The Real Heiress’s Sharp Words Unveil Her Pain Chapter 09

Chapter 9 A Life of My Own

When Braxton and Alana got home and couldn’t find me, they panicked and searched everywhere. By the time they found me, I was running my shop, busy and thriving. They had been frantic, but when they saw me, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The moment I saw them, I started tattling on Lindsey. I had learned Noelle’s tricks. Hold them everything Lindsey had done, down to the last detail, and I even had security footage.

My parents never imagined that Lindsey had sent them on that trip just to throw me out. They were deeply disappointed in her and gave her a harsh scolding.

Lindsey was livid, but she couldn’t touch me. So she decided to open her own shop, compete with mine, and drive me out of business.

Before long, she and Noelle opened a shop with all their savings. They copied everything from my shop. They were sure that tastes shaped by years of luxury had to beat a country girl’s. They even spent heavily on advertising, convinced their style was far classier than mine.

Their shop drew a big crowd on opening day. They were already dreaming about my bankruptcy and their booming future.

But after the first wave, almost no one came back. Bad reviews flooded the internet. Customers said the prices were higher, the ingredients were worse, and the food tasted bad. It couldn’t compare to mine.

Lindsey and Noelle were stunned. They changed the recipes and poured more effort into promotion, but nothing worked. No matter what they changed, the food stayed ordinary. Two pampered women’s bright ideas couldn’t match more than a decade of hard work and experimenting.

In the end, they sank a fortune into the business and lost everything. The comparison made customers appreciate my shop even more. While their empty shop closed, I opened another location.

After their business failed, Lindsey and Noelle went home in tears and begged our parents for help. But Braxton and Alana were thoroughly disappointed. They told Noelle to come home less often and nearly cut off her allowance. They grew much colder toward Lindsey too.

With no one to turn to, the two turned on each other. Each blamed the other for the failure, and eventually they stopped speaking.

Meanwhile, my parents grew more convinced that I was the daughter who had truly inherited their talents. They admired how I ran my business and kept inviting me home for dinner. They said I would always be a Monroe and that we were a real family.

But I never went back, not once.

In truth, my habit of arguing had faded in the months I spent building my business. I finally

understood that I had lived such a harsh life that I couldn’t survive without fighting back Arguing was the only way I knew to protect myself. Now I didn’t need it. I had the ability to protect myself.

Still, whenever I heard my parents’ voices, I couldn’t help arguing. Every time, I contradicted

them.

After all, being free felt wonderful. I had left behind the wealthy family and its endless drama, and the home where I had been beaten and cursed at. I finally saw how big the world was, and that I could make my own way in it.

Once my business was running smoothly, I stepped back and finally had the time and freedom to travel. I went all over the country on my own, living a peaceful, happy life and leaving the past far behind.