Chapter 6

After doing all this, Olivia logged out of the forum and cleared all her browsing history.

She stood up and walked into the shabby bathroom.

Looking at herself in the mirror—sallow-faced with messy hair—Olivia picked up a pair of scissors from the counter.

Her dry, tangled long hair fell to the floor in clumps.

A few minutes later, the person in the mirror had changed.

With a neat, ear-length bob, her smooth, full forehead and slender neck were now visible.

Though her cheeks were still thin, her eyes were now strikingly bright, showing a fierce determination like that of a wild animal.

When Olivia walked out of her room with her new short haircut, she ran right into Megan in the hallway.

Megan clearly hadn't expected Olivia to come out at this time, much less with her hair cut short.

Not only hadn't Olivia become uglier, but her sharp new look actually made Megan feel inexplicably uneasy.

But soon, Megan regained her composure. Holding a document in her hand, her expression switched back to that superior, smug look. "Olivia, did something upset you? Why did you cut your hair?"

Megan covered her mouth with a light laugh, though her eyes held no warmth, only undisguised mockery. "But I guess it makes sense. That hair looked like dead grass anyway—keeping it was just embarrassing. Better to cut it off so you don't scare people when you go out."

Olivia looked at her expressionlessly, as if watching a clown. "Move."

"You!"

Megan's face changed, but then, as if remembering something pleasant, she forcibly suppressed her anger.

She waved the document in her hand, shaking it in front of Olivia. "Olivia, do you know what this is?"

Megan deliberately drew out her words, her voice full of showing off. "Just now, Michael was worried I'd be upset about your situation, so he specially had someone send over this share transfer agreement. This is five percent of the original shares of Apex Technologies Group under the Johnson Group! Michael said this is my birthday gift and also some compensation for me."

As she spoke, she stared intently at Olivia's face, wanting to see jealousy there.

After all, who didn't know how valuable shares in the Johnson Group were?

This five percent would bring in a substantial dividend income every year.

Olivia just glanced briefly at the signature on the document.

Her expression turned strange for a moment, then a deeply sarcastic coldness flashed in her eyes.

She knew these five percent shares all too well.

Three years ago, the Johnson Group was hit by a hacker attack. Their core database nearly crashed, and their market value evaporated by billions overnight.

It was K who stepped in, tracking down the attack source in just ten minutes and helping the Johnson Group fix the security hole. Not only did this prevent losses, but it made the Johnson Group's stock price surge against the trend.

At the time, Steven wanted to thank this mysterious hacker and specially offered these five percent shares as payment. 

But because they couldn't contact K, the shares had been registered under Michael's name, supposedly to be kept for the Johnson family's benefactor.

This idiot Michael actually thought this was a personal asset given to him by the Johnson family, and now he was giving it to Megan?

"What? Cat got your tongue? Are you jealous?" Seeing her silence, Megan thought she'd been hit hard and laughed even more wildly.

"What a shame. Michael said some people are just too lowly—they don't deserve the position of Mrs. Johnson, and they certainly don't deserve this kind of top-tier wealth. These things are only for me."

Olivia looked at Megan's triumphant face and suddenly found it rather amusing.

"Is that so?" Olivia's lips curved slightly, her eyes playful. "Since you like it so much, then hold onto it tight. I hope you can handle this windfall."

With that, she completely ignored Megan and walked past her.

As they brushed shoulders, Olivia slipped her hand into her pocket and blind-typed a line of code on her modified phone, then hit send.

Command sent successfully.

Three seconds later, an offshore fund on the other side of the ocean would activate an automated program.

To completely short Apex Technologies Group, the company behind these five percent shares of the Johnson Group.

Since this was something she had originally given to the Johnson family, now she could personally destroy it.

These five percent shares would soon become worthless paper—worse than worthless, they'd carry massive debt.

Olivia went downstairs to get a glass of water. When she returned to the second floor, she found her room door slightly ajar.

She frowned and pushed it open.

The next second, a bone-chilling fluttering sound echoed through the dim room.

Olivia looked up to see several black bats hanging upside down from the curtain rod, with a few more frantically flying around the small room, making sharp, piercing cries.

Not only that, but red paint had been splashed across the previously neat bedsheets, looking like a shocking pool of blood, and several dead rats had been placed on the pillow.

The entire room reeked of a foul smell.

Exaggerated screams came from the doorway. "Oh my God! How can there be bats in Ms. Olivia Smith's room! This must be bad luck she brought back!"

Olivia turned around to see several maids hiding around the corner of the hallway, pretending to scream while exchanging triumphant glances with Megan in the distance.

Megan stood at the end of the hallway, arms crossed, looking like she was enjoying the show. "Well, Olivia, it seems even God thinks you're unlucky, attracting such filthy things. If you keep living in a room like this, something bad might happen, right?"

Bats? Dead rats?

Only a spoiled rich heiress like Megan could come up with such childish pranks.

Olivia looked at the mess in the room with no expression.

She had slept in a basement full of rats and cockroaches for a year. This was nothing compared to facing a living kidnapper down there.

"Since you have so much free time to send me gifts..."

Olivia murmured softly, "I should return the favor."

She went back downstairs to the garden, where the farmer had parked earlier.

The farmer was gone, but he'd left behind a woven sack used for carrying feed.

Half an hour later, Megan was lying in her luxurious princess bedroom, wearing a face mask and humming happily.

As long as she drove Olivia crazy and away, the entire Smith family, and even Michael, would belong completely to her alone.

Just then, the door was gently pushed open a crack.

Megan thought it was a maid bringing nutritious soup and said lazily with her eyes closed, "Just put it on the table and leave."

No one answered.

Only a series of fine, dense rustling sounds could be heard, like countless feet crawling across the hardwood floor.

Megan frowned, impatiently opening her eyes. "I told you to put it down..."

Before she could finish, her pupils dilated instantly, and her whole body froze on the bed.

From the beautifully wrapped gift box at the door, a dark brown tide was continuously pouring out.

Cockroaches.

Swarms of cockroaches crawled out of the box, quickly covering the floor and carpet, even climbing up the bed legs!

"Ahhh!"