Crude And Mean

Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the sprawling Vance mansion, pooling across the Egyptian cotton sheets. Bianca stirred. She dragged a manicured hand across the silk, half-convinced the opulent room would dissolve into the cramped, drafty walls of the Montell house.

She pinched her forearm. Hard.

A sharp sting shot through her skin. She let out a breathy laugh. Real. It was all real.

Throwing off the covers, she padded into the walk-in closet. The space was larger than her previous bedroom, lined with velvet displays and custom lighting. She selected a pristine, white designer dress, tossing it onto a plush ottoman. Next came the jewelry. Valeria and her new brothers had showered her with boxes of it the night before. Bianca opened case after case, draping a heavy diamond necklace around her collarbone. She slipped on matching tennis bracelets and stacked rings on her fingers, the cool metal a physical reminder of her newfound status. She paused in front of the full-length mirror, caressing the diamonds. They felt like armor. They felt like power.

"Miss Vance?" a soft voice called from the doorway.

Bianca turned. A servant stood in the hall, eyes cast down in deference. "Would you like to have lunch now?"

"No. I'm going out to eat," Bianca said, her tone clipped. She took two steps toward the door, then stopped. She pivoted, leveling a cold gaze at the woman. "Let me ask you a question. Look at me."

The servant raised her head, blinking nervously.

"Who is prettier?" Bianca demanded, lifting her chin. "Me? Or that fake daughter, Serena?"

The servant swallowed hard, eyes darting from Bianca's aggressive posture to the glittering jewels. "It's... it's you, Miss. You're the most beautiful lady."

A smug smirk stretched across Bianca's lips. "Exactly. That's what I think, too. A fake will always be a fake. I am the real heiress." Her voice sharpened, venom lacing the words. "She stole eighteen years of the life I should have had. She left me to suffer in that pathetic dump in her place. The nerve."

She ground her teeth, the sound loud in the quiet hallway. The servant took a subtle step back, a chill crawling up her arms. The staff had loved Serena. Serena possessed a quiet grace, always treating them with warmth and a soft smile. This new girl felt jagged, mean, and eager to draw blood.

"Tell my mother I'm stepping out," Bianca ordered, dismissing the woman with a wave of her hand.

The Vance family had wasted no time outfitting her with a private luxury car and a uniformed driver. The sleek black vehicle waited idling by the front steps.

"Miss Vance, where would you like to go?" the driver asked, holding the rear door open.

Bianca slid onto the buttery leather seat. A wicked smile played on her lips. "Take me to the Montell residence. In the countryside. I want to see how the thief is adjusting to her real life."

The engine purred to life. As the car navigated the manicured estate grounds and merged onto the highway, Bianca pulled out her brand-new phone. The leather seats, the tinted windows, her flawless makeup—it was the perfect backdrop. She snapped a flurry of selfies, making sure the Vance-gifted diamonds caught the light.

She posted them to Instagram. Then X. Then TikTok.

Within seconds, her screen lit up with notifications.

*Is that Bianca? You look incredible!*

*Did you win the lottery?!*

*Girl, that car costs more than my house!*

Former classmates who had spent years ignoring her in the hallways were now flooding her direct messages, desperate for her attention. Old neighbors from the slums were tagging each other in disbelief. Bianca scrolled through the comments, her chest swelling with triumph. After eighteen years of dirt and struggle, she was finally perched at the top of the food chain.

The city skyline faded into rolling hills, and soon, the paved roads gave way to the uneven, dusty streets of the village. The luxury car crawled through the narrow lanes, drawing stares from everyone it passed. When the vehicle finally stopped outside the Montell family's run-down house, a small crowd had already gathered.

Bianca pushed the door open and stepped out into the dirt, her designer heels clicking against the stray pebbles.

"Isn't that Bianca?" a woman whispered loudly over the fence. "Look at those clothes. She has a chauffeur!"

"I heard she found her real parents," an older man muttered. "Switched at birth with the Montell girl. She's a billionaire's daughter now."

A younger girl stared with wide eyes. "She looks flawless. So lucky..."

Soaking up the envious whispers, Bianca pushed open the creaky wooden gate of the Montell yard. The familiar stench of damp earth and animal feed hit her, but today, it only made her feel superior.

Lenora was washing a pot near the outdoor tap. At the sound of the gate, she looked up. Her weary face instantly brightened, deep lines crinkling around her eyes.

"Bianca!" Lenora dropped the rag, wiping her wet hands on her faded apron. Tears of joy welled in her eyes. She genuinely believed Bianca had missed the family that raised her. "You came back to see us!"

"Wrong." Bianca's voice sliced through the damp air, cold and hard.

Lenora stopped in her tracks, her smile faltering.

"I came to see how that fake heiress is doing," Bianca sneered, eyeing the cracked walls of the house with blatant disgust. "She stole my life for so long. Now that she's stuck here in this dump where she belongs, I just had to see it for myself."

Lenora stood frozen, her mouth opening and closing. The words felt like a physical blow. She stared at the glamorous stranger standing in her yard, unable to reconcile this vicious girl with the daughter she had raised.

Footsteps sloshed through the mud. From the direction of the pigsty, Serena emerged. She wore simple, worn clothes, her hair tied back loosely. In her hands, she effortlessly carried a heavy, sloshing bucket of food scraps and slop. She had taken over the heavy chores to spare Lenora's bad back.

Seeing Serena, Bianca dramatically lifted a hand, pinching her nose shut. "Oh my God, the stench! It's unbearable!" Her voice rang out, loud enough for the neighbors to hear. "Filthy people like you are only fit for filthy tasks. You look right at home with the pigs, Serena."

Lenora stepped forward, her maternal instincts flaring. "Bianca, how could you say that? Didn't you use to feed the pigs too? We raised you!"

"Shut up!" Bianca shrieked, dropping her hand from her nose to point a manicured finger at the older woman. "Don't call me Bianca! Call me Miss Vance. The Montell name is a disgrace. I am not your daughter. That loser is!" She jabbed her finger toward Serena, her face contorting with rage.

"You... you..." Lenora's voice trembled, her hands shaking at her sides.

Serena didn't say a word. She didn't yell. She didn't argue.

She set the bucket down in the mud. Calmly, fluidly, Serena reached her bare hand straight into the foul, wet mixture of kitchen scraps, sour milk, and rotten vegetables. She scooped up a generous handful.

Before Bianca could even register the movement, Serena drew her arm back and flung the slop directly at her.

*Splat.*

The wet, putrid mass hit Bianca square in the face. It splattered across her cheeks, matted into her eyelashes, and dripped down her pristine white designer dress. The smell was instant and overwhelming.

"Aaah!" Bianca unleashed a bloodcurdling shriek. She clawed at her face, smearing the slime further into her expensive skincare and meticulously applied makeup. "My face! My dress!"

The driver sprinted through the gate, fumbling frantically for a handkerchief. He dabbed uselessly at Bianca's chin, only spreading the grease and rot.

"Serena, you vile witch!" Bianca screamed, spitting out a piece of sour cabbage. Her chest heaved, her eyes wild with fury. "How dare you?! I am the real heiress now! You are just a fraud!"

Serena stood unbothered, wiping her hand on a rag she pulled from her pocket. Her expression was ice-cold, her dark eyes locking onto Bianca. "Then leave. Or I might just toss you into the pigsty next."

The threat hung heavy in the air. Serena’s stance shifted, her weight balancing on the balls of her feet. She wasn't bluffing.

Bianca choked on her next breath. She planted her hands on her hips, ignoring the slop dripping from her chin. "You wouldn't dare! Do you know who I am? The Vance family is rich and powerful! You are nothing!"

She let out a harsh, mocking laugh, desperate to regain her upper hand. "Oh, and did anyone tell you the good news? You have a fiancé now! Hahaha!"

Serena's brow furrowed. She froze.

Bianca smirked, her eyes gleaming with malicious delight. She noticed Serena glancing toward Lenora. "Oh, she didn't tell you? Fine, I'll do the honors. Your fiancé lives right here in the village."

Lenora averted her gaze, her shoulders slumping under a sudden, crushing weight of guilt.

"Go see for yourself!" Bianca crowed, taking a step backward toward the safety of her driver. "This is fate, Serena. The fiancé who was supposed to marry me is yours now! And yours is mine! Good luck with that!"

Years ago, the Vance family had arranged a high-society marriage for Bianca. With the truth revealed, that elite engagement naturally transferred to the true heiress. But Bianca knew the dark secret the Montells had been hiding—the contract they had signed in blood.

"Ugh. A house full of pitiful paupers," Bianca spat, turning on her heel. "I'm off to enjoy my luxurious life. You can stay here and rot in poverty. You will never escape it."

She stomped back to the luxury car, sliding into the backseat while the driver scrambled to close the door. The tires kicked up dust as the vehicle sped away, leaving the heavy silence of the yard behind.

Serena didn't care about Bianca's departure. The petty insults meant nothing to her. Her mind zeroed in on one word: fiancé.

She turned to Lenora. The older woman stood trembling, her hands covering her face.

"Mom," Serena said evenly. "Explain."

Lenora let out a ragged sigh, dropping her hands. Tears streamed down her weathered cheeks. "Serena, I am so sorry. About the engagement... we had no choice."

Serena waited, her posture stiff.

"A few years ago, a powerful family—the Mercers—approached us out of nowhere," Lenora confessed, her voice thick with shame. "They wanted to arrange a marriage for their son. They chose Bianca."

"Why?" Serena asked.

Lenora hesitated, twisting her faded apron in her hands. "The man they wanted her to marry... he is disabled. Paralyzed from the waist down and bedridden for years. The Mercers abandoned him here in the village. They just dumped him."

A cold breeze swept through the yard, rattling the wooden fence.

"We didn't want to agree," Lenora choked out. "But they offered a massive sum of money. At the time, your father's condition was deteriorating fast. We desperately needed the cash to pay for his medical treatments to keep him alive. So... we said yes."

Lenora looked at Serena, her eyes begging for forgiveness. "Looking back, I regret it deeply. I am so sorry, Serena. Please don't hate Bianca for resenting us. We were just too poor to refuse. And the Mercer family is too powerful to defy."

She wiped her nose, taking a shaky breath. "Now that Bianca is gone, the contract naturally falls to you. They said the wedding would take place when you turn eighteen. That is coming up this year. We have been sick with anxiety about it..."

Serena exhaled a long, slow breath. The damp air filled her lungs.

Life in the Montell family was proving to be vastly more complicated than she had ever anticipated. A forced marriage to an abandoned, paralyzed man from a powerful family. It was a mess.

Still, panic was useless. Serena composed herself, her mind running through the tactical realities of the situation. She couldn't fight a battle blind. She needed to meet this so-called fiancé. She had to assess this mysterious Mercer heir and see exactly what kind of grim reality she was dealing with.