I Pretended to Be Dead and They All Panicked Chapter 03

I Pretended to Be Dead and They All Panicked Chapter 03

The day of my welcome gala, the ballroom was packed.

Everyone had come for one reason: they wanted to get a good look at the biological daughter the billionaire Sinclair family had finally brought home.

And then I walked out wearing nothing more than an oversized T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

My mother had actually prepared more than a dozen designer gowns for me.

But the thought of changing clothes, getting my hair done, sitting through makeup, and wasting all that energy on appearances had exhausted me before I even started.

So I flatly refused.

A few openly mocking laughs drifted through the crowd.

“Figures. She’s straight out of the sticks. Look at her. She looks so painfully ordinary next to Evangeline. It’s like comparing a farm bird to a peacock.”

Evangeline looked stunning that evening.

She subtly straightened her posture, clearly enjoying the admiring glances coming her way.

I couldn’t be bothered to argue.

My parents still hadn’t come downstairs, and I was getting hungry, so I found an empty corner and sat down with a plate of pastries.

Then someone suddenly slammed into me.

I barely reacted. I simply kept chewing.

The next second, the woman grabbed my wrist and shouted, “Why did you steal my necklace?”

Every head in the ballroom turned toward us.

Harper Roth reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out a glittering necklace.

She held it up for everyone to see, her expression righteous.

“This belonged to my grandmother. It’s priceless. And now it’s been found in your pocket. If you didn’t steal it, then who did?”

She seized my wrist and raised her voice for the entire room to hear.

“Everyone, look! The Sinclair family’s precious biological daughter is a thief!”

The ballroom erupted.

Whispers and accusations spread through the crowd.

That was when Evangeline stepped forward, perfectly timed to play the peacemaker.

“Yaya, you must have misunderstood Cordelia. She would never do something like that.”

Harper and Evangeline had been best friends for ten years.

Seeing Evangeline trying to smooth things over only made Harper angrier.

“Why won’t you let me expose her? She stole from you and humiliated you. Are you seriously just going to let some thief walk all over you?”

Evangeline continued pretending to defend me, but there was a gleam of satisfaction hidden deep in her eyes.

I’d seen this kind of cheap setup more times than I could count.

I turned around and decided to leave.

“Hey, don’t walk away!”

Harper grabbed my arm.

“What? You steal something and then try to run? Is this how the Sinclair family raised you?”

I sighed helplessly.

“I didn’t steal anything.”

Instead of calming her down, those words pushed her over the edge.

“Then who did?!” she shrieked. “You’re the only one here who looks broke enough to steal!”

Harper shoved me hard.

I hit the floor with a heavy thud.

I was about to explain myself again. After all, this was a question of basic morality.

But the moment my back sank into the carpet, I realized something.

This carpet was softer than my mattress.

So I simply closed my eyes and stretched out comfortably on the floor.

A moment later, my mother came downstairs.

The instant she saw me lying there, she let out that familiar, piercing cry.

“Baby! Are you okay?”

She hurried over, then swept her sharp gaze across the ballroom.

“Who did this?”

The guests had assumed that because I was dressed so simply, I must not have been valued much by the Sinclair family.

But seeing how fiercely my mother was protecting me, they realized just how wrong they had been.

Harper froze.

“She… she stole my necklace, so I only pushed her a little…”

My mother narrowed her eyes.

“What did she steal?”

Harper hurriedly held up the necklace.

My mother didn’t even bother looking at it.

She snatched it from Harper’s hand, tossed it onto the floor, and crushed it beneath her heel.

“That cheap piece of junk would look tacky even on a dog. Why would my daughter ever steal something like this?”

My father stepped forward, his face darkening.

“Do you think the Sinclair family can’t afford a necklace?”

His voice turned dangerously cold.

“Or do you think the Roth family has grown powerful enough to challenge us?”

Harper’s face went white.

My father continued, “That development deal on the East Side. Are you sure your family still wants it?”

Harper looked like she’d been struck by lightning.

She immediately burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sinclair! I shouldn’t have targeted Miss Sinclair. This was a personal dispute between us. Please, don’t tell my dad. He’ll kill me.”

My father gave a cold snort and looked ready to say more.

Then Evangeline suddenly stepped forward, concern written all over her face.

“Mom, Dad, shouldn’t we get Cordelia to the hospital first? She needs a full checkup.”