I stared at Cora, disbelief rooting me in place.
"Who told you this was a house your mom bought you?"
Cora let out a sharp, scornful laugh.
"My mom told me herself, obviously."
"You shameless little parasite. You latched onto my mother because she's a CEO, didn't you? Living in our house rent-free, hovering around her every second, desperate for her attention."
"Mooching off us and manufacturing every chance you could to get her alone wasn't enough for you? Now you want to come defile my villa too?"
"Let me spell it out for you. My mom said the only reason she let you stay was because your parents are dead and she felt sorry for you. So don't push your luck and start dreaming you can steal my place as her real daughter!"
Georgette had actually told Cora all of that?
No wonder Cora had always treated me with such contempt. In her mind, Georgette was the CEO who lived in the villa. And I was the pitiful orphan Georgette had taken in out of charity.
So all this time, Cora believed I was the one freeloading in her house, scheming to steal her only-daughter status.
It was absurd.
Cora spun around and announced to her classmates at full volume. "Do you guys have any idea how shameless this woman is? She parks herself in my house every single day. You can't get rid of her. I even left a note telling her to stop mooching off our place, and she lost it. Called the cops and told them my mom was bullying her."
"My mom was worried she'd blow it up into a scandal that would hurt the company's reputation, so she just let it go. Bought me this villa so I could live on my own."
"Honestly, sometimes I can't wrap my head around it. I'm my mother's biological daughter, the real heiress, and even I stay in the dorms most of the time. But this broke little orphan? She practically lives at my house like she owns it. It got so bad that when I wanted to wear my own clothes or drink my favorite wine, my mom had to sneak them over from the city penthouse just so this girl wouldn't find out and cry about being mistreated again."
"I have never, in my entire life, met anyone this shameless."
My eyes went wide.
So that was why things kept disappearing from the house. Georgette had been stealing them and bringing them here for her daughter.
What a piece of work.
Fine, Georgette. If you want to play me for a fool, then don't expect mercy.
I pulled out my phone on the spot and dialed the legal department. "Send a team to my parents' countryside estate immediately—"
Before I could finish, Cora snatched the phone out of my hand and hurled it to the floor.
"God, you never stop pretending, do you?" she screamed. "Your parents' estate? This villa belongs to my mom. She bought it for me!"
The classmates piled on, sneering and spitting insults one after another.
"So that's why she never stays in the dorms like the rest of us. I thought she was off doing something important. Turns out she was playing parasite at Cora's house, trying to steal someone else's mother. Disgusting."
"Exactly. Her own parents are dead, so she goes hunting for someone else's rich ones. If her parents knew she was this shameless, they'd be rolling in their graves."
"Some people are just born desperate. The second they see money, they'll do anything to worm their way in. Suck up to a sugar daddy, latch onto a rich godmother, whatever gets them to the top."
"Cora, you're honestly too nice. If someone tried to steal my parents, I'd rip her apart."
I ignored every word. I looked straight at Cora and said, my voice low and firm, "I suggest you call your mother right now and ask her who this villa really belongs to."
Cora's expression darkened. She grabbed me by the collar.
