Chapter 4
The next day, Mom took Lily and me to the mall.
According to the plot, I would initially eagerly pick out all kinds of expensive clothes and jewelry for Lily. But just as we were leaving the store, I would secretly hide something in Lily’s bag to embarrass her.
As the story forced me into a certain action, I found myself unable to control my body as it quietly slipped a beautiful, pricey watch into Lily’s bag. I wanted to head to the counter to pay, but I couldn’t move a muscle.
Lily, noticing something was off, started to think to herself, “Sophia just looks down on me for growing up in a small town. She’s trying to plant stolen goods in my bag to make me look bad and accuse me of being unrefined.”
Mom saw the strange expression on my face and started to suspect something was wrong.
Lily, now aware of the situation, grabbed her bag and said, “Let’s go.” She dragged both me and Mom toward the store’s exit, and sure enough, the alarm went off as we passed through the door.
Mom looked at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. The store clerks quickly blocked our way.
“Excuse me, but could you please stop and check if there are any unpaid items in your bags?”
I could feel the cold sweat on my forehead, my heart pounding in my chest.
Lily smirked, looking at me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “I don’t know. Why don’t we check our bags?”
elerk first searched her bag, and sure enough, found the expensive watch tucked into a hidden compartment, with the price tag still
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Mom, stunned, pointed at the watch with trembling hands. “This watch isn’t…”
Before she could finish, the clerk cut her off.
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“Oh, this watch doesn’t belong to our store. I’ll put it back. Could you please open your bags so we can inspect them?”
The clerk handed Lily her bag back, but Lily stared at the watch in shock. Why would they return it to her if it was stolen?
When they searched my bag, however, they found a diamond brooch.
It turned out I was the one who had stolen the item. The clerk looked at me in disbelief and said sternly, “Miss, your actions suggest theft. We
may need to call the police.”
I lowered my head in shame.
Mom stepped forward to defend me.
“My daughter’s been unwell lately, and she must’ve forgotten to pay. We don’t steal jewelry. We can afford it.”
We had often shopped at this store, and the staff knew us well. They couldn’t believe we would be involved in a theft.
The clerk, sensing the tension, spoke sympathetically. “Probably just a mistake. Sophia must’ve absentmindedly put it in her bag. I’ll go ahead and print the invoice, please give me just a moment.”
Just when I thought the situation was about to resolve, Lily interrupted.
She grabbed the clerk’s arm, blocking her from leaving, and pointed at me.
“She did steal. She was trying to plant them in my bag to frame me! I don’t know why she hid them in her own bag, though. Don’t be fooled.”
The clerk looked at our mom, clearly uncomfortable.
Mom, already fed up, snapped, “Enough, Lily.”
But Lily refused to stop. She pulled the watch out of her bag, still with the price tag on it.
“This is clearly the watch she stole from another store. She tried to plant it in my bag earlier!”
As she spoke, the people around us began to look at me with disdain.
Lily grabbed my arm. “Are you trying to accuse me now? Are you going to say it’s my fault? Speak up!”
I could hear whispers in the crowd. Who would’ve thought two rich girls would steal from a store?
Both our reputations were at stake, and Mom finally snapped.
“Enough!”
I couldn’t hold back any longer and started crying.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I took the brooch. I didn’t have the money to buy it. I just wanted to give it to Lily as a gift.”
Lily and Mom suddenly remembered that earlier in the morning, I had given Lily my card.
Lily scoffed, “Sophia, you’re really something else. You stole the brooch to give it to me as a gift, but what about the watch? Isn’t that your attempt to frame me?”
Mom couldn’t take it anymore. She slapped Lily across the face.
“Stop it! The watch was a birthday gift from our entire family to Sophia. She never even wore it and still hadn’t removed the tag. She probably
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meant to give it to you secretly, and you’ve completely misjudged her!”
Lily stared at me in disbelief before throwing the watch to the ground and running off in tears.
The whole time, I had been wearing the watch when I left the house. But once the plot triggered, I had no control over my actions.
Since I was destined to take the fall for the theft, I decided to accept the blame myself.
When we got home and explained everything, Mom and Dad, along with James, didn’t hold it against me.
They quietly gave me the card Lily had refused earlier.
“Sophia, no matter the reason, stealing is not right. It’s bad for your reputation. Do you understand? Since Lily didn’t want it, you can use this
card.”
I happily accepted the card. There was 20 million in it. I was over the moon!
