CHAPTER 1 — "Scrub Harder, Cinderella."
The first thing my stepmother threw at me wasn't a bucket.
It was my mother's wedding ring.
It hit the polished marble floor with a sharp metallic clang before rolling to my knees.
"Pick it up," Vanessa coldly ordered.
I stared at the ring.
The same ring my father had placed on my mother's finger twenty years earlier.
The only thing she had left me before cancer stole her away.
When I reached for it, Vanessa placed the pointed heel of her designer shoe on top of my hand.
Pain shot through my fingers.
"You don't touch anything in this house unless I allow it."
Behind her, three wealthy women laughed over crystal glasses of imported wine.
"Isn't she adorable?"
"She really believes she's the daughter of this family."
"I almost forgot she still lives here."
I lowered my head.
Arguing only made things worse.
My name is Charlotte Kingsley.
I'm eighteen years old.
And despite what everyone in this mansion believed...
I was the only biological daughter of billionaire real estate tycoon Richard Kingsley.
After my mother's death, my father buried himself in work.
Business trips.
International meetings.
Private jets.
Entire months passed without him coming home.
Then Vanessa appeared.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Soft-spoken.
She convinced everyone she loved my father.
Six months later...
She became Mrs. Kingsley.
Everything changed overnight.
My bedroom became a storage room.
My expensive clothes disappeared.
My school allowance stopped.
The servants were ordered not to help me.
Even worse...
Vanessa told everyone I wanted to "learn responsibility."
So every morning before sunrise...
I cleaned forty-three rooms.
Washed marble staircases by hand.
Polished silverware.
Scrubbed bathrooms.
Ironed clothes.
Cooked meals I wasn't allowed to eat.
If I made one mistake...
Dinner disappeared.
If I answered back...
She slapped me.
And every single time I tried calling my father...
Vanessa smiled sweetly.
"He is in meetings, sweetheart."
Later I discovered...
She had blocked my number on his phone.
For nearly two years...
My own father believed I had stopped speaking to him.
The lies became my prison.
That afternoon, Vanessa invited half the city's social elite for wine.
She wanted entertainment.
Unfortunately...
I was today's entertainment.
She snapped her fingers.
"Charlotte."
"On your knees."
I slowly knelt on the cold marble floor.
"Polish until I can see my reflection."
One of her friends laughed.
"Poor thing."
"She's prettier as a maid than she ever was as a princess."
Another leaned closer.
"How much do you pay her?"
Vanessa burst into laughter.
"Pay?"
"I give her a roof."
"That should be enough."
The room exploded with laughter.
I kept scrubbing.
Every stroke of the cloth blurred as tears fell onto the marble.
Then...
Vanessa deliberately lifted her wine glass.
Without warning...
She poured the entire glass of expensive red wine directly onto the spotless floor I had just cleaned.
The crimson liquid spread like blood.
"Oh dear."
She smiled.
"You missed a spot."
The women applauded.
"Clean it again."
My hands trembled.
Something inside me finally cracked.
I looked up.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
For the first time...
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
She leaned close enough for only me to hear.
"Because once your father signs the new inheritance documents tomorrow..."
"You'll disappear forever."
Charlotte's heart stopped.
Inheritance?
What documents?
Before she could ask another question...
The massive front gates suddenly opened.
Outside...
The unmistakable sound of a black limousine echoed across the mansion courtyard.
Vanessa frowned.
"That's impossible..."
"Richard isn't supposed to be home until next week."
The butler rushed inside, his face pale.
"Ma'am..."
"Mr. Kingsley is here."
May you like
Every glass in the room froze halfway to someone's lips.
And Charlotte felt her entire world begin to change.
