The Price of Her Greed

Opening my eyes, I was back at freshman orientation.

Daisy, my boyfriends childhood best friend, stood upfront again, claiming to be a billionaires daughter while calling me the poor girl she pitied.

But this time, I calmly accepted the broke scholarship kid label.

Right after, I texted my parents: Cut off my allowance. Ill earn my own money.

What surprised me was Daisys panicked look when she checked her bank balance.

I knew whythe parasitic system tied to her soul, one that stole wealth and identities.

In my past life, that system ruined my family, bankrupted our company, and led to my parents fatal crash.

After their funeral, I sought comfort from my boyfriend, only to find him smiling, thanking Daisys system for stealing all that should have been mine.

Getting a second chance at life meant I was not going to make the same mistakes. Daisy and that treacherous man owed me blood, and I was going to collect it drop by drop.

"Hi everyone, I am Daisy Kensington. My father is Richard Kensington, and my mother is Eleanor Kensington."

That overly sweet, familiar voice made my body tremble involuntarily.

Looking at Daisy covering her mouth and giggling coyly at the front of the classroom, I knew for a fact I had been reborn.

Just like in my previous life, all it took was dropping my parents' names to set the entire room buzzing with wild speculations.

"Richard Kensington? Wait, isn't he the richest real estate mogul in Chicago? I have never seen a picture of his kids, but everyone knows that name!"

"And his wife Eleanor is a legendary art collector. I went to one of her gallery exhibitions last year. I can't believe their daughter is literally in our class."

"No wonder Daisy is so generous with her money. She is literal royalty."

Hearing the whispers, Daisy did not deny a single thing. She just put a finger to her lips and winked.

"Let us keep a low profile, guys. Hush."

Her playful lack of denial only fueled the fire.

I sat in the back, totally unfazed and unnervingly calm.

I was the only person in the room who knew she was spinning a massive web of lies.

Daisy grew up in a dirt-poor rural town. Her parents were heavily traditional and favored sons over daughters. Despite her incredible grades, they wanted to pull her out of school and marry her off to the highest bidder just to collect a dowry.

If my parents had not gone to that exact mountain village for a philanthropic mission, taken pity on her, and funded her entire education, she would have never escaped that place.

Yet, this was the same girl who, after my family paid for her to attend the same elite university as me, immediately decided to hijack my identity.

In my past life, I was so furious hearing her steal my life that I stood right up and called her a liar.

She did not even flinch. Instead, she pointed a trembling finger at me and burst into theatrical tears.

"Seraphina, you are just a girl my family sponsors. I begged my parents to let you attend this school with me out of the goodness of my heart. How could you try to steal my identity?"

To prove my innocence, I immediately pulled up my bank app to show everyone the million-dollar wire transfers from my parents.

But Daisy was ready for me. Thanks to her system, her banking app magically displayed transfer records exactly ten times larger than mine.

She turned the tables completely. She told the class that the money I had was scraped from her own allowance, crying about how ungrateful I was.

The classmates bought it hook, line, and sinker. I was instantly branded a gold digger, a social climber, and a parasite.

I was isolated. Bullied relentlessly.

They even spread rumors that the older men dropping me off at campus, my own father and brother, were actually my sugar daddies.

From that day forward, a dark cloud hung over my family.

Our supply chains collapsed. Our stocks tanked. Then came the fatal car crashes.

Thinking about that bizarre, supernatural system bound to Daisy made my blood run cold.

Until I figured out exactly how her system operated, I had to play it incredibly safe. I could not afford to act recklessly.

Because I did not stand up to expose her this time, I assumed she would just be happy she got away with it.

But when I glanced up, her face was grim. She was staring a hole through me, practically begging me to cause a scene.

I narrowed my eyes.

Why did she want me to expose her so badly?

The applause died down, and the professor gestured for her to take her seat.

But Daisy's eyes glazed over for a second, like she was reading an invisible screen or listening to a voice no one else could hear.

Just as the silence in the room became awkward, she finally spoke up.

"Professor, I think Seraphina should introduce herself next."

Hearing the supposed billionaire heiress call my name, the class immediately assumed I must be a wealthy socialite too.

"Seraphina uses actual La Mer skincare, and her tote bag is vintage Chanel. She has got to be old money."

"Yeah, on move-in day, I literally saw a maid unpacking her suitcases and making her bed. I knew she was elite."

But their admiring whispers hit a brick wall the moment Daisy dropped her next sentence.

"She is the scholarship student my family sponsors. I want her to follow my introduction so she feels included."

The room completely exploded.

"Wait, what? If Seraphina is a charity case, how can she afford all that designer stuff?"

"Oh my god. Do you think she just steals or borrows Daisy's things to flex? If so, that is beyond pathetic."

"That is actually disgusting. Faking a rich girl aesthetic when you are living off someone else's dime? Talk about vain."

In a fraction of a second, Daisy's entire scheme clicked into place in my mind.

If I kept my mouth shut, I would be branded a vain, deceptive poor girl mooching off her benefactor.

If I called her out, she would use her system to produce fake receipts and humiliate me all over again.

But why was she so desperate for me to fight back?

A chilling realization washed over me.

In my past life, my family's horrific luck only started after I tried to expose her and got slapped down by her system's counter-evidence.

Could the two be directly linked? Did her system require me to actively challenge her to steal my family's fortune?

I stood up, pasting a serene, unapologetic smile on my face, and completely owned the broke girl persona.

"The clothes and the bags are high-end fakes. The woman making my bed was just my mom. I might be a broke scholarship student, but having a little vanity is not exactly a capital crime, right?"

Not everyone in our class was a trust fund baby. Seeing me own up to it so casually, the professor and most of the students just chuckled, assuming I was just a girl with a bit too much pride.

Because I accepted the poverty label without a fight, Daisy looked utterly shell-shocked.

Denied the dramatic confrontation she desperately needed, her eyes flashed with genuine panic and anger.

It was like I had just derailed her entire master plan.

A lightbulb went off in my head. I was absolutely right about her system's trigger.

Well, if I was going to play the broke girl, I was going to deserve an Oscar for my performance.

The second I sat down, I opened my family group chat and fired off a message.

"Starting today, absolutely no one is allowed to send me a single cent of allowance. Not a penny. If anyone wires me money, I will block your number and never speak to you again!"

My parents and brother immediately panicked, blowing up my phone with objections. But after a relentless barrage of pleading and emotional blackmail on my end, they finally caved.

Just to be safe, I made them type out a formal promise not to fund my lifestyle.

As soon as I got back to the dorm, I packed up all my designer clothes, limited edition sneakers, and luxury bags. I hauled them down to a luxury consignment boutique and sold everything. I replaced my wardrobe with basic fifty-dollar outfits and swapped my La Mer for drugstore moisturizers.

Once that was done, I wired every single dollar in my bank account back to my mother, leaving exactly one thousand and five hundred dollars to survive the month.

The wire transfer had barely processed when my phone started ringing.

Connor sounded frantic on the other end of the line.

"Sera, what is going on? Did something happen? Why did you just empty our account? You know that is incredibly messed up, right? That is our joint account. You can't just drain it without asking me first."

He called it a joint account, but every single cent in there belonged to me. Connor had never deposited a dime in his life.

He was just another scholarship kid my family had taken under their wing. His tiny stipend was barely enough to feed him, but he had a massive ego. To keep up the illusion that he was a wealthy frat boy, he constantly bought drinks and dinners for his roommates, entirely on my dime. Whenever he swiped my card, he always spun some poetic excuse about how he did not care about money, only about providing for me.

I let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

"Connor, are you actually delusional? We both know exactly how much of your money is in that account. Zero. Did you genuinely start believing my trust fund was your personal piggy bank?"

Dead silence hung on the line. He clearly never expected me to speak to him like that.

Ever since he saved me from a group of street thugs two years ago, I had been completely devoted to him. Whatever he wanted, I handed over without a second thought.

Hearing the absolute venom in my voice, he instantly softened his tone, playing the victim.

"Sera, you know that is not what I meant. I am just worried you won't have enough to eat. If you are having cash flow issues, you should..."

"If you are so worried about my finances, then you need to pay back every single dollar you spent on me. My family cut off my major allowances. I need cash, now."

Connor panicked. His voice cracked slightly.

"But you spent that money on me willingly. You can't just ask for it back! Sera, why would your family cut you off? Just go act cute and beg them for a deposit."

"Are you deaf? I want my money back. Fast. If you don't wire it over, I am going to have a nice, long chat with my dad about where my allowance has been going."

Less than a minute later, a notification popped up. A transfer for thirty thousand dollars.

Connor's voice was dripping with fake sweetness, but I could hear his teeth grinding together.

"That is literally everything I have to my name right now. I will pick up some extra shifts this week and get you the rest as soon as humanly possible."

In my past life, hearing him say he had to work manual labor would have broken my heart.

Now, I felt absolutely nothing. I even gave him a cheerful reminder.

"Make sure you work double shifts. If you take too long and I get stressed out, I might accidentally let it slip to my brother that you are a broke leech."

After hanging up, I pictured Connor's face turning purple with rage. I threw myself on my cheap dorm bed and yelled, "That felt amazing!"

He was dead meat. I was going to make him vomit up every single thing he swallowed from my family.

To secure my own living expenses, I sought out Harper, our class monitor who was always working side hustles.

She shared a dorm with Daisy, and she happened to be in the room when I dropped by.

Hearing that I needed a part-time job, Harper kindly offered to introduce me to the owner of a restaurant she waitressed at.

Daisy immediately jumped off her bed, looking completely unhinged.

"Seraphina, no! Working part-time is grueling. You won't last a day. Just drop it. I will call my parents and have them increase your allowance."

I ignored her completely and scanned the QR code to add the restaurant owner on social media.

Seeing me ignore her, Daisy lunged forward and tried to snatch the phone right out of my hand.

"Did you not hear me? I told you not to get a job! I will just give you the cash. Are you incapable of understanding simple English?"

"Sure. I need three hundred grand. Are you writing a check?"

She choked on her words. I snatched my phone back and gave her a freezing glare.

"See? You can't fund my life forever. What, do you expect me to shamelessly leech off you until we graduate? Do I look like an ungrateful parasite to you?"

I put heavy, pointed emphasis on the last sentence.

Daisy was already feeling guilty, terrified I had figured out her secret. She muttered something about me biting the hand that feeds and scurried back up to her top bunk.

Sensing the tension, the other girls in the dorm quickly tried to smooth things over.

"I think it is awesome that Seraphina wants to earn her own keep. It shows character."

"Totally. Even if she is on a sponsorship, she can't just rely on handouts forever. That would make her a total mooch."

I don't know which specific word triggered it, but Daisy suddenly snapped.

"Shut up! You are all so incredibly annoying!"

The entire room went dead silent. No one had ever seen the sweet, wealthy heiress look so feral.

Realizing she had slipped up, Daisy quickly scrambled to save face.

"I am so sorry, guys. I just have a splitting migraine. I am not feeling well."

The others bought the excuse, but I knew better.

I had hit a massive nerve. My part-time job was definitely messing with her system.

I just did not have the full picture of how it all connected yet.

A week later, after wrapping up a shift and getting paid my first few hundred bucks, I was walking towards a late-night diner when I stumbled upon Connor and Daisy arguing violently in a dark alleyway.

"Connor, you have to help me! My system only multiplies the money by ten if Seraphina accepts cash from her family. If she earns the money herself, I get hit with a penalty one hundred times the amount. I owe the system a hundred grand today. If I don't pay up, it is going to punish me severely! Please!"

Connor looked highly annoyed, aggressively running a hand through his hair.

"A hundred grand? Where the hell am I supposed to pull a hundred grand from? Do you not see me working double shifts right now? Seraphina is holding a gun to my head. If I don't pay back the money I spent, she is going to tell her dad, and I will be blacklisted from working at their company after graduation. You are on your own for this one, Daisy."

Daisy sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

"I have no other options! I can't even get approved for a credit card, but you can. Just take out a cash advance for me, please."

"Absolutely not. I need my credit line for emergencies. What about the millions the system deposited into your account last week? Just use that."

Mentioning that money only made Daisy more hysterical.

"I can't touch it. The funds are locked until I successfully frame Seraphina, ruin the Kensington family, and fully siphon away her heiress luck. But she completely ruined the script. She practically bragged about being a charity case on the first day. I had all the fake receipts lined up to destroy her, and she made them useless."

"That is an easy fix. Just do this."

Connor let out a dark chuckle, leaning down to whisper directly into Daisy's ear.

I couldn't hear the specifics of their new plot, but I knew it was going to be vile.

Just to be safe, I ordered a batch of micro-cameras online and started keeping them in my pockets at all times.

The night before the weekend, the class group chat lit up. Daisy, who was supposedly drowning in system debt, was renting out a massive VIP room at a high-end karaoke lounge and inviting the whole class.

Terrified I would bail, she tagged me repeatedly, making it clear my attendance was mandatory.

I smiled to myself and typed a simple "See you there" into the chat.

I was dying to see what kind of trap they had set.

The next evening, Harper and I arrived straight from our shifts. A crowd of classmates were already hovering around Daisy, obsessing over the jewelry on her wrist.

Daisy was basking in the attention, her voice dripping with fake humility.

"Oh, this? It is just a little gift from my parents. The pink diamond alone was half a million, but the whole piece appraised for around two million dollars."

I took one glance at the bracelet. Under the club's neon lights, the stones looked completely dead. No fire, no brilliance. Compared to the real diamonds my mother bought me, it was painfully obvious it was a cheap knock-off.

But a bunch of college freshmen had no idea what to look for.

"Oh my god. No wonder it is so sparkly. I have never seen anything so expensive in my life."

"You better keep a close eye on that, Daisy. If you lose it, I would literally die."

Daisy waved off their compliments and enthusiastically dragged me over to sit right next to her. She even went out of her way to place my canvas tote bag on the chair tucked into the dark corner behind us.

I watched her every move like a hawk, but aside from a quick trip to the bathroom, she never left the couch.

I waited for hours. By the time everyone was packing up to leave, she still had not done anything suspicious.

I started to wonder if I was just being paranoid.

But right as everyone was putting on their jackets, Daisy suddenly let out a piercing gasp, grabbing her empty right wrist.

"My bracelet. The diamond bracelet my parents gave me is gone."

Hearing that a two-million-dollar piece of jewelry was missing, the entire class panicked and started tearing the room apart looking for it.

They checked under every couch cushion and behind the TV, but it was nowhere to be found.

Daisy covered her face, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

"Did someone pick it up and decide to keep it? Please, if you found it, just give it back. It is a family heirloom. I will literally buy you whatever you want as a reward, just please don't steal it."