Chapter 237

Veronica hadn't expected Victoria to be so approachable. She sat down beside her, looking almost startled by the kindness.

She tilted her head, starting to speak several times before losing her nerve.

Victoria took a small bite of mousse cake, her voice gentle. "Just say whatever's on your mind. It's okay."

Veronica's face went even paler.

She hunched her shoulders, head bowed, her voice barely audible. "I... I want to know how to make Mr. Smith like me more."

"You like him that much?"

Victoria's tone was strange.

As if she'd been caught, Veronica panicked and waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no—I don't."

Her lips moved soundlessly for a moment. "I just want to know what I should do to... to keep him happy with me..."

Veronica drew a shaky breath, as though steeling herself. "I'm not going to pretend—Mr. Smith and I have an arrangement. As long as I stay with him, he pays me two hundred thousand a month."

"My family's in bad shape. I really need the money."

The way Victoria looked at Veronica shifted.

If the girl had chosen this path willingly, Victoria wouldn't have said a word.

But what if there was more to the story?

Victoria considered for a moment, then ventured carefully, "If you need help with something, you can tell me. I'll do what I can."

Veronica's eyes glistened. She fought back tears, visibly moved.

"Really?"

She was Victoria's imitation. A knockoff.

Even she found herself despicable.

Yet Victoria was offering to help her.

Victoria nodded. "Yes."

Veronica's lips trembled. After a long hesitation, she spoke in a small voice. "Besides me, there's my little brother at home. Mom's been bedridden for years—paralyzed. Dad said he was going out to find work, but he never came back... I had no choice. I can't earn enough..."

Even what she did earn was a drop in the bucket.

Her broken family was like a sinkhole. No amount of money could fill it.

Victoria listened carefully.

Then she asked, "What's your education level?"

Veronica blinked, caught off guard, but answered honestly. "I... I graduated high school."

Victoria nodded. "Do you want to keep studying? You seem pretty young. If you'd stayed in school, you'd be a sophomore by now, right?"

Veronica's whole body trembled. Tears pooled in her eyes, threatening to fall. "Is that really possible? Could I actually go back to school?"

"If you want to, of course you can."

Victoria's voice softened.

In Veronica, she saw a reflection of her former self.

When life was falling apart, sometimes all it took was one person reaching out a hand.

"I can sponsor your education. Your mother's medical bills and your brother's schooling through college—I'll cover all of it. It obviously won't be two hundred thousand a month like Charles pays you. Whether or not you accept is entirely up to you."

"I accept!"

Veronica didn't hesitate for a second. She shot to her feet and bowed deeply to Victoria.

Tears streamed down her face, smearing her carefully applied makeup.

She didn't care.

She'd never belonged in this world to begin with.

Staying in it had never felt right.

Victoria studied her for a long moment, then stood. "Come with me."

She texted Hugh that something had come up and she was leaving early, then walked out of the gala with Veronica.

The moment they stepped through the hotel doors, the tension visibly drained from Veronica's shoulders.

She exhaled heavily. "Whew..."

Victoria couldn't help a small laugh. "They're just people in there. What had you so wound up?"

"No, no—it's different. Ms. Spencer, you and them are the same kind. I'm not."

Veronica shook her head emphatically.

From Veronica's halting account, Victoria learned that Rhea had selected her and sent her to climb into Charles's bed.

Charles had kept her because of her face.

The more Victoria heard, the more bitter the irony tasted.

He hadn't valued her when he had her. Now he was going to absurd lengths to find her replacement.

What did he think she was?

And what did he think Veronica was?

The Smith family was as revolting as ever.

When she finished, Veronica looked at Victoria with genuine guilt. "I'm sorry, Ms. Spencer. I never intended to impersonate you. I only found out today, after seeing you in person. I'm truly sorry."

"It's not your fault. You're a victim too."

Victoria smiled gently and opened the car door. "Let's go. I want to see your home first."

---

Following Veronica's directions, Victoria drove to the outskirts of the city, then walked a long stretch of unpaved road before stopping in front of a crumbling, self-built house in the countryside.

While neighboring families had built modest homes, Veronica's looked more like a shack. Even the roof had holes in it.

Veronica flushed with embarrassment. "It's pretty run-down..."

Victoria waved it off and walked straight inside.

There was only one room. The stove and the bed shared the same space.

The family didn't even own a table to eat at.

Victoria's eyes immediately found the frail woman lying in bed.

"Mom, Ms. Spencer knows about our situation. She's willing to help us."

Veronica rushed to her mother's side, gripping her hand with barely contained excitement.

Her mother was paralyzed on one side. Tears slid down her face as she mumbled something unintelligible.

"Mom says thank you."

Veronica bowed to Victoria again.

Just then, a small boy in ill-fitting clothes came running over and bowed alongside his sister.

"This is my brother, Leo Ward."

"Hello."

Victoria looked at the two siblings—both painfully thin—and felt a pang in her chest.

She stepped outside with her phone and called Sawyer.

"Victoria, what's going on?"

Sawyer picked up immediately.

"Sawyer, I need your help with something."

Victoria gave him a brief summary.

Sawyer agreed without hesitation. "Done. I'll send people over right now."

He paused, his tone darkening. "Charles is getting more shameless by the day. Didn't appreciate you when he had you, and now he's pulling this body-double stunt? What a piece of work."

Victoria's lips twitched. "Don't worry about him."

She'd be leaving the country for advanced training soon anyway. If everything went smoothly, she wouldn't be back for five years.

As for Veronica—Victoria was only helping because the girl's circumstances were genuinely dire, and she wasn't someone who'd chosen to degrade herself willingly.

"As long as it hasn't ruined your mood. I'll get everything arranged."

Victoria had expected Sawyer to send an assistant, given how busy he was. Instead, he showed up in person.

He brought the Johnson family's private medical team with him.

All three members of Veronica's family were taken to the hospital for full examinations.

The results came back quickly.

Veronica and Leo were both severely malnourished. Their mother's paralysis was caused by a stroke, and given how long it had gone untreated, the chances of a full recovery were slim.

A shadow of pain crossed Veronica's eyes when she heard the prognosis, but she pulled herself together almost immediately.

"It's okay. Things can't get any worse than they already are."

The words had barely left her mouth when her battered phone rang.

She saw the caller ID and instinctively looked at Victoria.