Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I drugged the biological heiress’s drink and got my family to cut off my allowance.
I messaged my online girlfriend, my wealthy patron:
Mommy, I’m almost out of money for food. Can you transfer me some?
She replied instantly:
Of course, poor baby. How much do you want? But can my wife wear a cat costume for me tonight?
I ground my teeth.
Sure, but I don’t own anything like that.
That pervert. Making me wear something so embarrassing.
Once I had squeezed enough money out of her, I was dumping her.
When I looked up again, the biological daughter was completely absorbed in choosing a Sexy Cat Costume on her Smartphone.
No way.
I turned, ready to run.
The next second, Evelyn Ashford’s ringtone went off.
I nearly threw my phone across the room.
Seriously? Evelyn Ashford was my strange-kinked, perverted patron—the one who coaxed me into calling her Mommy every day?
She always acted as if she had no interest in sex. Who would have guessed? Who would have guessed she was actually like this?
But I didn’t have time to think about that.
I froze in place, clutching my phone and uselessly trying to hide the ringtone. There was no way I dared answer.
The call rang unanswered, and Evelyn looked faintly puzzled. At last, she noticed me and frowned.
“If your phone’s ringing, go outside and answer it. Don’t stand there getting in my way.”
“I have an important call to make later. You can’t afford to waste my time.”
Relief loosened something in my chest.
Thank God Evelyn hadn’t suspected anything.
I hurried out and ended the call. Then I typed rapidly in the hospital corridor.
Mommy, I’m in a professional class right now, so it’s not convenient for me to answer.
When I get home tonight, I’ll show you my waist, okay?
Evelyn replied at once:
All right, wife.
Transfer: $7,500.00
Eat something good first, my dear. If you complete your task obediently tonight, there’ll be an even bigger reward.
I let out a quiet breath.
The fact that my online girlfriend was Evelyn Ashford was still horrifying.
But she was generous with her money. For now, I decided not to break up with her.
I was genuinely broke.
I was the Ashford family’s substitute daughter.
When Evelyn was five, she disappeared. Her family spent three years devastated before adopting me from an orphanage because I looked somewhat like her.
I had been five that year, too.
When I first arrived at the Ashford Estate, several people were assigned to wait on me every day. I had a private tutor to teach me academics and etiquette.
The family chef had been hired from a five-star restaurant, and my first meal at the estate was fresh Wagyu flown in from Australia.
Chapter 2
Every servant greeted me with solemn respect, and their barely concealed envy showed in their eyes.
As an orphan, I had never experienced anything like it.
Margaret came to my room every night, stroked my hair, and read me stories until I fell asleep.
Before leaving, she would kiss my forehead and call me her baby.
Being cherished like that felt wonderful.
But it didn’t last.
Four years later, Evelyn was found.
In practically the same instant, all the love and attention surrounding me was taken away.
Evelyn truly was the Ashford family’s blood. She had inherited her parents’ exceptional looks perfectly, but even more impossible to compete with was the effortless nobility she carried in every movement. I was only a counterfeit who had been drilled in manners after the fact.
Most unreachable of all was her almost monstrous talent and intelligence.
She wasn’t merely at the top of her class.
At an absurdly young age, she could understand financial reports, attend business dinners with Richard, and become the center of attention with only a few words.
I became the useless comparison they held up beside her.
Every year, on my birthday, I stopped hearing blessings meant for me. Instead, my parents would tell me what Evelyn had accomplished at my age.
I would smile along and chime in, “Wow. Evelyn’s amazing.”
All the while, I cursed her to die in the darkest corners of my mind.
I hated her.
I hated Evelyn Ashford.
When I got older, I began turning that hatred into action.
Like last night.
I spiked Evelyn’s drink and planned to carefully choose a male model to sleep with her, then take pictures and humiliate her thoroughly.
I hadn’t expected Evelyn to beat the model until his face was covered in blood. He dropped to his knees and begged for mercy, telling her I was the one who had hired him.
I had almost forgotten that after Evelyn came home, Richard had made her learn Chinese Kickboxing for self-defense.
Apparently, she was just as frightening in a fight.
The drug had been strong, though, and Evelyn still ended up in the Hospital because of me.
That was why my family had cut off my living expenses.
So now I was poor. All I could do was act sweet for my wealthy patron, call her Mommy, and satisfy a few of her strange preferences in exchange for some spending money.
I just hadn’t expected my perverted patron to be Evelyn Ashford.
Still, there was one way to look at it.
Even if Evelyn was playing with me, wasn’t I playing with her, too?
Once I had squeezed enough money out of her, I would dump her.
Heh. Heh. Heh.
After leaving the hospital, I went back to the apartment I rented off campus.
I had never liked the communal life of a dorm. The moment I started university, I moved out on my own.
Chapter 3
At eight that evening, Evelyn messaged me.
【Are you home, wife?】
【Mm-hm.】
【Can we video chat?】
【Sure. Give me a minute to get ready.】
I took out my black baseball cap and black face covering, then put them on while looking in the mirror.
Whenever Evelyn and I had video-called before, neither of us had shown our face. I still had to live normally during the day. I didn’t want anyone to know I did this sort of thing.
Evelyn probably felt the same way.
Besides, I had once been interested in voice acting and had learned a little voice disguise. When we chatted, my voice sounded much more seductive than it did in real life.
There was no way Evelyn could recognize me.
Once I was ready, I called her first.
She answered instantly.
The lighting on her end was dim, leaving her face impossible to make out.
“Wife, lift your shirt. Let me see your waist.”
I obediently raised the hem.
I had well-defined abdominal muscles, and I had worked hard to make them look good.
Evelyn’s gaze darkened.
“Baby, lift it a little higher. I can’t see clearly.”
What a pervert.
I grabbed one side of my shirt and raised it generously, well above my chest.
Evelyn’s eyes fixed on a certain pink spot. She couldn’t help licking the corner of her mouth.
It took me only a second to guess what she was thinking.
I laughed silently to myself and lowered the camera, leaving her with a view of nothing but my waist and stomach.
Then I removed my face covering, bent my head, and held the shirt between my teeth. With a tailor’s measuring tape, I measured my waist and mumbled, “About twenty-four inches, I think.”
The corner of her mouth curved.
“With a waist that narrow, would it be easy to see the shape if something were put inside?”
I let out a husky laugh. “You can try.”
Evelyn’s breathing grew heavier for a moment.
She was probably imagining something.
After a few seconds, she spoke again, her tone suddenly much more serious.
“Baby, when can we meet in person?”
The question followed directly from what we had been discussing. Her reason for wanting to meet was obvious.
I froze.
“Isn’t that a little fast?”
Her voice softened. “Baby, we’ve been together for two years.”
“If you like someone, you like them. I’ll admit it: the thing I look forward to most every day is talking to you.”
“I want us to take our relationship one step further.”
“I want to touch you for real and hold you in my arms. I want to take care of you myself and place everything wonderful in front of you.”
“What about you? Do you want that, too?”
I had no idea how to respond.
“At the end of the day, don’t you just want to get a room with me?”