The Fake Heiress Caged My Foster Parents, So I Toppled the Dynasty

I'm bound to the Envy Wish System, so anything I want, I can have.

At five, I wanted my nemesis's hair bow, and the next morning it was sitting on my bedside table.

When I was eight, the village bully seized my foster parents' fields. I wanted him to have stolen land he couldn't farmand that very night he had a stroke and was left paralyzed on one side.

At twelve, I wanted an admission spot at a top middle school, and my rival suddenly drowned.

I got scared, and I never dared to want anything again.

That lasted until I was seventeen, when the wealthy Harding family found me and said I was their long-lost biological daughter.

My foster parents gripped my hands and told me over and over to keep my head down, to be a good daughter to my parents, to give way to the fake heiress, and to get along with my brother.

For my eighteenth birthday, my coming-of-age party, my foster parents rode eight hours on a slow train to come celebrate with me.

Instead, Margery Harding treated them as a big "gift" for me, and humiliated me by locking them in a dog cage.

Seeing my foster parents chained up and covered in blood, I was so furious I wanted to fight Margery to the death.

But my own brother threw himself in front of her:

"Maggie's just a little playful. So some country folks got knocked around a bitso what? Do you really have to lose your mind over it?"

My father gave a cold warning:

"Make one more scene, and I'll lock you up with them too!"

Margery ground her heel into the back of my foster mother's hand and giggled sweetly:

"Sis, are you happy with a coming-of-age party like this?"

I stared at the blood-stained whip in her hand, gritted my teeth, and restarted the Envy Wish System that had lain silent for years.

Margery Harding, everything you have is going to slip away, one piece at a time.

And what I wantnone of you can stop me from taking it!

The party was packed with celebrities and dignitaries, lively and glittering, except that everyone was crowded around Margery, flattering her.

She strolled up to me, glowing with self-satisfaction, her eyes crinkling with a smile:

"Sis, I even prepared a special performance just for you. Don't blink, okay?"

My biological parents and my brother, Brent Harding, smiled and nodded in approval.

Two bodyguards stepped forward on cue, carrying in a dog cage draped with red silk.

The instant the red silk came off, the blood in my veins turned to ice.

I lunged forward, my voice shaking:

"Dad! Mom! Why is it you?!"

My foster parents were locked inside the cramped dog cage with thick iron chains, tortured until they were covered in blood, barely clinging to life.

A collective gasp went through the room.

I whipped my head around, my nails digging into my flesh:

"Margery! How dare you? Let my parents out this instant!"

Margery held a long leather whip, tapping it against her palm one beat at a time as she sauntered toward the cage.

"Sis, it's just a little performance. What's the rush?"

My fingers clenched tighter.

"Can't you see they're bleeding?!"

"It's just for the show. Relax, country folks are tough as leather, nothing's going to happen to them."

The next second, in front of everyone, she brought the whip down on the two old people, again and again.

Every lash raised a fresh streak of red.

But my foster parents bit down hard and refused to make a sound, afraid of causing me trouble, afraid I'd never find my footing in a wealthy family.

"Stop! Margery, you lunatic!"

Ignoring me completely, Margery ordered the bodyguards to run current through the cage.

The electricity surged, and the two old people convulsed in agony.

The watching guests were terrified, their eyes full of pity, yet not one of them dared to speak up and stop her.

The Hardings had power and influence, and no one was willing to offend Margery for the sake of two lowly people.

Watching my foster parents endure such humiliation, their bodies torn with wounds, I charged up and wrenched the whip out of her hand.

I raised it high, but before it could fall, my biological parents and Brent immediately blocked me from Margery.

My father snapped at me:

"You're never home. Fine, you run around out there with a pack of no-good lowlifes."

"And now you'd raise your hand against your own sister for two filthy peasants? Have you no humanity left?!"

I kept my eyes fixed on Margery, held out my hand, and spoke in a voice cold to the bone:

"Give me the key!"

Margery flinched as if terrified and staggered back two steps, her high heel grinding hard into the mangled, bloody back of my foster mother's hand.

"Sis, you're so scary like this. I'm so frightened..."

Then she suddenly threw herself backward, flung out her hand, and the key flew out the window.

"Oh! Sis, I didn't mean to! What are we going to do now that the key's lost?"

Brent rushed over to steady her, pulling her tenderly into his arms while glaring viciously at me;

"Kathleen! Why are you scaring Maggie!"

"She's just a little playful. So some country folks got a bump, it's nothing. Do you have to lose your mind in public and disgrace the Harding family?"

My mother looked at me in disappointment;

"Kathy, you are such a disappointment. It's been a whole year, and you're still this willful, still can't stand Maggie."

My father gave me a cold warning:

"Make another scene, and I'll lock you up with them, so you can think hard about what you've done!"

The bodyguard took the chance to snatch the whip from my hand, twisted my shoulder down, and forced me to my knees.

Brent gave a cold snort:

"You've ruined a perfectly good party! Now hurry up and admit your mistake and apologize!"

I struggled to lift my head:

"I did nothing wrong!"

My father's face was dark and vicious:

"Hold her down, hard!"

He stepped forward and set his foot on my head, brutally forcing my forehead down against the floor.

"When you do something wrong, you kneel and apologize! Dad is teaching you your manners!"

My nails clawed raw against the marble floor as I clenched my teeth and fought back:

"I already said itI did nothing wrong!"

The last thread of restraint in my heart snapped, and in my mind a familiar electronic voice sounded:

"Congratulations, host. After six years, the Envy Wish System is online again. What do you wish for?"

When my foster parents in the dog cage saw my strange, bloodshot eyes, they panicked instantly.

The two of them, fighting through the agony and breathing weakly, called my name hoarsely, over and over.

"Kathy, no, don't go head-to-head with them..."

"They're your family. We're all right. Please, please don't turn against them for our sake..."

Even after being humiliated and tortured to this point, they were still worried that I'd offend the Harding family and be left with nowhere to go.

Watching them shield me even as they lay barely breathing, my reason nearly burned through.

I forced down the anger surging in my chest and spoke coldly.

"Apologize to my foster parents, get someone to take them to the hospital right now, and I'll let you all off!"

Margery was so scared by my fierce glare that she hid in her mother's arms and buried her head, cowering.

"Mom, I'm scared."

Her mother's face darkened at once.

"Kathleen, have you lost your mind? Two lowly country bumpkinsyou think they're worth our whole family apologizing to?"

Brent stepped forward, his face full of contempt.

"Let us off? Kathleen, are you here to be funny?"

"We saw you being fairly obedient and sensible lately, and we felt sorry for you, drifting out there all those years, so we kindly threw you this coming-of-age party. Turns out it was all an act, and you're still this ungrateful!"

That's right. I was pretending.

I kept my foster mother's warning in mind: when I went back to the Harding family, I should keep a low profile, hold my tongue, and get along with them.

So when Margery deliberately smashed her mother's imperial green necklace and pinned it on me, and I was scolded and punished by the whole family, I endured it.

When she framed me for pushing her down the stairs and got me locked up for two days and two nights without even a sip of water, I endured that too.

To avoid clashing with her, I did my best to come home late.

That was how I fell in with a crowd who lived at the bottom of society, and because I had money, I became their boss.

I endured and endured, gave ground step after step, and all I got in return was them pushing further.

It got my foster parents publicly abused and humiliated.

I looked up, swept my gaze over this pack of cold-blooded, biased relatives, and gave them one last, stern warning.

"I'll say it one more time: apologize to my foster parents and take them to the hospital!"

All I got in response was a room full of mockery and jeering.

My father lifted his foot off the top of my head, his eyes cold with disgust.

"A crude nature that'll never changethose two lowly peasants spoiled her rotten!"

Margery put on a gentle, sensible face, her voice full of grievance.

"Sister, you can throw a fit without caring about the Harding family's honor, but I can't. If you think I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. I'll apologize to"

Before she could finish, Brent raised his hand to stop her.

"Maggie, you did nothing wrong. You don't need to apologize to her. She's the one who doesn't know a good thing when she sees it and insists on making a scene."

I slowly braced myself against the floor and rose, my voice colder than before.

"You can slander me and frame me, but you don't lay a single finger on my foster parents."

"Since you did, you'll pay for it a hundredfold, a thousandfold!"

But I didn't want to finish them off all at once.

"System, I want Margery to lose everything!"

"Ding! Got it."

I turned my head, looked coldly at Margery, and said with a sneer,

"Margery, your beloved Silas is about to dump you."

Margery's face flushed red with anger.

"Kathleen, you're so vicious! Why can't you stand to see me do well? Why would you curse me like this!"

Brent immediately soothed her gently.

"Maggie, ignore her. She's just talking nonsense because she's out of options, deliberately trying to spite you."

The guests murmured among themselves.

"Who doesn't know Mr. Wise spoils Miss Harding to the skies? His favoritism toward her has never changed since they were children."

"On Valentine's Day a few days ago, I heard Mr. Wise released a sky lantern for Miss Harding at an auction, spending at least a hundred million. Who would dare question that kind of devotion?"

"Exactly. A wild girl who ended up out in the countryside actually thinks she can break up this perfect couple. It's laughable."

Silas, who had been standing behind the Harding family, walked straight over to Margery, gently took her hand, and spoke in a soft, firm voice.

"In this life, I will marry no one but Maggie."

"The moment Maggie reaches legal age, we'll get married. I'll throw her a wedding no one can rival, and make her the happiest woman in the world."

The vow rang out with conviction, the favoritism shameless and open.

Margery instantly went from tears to a smile, lifting her eyes at me in triumph, her gaze full of showing off and provocation.

But the words had barely left his mouth when the Wise family's butler rushed into the hall, his voice filled with utter panic.

"Mr. Wise! Something terrible has happened! Your father was in a serious car accident on the way here. His injuries are criticalhe won't make it!"

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence; you could hear a pin drop.

Without even wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, the butler pulled out his phone.

The horrific accident scene on the screen made Silas suck in a sharp breath, a chill spreading through his whole body.

The butler's brows knit together tightly in anxiety.

"Right now, only your mortal enemy, the Delgado family, has a medical team that can operate on your father and save his life!"

While everyone was still frozen in shock, I bolted like a madwoman toward the dog cage.

My adoptive father already had a bad heart, and now he was clutching his chest, gasping violently, his face a mix of pale and blue, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

My adoptive mother was covered in blood, her breathing growing weaker and weaker, her eyelids so heavy she could barely lift them.

Seeing me rush over, she used the last of her strength to open her eyes to a sliver, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

"Kathy, I'm sorry... we dragged you into this..."

Tears crashed down at once.

I gripped the cold iron lock with both hands, shaking and wrenching at it desperately, but the heavy lock wouldn't open no matter what.

Behind me, Silas snapped out of it, his face torn with panic, and let out a low, sharp roar.

"Then get the Delgado family here! Whatever it costs, I'll pay it! No matter the price, you have to save my father!"

The butler looked troubled.

"The Delgado family has spoken. They don't want money. They only want... they only want..."

Silas was beside himself, his eyes bloodshot.

"Say it! Does he want my family's shares? The company? I'll agree to anything as long as it saves my dad!"

"He said you have to marry the beggar woman outside the door..."

The moment those words landed, the whole hall erupted.

Everyone turned in unison toward the doorway.

There stood a woman with filthy, matted hair, covered in mud, dressed in tattered rags, staring dumbly into the room and grinning foolishly at Silas.

Margery panicked in an instant, clutching Silas's arm tightly, her eyes rimmed red as she pleaded in a soft, wheedling voice.

"Silas! You can't marry her! That woman is ugly and filthy, she's a raving lunatic! Don't listen to the Delgado family!"

Silas went rigid, completely stunned, his lips trembling.

"But if I don't do what he says, my dad will die..."

Just then, Silas's phone rang.

Whatever was said on the other end made his face go from panic to ghostly white, until at last he looked utterly defeated, as if all the life had drained out of him.

He looked long at Margery, then spoke with great difficulty.

"Fine, as long as it saves my dad... II'll marry that beggar."

The firm vow from moments ago still echoed in the air, only to be crushed in an instant by cruel reality.

The whole hall boiled over, whispers rising and falling.

"He's really going to marry a beggar? Then what about Miss Harding? That grand wedding just now was all empty words!"

"This is too eerie! Kathleen just said Silas didn't want her anymore, and it came true! Could she have put some kind of curse on her?"

"It's just a coincidence, right? There's no way something that bizarre could happen."

Margery couldn't believe it and burst out crying with a loud wail.

Sweat pouring down my face, tears blurring my vision, I looked at my adoptive parents lying half-dead in the cage, and my heart felt like it was being torn apart.

I raised my voice and screamed.

"Whoever helps me open this lock, I'll earn him a billion dollars!"

Brent's face went livid, and he jabbed a finger at me and roared.

"You still dare to spout such brazen talk! It's all your jinxing mouth at work! You made Maggie lose Silas!"

"Somebody! Seize her! Lock her in the cage and let her reflect on her sins and atone!"

The bodyguards immediately hauled over a second dog cage.

Several men rushed forward and seized my arms, their grip brutal, forcing me into the cage.

Margery walked over to me, her eyes full of venom, and threatened in a low voice:

"Kathleen, all you have to do is kneel down in front of everyone, kowtow to me ten times, and admit out loud that you're a slut, and I'll talk Mom, Dad, and my brother into letting you off."

"Getting shocked isn't pleasant. If you don't believe me, go ask your adoptive parents."

I clenched my fists, hating that I couldn't smash them into her face right now.

I gave a cold snort and shot back:

"Making you lose everything is still too easy on you, Margery. You'll pay for what you've done today, and soon!"

Margery hadn't expected me to talk back even when I was cornered. Her face went ashen, her lips tight and twisted.

"Fine! You really don't know when to quit! Let's see how long you can keep running your mouth!"

She straightened up and barked at the bodyguards:

"Throw her in! Turn the current up to the max! Today our dear Miss Harding is going to put on an exclusive show for all our guests!"

Just as they were about to stuff me into the dog cage, a voice full of authority came from behind me.

"I'd like to see who dares touch her!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried the crushing weight of a man who looked down on all living things.

The entire room went dead silent, the chatter cutting off at once.

Silas's legs gave out, and he dropped down onto the floor.

The moment my father saw this man, he switched to a fawning, ingratiating tone and hurried up to greet him.

"Mr. Mr. Delgado! What brings you in person to the Harding family banquet? Forgive us, forgive us, we failed to receive you properly!"

I turned my head with difficulty. The man stood tall and straight in a black suit, his presence terrifying.

And yet somehow he seemed familiar.

The man looked straight ahead, never once glancing at him, his gaze fixed on the two dog cages.

He stepped forward and gave a deep-voiced order to the medical team behind him.

"Save them first."

His bodyguards moved in at once and broke the specially made lock on the dog cage in a few quick motions.

My barely breathing adoptive parents were carefully lifted out of the cage.

After emergency treatment and oxygen given in time, their once faint breathing gradually steadied, and the pallor of their faces finally eased.

The heart that had been lodged in my throat finally settled.

The man's face was hard as he said in a low voice:

"Mr. Harding, is this how you usually raise your children to abuse people?"

My father, all dignity gone, forced himself to defend himself:

"Mr. Delgado, this is a Harding family matter..."

"A family matter?"

The man raised an eyebrow, his presence so heavy it left everyone struggling to breathe.

"Lay a hand on my boss, and it stops being a family matter!"

My father's eyes went wide in disbelief. Before he could say another word, the man had already walked up to me.

The Harding bodyguards went rigid with fear and hastily let go of me.

The man bent down and steadied me to my feet, his voice softening in an instant:

"Boss, I'm late."