After 100 Rejections, I Got Sucked Into My Own Rejected Draft

Episode 3 The Inheritance Trap: Lock with My Enemies（II）

Chapter 6

My counterattack started in the kitchen.

One night, Jake brought his friends over again, drinking until they passed out and vomiting everywhere. I cleaned up silently, then made breakfast as usual.

The next morning, Jake stumbled out of the bathroom, clutching his stomach, his face pale.

"Mom, I ... I've been throwing up all night! Did we eat something bad?"

Margaret stormed into the kitchen, pointing at me. "Elena! Did you poison the food? You monster! You want to kill my son to take the money?"

I didn't even look up, sipping my coffee calmly. "We all ate the same food. Why is he the only one sick? Mom, don't you remember? Jake's lactose intolerant, dairy makes him sick. I felt sorry for him last night, so I made him a big glass of milk to sober him up. Guess I was too kind."

Margaret froze. Jake had no answer.

I looked up, smiling sweetly. "Jake, want more milk tomorrow? I can make you a whole jug."

For the first time, Jake looked at me with fear.

His friends never came back.

Next was Margaret.

She'd gotten into ballroom dancing, and into a relationship with a man ten years younger. She'd pawned all my jewelry to buy him gifts.

I didn't stop her. I even gave her $5,000 to buy new dance dresses and get her hair done.

She thought I'd surrendered, growing more arrogant by the day.

Until one afternoon, the man's wife showed up at our door with a group of her friends.

Without a word, she grabbed Margaret's hair and started hitting her, screaming about "homewreckers" and "cheaters."

Margaret screamed, begging me to call the police, to help her.

I walked over slowly, helping the woman up and handing her a glass of water. "Ma'am, please calm down. This is my fault. I told Margaret to make more friends, she's been so lonely. I even gave her money to dress nicely. I never thought..." I sighed. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way."

Then I turned to Margaret, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Mom, from now on, I'll manage your allowance—$500 a month. That's more than enough. I don't want you getting scammed again. It would embarrass the Harrisons."

After that, Margaret looked at me like I was the devil.

She never dared to boss me around again.

Chapter 7

The house grew quiet, but Ethan became my biggest problem.

He noticed my change, saw how his mother and brother feared me. It wounded his pride as a man.

He started pressuring me.

"Elena, what do you want? To destroy this family?" He yelled at me in our bedroom.

"I'm just doing my job as the lady of the house." I stared at him calmly. "But you, you're the Vice President. How can you let your brother and in-laws drain the company dry? Don't you care?"

His face paled. "What are you talking about?"

I pulled out copies of the ledger entries and threw them on the bed.

"Last March, your uncle faked supply orders and stole $270,000. Last September, Jake's shell company took $500,000 from the company account. And you, you signed every approval form."

Ethan's body shook. He stared at me like he'd never seen me before.

"You... you spied on me?"

"I didn't need to spy." I said. "Robert left these for me. Ethan, I'm giving you a choice. Get that money back—every penny. Fire your uncle from the supply department. If you don't, I'll send these to the board... and to the IRS."

"Elena, you're crazy!" He grabbed my shoulders. "That's my mother's brother! Jake's my brother! If I do this, Mom will never forgive me!"

"Then choose." I pushed him away coldly. "Choose them... or choose your career. Choose our family."

Chapter 8

That week was the longest cold war of our marriage.

Ethan stayed silent, hoping I'd back down.

But I didn't.

On the seventh day, he surrendered.

He borrowed money from everyone he knew, even begged his old college friends, to repay the $770,000.

Then he forced his uncle to "resign" for "health reasons."

I knew I'd won the first battle.

But I also knew it was the end of whatever was left between us.

Ethan looked at me like I was a stranger. He started staying out all night, using "overtime" and "business trips" to avoid me, and the house that suffocated him.

I didn't care. In fact, I waited.

A man filled with resentment and anger always makes mistakes.

And I would be there to catch him, to deliver the final blow.

Chapter 9

Six months later, the opportunity came.

Harrison Builders was competing for a major city construction project, one that would decide the company's future for the next five years.

Their biggest rival was Huatai Construction, a powerful firm run by Zhou.

Ethan was exhausted, working day and night.

He started coming home again, even bringing me my favorite cupcakes, trying clumsily to win me over.

"Elena, this project means everything. If we get it, we can go back to how we were." He said it like a promise.

I looked at his bloodshot eyes and fake smile, and I knew the truth.

He didn't want our old life back.

He wanted my family's connections.

My father, though retired, still had powerful contacts in the New York City Planning Department.

I didn't refuse. I took Ethan to my parents' house. My father, for my sake and Lily's, agreed to help.

That night, Ethan got drunk, talking about our early days together. "I was wrong," he slurred. "I shouldn't have listened to Mom and Jake. I'll make it up to you."

I leaned in his arms, listening to the lies he'd waited eight years to tell.

Ethan, you're a great actor.

Almost great enough to fool me.

Chapter 10

I let Ethan think he'd won me over.

I cooked for him, asked about his day, even offered to let him manage part of the company, so he could focus on the bid.

Ethan was thrilled. He thought he was back in control.

But through my father's contacts, I uncovered a shocking truth, one that made perfect sense.

Huatai Construction's owner, Zhou, was married to my college roommate, my best friend, Sophie Chen.

Once, Sophie, Ethan, and I had been inseparable, the "three musketeers," we'd called ourselves.

I'd even thought Sophie had a crush on Ethan.

After I married Ethan, Sophie drifted away. She moved to California after graduation, and we lost touch.

A terrible thought crossed my mind.

I hired a private investigator.

A week later, he handed me a stack of photos and a voice recorder.

The photos showed Ethan and Sophie naked in a hotel room, tangled in the sheets.

The recorder held their dirty secrets.

"Ethan, when will you divorce that b***h?" Sophie whined.

"Soon, baby. Just wait. Thanks to your husband slowing down, we'll win the bid. Once I control the company, I'll kick her out, with nothing."

"What about the will?"

"I talked to a lawyer.

"I talked to a lawyer. If we can prove she’s got a severe mental illness, something like bipolar with psychotic features, the court might declare her unfit to manage assets or raise Lily. Then the inheritance would default to me, rightfully."

Sophie giggled, a sound that made my skin crawl. "Easy. I’ll ‘check in’ on her. Remind her about her ‘anxiety’, tell everyone she’s been having breakdowns. I’ll even plant her old antidepressants in her bathroom cabinet. Who’ll believe her over me, her ‘best friend’?"

The recorder clicked off.

I sat there, the cold leather of the chair seeping into my bones, but my blood felt like fire. Eight years of marriage. Ten years of friendship. All a lie, a carefully woven trap to steal my family, my fortune, even my daughter.

I didn’t cry. Not then. I took the photos, the recorder, the ledger copies, and locked them in a safe in my office, the one Ethan didn’t know about. Then I picked up Lily from her nanny’s, kissed her forehead, and made her favorite mac and cheese.

This wasn’t just about revenge anymore. It was about protecting Lily. About burning down the lie of the Harrison family and building something real, for her.