Chapter 3

It was Brenda. Her voice was already loud, but she raised it on purpose, drawing the attention of the entire office.

I frowned, freezing in my tracks. I couldn't run, but staying felt like stepping into a trap.

I quickly racked my brain. I had never offended Brenda. Why was she doing this to me?

In the next second, a woman dressed in faded, worn-out clothes and carrying a face full of sorrow stepped out.

My younger brother, Leo, walked right behind her. He had his phone shoved right in my face.

He looked like a cat that had finally caught a mouse—shaking with pure, sadistic excitement.

Olivia was standing in the crowd, frantically winking at me. I instantly understood.

They were livestreaming.

What a beautiful trap of a family reunion. Well, if they wanted to put on a show, I was going to give them an Oscar-winning performance.

The viewer count in the livestream instantly surged to over a hundred thousand. Countless users flooded in to witness this "touching" family reunion.

The comments section went wild.

[Finally found her! This is so emotional, as a mother, I'm tearing up.]

[OMG, the sequel is live! Sitting here with popcorn!]

[Look at her outfit. She clearly makes good money working here, yet she abandoned her parents. So cold-blooded.]

The livestream was clearly performing well, judging by the smug grin Leo couldn't quite hide.

My mother took trembling steps toward me, whispering dramatically, "My baby... my Chloe..."

As she walked, she wiped her dry eyes.

Leo zoomed in, trying to capture the tears that didn't exist on her face.

If there were any tears, they would be tears of joy—joy of finally finding their cash cow.

Hearing her call me "Chloe" made my stomach turn.

In my entire life, my mother had never called me anything so sweet.

Usually, she called me by my full name, or, when she was angry, slammed me with verbal abuse: useless leech, curse, parasite, bitch...

To hear such affection for the first time in my life under these circumstances made me want to vomit.

But in the next second, I threw myself to my knees right in front of her.

My face was a perfect mix of shock and overwhelmed joy.

"Mom! How did you find me?!"

I didn't want to play along with her sick game, but since they had backed me into a corner, I had to beat them at their own game.

If I acted cold in front of all these people, it would ruin my reputation within three minutes.

Being gossiped about was one thing, but harming the company's image and losing my job was a real threat.

And as for acting? I was the lead in my college drama club.

My mother froze. She absolutely did not expect me to drop to my knees and start crying. It completely derailed her rehearsed script.

She stammered for a few seconds before slowly getting back into character.

"Where have you been all these years? I’ve been worried sick! Your father is dying in the hospital. Please, come see him. He misses you so much."

I grabbed her hands, tears streaming down my face.

"Mom! I got scammed! I'm drowning in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. I was too ashamed to go home and ruin your lives, so I've been working day and night to pay it off. I wanted to come home after I cleared my name, but I never expected you to find me first!"

"It’s all my fault. I was greedy, wanting to make quick cash to support you and Dad. I never thought I’d fall for a scam."

To make my crying look realistic, I pinched the skin on my thigh as hard as I could.

The sudden plot twist caught everyone off guard. The live comments went dead silent for a second before exploding again.

[Wait, didn't the mother say the daughter ran off with some guy? Why is she saying she got scammed? Is this whole thing a setup?]

[I told you, never trust the first video! Plot twists upon plot twists!]

[Maybe the mother knew she was in debt and kicked her out, and now she's playing the victim.]