Chapter 88
Her eyes were wide with fury, her entire body trembling from the intensity of her emotions.
I raised an eyebrow at her, provocatively.
Kimberly had always struggled with accepting anyone better than her. She couldn’t stand it when people around her outshone her.
Wasn’t she the one who liked to plagiarize, pretending to be a genius?}
I watched her retreating figure thoughtfully, then contacted my editor, asking her to upload the revised version of my work.
At the same time, I reached out to other promotion teams to help build momentum for me.”
As both versions of our work were compared publicly, Kimberly fell from grace, dragged down into the depths. Now, anyone could easily insult her without consequence.
As for me, the combined boost of public opinion and attention helped me make a successful comeback in the online literature world. Riding the wave of popularity, I went live, reporting to the police that I had been framed, that someone had used photo editing techniques to fabricate false accusations of theft.
Kimberly’s mother couldn’t stay quiet anymore. She was the one who had created the video in the first place and now that I had reported it to the police, she was the one facing the heat.
I played the role of the victim, crying on my live stream. “I may not have a family, no father or mother, but I would never steal. They maliciously edited images just to drive me out of the literary world. But I won’t go down–art doesn’t die and neither will !!“}
My fans were thoroughly inspired by me. The comment sections were filled with slogans and they flooded Kimberly and her mother’s accounts with comments, supporting me and boosting my momentum.
Meanwhile, I reaped the rewards of playing the victim, gathering a huge following and a significant amount of attention.
As for the judgment regarding Kimberly’s mother, it was a public statement of apology and she was ordered to pay me twelve thousand dollars as compensation for emotional distress.}
Her mother was still desperately clinging to the situation.
“If you don’t pay this twelve thousand, then you can look forward to a two–week stay in the detention center.”
I scoffed, about to leave, but she unwillingly grabbed me, forcing the transfer.}
The twelve thousand dollars was nothing to her in the past, but now, it had become incredibly precious.
“Ruth! If I had known this would happen, I never would have brought you out of the orphanage! You should have just starved there!“}
She only remembered the “good” she did for me, conveniently forgetting that I sent her money every month.
All of Kimberly’s daily expenses had been covered by me.
I scoffed, brushing her off completely and went home to continue updating my work.
My new book was receiving praise all over the internet, with daily earnings soaring and a promising future ahead.
I even received invitations from websites to collaborate and submit proposals.
I thought life was finally settling down, but then I got a live–stream notification from Kimberly’s mother.
She was crying and accusing me, claiming she had raised an ungrateful child. Even though my fans were defending me and the comment section was full of insults, she pretended not to hear, lost in her own world.”
“When I first saw this child, I felt sorry for her, which is why I adopted her. But instead of being grateful, she turned on me. Not only did she refuse to pay any household expenses, but she also kept saying she was broke and even spent Kimberly’s money!”
“Now my daughter is burdened with millions in debt, we’ve lost everything–selling our house, our car. We don’t even have money for food. Ruth, how could you do this to me? You have such a cruel heart!”
If I weren’t the one she was talking about, I might have believed her lies. She even hired a lawyer, demanding that I pay back nearly two years of living expenses.
Well, she was about to find out just how wrong she was.
I contacted my lawyer and got the transfer records from the past few years. Confident, I headed to court. Looking at the extensive records Kimberly’s mother had compiled, she even included the cost of food late.
“Totaling $225,000. You have to pay me that!”
$225,000? She certainly had a lot of nerve.
12:53 PM
