Reborn To Ruin Her Rivals - Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Meredith was gripped with fear, her heart full of panic. She thought, 'If Mom and Dad ever find out it's me who try to stab Arielle…
'And that I only end up stabbing myself because I lose my balance and fell—then my pure and kind image will be completely ruined.
'No. I can't let them find out I'm lying. In their eyes, I am always the sweet, obedient, thoughtful daughter.
'I can't let Arielle destroy my perfect image.'
But Sharon was still pressing Arielle. She sneered. "Hurry up and pull up the security footage. I want to see the evidence."
Just as Arielle was unlocking her phone, Meredith tilted her body, clutching her forehead with one hand and looking weakly at Sharon.
Meredith said softly, "Mom, I already said I fell by myself. Why won't you believe me? How am I supposed to face Arielle after this?"
Meredith's voice had a hint of frustration, and Sharon immediately caught on.
With that kind of tone, it was impossible not to understand what was really going on.
But seeing how pale Meredith was from the pain, all Sharon felt was heartbreak.
Without missing a beat, Sharon said, "Alright, Arielle, we're not going to pursue this anymore. And we haven't even gotten into the fact that you installed a camera without permission."
Right after she said that, Laurence arrived, and everyone helped Meredith downstairs to get her wound treated.
Henry stood off to the side, watching it all coldly.
In reality, Henry had known from the beginning that Arielle had nothing to do with it. It was Meredith who deliberately misled them.
But even so, Henry never once spoke up for Arielle. As Sharon and Meredith left, he just turned and walked away.
As for the fact that Meredith had falsely accused Arielle—neither of them said a single word about it. Not even a casual scolding.
Arielle wondered, 'Maybe it's time to go do another paternity test.
'Could parents really love someone else's child more than their own? They treat me worse than they treat a stranger.'
Arielle even started to question if they had brought her back for some other reason. She still hadn't received any of the Bradford shares.
In her previous life, it wasn't until the second year after Arielle had been brought back that her grandmother gave them to her.
This time, Arielle hadn't even met her grandmother yet, so the shares weren't even a thing.
Arielle wondered, 'I'm poor, have nothing to offer. If they don't love her, why bring me back?'
Arielle watched the three of them walk away, her lips curling into a cold smile. 'What a joke this whole "family love" thing is.'
Arielle kept telling herself she didn't care anymore, but her chest felt like it couldn't breathe.
Did it hurt? Not one bit. All she felt was hate.
Less than five minutes later, Henry and Sharon were blindsided by what they saw online.
The flood of comments completely stunned them.
It wasn't until they saw the posts about the real and fake daughters that they snapped out of it.
And then at Ogilvy Steakhousehouse, Meredith, Perla, and Mya all showed up in front of Arielle, and Perla pointed right at her nose and started yelling.
The fire between the Sidel and Evans families had now spread to the Bradfords.
Who started it didn't matter anymore—what mattered now was shutting the whole thing down.
Meredith, especially, got slammed by angry netizens.
In less than ten minutes, the hashtag about her being a fake heiress taking over someone else's place shot to the top of Twitter.
Henry immediately called his secretary and told the PR team to get it taken down.
That day, chaos completely took over the Bradford house.
That night, Meredith stormed over and blocked Arielle as she was heading upstairs. She asked, "You're the one who did this, aren't you?
"You're so vicious! Do you have any idea how much this has hurt Dad's company?"
Seeing Meredith's nasty face, Arielle wanted to slap her right then and there.
'Forget it. Not worth dirtying my hands,' Arielle thought.
"Vicious?" Arielle laughed. "You're calling me vicious? When you are stirring up drama with Perla and the others, you should've thought about the fact that some things don't go unpunished—they're just waiting for the right moment."
Arielle shoved past her and walked on, and as they brushed shoulders, she leaned close and whispered, "Fake will always be fake. It can't become real."
Meredith's eyes flew wide open, her fists clenched in rage. 'She actually dares to mock me? That bitch!! I'm never going to let her go!'
Fuming, Meredith stormed back to her room and kicked the chair in her way across the floor.
She clawed at the blankets with both hands, furious.
Meredith had only gone to confront Arielle because she saw the news about the real Bradford daughter blowing up online.
After more than ten years in the Bradford family, Meredith had never felt this humiliated.
In that moment, it felt like her whole world dropped into an ice pit. Shame and helplessness rushed over her like a flood.
Curled up in the corner with her arms around her head, Meredith wished she could just disappear.
Meredith snapped, 'I'm always the high-and-mighty Bradford heiress. How can I be fake? I don't want to face the mocking, the disdain, the pity in other people's eyes.
'Everyone in Theoria City knows now. I'm supposed to be the noble princess. I can't be some adopted girl they brought back by mistake.
'Arielle, why did you come back? Why couldn't you have just died out there?
'No one in this house likes you. You're just clinging to everything that should've been mine. You bitch. I'll make sure you pay.'
"Arielle!" Meredith screamed, her face twisted with hatred and rage filling her eyes.
Meanwhile, Henry and Sharon were busy trying to suppress the trending list and manage the PR mess.
Arielle looked at the online buzz and smiled as she shut her phone. 'Time to sleep,' she thought.
On the other hand, Meredith couldn't sleep at all.
The next morning, Meredith looked exhausted, with massive dark circles under her eyes that even heavy foundation couldn't hide.
Henry and Sharon didn't sleep well either.
So when Sharon dragged herself downstairs for breakfast and saw Arielle sitting there calm as ever, eating with zero stress, that wave of pent-up frustration came roaring back.
Arielle's calm and ease felt like a slap to Sharon's face.
Sharon muttered, 'With everything that had happened, she still has the nerve to eat breakfast?'
Sharon walked right over and slammed the food off the table. "Eat, eat, eat. That's all you care about. Because of you, the Sidel family's stock dropped.
"Your dad's out of his mind with stress. Your sister got hurt and you haven't even checked on her. What's wrong with you? Do you even have a conscience? And you still have the nerve to eat?"
Sharon pointed at Arielle's face and yelled, hand on her hip like some street shrew having a meltdown.
Arielle looked down at the mess on the floor, a flicker of sorrow in her eyes.
Arielle muttered, 'Henry doesn't sleep well, and that's my fault?
'What, am I supposed to sing him a lullaby and tuck him in?
'Meredith gets hurt—isn't that her own doing? Everything was made clear yesterday, and now they're dumping all the blame back on me?
'Jesus, what a joke. All they ever cared about is them. What about me?'
In Arielle's old life, Meredith had deliberately sent the driver away so no one came to pick her up from school. Then she walked home in the rain for two hours.
When Arielle got back, no one cared. All she got was yelled at—why didn't she just walk home like everyone else?
Arielle knew Meredith always twisted the story in front of them, and honestly, she didn't even feel like explaining anymore.
No one ever believed her anyway.
That time, Arielle ended up with a fever for three whole days.
And Sharon? What was she doing then?