Whose Heart Did I Sting This Time

I was famous around the village for having a big mouth.

Ever since I was little, I couldn't sit on a secret to save my life. Whatever I knew, out it came.

Other kids' first word was Mama. My first word was Money. Under the bed.

Which is how I helped my mom find my dad's secret stash.

By the time I was old enough for school, I'd become the most popular person there.

Because I didn't just have a big mouth. I loved a good scoop.

Whose wife in the village was cheating, whose husband had a kid on the side.

Whose daughter was some rich man's kept woman in the city, whose son had latched onto a wealthy older woman and was living off her without an ounce of shame.

I knew it all, chapter and verse, and I broadcast it to the whole world.

Nobody kept a secret from me. The people of that village suffered for it.

Until the year I turned eighteen, when the Fox family, the richest family in Harbor City, announced I was their real daughter, swapped at birth, and they wanted me back.

My eyes lit up on the spot.

01

And it wasn't just my eyes that lit up. The whole village lit up too.

Especially once word got around that my birth parents were too busy to come get me themselves and had only sent a driver. After that, people packed in around our house, layer on layer.

Harbor City. Richest family. A real heiress and a fake one.

Put those three things together and the imagination runs wild.

Pair after pair of hungry eyes fixed on me, like they were trying to stare a hole through my face.

A normal person would feel awkward here, exposed, desperate not to be gawked at.

But I'm not normal.

I stood in front of them, thrilled, and pressed both hands down through the air.

The noisy crowd went quiet at once.

I cleared my throat. "Ahem. Folks, my social media. You know what to do."

Instantly, every last one of them broke into a knowing grin.

That's right. I'd added every single person in the village.

No matter how much they hated me, not one of them ever blocked me.

Because when there was gossip, I really did post it.

Sometimes it happened to be about themselves, sure, but most of the time it was about someone else.

The whole village walked me almost a mile out. Watching the crowd in the rearview mirror refuse to thin, the driver couldn't help but remark, "Miss Gladys Henson, you're really well liked."

I just smiled and said nothing.

When we reached the Fox house, I was about to say something about how huge the place was, but the words never made it out. I walked straight into the fake heiress, Rose Fox, headed the other way with a suitcase in hand and her eyes rimmed red.

She spoke as she went. "I stole eighteen years of my sister's life. How could I have the face to stay in this family? Dad, Mom, Antony, I'm leaving!"

Mrs. Fox chased after her, dabbing at her eyes. "Rosie, you'll always be my daughter. Even with your sister back, we would never treat you any worse!"

Mr. Fox's eyes were full of ache too. "Rosie, so what if you aren't our flesh and blood? We raised you for eighteen years. To us, your sister is the stranger!"

Antony Fox stepped straight into Rose's path to stop her. "Rosie, I don't care about real heiress, fake heiress, none of it. As far as I'm concerned, I have exactly one sister in this life, and it's you!"

The four of them stood in the courtyard, clinging to each other, sobbing as one. However you looked at it, a warm, harmonious family reunited.

There just wasn't any place in it for me.

The driver glanced at me with something like pity and tried to console me. "Miss Gladys, honestly, Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox have both been looking forward to your coming home... Miss Gladys, what are you doing?!"

Filming, obviously!

A scene this classic, dialogue straight out of a soap opera. It'd be a crime not to record it.

The driver's outburst made every one of the Foxes turn and look at me.

Nothing for it. I tapped send fast, lowered my phone, and gave the Fox family a smile.

A flicker of guilt crossed Mrs. Fox's eyes, but mostly it was awkwardness.

She hesitated. "Gladys, don't take what was just said to heart. Your brother and your father, they didn't mean any of it..."

Rose came shuffling over too, sniffling. "Sis, you're the true daughter of this family. I would never take your place. I..."

The more Rose talked, the more heartbroken she got, her breathing coming faster and faster, until her eyes rolled back and she fainted dead away.

Antony Fox came rushing over, scooped Rose up in his arms, and shouted as he ran, "Where's the driver? Get the car, we're going to the hospital!"

Right before he left, he still made a point of snarling at me, "Gladys Henson, if anything happens to Rosie, you'll pay for it."

At those words, my eyes went wide with anticipation.

But the excitement I'd been counting on never came.

When Rose was taken to the hospital, I wanted to go along too, but the Fox family acted like I didn't exist. I never got in the car.

The days that followed were even more boring.

To comfort their heartbroken Rose, the Foxes took her off to a tropical island resort.

The house was huge, and I was the only one left in it.

By all rights, I should have been sad, depressed, crying my eyes out.

Because my own birth parents didn't love me at all.

But I'm not that kind of person.

The moment I learned the Foxes had flown off to the resort, I went straight out after dinner.

The gated villa neighborhood where the Foxes lived charged eighteen thousand a month in HOA fees, and the security was airtight. Ordinary people couldn't get in.

So when a strange new face like me went wandering around the neighborhood alone, a guard came over right away to ask who I was.

I gave him a sweet little smile and said, loud and clear, "I'm the Foxes' real daughter, the one they just brought home."

In an instant, I could feel curious eyes turning toward me from every direction.

The next day, the moment I stepped out I "happened to run into" my neighbor, Freda James.

She warmly invited me over to her place for a meal.

I played along perfectly. The second I sat down, I said, "Thank you, Freda. I finally don't have to eat alone."

Freda looked startled. "Gladys, you've been back all this time, and your parents haven't sat down to a single meal with you?"

I lowered my eyes. "My parents are busy. No time. Even when I came home, it was the driver who picked me up."

Freda paused, then blurted out, "Busy? Busy with what? They just threw Rose a birthday party a couple of days ago."

My head dropped even lower.

Freda realized she'd said the wrong thing and quickly changed the subject. "Gladys, come by and sit with me whenever you like. I get bored on my own too. Here, let's add each other online. If anything comes up, just reach out to me."

Sweet as ever, I pulled up my code for her to scan.

Once Freda added me, she went straight into my social media feed.

The very first post was that whole scene I'd filmed the day I arrived at the Fox house.

Freda watched the video, then looked up at me, then bent her head and started scrolling through the rest of my feed.

Finally, she drew a deep breath and said, "Gladys, come over to my place again tomorrow. I have a few friends who are going to love you."

"Of course, Freda. I'll be here for sure."

So on the third day, I met Florence Lambert, and a few of the other ladies.

Florence and the others introduced me to still more of the neighborhood ladies...

And just like that, in a matter of days I'd met every single one of the ladies in the neighborhood.

Each of them pushed her own husband on me, saying, "Gladys, this is your uncle's contact. If you ever run into trouble, get in touch with him."

I knew what this was really about. It was so their busy husbands could get the gossip firsthand whenever they had a spare moment.

I turned no one away, adding contacts until my hand went numb.

These people had better information than I did. The instant they found out the Foxes had finally had their fill of the resort and booked flights home, they messaged me right away.

I caught their meaning at once and immediately sent out a group message.

The ladies have helped me so much lately, and I want to thank everyone. Come to my place tomorrow and try my cooking.

The Fox family's plane touched down on schedule the next day, and the whole drive home they didn't hit a single red light. Everything went so smoothly it was almost absurd.

By the time they reached the house, Mr. Fox wore a rare smile, and he couldn't help praising her. "Rosie really is this family's little good-luck charm."

Rose said, in that coaxing way of hers, "Thank you, Daddy."

Then, a second later, her eyes went red.

Mrs. Fox asked quickly, "Rosie, what's wrong?"

Rose choked out, "Mom, do you really think my sister can accept that I exist?"

Before Mrs. Fox could answer, Antony jumped in first. "Why do you even care about her? That country bumpkin Gladys Henson should be grateful just to get to live in Harbor City. What right does she have to complain?"

"Antony, how can you talk like that? Gladys is your sister too." Mrs. Fox frowned in disapproval.

Antony rolled his eyes. "You want to claim her, fine, claim her. I don't."

Mrs. Fox let it drop and turned to comfort Rose. "Don't worry, Gladys will accept you for sure. Didn't you buy her a present?"

They talked as they walked into the courtyard, and suddenly the mood felt off.

The household staff seemed unusually busy. For the longest time not one of them was in sight.

Right then, Freda messaged me to say she and her husband would be arriving any minute.

I figured that after everything she'd done for me, the least I could do was step out and greet her.

I didn't expect to walk straight into the Fox family the moment I stepped out the door.

Mr. and Mrs. Fox stared at me, startled, while Rose pressed her lips together and said in a small, downcast voice, "Sis, that bracelet of yours"

Then she stopped, as if something had just occurred to her.

Antony's face darkened, and he stepped forward and slapped me across the face.

"Gladys Henson, so now you're stealing right here in the house!"

Mrs. Fox hurried to stop him. "Antony, how could you hit her?"

Rose pleaded through her tears too. "Antony, that piece was always meant to be hers anyway"

Mrs. Fox heard that, sighed, and said to me, "Gladys, if you wanted the bracelet you could have told me. Why steal it?"

Mr. Fox's face went cold too. "Gladys Henson, the Fox family doesn't need a daughter who steals!"

I touched the spot on my face where Antony had hit me. It didn't really hurt, just went a little numb, and there was no rusty tang of blood in my mouth. He hadn't broken the skin.

Good, good. City rich boys don't have much strength.

Even hitting that hard, he came up short of one careless slap from my foster mother.

I turned my head and said calmly, "This is my own bracelet. I didn't steal anything."

The moment I finished speaking, the sun broke free of the clouds.

Light poured down, hot and bright, and the diamonds on the bracelet on my left wrist scattered it into a dazzle.

Antony scoffed. "Gladys, that bracelet on your wrist is a limited edition by a world-famous designer. There are only two in all of Harbor City. One I gave Rosie for her birthday this year, the other's with the James family. So tell me, how exactly is it yours?"

I said nothing.

Mom looked at me, disappointed, and Dad said coldly, "Gladys, you steal and you lie. You're rotten to the core. You really do need to be taught a lesson."

"Antony, make the call. Get the police."

Rose pressed down the corners of her mouth before they could lift. "Dad, isn't that too much? Gladys just never had a proper education. She'll get better slowly, now that she's back with us."

"Rosie, you're just too kind," Antony said. "A leopard doesn't change its spots. Whatever Gladys didn't learn at home as a kid, society will have to teach her."

He was already dialing as he spoke. He'd barely finished telling the dispatcher there was a thief in the house when Freda James and her husband arrived at the Fox family gate.

Freda had hardly stepped inside, hadn't even had a chance to greet my parents, when she saw the mark on my face.

She rushed straight over, cupping my cheek. "Gladys, what happened? Who hurt you? You tell me, and I'll make them answer for it!"

The Foxes might be the richest family in Harbor City, but they were new money, only clawed their way up these past two years.

The James family was a century-old house, their web of connections in Harbor City deep and dense. The Foxes wouldn't dare cross them.

Mom hurried forward, smiling. "Freda, it's nothing serious. We were just disciplining the child."

"Disciplining a child doesn't mean hitting this hard. Look at the state you've left our Gladys in."

"And Gladys is such a sweet girl. Don't you people have anything better to do than teach her lessons?"

The instant she finished, Rose's tears started rolling down like beads off a snapped string.

"Freda, honestly, this is all my fault. I took Gladys's things, and now I'm just giving them back to her."

Antony gave a cold laugh. "Rosie, you don't need to cover for her."

"Freda, I'm not afraid to admit the shame of it. Let me put it plainly. Gladys waited until the whole family was away and stole from the house."

Freda clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. "That can't be. Gladys is such a good child. How could she steal anything?"

Without another word, Antony grabbed my arm and thrust the silver diamond bracelet in front of Freda.

"Freda, you know this bracelet. There are only two in all of Harbor City. One's at your house, and the other is Rosie's."

"Gladys was jealous of Rosie, so she stole Rosie's bracelet!"

Freda's expression shifted. "Oh, no, you've all got it wrong! Gladys didn't steal that bracelet. I gave it to her."

"What?" Antony froze where he stood.

Freda looked thoroughly put out. "One quick question and you'd have known you had it all wrong. How could you not even ask?"

"And the way you're carrying on, how is Gladys supposed to host everyone in a bit?"

"Host?"

"Everyone?"

Mom and Dad said it at the same time, baffled.

Just then, the servant happened to open the front door, and inside sat a whole crowd of people.

At the very same moment, police sirens rose outside the villa.