The world was dark.
Selene floated in a void, weightless, numb. There was nothing around her and there was nothing that she could feel.
But soon, there was a voice, warm, deep, and familiar.
"Selene, my little princess, do you know what this is?"
She blinked—and suddenly she was eight years old again, perched atop her father's grand oak desk. Victor Sinclair, towering and proud, placed a violet-jeweled crown on her tiny head.
Victor smiled kindly as he asked, "You are the only heiress of the Sinclair Empire. And do you know what that means?"
She grinned. "That I'll be rich?"
Her father laughed. "More than rich. The world will be your playground, Selene. You'll have everything you desire. The Sinclairs are powerful—so powerful that we do as we please, and no one can stop us."
Selene's heart swelled with excitement. She couldn't wait to grow up.
For a long time, she truly believed she was destined to have it all.
She was nine when her mother died.
And everything changed.
The grand estate dimmed. Her father, once so proud and happy, started to wither. The doctors came more often than Selene remembered. Her father began canceling meetings. Selene was always told it was nothing. Just a bad case of stubborn flu that kept returning.
And somewhere during those strange times, Bianca entered Victor's life and never left.
Bianca, with her gentle voice and designer gowns.
Bianca, who always smelled like jasmine and smiled like a saint.
Selene had hated her on instinct. Not for anything she did. But for everything she became.
"It's not good for Selene to be here all the time," Bianca once said, "She needs a proper education. Away from the media. From the legacy. From… grief."
Victor had agreed.
That night, Selene cried into her pillow. All she had left was her father. How would she live in a place so far and unfamiliar?
But Victor could never easily say no to Bianca. And how could he? She always acted so perfect and so very wise.
Selene was sent to boarding school. Then overseas. Little by little, her world shrank. The allowances grew lesser. Her father's visits became rare. Her calls went unanswered. By the time she was sixteen years old, all that remained of her old life was a string of memories and a hollow promise:
"Once you're twenty, you'll take your place. You'll be the heir again. Just be patient, Selene."
And she had tried. God, she had tried.
But in the end, everything crashed down.
. . . . . . . .
Ding!
[System Integration Complete.]
[Host Revival Successfull!]
[New Feature Unlocked: Inventory.]
[New Feature Unlocked: Star Coin Economy.]
[Congratulations! Wealth Domination System has been activated!]
[Welcome, Selene. Ready to play the game?]
Selene woke up to a suspiciously expensive ceiling. Her first instinct was to check the time—6:47 PM, 25 August.
She gasped and sat upright. Her body was covered in bandages and connected with several wires like a modern mummy. But strangely, she felt no pain anywhere. Not anymore.
It almost felt like she had just woken up from a good sleep.
Her first thought, 'Did I die and reincarnate into someone rich?'
But when she noticed her reflection on a bedside mirror, Selene grimaced.
'Nope. Still broke, and possibly one hospital bill away from becoming a human organ farm.'
And then, Selene remembered what had happened before she went unconsious. Adrian and Bianca's cruel words, the bodyguard's shove, and then raw pain that completely shattered her.
Selene remembered her father.
'He only had a few days.'
And slowly, her heartbeats started to slow down. What if he never hated me? What if he never lied? What if it had been Bianca's scheming all along…
What if I am making this all up because of my daddy issues?
Selene shook her head sadly and murmured out loud, "How did I survive?"
The room remained silence.
The system did not respond.
Selene stared blankly at the air, then shook her head again, dismissing that strange murderer from her mind. If he was gone, why should she care?
Instead, she asked the system something else, "What about others….? My father? Can you tell me what has happened in these ten days?"
There was a small pause.
And then, a bunch of golden screens popped up before Selene. They were all tabs of news articles surrounding the Sinclairs.
[Selene Sinclair: Heiress or Headcase? Elite Circles Question Her Mental Stability After She Ruined Her Own Wedding! TWICE!]
Sources close to the family say she's 'always been a little… unstable. That's why her family kicked her out!
[Victor Sinclair Hospitalized Abroad After Major Cardiac Episode — Sinclairs Release Vague Statement]
Victor collapsed during a closed-door meeting days after the wedding fiasco. Has the banished heiress driven her father to the verge of death?
[Bianca Sinclair Declared Acting Chair of Sinclair Group]
The beloved socialite has now taken full executive control! Is this the Renaissance for the Sinclair Group?
Selene slammed her head back against the pillow, "I was in come ONE WEEK and these guys have written an entire soap opera!"
The beep of the monitors remained the only sound in the room, accompanied with the broken tick of a clock somewhere Selene could not see.
It was in this silence did the holographic screens disappeared.
Selene absent mindedly reached for the back of her head. Her fingers smoothly slid through the hair, and struggled through the tightly bound bandages before feeling nothing where there should have been a gaping wound.
'How…?'
It was as if nothing had happened.
A mysterious murder, a strange time travel, the weird monotnous voices in her head, and now the absence of any scars.
Too many things were happening.
"But how are they all connected?" Selene asked aloud again, hoping for the System to answer. The beeps continued and the clock ticked without rhythm.
No answer.
Selene grumbled with a frown, "Why do you never respond properly? I have completed the mission, have I not?"
Again, no answer.
Selene raised her hands in exasperation.
"Come on, answer!"
"I heard the activation was complete!"
Just then, the door was pushed open. Adrian froze at the doorway, "Who are you talking to?" He asked carefully, like she was a wild racoon who could bite at any moment.
Selene's anger flared seeing him. She got down from the bed in a rush, tripped on her IV stand and set off an alarm. Because, of course.
Adrian stifled a laugh.
Selene gave him a death glare that could salt the earth.
Adrian was at a loss for words.
His girlfriend fell from the stairs, went into a coma, and now she's speaking to air and looking at him like he was the one who pushed!
"Have you lost your mind?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Selene shoved the IV stand away from her and demanded, "Is that what you're going to say after cheating on me with my STEPMOTHER!!"
Selene was so furious that she could feel something burning.
Adrian flinched, then recovered and smiled in a sickly sweet manner. "You're confused, babe," he said gently.
Selene did not want to listen. She poured a glass water as Adrian carefully walked towards her and continued in a calming voice, "It must be the head injury, Selene. Doctor said your brain was completely rattled! Why do you think I would ever betray you? We have known each other from childhood!"
Selene splashed the water on him.
"Get lost!" she shouted, "I don't care about your stupid excuses. I am DONE!"
Adrian gasped, drenched, disbelieving and completely at a loss for words. The Selene he had known was always too dumb when it came to love. She believed her father without a doubt, she had believed him without a care.
But now?
She seemed posessed!
Adrian wiped his face with a bitter smile, "You really have lost your mind, Selene."
Behind him, a nurse peeked through the door after hearing the noise.
Adrian pulled out a now damp stack of papers from his jacket and said in a suspiciously concerned voice. "I was going to be nice, but you have left me no choice, Selene. These are some legal documents. Sign them and quietly your inheritance. The doctors have already declared you insane and there's nothing else you can do."
Selene stared at him in disbelief.
He lightly plucked the glass from her hand and gave her the papers. "Sign them, Selene. Just let this go. I will make sure you're well taken care of."
Selene stared at the papers like they were poison. She mumbled, "You're not serious."
Adrian sighed sincerely, "I am serious, my love. It's for your own safety. Now that the media has already decided you're insane—"
Selene interrupted him, "Didn't you say the doctors declared me crazy?"
Adrian smiled as he nodded, "Yes, but you see, now that it's all out in the public, scandals are bound to chase you. The media will make more fun of you, and the enemies of the Sinclairs will target you. You will have nothing either way, but one method is less painful."
With that, he even patted Selene's hand like she was a dying dog and added, "If you refuse, my dear. No one will cover your hospital expenses."
The nurse cleared her throat from behind and spoke, "It's two hundred, ninety three thousand, four hundred and seventy five dollars, Miss."
Selene's left eye twitched violently.
Not only was Adrian scheming with a woman who was ruining everything, he even had the audactiy of asking for more?!
The nurse cleared her throat again and added, "You will not be allowed to leave until you clear your hospital bills, Miss."
Selene's head was completely blank for one moment.
Then, before anyone else could speak, she grabbed the fishbowl from a table and hurled the water at Adrian and the shrieking nurse.
Tiny golden blurs darted across the floor as Adrian shrieked in horror, trying to rescue his Bucci shows and the poor fishes simultaneously.
Selene literally had nothing now.
She died once. Almost died again.
What worse thing could they do?
Selene glared at Adrian one last time and said coldly, "You tell Bianca to fuck off."
Adrian gasped, sputtering, slipping slightly on the wet floor as he gathered the flopping fish. He loved no animal as much as he loved the goldfishes.
Selene scoffed and stormed out of the wardroom.
The nurse staggered back, saying some stuttering words that Selene refused to hear. But before she could take more than three steps, two burly bodyguards blocked her path.
Selene froze, feeling afraid, almost.
But then, she reminded herself that she had a system. Wasn't this the time when she was supposed to get some survival mission or cool skills?
As if on cue, a cheerful chime echoed through her mind.
Ding!
A golden holographic screen flickered before her.
[Congratulations! The First Scenario Condition has been met!]
[The First Scenario, "The New Money Curse" has been activated!]
[First Quest: Spend 100 Billion Dollars in 12 Hours!]
[Penalty for Failure: Organ Harvesting!]
Selene was dumbfounded.
Her jaw dropped in disbelief.
Adrian, dripping wet and furious, shouted from behind her, "You can't even afford a cab! Where the hell do you think you are going?!"
Selene, staring at the absurd golden screen only she could see, muttered: "What. The actual. Hell."
The guards exchanged confused glances.
The nurse whispered, "Should we sedate her?"