in disgrace.

When I slipped away with the excuse of going to the restroom, I found her crouched at the curb, sobbing her heart out, and something in me twisted uncomfortably.

After all, only the person who's wronged you knows just how wronged you really are.

She really hadn't pushed me tonight.

My heels were too high and I lost my balance on my own, then just pinned it on her.

People in these circles had long said Melvin was a real piece of work: whoever helped him stomp on his own fiancée, Cecilia Perez, was the one he'd treat well.

My conscience just wouldn't let it go, so I quietly made my way to the hospital where her father was, ready to cover part of his surgery costs.

In the dead of night, I nearly lost my footing at the payment window.

【How much did you say the surgery is? Four hundred thousand?!】

The doctor at the counter nodded, glanced again at the patient's name, and added:

【There's also the outstanding medical bills from before, over a hundred thousand. Do you want to settle it all today?】

I could feel my wallet bleeding out. I wanted to turn on my heel and bolt, pretend I'd never come.

Over five hundred thousand. How many slaps would I have to take for her to earn that back?

Even putting on a whole concert for her at the Sanchez family's would barely break even...

But then I pictured that heartbroken, devastated look on Cecilia's face.

What if her father died because there was no money for surgery, and in a fit of grief she dumped Melvin?

Wouldn't my hundred million go up in smoke right along with it?!

You can't catch the wolf if you can't part with the bait. So I gritted my teeth and hardened my heart.

Every dollar I'd squeezed out of Melvin these past two years, I shoved all of it in at once.

The moment I finished paying and turned around, Cecilia Perez was standing right behind me. She hesitated a long while, then forced out a thank you.

An idea struck me. I pressed the payment receipt into her hand, rubbed my palms together, and grinned sheepishly:

【Sis, since you've already seen everything, I won't put on an act.】

【I just did you this huge favor, so how about you agree to one teeny-tiny little request of mine?】