"Mommy, can you believe that she entered and bathed in my room without my permission?! She even used the shampoo made for me by Miss Anderson!" Daisy whined, her voice high-pitched and dripping with annoyance. Her mother, Jolie, immediately frowned, her expression darkening with disappointment. Without asking any questions, she turned to Aysel and began berating her.
"Why did you take a shower in your sister's room, Aysel? You clearly have your own. Are you trying to stir up more trouble with her? You already caused enough by pushing her down the stairs, and now this?"
Aysel pursed her lips, knowing she was in the wrong. She probably should have asked Butler Jones for her room. "I thought it was my room," she explained truthfully.
"Your room?" Daisy scoffed, arms crossed arrogantly. "Do you actually think you deserve the same luxuries as me? The current trending actress?! When you're nothing but a vile leech!"
"Daisy!" Jolie's voice was sharp, but there was no real anger behind it. Still, Daisy pressed on, her eyes filling with tears as she cried out, "You're siding with her again, aren't you?! Mom, she ruined my chance to perform at the concert! She pushed me down the stairs!" Her voice cracked with emotion, and Aysel secretly rolled her eyes at the ongoing drama.
Jolie's heart wavered. She had always been torn between her daughters. Her youngest, Daisy, was everything a mother could want: smart, talented, and well-mannered in public. Aysel, on the other hand, was always seen as the troublesome one—clumsy, unintelligent, and, worse still, a constant source of conflict.
Sighing, she pulled Daisy into a comforting embrace, her hand waving dismissively at Aysel. "Go to your room," she said coldly.
Aysel nodded silently, understanding enough to close the door behind her. No wonder the original Aysel turned into what she was. She was probably starved of love and trying desperately to gain the Swift Couple's attention, but in the end, they didn't see her. To them, only their precious Daisy was worth siding with. The differences could be seen in their actions, for in a normal family, most times, there is something like 'my room is your room'.
Outside, she spotted the housekeeper and beamed politely. "Nana, can you show me to my room, please?" she asked.
Right now, Aysel didn't care whether she would be suspected or not. The Swift family probably didn't know her well enough to notice that the original Aysel was gone.
The housekeeper blinked, startled. "Your room?"
Aysel nodded her head and replied vaguely. "My memory's a bit foggy... I don't really remember, you know, my head..."
The housekeeper hesitated, thinking Aysel was kidding, but then noticed the genuine confusion in Aysel's eyes. She sighed softly, remembering the head injury Aysel had sustained during the same incident where Daisy had fallen down the stairs.
She suddenly scoffed in her mind, thinking it was well deserved for Aysel. She had tried to injure her sister but ended up tripping too, her head hitting the bottom of the last staircase.
Karma is a bitch, indeed.
"This way," the housekeeper said, guiding Aysel to the small, cramped room Aysel had dismissed earlier.
Aysel stared at the room, dumbfounded. It was the same one she had opened earlier, assuming it was a storeroom or some maid's room.
"Why is Daisy's room so much bigger and luxurious than mine?" she mumbled under her breath, though she knew the answer.
The housekeeper's expression turned disdainful, and she revealed bluntly, "The Swift family is where they are today because of Miss Daisy hardwork, so getting the best of everything is well deserved."
Aysel swallowed the lump in her throat, her face flushing with slight embarrassment. The previous Aysel truly knew how to play rotten. Now, she couldn't ask or say anything and would be reminded of her attitude.
After the housekeeper left, Aysel flopped onto the bed and pulled out her phone, her nose wrinkling at the rough bedsheet. It was a bit worn but clean enough, so she didn't mind. She stared at the screen, her fingers hovering before tapping to search her name.
Aysel braced herself, but nothing could have prepared her for the barrage of headlines:
GET OUT OF THE INDUSTRY, AYSEL SWIFT.
AYSEL SWIFT PUSHED HER YOUNGER SISTER, DAISY SWIFT, DOWN THE STAIRS!
THE MOST EVIL ELDER SISTER IN HISTORY, AYSEL SWIFT.
DAISY SWIFT ATTENDED A CONCERT IN A WHEELCHAIR, REVEALS THAT HER ELDER SISTER, AYSEL SWIFT PUSHED HER DOWN THE STAIRS.
Aysel's stomach twisted as she placed the phone down beside her. She shook her head in disbelief, remembering the perfectly healthy and energetic Daisy she had seen earlier.
Was she being framed, or what the heck was going on?
Why would Daisy do this? And the Swift Couple allowed it? To throw her elder sister into chaos and have her bullied by the Netizens? They really knew how to play, didn't they?
Aysel couldn't be more disappointed, and her expectations of her new family were dashed.
"System," she called out, her voice low as she complained. "Why did you transmigrate me into this body?" Even peace had left her. She had to deal with her family and others. Her hopes were dashed, one after the other.
Money = Debt.
Popularity = Infamy.
What had she done to deserve this? She thought she would live a beautiful life after saving someone, but instead, her current situation was the opposite of her expectation.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as she recalled something from the novel. "Wait, in the novel, it wasn't Aysel who pushed Daisy down the stairs!" She snapped her fingers. "Daisy fell on her own because she didn't want to marry Young Grant."
Her mind raced as she pieced things together. In the novel, Nathaniel Hero Grant is the youngest son of the Grant direct family, the CEO and head of the Grant family, now paralyzed from the neck down after an accident. A quadriplegic. And worse still, his nephew, Michael Orion Grant, had taken control of the company after his death.
If her memory served her right, Michael is the Male Lead!
[Host, since you now understand his background, would you like to see the Mission Board?]
Aysel hesitated but finally agreed. "Sure, show me."
A pale blue holographic screen appeared before her, and at the top, there was a button labeled "default." Below that were two sections: Mission and Store.
She clicked on "Mission," and another board materialized.
[Compulsory Missions:
* Marry Nathaniel Hero Grant
Reward: 100 Points.
*Become The Queen Of The Entertainment Industry.
Reward: 500 points.
Voluntary Mission:
(Not yet updated; will be triggered by circumstances.)]
Aysel frowned. "What does the Voluntary Mission mean?"
[It means Missions will appear depending on your situation. For now, you're in default mode, but starting tomorrow, you'll need to complete Missions to survive. You'll need at least twenty points a day.]
Aysel's heart dropped. "W-what happens if I don't get enough points?"
[Death.]
A shiver ran down Aysel's spine. This system wasn't messing around.
What the hell? She thought transmigrating into a novel would give her a fresh start, but instead, she was thrown into a deadly game of survival. Her head spun.
Then, suddenly, the system dinged.
[Mission available: Reveal that you weren't the one who pushed Daisy down the stairs.
Reward: 10 points.
Accept or Reject?]
"Accept," Aysel said firmly.
[There is no time limit since this is your first Mission, Host, so you can take your time,] the system said with satisfaction.
"System, how do I even begin to prove that?" Aysel asked.
Silence.
"System?"
More silence.
"Ugh, seriously, you are a fuc—"
[Reminder: Cursing the system will result in a deduction of one point.]
Aysel rolled her eyes, biting her tongue to stop herself from swearing. "Fine, fine, I'll figure it out myself."
She yawned, exhaustion finally hitting her. But just as she was about to drift off, her stomach growled. She glanced at the time—7:30. Dinner in the Swift family was usually scheduled for seven. Aysel remembered this well, as she envied the original Aysel's lifestyle. After all, she, on the other hand, only ate at 10 PM.
With a heavy sigh, Aysel dragged herself to the dining room. Her eyes fell on the cozy scene of her parents and Daisy eating together. A large roast chicken sat at the center of the table, surrounded by mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and warm bread rolls. The smell of gravy filled the air.
Aysel's stomach growled loudly, attracting everyone's gaze, and she pursed her lips.
"Come here," Jolie said, her tone indifferent as she pointed to an empty seat. Aysel swallowed her embarrassment and joined them.
The dinner passed in tense silence, saved for the sound of cutleries on the plates, until Jolie spoke.
"The Grant family is visiting tomorrow. Make sure you look your best."
Daisy giggled, clearly enjoying the situation. "And try not to cheat on him, Aysel, even if he can't exactly… satisfy you."
Aysel knew Daisy was trying to infuriate her so she would lash out, but she wasn't the same brainless Aysel anymore. Instead, she retorted perfectly. "I'm not that kind of person, Daisy. I thought you'd know that by now."
Daisy's smirk widened. "Maybe I would if you stopped clubbing and… you know...those lovers of yours..."
"Eat more, Daisy," Vaughn interjected, clearly trying to avoid more drama as he scooped another spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his daughter's plate.
Jolie turned to Aysel, her voice serious. "Be a good wife to Young Master Grant. He may be crippled now, but the doctors will find a way to make him walk again. Don't embarrass us."
Aysel's lips twitched into a smile, and she said nothing about that statement. Instead, she changed the topic. "Before I go to bed, Mommy, I think we should check the footage."
The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at her.
"The footage? Why?" Daisy's voice was sharp.
Aysel's eyes locked onto hers, a grin on her lips. "Because we need to see who really pushed you down the stairs."