- 10.
My husband gave me two million a month for living expenses to cover all the costs of the mansion.
To save money…
Oh, I mean, to cultivate the virtue of diligence and thrift in the children…
I promptly fired the gardener and the driver.
Seriously.
The Sterling estate was in a luxury gated community with its own elite preschool. It was a 0.3–mile walk from our front door. What was the point of a driver?
Under my strict orders, Matt now had to run to school every day.
Dressed in my own workout gear, I’d wave a hand majestically. “Charge!”
Matt would silently roll his eyes at me.
I’d flick him on the forehead. “Mind your manners. A walk after a meal adds years to your life. Don’t you know that?”
“Stingy,” Matt muttered under his breath.
Excuse me?
Was I being stingy? I was clearly just using our surroundings to get some exercise.
Whatever. A little kid wouldn’t understand.
R
The entrance to the preschool was a sea of luxury cars, a dazzling display of brand emblems that made my head spin.
Good heavens, it was a convention of the super–rich.
Just as I was secretly vowing to buy one of these cars to impress my future boy toys, Matt’s mouth tightened. His small
body pressed closer to mine as he stared ahead, tense and defensive.
I raised an eyebrow.
What was his problem? Did he see another kid eating a sausage roll and get jealous?
I followed his gaze and saw four or five little boys clustered together, looking at Matt with mocking expressions. The
boy in the lead had delicate features and looked strikingly similar to Matt.
Just as I was wondering, the System finally came online.
“That’s right, Host. That’s Nathan, Matt’s half–brother. Years ago, their mother was forced into a business marriage with
the male lead. After giving birth to Matt, she ran off with her childhood sweetheart and had Nathan the following year.”
After g
Damn… the rich really play for keeps.
The System grew excited. “Nathan is the school bully. He despises his older brother Matt and picks on him constantly.”
“Host, this is a golden opportunity to torment Matt! The effect will be twice as good!”
Okay, fine!
I cracked my knuckles. Message received.
“No wonder your mommy didn’t want you,” Nathan taunted. “You’re ugly as a pig.”
His little cronies chimed in. “Yeah! He doesn’t belong in our school! Let’s kick him out!”
One of the braver ones shoved Matt.
Matt’s hand tightened on the hem of my shirt, his eyes filled with a dark glint that didn’t belong on a child’s face.
Hahaha…
He might be a ruthless CEO in the future, but right now, he was just a little kid being bullied.
I threw my bag on the ground.
“Get ‘em!” I shouted at Matt.
Matt: ?
“Go on! Someone’s picking on you. You fight back!”
And with that, Matt actually rolled up his sleeves and threw a punch right at the lead bully.
Thanks to his new high–protein diet, Matt had shed his baby fat and was now lean and strong. Under the guidance of his martial arts instructor, every punch and kick was precise.
This group of pampered little boys was no match for him. They were all knocked to the ground.
A chorus of walls erupted from the defeated toddlers, quickly drawing the attention of a teacher.
“Mrs. Sterling’s nanny,” the teacher said, trying to intervene. “This is child abuse! The school will report this to the admin- istration and you will be severely punished!”
I tossed my hair back.
“First of all, I’m not the nanny, I’m his stepmother. Second, you have a giant surveillance camera right there. Can’t you see they started it?”
The teacher looked embarrassed.
The gossip about the Sterling family was an open secret in these elite circles. Officially, I was Mrs. Sterling. Unofficially,
I was just a glorified nanny, a tool the male lead used to spite his father.
A high–class nanny, at best.
“Well… you still can’t hit them like that,” she stammered.
K
I pushed past her and gestured to the parents who were watching from a distance.
“We hit them,” I announced loudly. “So what are you going to do about it?“”
The teacher had never seen someone so shameless.
I pointed at the crowd of parents. “And them! They can all come to me for compensation right now.
The teacher froze.
Was I kidding? As long as the male lead was in the picture, the Sterling Corporation was the biggest financial power in
this world. Everyone here, in one way or another, had to answer to the Sterlings.
Challenge me? They’d have to be suicidal.
As if they’d heard my thoughts, the parents scattered like birds. The teacher’s face turned red, and she was left speech-
less.
“And you,” I said, pointing at Nathan and his crew. “If you ever dare to bully Matt again, this pretty aunty won’t mind giving you another taste of a good old–fashioned spanking.”
The little boys clutched their behinds in terror.
Nathan’s face was crimson with rage, his eyes shooting daggers at me.
Hahaha…
This was exactly the effect I wanted.
Rage on, you little brats!
The angrier you are, the better. When I’m gone, you can take all that anger out on Matt and show him just how cruel
kindergarten can be!
