2: 2
Back in my room, I locked the door, opened my laptop, and logged into the brokerage account.
The forty percent stake the Fox family had put up as my dowry had transferred into my name today.
I knew it was all for show. They wanted the shares in hand so they could squeeze Caleb Gilbert at the wedding tomorrow.
I didn't care. I dumped every share.
The second the system confirmed the sale, my heart slammed against my ribs.
Three hundred million, cash in hand.
Then I hit every online loan platform I could borrow from, and messaged every fair-weather friend in my chat one by one.
"Need money fast, three-day turnaround, thirty percent monthly interest!"
With the Fox family and the Gilberts behind me, they all said yes without blinking.
Finally, I moved every last dollar into overseas accounts.
When it was done, I let out a breath.
Sophia Swanson was healthy and highly educated. The only bug in her life's script was money.
And now I'd patched it, completely.
The captions were still drifting past.
【You really want to swap with Sophia?】
【Your life is a wreck, but it still beats hers, doesn't it? She's got a gambler for a father. You'll never shake him off!】
【Swapping with her? You'd be better off just running!】
I laughed.
"Run where? I'm dying of stomach cancer. How far do you think I'd get?"
"Besides, you just said it yourselves. Last time, after my body got swapped, Otto and my parents knew all about it, right? What they want is an obedient puppet. Not a daughter."
"Better to gamble than stay chained to this family. A healthy body, a fresh start!"
The captions went quiet.
Once it was all done, I went out for the extra-spicy hot wings I'd been craving for ages.
After the cancer diagnosis, I'd stayed away from anything spicy.
Now? It didn't matter.
This body wouldn't be mine much longer anyway.
I ate one bite after another until my whole face flushed red and sweat beaded on my forehead.
Afterward, I wired a million to my best friend, Nora Henson.
"You wanted to study abroad, right? I'll cover the tuition. One condition though: you're not allowed at my wedding tomorrow."
Nora replied in seconds, totally baffled:"Why? Weren't you counting on me to be your bridesmaid?"
I smiled."Just had a reading done. The master says your chart's bad for going out tomorrow."
From the captions, I'd learned that last time, after Sophia took over my body, she'd handed Nora over to Caleb's bed to win his favor.
All because Nora had stood up for me at the wedding and refused to warm to her.
Nora fell into a deep depression after the humiliation, and in the end she killed herself.
This time, I was going to keep her far away from ever meeting Sophia.
I drank alone until two in the morning. On the ride home, I suddenly remembered the pet camera at the house.
I wanted to check whether my little Yuanbao had eaten properly.
The moment I opened the app and the screen lit up, I froze.
It wasn't my ragdoll cat in the frame. It was Otto and Sophia, seen from behind.
What were the two of them doing in my bedroom?
I tapped on the live audio.
Sophia's voice came through first:"When on earth is she going to eat it?"
Otto sounded irritated:"I told you, tonight as a late snack. Who knows what time she'll be back!"
"The mother parasite inside me can last one more day at most!" Sophia dropped her voice."If she eats it too late and the mother parasite dies, there's no chance at all!"
"What's the rush? She's dying of stomach cancer. She can only come crawling home. Where's she going to run?"
Sophia paused."Stomach cancer? So once we swap bodies, that disease becomes mine?"
Otto's lips curled."That was all just to fool her. A fake diagnosis. To crush any ideas she had and make her give up for good!"
"To sell it, I laced the milk she drinks before bed with diamond powder. That way she throws up blood every day and believes she's really sick."
When Sophia said nothing, Otto patted her shoulder."Relax. Once you're Millie, we'll go straight in for surgery and take the powder out. With money, what medical resources can't we get?"
"All you have to do is marry Caleb like a good girl, give him two kids, keep the company steady. Everything else, you don't have to worry about."
