Chapter 5 Isn't It Just About Wanting Money

Jean's eyes went wide as she stared at Wendy sprawled out on the sofa, completely forgetting about the pain in her ankle.

Ethan's brow furrowed deep, his face dark with displeasure.

Claire glanced at Wendy a couple of extra times, pausing with her teacup halfway to her lips.

But the most awkward one was Lily.

She was still half-crouching on the floor, ice pack in hand, the echo of her words "more than willing" still seeming to hang in the air.

She couldn't kneel, couldn't stand. She just froze there, her face cycling between pale and green.

"You... how did you even get in here?" Jean was the first to snap out of it, pointing at Wendy and shouting.

The Scott Mansion had fingerprint locks on the front gate and security guards patrolling outside. How had Wendy just waltzed in without anyone noticing?

Before the words were even out of her mouth, a mess of hurried footsteps came from outside.

The butler rushed in with a few servants, all of them out of breath, dusty and disheveled, clothes torn, looking completely wrecked.

"Mrs. Scott, Master Ethan, we're so sorry!" The butler wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Wendy, she... she just kicked the front gate open. We tried to stop her, but..."

The butler glanced at Wendy lounging on the sofa without a care in the world, shuddered, and didn't dare finish.

What happened was that a bunch of grown men hadn't even managed to touch the hem of her clothes before getting thrown into the flower beds, eating dirt.

Wendy was an absolute menace.

Everyone in the living room looked even more stunned after hearing the butler's account.

She kicked open the front gate?

That was a solid copper carved gate. What had Wendy been eating all her life to be that strong?

Lily quickly stood up, moved to Jean's side, and gently patted her back to calm her down.

"Mom, don't be upset with Wendy," Lily said softly. "The butler and the others must have held back on purpose. They didn't want to hurt her, so they let her through."

With a few light words, she erased Wendy's show of force entirely, chalking it up to the servants going easy on her.

The butler stood nearby, rolling his eyes.

Going easy on her?

They had thrown everything they had at her. They'd practically been ready to pull out stun batons.

After finishing, Lily turned to Wendy with a warm, gentle smile, slipping into the role of lady of the house.

"Wendy, now that you're here, don't just stand there. Come in and sit down."

She looked Wendy up and down, her gaze lingering on the faded T-shirt and jeans, a flash of barely-hidden disdain crossing her eyes.

"Wendy must have had it really rough out there all these years. She doesn't even have a decent outfit. But that's okay. Now that you're back with the Scott family, good days are ahead. I'll have one of the servants take you to get cleaned up and find you something proper to wear."

Wendy leaned back against the sofa, resting her chin in one hand, watching Lily's little performance in silence.

When Lily finally finished, Wendy slowly shifted her position.

"Done with the act?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

Lily blinked. "Wendy, what are you talking about?"

"I'm saying," Wendy leaned forward, hands crossed over her knees, "didn't you just say you'd be more than willing to get down on your knees and beg me to come home?"

She held up one finger and pointed at the carpet in front of her.

"I'm right here."

"So go ahead. Kneel."

Lily's face flushed red instantly, tears welling up in her eyes, looking like she'd been terribly wronged.

"Wendy, I... I was just..."

"Just what? Just saying it for show?" Wendy cut her off without mercy. "If you can't back it up, don't say it in the first place. There's a limit to how much fake innocence people can stomach."

"Wendy! That's enough!" Ethan shot to his feet and stepped in front of Lily, jabbing a finger at Wendy. "Lily was being kind and welcoming you home, and this is how you act? You grew up in the slums. What gives you the right to make Lily kneel to you?"

Wendy looked up at Ethan.

"She's the one who said she'd kneel. I'm just taking her up on it." Wendy shrugged. "Or is that how the Scott family works? You say things and just don't mean them?"

"You—" Ethan's face went red, and he raised his hand to strike her.

Wendy didn't move. She just sat there and looked at him coldly.

Ethan's hand froze in midair. Something about meeting Wendy's gaze sent a chill through him he couldn't explain, and the slap never came down.

Jean, seeing her son back down, slapped the armrest of the sofa in fury.

Ethan let out a cold laugh and looked at Wendy with open contempt.

"Alright, Wendy, drop the act." Ethan straightened his suit jacket and looked down at her. "You played the too-proud-to-care routine yesterday in the slums, but here you are, running back. Let's be honest. You're here for the Scott family's money."

He walked over to her, pulled a check from his pocket, and held it up between two fingers.

"You've been living in that filthy place for over twenty years. You can barely get a decent meal, right? The moment you saw a mansion like this, you must have been burning with envy."

Ethan tossed the check onto the coffee table in front of her.

"That's one million. You do what you're told, take Lily's place and marry the Howard family's crippled eldest son, and that money is yours."

He stood there with his hands in his pockets, the tone of someone tossing scraps.

"With a million, you'll never have to go back to that slum and dig through trash again. Consider yourself lucky. Be smart about this and stop causing trouble."

Lily stood to the side, watching that million-dollar check, a flicker of satisfaction in her eyes.

So what if Wendy was the real daughter?

In Ethan and their mother's eyes, she would always be some backwater girl with no class, nothing more than a bargaining chip.

Wendy looked down at the check sitting on the coffee table.

One million dollars?

Just yesterday she'd saved some guy on a whim and he'd offered her eighty million without blinking.

The Scott family's precious eldest son had pretty cheap taste.

"A million to take someone's place at the altar?" Wendy reached out and picked up the check between two fingers.

"Not enough?" Ethan frowned, his tone growing more impatient. "Wendy, don't get greedy. You didn't even finish high school. A million is more than enough to last you half your life. If it weren't for Lily, you think you'd even be worth that much?"

Jean chimed in from the side.

"Exactly! Yes, the Howard boy is disabled, but the Howards are still a top-tier family. You'd be their eldest daughter-in-law. What more could you possibly want?"