Live-Streamed Lies, I Ruined Her Scheme

Right after I announced to the senior management team that my daughter Mandy Johnson would take over the group, the office door was kicked open with a crash. I looked toward the door where the crash came from, and saw my stepdaughter, Charlotte Clarkson, looking absolutely furious. Behind her was a dense crowd of people, each carrying live-streaming equipment. "Who gave you permission to barge into my office? With all these people too? Get out!" I shouted at her. The words had barely left my mouth when Charlotte swept her arm wildly across the desk. Files scattered across the floor, teacup shards flew everywhere, and the computer was smashed. I clenched my fists in fury. "What is the meaning of this? Can't we talk this through properly at home?" Charlotte looked at me with a menacing grin. "Can you stop putting on such a big act? Are you still trying to play the well-meaning good stepmother in front of me?" She suddenly turned to face the camera, pointed at me and shouted hysterically, "Today, I will publicly expose the three major crimes of Lana Johnson, and take back everything that belongs to the Clarksons!" Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been bottling up all her grievances for ages. First of all, you've always played favorites since I was little: you never treated me like your own daughter. From meals to schooling, you've always treated me and Mandy differently! I was stunned, and the words slipped out of my mouth. "Me? Treating you differently? When you ate at home, the dinner table was always full of the seafood you love. When you studied abroad, your annual expenses were more than a million. I can't see where I've treated you differently!" Charlotte glared at me, as if seeing right through my hypocrisy. "Yeah, bad quality seafood, am I right? Otherwise why would you never let Mandy eat it, and secretly cook her a separate meal in the kitchen instead! What's more, you sent me abroad to study art, but made Mandy study finance. You were just guarding against me, weren't you? You've always wanted to hand the group over to her!" The live stream immediately blew up, and netizens started attacking me. A: [See? All stepmothers are vicious! You're just like the evil stepmother from Snow White!] B: [The old hag is just waiting for your dad to die, she can't wait to ruin you!] C: [She pretends to spend a lot of money on you just so her own daughter can inherit the company. What a disgusting hypocrite.] The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and with Henry Clarkson gone, being a stepmother was even harder. That was why I had to keep a backup plan, just so I could bring out the truth when Charlotte finally made her move. "Assistant Lynch, pull up all the surveillance footage of Charlotte eating at home." Henry and I formed a blended family, each bringing a daughter from our previous marriages. I had security cameras installed all over the house to avoid unnecessary trouble. Hearing my instruction, Assistant Lynch opened a laptop and pulled up a series of old surveillance footage, whose colors had faded slightly with time. Every seafood dish I made for Charlotte was bought fresh early in the morning, cleaned and prepared by me at home. The accusation of me feeding her rotten fish and shrimp was false. And why did I give Mandy separate meals? Because she's allergic to seafood! I made a whole table of the seafood you love, and all Mandy got to eat was noodles! Charlotte's face immediately darkened, and she hastily changed the subject. "Uh... Well... Even so, letting Mandy study finance is still favoritism on your side!" She just wouldn't give up. I tossed a thick stack of old report cards in front of the camera. "Your grades were dead last in high school. You couldn't even get into a private college. You were too ashamed to take the college entrance exam, so you insisted that I send you abroad to study art, and I did! I gave you what you wanted!" Seeing her first damning accusation had been effortlessly disproven, her voice shot up an octave in her panic. "Secondly, my father hasn't even been laid to rest, and you've already taken over the company as if it were yours! It's the only thing he left me! Did you ever stop to think how I'd feel?"