As A Fake Heiress, I Won Everything

Chapter 3

It didn't take long for the security guards to come rushing up.

I nodded sharply toward Ruth, who was still screaming curses at me.

"She's disrupting office work. Please, get her out of here," I said.

Ruth shoved the approaching security guards out of her way and snarled, "I dare any of you to touch me. I was hired personally by Rachel Henderson!"

The security guards froze, hesitation creeping over their faces.

They'd all heard the gossip by now that I was just the fake Henderson family daughter, and I'd already been demoted.

None of them were willing to risk offending a friend of the real Henderson daughter just for me. It wasn't a bet they cared to take.

Ruth flicked her gaze at me, her lips twisting into a smug smirk. "See where you stand now? You still think you're the same all-powerful manager you used to be? Without the Henderson name backing you, you're nothing but a down-and-out stray."

She strutted toward me, head held high and arrogant, and snapped, "Now, apologize to me!"

I huffed a cold, mocking laugh. "Not a chance."

Ruth's hand flew up instantly, aiming to slap me across the face, but I caught her wrist mid-swing and stopped her cold.

Before she could react, I twisted my arm back and cracked my palm right across her cheek.

A deep red bruise bloomed on her face, and she stared at me, blind with rage.

"You actually dared to hit me? Who the hell do you think you are?"

She lunged at me again and again, throwing wild punches, but I blocked every single one easily.

After several failed attempts, she was heaving, her chest rising and falling hard with fury.

She jabbed a finger at me and barked orders at the security guards, "Hold her down for me! Today I'm gonna put her in her place once and for all!"

Still, the security guards lingered, too nervous to move.

When Ruth realized none of them were listening to her, she stamped her feet in fury and roared at the top of her lungs, "What are you all standing there gawking for? Hold her down! If any of you refuse to do this, I'll have Rachel fire every last one of you tomorrow!"

That finally got them moving.

They mumbled an apology to me before grabbing my arms and pinning me in place.

Her grin grew even more smug.

Just as Ruth stepped forward, hand raised to strike me, a deep, thunderous roar boomed from behind us.

"Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

Ruth jumped out of her skin. She spun around, and there was my fiancé, Eric Downey, his face dark with fury as he stared daggers right at her.

The guards instantly recognized Eric, and they scrambled to let me go, ducking their heads and bowing as they stammered out excuses to him.

Ruth had been smirking and dismissive just a second before, but when she saw how the guards acted, her face melted into uncertainty.

He stepped over to my side, his whole face softening with concern. "Sweetheart, are you okay?"

I shook my head, and he snapped his icy glare over to Ruth.

"What is the meaning of this? Who gave you the nerve to mess with my fiancée?" he demanded.

Ruth's face drained of all color, and she couldn't get a single word out.

Right at that moment, Rachel walked in.

When she spotted Eric, she smiled sweetly and stepped forward to greet him, "You must be my sister's fiancé, right? Hi, I'm Rachel."

Eric's expression shuttered, his gaze growing unreadable, but he still gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

Rachel put on a perfectly reasonable, understanding act and pressed Ruth for an explanation.

"What's going on here? Did you bully my sister?"

Ruth perked right up, like she'd just been thrown a lifeline, and immediately started spinning her lies to twist the whole story.

"I only came here to do a live stream to promote our company. Lily grabbed my phone and broke it! Then she tried to have security throw me out. I got mad and argued with her for a minute, and then she just suddenly hit me, all because she found out I'm friends with you. Look, she has already beat my face all swollen!"

Rachel darted a surprised look my way, then turned back to Ruth and said, "My sister is probably just having a hard time adjusting to everything right now. This is all my fault, for taking the general manager position from her. But Ruth, you should apologize to her, okay? She didn't mean to hit you. You just shouldn't have brought up what hurts her so much."

Ruth looked ready to argue, but Rachel shot her a sharp glare, and she shut up.

Eric stepped in to smooth things over. "Oh, so that's how it is. Lily was in the wrong here. I apologize on her behalf to both of you."

I grabbed his arm, my head spinning with disbelief.

He turned to me, his voice gentle, laced with exasperation as he tried to coax me into backing down. "C’mon, you threw the first punch. Just stop this, okay?"

I snorted coldly. "I didn’t do anything wrong. She was asking for it."

This was the first time he had ever snapped at me, "Babe, how can you be so unreasonable? I know everything that's happened these past few days has hit you hard, but what did Rachel do wrong?

"She's the victim here! She suffered for twenty years in your place. All she's asking is that you give back what was always hers. We aren't throwing you out on the street. What do you have to be so upset about?"

I stared at the clear, unmistakable sympathy and tenderness in his eyes for Rachel, and it felt like an iron fist was squeezing my heart tight.

I'd told myself that even after twenty-some years as the Henderson family's daughter, even if we weren't blood related, we must have built some real connection over the years, right?

But I was dead wrong.

After Rachel came home, I'd already comforted myself that it was okay. I still have plenty of money and my loving fiancé.

But now it was obvious. Eric had already picked Rachel's side.

It wasn't until this exact second that it finally hit me.

Everyone pities the underdog, and people change.

That's just how it is.

"So all of you think I stole what's hers." I looked at Eric and let a smile tug at my lips. "Fine. This position as your fiancée? I'll give that to her too."

As I walked out the door, I heard Rachel urging Eric to run after me, followed by his snappish, angry reply, "I'm not going to go chase after her to comfort her. I didn't say anything wrong. In a few days, she'll come crawling back on her own."

I kept walking, not slowing my stride for a second.

Eric… this time, I’m never coming back.