How could they possibly call it even?


    Wendy stared at Serena''s retreating back, just like when they were kids.


    Serena had stood there, neat and proper, speaking confidently to the vige chief about sponsoring her. Meanwhile, Wendy was dressed in filthy clothes, small and helpless.


    They were about the same age, but their lives couldn''t have been more different.


    The vige kids used to bump into Wendy''s arm and smear mud on her face with a scowl.


    "Do you really think that getting sponsored makes you a princess like her? My mom says you''ll always be a peasant!"


    "Do you think you''re lucky? My grandma says the rich folks just needed a pity case to feel good about themselves."


    "Look at her. She''s so pretty, just like a fairy. You''re just a filthy kid crawling out of the mud. Do you really think someone is gonna be kind enough to give you a good life?"


    The kids'' mocking voices from the past echoed through time, crawling back into her ears like they never left.


    Wendy bit down on her lip until all color drained from it, whispering under her breath, "No one is born a princess or a peasant. Serena, I''m not here to make you look good. You ruined me first. How could I just watch you live happily ever after..."


    She rambled incoherently, her gaze settling on a few stray cat hairs scattered across the floor.


    Suddenly, Wendy sneered. She wouldn''t dare go after Hugh or the Jansen Group. But wasn''t Serena''s weakness that precious kitten?


    Meanwhile, Serena still had to juggle her job. Snuggle also needed regr check- ups at the pet hospital. With her packed schedule, she''d hired a temporary staff to help out.


    The warm sunshine gave way to drizzling rain.


    The persistent gloom had been nketing the city. As Serena stepped out of the conference room, Alicia rushed over the moment she saw her.


    "Serena! The pet hospital just called. Snuggle ran off. It''s raining, and they can''t find him!"


    Serena froze in shock for a moment


    before quickly dialing the tempora


    staff''s number. The dial tone dragged on endlessly, and nobody answered the phone.


    She called again over a dozen times, but the staff still didn''t answer her calls.


    Something felt wrong. She rushed straight to the pet hospital.


    Two interns from the pet hospital came rushing back in, drenched from the rain.


    "It''s pouring out there. We''ve looked everywhere but couldn''t find him!"


    Serena frowned. "What about the security footage? How could he just run out on his own?"


    The vet had already pulled up the footage.


    "We handed Snuggle off to the client like usual. But they came back inside. We got distracted, and it slipped away."


    In the video, the temporary staff took Snuggle from the vet.


    But when no one was watching, she quietly put Snuggle back in the kennel, left


    the door open, and walked off without a word.


    A momentter, Snuggle hopped


    out. He nced toward the entrance, flicked his little head like he''d spotted something, ando casually trotted out the door.


    It seemed someone had called to him.


    Thinking of the betrayal of the temporary staff and Snuggle''s escape, Serena''s gaze sharpened.


    The recent photos of her and Hugh


    at the pet


    hospital that had het


    online


    Vade it easy for a


    Snuggle''s location.


    Only a handful of people had both seen the cat recently and had a conflict with


    her. Serena didn''t hesitate and called Wendy.


    "You took Snuggle."