The Real Heiress Is Overworked, Forget Love and Just Pay Her Chapter 06

The Real Heiress Is Overworked, Forget Love and Just Pay Her Chapter 06

The footage was undeniable. She wiped my laptop clean, then acted like it was an accident.

The video ended. The room fell into a deeper, darker silence.

Before Mr. or Mrs. Shaw could open their mouths, Vera dropped to her knees with a thud.

“That’s not me. That’s not real. I didn’t do that.”

She was unraveling fast. First, she denied it. Then she claimed someone manipulated her.

“Dad, Mom, I was set up. Someone got in my head. They told me once Gemma came back, you’d stop loving

me.”

“I got jealous, okay? I wasn’t thinking straight. I swear, I’m not a bad person. You have to believe me…”

“Not a bad person?” I let out a humorless laugh. “Are you serious right now? You’re ‘not a bad person’? Right.

That’s why you destroyed months of my work.”

“You used my account to shit-talk my client. Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me? I poured everything

into that project-three months, eighteen goddamn rounds of revisions. I was this close to locking it in, and

you wiped it all out in a few clicks. Now I’m blacklisted. Industry-wide. I can’t even get another job.”

“Shut up!” Chase roared, his face purple. “She’s on her knees, Gemma! What else do you want?”

“Why should I shut up?” I yelled back, louder. “I’ve kept my mouth shut too damn long. That’s why people walk

all over me. What did I ever do to deserve this?”

“You dragged me back here, gave me no money, treated me like trash, and then destroyed my career. Do you

have any idea what it’s like to have your livelihood ripped away from you?”

Hell. Who was I supposed to vent to? Don’t mess with a worker who just got robbed of her job.

“Enough!” Mr. Shaw’s voice cut through the chaos.

His face was a mask of cold fury. He turned to Vera. “Vera, you have disappointed us beyond words.”

Vera’s eyes went wide with terror. “Dad-”

Mr. Shaw’s jaw tightened. “Even after Gemma came home, we never stopped treating you as our daughter. The shares, the money, twenty years of love-you got all of it. The only person we failed was Gemma.”

“And this is how you repay her, behind our backs? Gemma was right. We’ve been too soft on you. I’m revoking every single share you own.”

All the blood drained from Vera’s face.

“Dad!” Chase lunged forward, panic in his voice. “You can’t just-”

“One more word, and I’ll take yours too.” Mr. Shaw cut him off with a raised hand. He didn’t say anything else.

He just turned and walked out.

Mrs. Shaw stood there, staring at Vera. She let out a long sigh, shook her head, and followed him without a

word.

The next few days at Shaw Estate were suffocating. Vera walked on eggshells around me. She practically buried her head in the floor whenever I walked by.

At meals, she was silent and fragile, playing the poor little victim so well that Chase kept shooting me death glares every chance he got.

But I was thriving.

I’d been a corporate drone for two straight years. When I first got fired, I thought anxiety would eat me alive. Then I discovered the truth, not having to work is pure, absolute bliss.

I slept until I woke up naturally. No clients to please. No proposals to revise at midnight.

Even better, Mr. Shaw kept his word. When he said he’d revoke the shares, he meant it. The lawyers had already drawn up the transfer agreement. In two days, it’d be official.

I was so happy I went out and treated myself to a fancy dinner.

When I got back, I spotted Vera darting out of the backyard, her face oozing with guilty secrecy. “What were you doing back there?” I asked casually.

She jumped, saw it was me, and immediately rolled her eyes. Ever since her mask had been ripped off, she’d stopped pretending around me. “None of your damn business.”

It really wasn’t. I’d just asked out of habit.

As I turned to leave, Vera’s expression shifted into a smug smile. “Gemma, don’t look at me like you’re so above it all. You won’t be so smug for much longer.”

Her grin made my skin crawl. My gut told me she was planning something to sabotage the share transfer. And I was right.

At the share transfer meeting, Vera and Chase walked in late.