Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 19: The Female Lead Is Not a Good Person
The meeting was set for the most bustling commercial center in Aethelburg. Sonia Quincy got out of bed, tidied up a bit, and left with the necklace.
The commercial center was nearly ten kilometers from her residential complex. She took a taxi, and just as she got out, the buyer happened to send her a private message.
"I’m already inside the mall. Where are you?"
Sonia Quincy replied, "I’m at the entrance. Coming in now."
The mall was huge, and the shops inside were incredibly hard to find. With her phone’s GPS on, Sonia Quincy twisted and turned for a good ten minutes before finally locating the designated store.
There was only one male customer in the store. Sonia approached him and tentatively asked, "Hi, excuse me, are you the one buying the necklace?"
The man turned at the sound of her voice. He first looked Sonia up and down before replying, "I am. Where’s your necklace?"
Sonia took the necklace box out of her bag and handed it to the man. "It’s right here. Feel free to inspect it."
The man took it, immediately opened the box, removed the necklace, and began comparing Sonia’s necklace with the one a clerk was holding.
"Wow, the condition is really excellent! It’s practically no different from a brand-new one, right?"
"Heh..." The clerk behind the counter gave a strained smile, her face stiff as she left his question unanswered.
He didn’t seem to mind. He inspected the necklace carefully a few more times, and only after confirming there were no scratches or damage did he turn his attention back to Sonia.
"What’s your asking price?"
Sonia replied, "Twenty-three thousand."
"Twenty-three thousand..." The man thought for a moment, then turned to the clerk. "And you? How much do you sell a brand-new one for?"
The clerk answered through gritted teeth, "Thirty-three thousand."
The man calculated, "Thirty-three thousand minus twenty-three thousand... That’s a full ten thousand cheaper! Forget it, I’m not buying from your store. I’ll buy it from this young lady."
A flash of joy went through Sonia. She immediately agreed, "Deal!"
"..." The clerk, speechless, rolled her eyes at the man. While putting away the store’s necklace, she said in a passive-aggressive tone, "Sir, you’re buying this necklace for your wife to wear at your wedding. Buying something secondhand for a wedding... isn’t that a bit inappropriate?"
"What’s inappropriate about it?" The man started to put the necklace back in the box, then halfway through, he suddenly took it out again. He handed it to another idle clerk. "Help me authenticate this. Make sure it’s genuine."
"..." The clerk didn’t want to, but she didn’t dare refuse. With a sour expression, she had no choice but to comply.
"Even though this necklace is secondhand, as long as I don’t say anything, who’s going to know?" The man leaned back in his chair, pleased with himself for saving ten thousand yuan.
"It’s just a wedding. No need to buy something so expensive. If I can get it for cheaper, why wouldn’t I? Besides, my wife will never know. Right, miss?"
Sonia: "..."
’Selling someone’s secondhand necklace inside the official brand store was already awkward enough. How could she dare to voice an opinion?’
"Heh heh..." She pursed her lips and gave an awkward little laugh, saying nothing.
"The necklace is indeed authentic," the clerk said after finishing her inspection. She returned the necklace to the man with a cold expression. "But it has clear signs of wear. Sir, are you sure you want to buy this as a gift for your new bride?"
The man carefully placed the necklace back in its box and said smugly, "I’m sure! My wife only wants such an expensive necklace because she’s vain. As long as I buy it for her, that’s all that matters. Who cares if someone else has worn it?"
"Miss, I’ll just transfer the money to you directly. Let’s not go through any complicated procedures."
Sonia took out her phone. "No problem."
[WeChat payment received: Twenty-three thousand yuan.]
Once she confirmed the money had arrived, Sonia said "thank you" to the man, then turned and left.
"Unbelievable..." The two clerks glared at her, clearly unhappy that she had swooped in and stolen their commission.
She pretended not to notice, not even sparing them a single glance.
’What happened was, admittedly, a bit unethical, but what did that have to do with her? She was just here to sell a necklace. Her only responsibility was to sell it and get paid. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t, get involved in what someone else did with it after they bought it.’
"Oh my god, is that really Sonia Quincy?"
Sonia had just reached the entrance when two fashionably dressed girls suddenly stepped out from the side, blocking her path in perfect unison.
Sonia looked at them, completely bewildered. She had no idea who they were.
"Cecilia, you were right. It really is Sonia Quincy," one of the girls said, turning slightly to call out to someone on her right.
’Cecilia...’
Hearing that name, a specific person immediately came to Sonia’s mind.
Cecilia Quincy.
’In this novel, she was the only one who would be called Cecilia.’
Sure enough, not two seconds later, Cecilia Quincy appeared before Sonia.
"Skin like white porcelain, features exquisite; wearing just a simple white dress, she could make all other women around her pale in comparison..."
This was the author’s description of Cecilia Quincy’s appearance in the novel. When Sonia had first read it, she just thought the author was exaggerating. But seeing her in person now, she realized it was her own imagination that had been too limited.
Cecilia Quincy was truly that beautiful. The author’s description hadn’t been an exaggeration at all.
"Sonia Quincy, long time no see." Cecilia Quincy stood before Sonia, offering her what could pass for a friendly smile.
But looking at her, Sonia couldn’t bring herself to smile back at all.
’Because Cecilia was, fundamentally, not a good person.’
’If one were to dig into the reason why the villainess suddenly turned bad, Sonia believed Cecilia’s manipulations were responsible for two-thirds of it.’
In the original novel, the villainess didn’t immediately become unhinged the moment Cecilia returned.
As the fake heiress, the villainess actually had some self-awareness at first. After finding out she was an imposter, she spent a long time feeling lost and bewildered, with no energy to target Cecilia.
It was Cecilia who had approached her first.
Sonia still remembered what Cecilia had said to the villainess—
"Sonia, I know you’re innocent in all this, but I can’t help but hate you. You stole my life. You’re the reason I suffered so much for no reason. I hate you, and I absolutely cannot live under the same roof as you."
"The Quincy Family wants to keep you. Even though you’re an imposter, you still get to enjoy this wealth and luxury that doesn’t belong to you. Sonia, what right do you have to be so lucky?"
"I’ll be honest with you, I refuse to accept you. Even if you behave yourself and don’t cause any trouble, I will not accept you staying in the Quincy Family. Because you usurped my place, I suffered endlessly in that small village! If the Quincy Family hadn’t found me in time, I might have been married off in exchange for a bride price by now."
"You and I were both switched at birth, but why am I the only one who had to suffer? It’s not fair. Sonia, from this day forward, I will make you experience every hardship I ever went through. I’ll only be happy when you’re just as miserable as I was."
On her very first night back home, Cecilia Quincy found the villainess and said all this to her. The villainess was already terrified of being abandoned by the Quincy Family. With Cecilia’s threats, her sanity was instantly pushed to the brink of collapse.
