6

 Some worked hard their entire lives to survive; while others were born with privileges, enjoying power and influence. Bill eventually got married, marrying a woman from a similar background, and they had a daughter.

The girl was named Jessica, she of course enjoyed endless affection and lived an entirely different life from mine. She was a princess, while I was nothing. I was more like a rat and had to eke out living in the damp and dark gutter.

To my utmost surprise, one day we actually met… I was working at a car wash, and she came to maintain her Rolls-Royce. To avoid being recognized, I always wore a mask and only took it off when eating or drinking. One day, I had a cold and took off my mask to sneeze, and in just a few seconds, she saw me.

"Hey, I know you! You are Alice, the 'the condom'!"

She rolled down the window of her Rolls-Royce and smiled brightly. People all gathered and looked over at me, and I wanted to escape or disappear directly.

"You've got the wrong person."

"No, it's really you. I've seen your photos from when you were little until now." She was confident in herself.

"Then you must have been really bored."

"Oh, yeah. I'd care about things related to my family." She smiled sarcastically, "And I also share the same surname, Thompson." I stared at her and understood everything: "You're Jessica?" "Yes," she nodded and looked me up and down, "You look a lot like me; I recognized you immediately." "Too bad, different fates despite the same father." She threw a few dollars at me and claimed it was a tip for me, then drove off.

Under the strange looks of others, I stood there for a moment, then bent down to pick up the notes one by one. It was several hundred dollars. It was enough to cover half a month's rent for me. I left the gas station and switched to another job.

At the new job, I worked as a cleaning staff in a building so that I could wear a mask every day. My only principle in looking for a job was to interact with as few people as possible. Over the years, I had already had enough of online bullying.

One day after work, I dragged my tired body home, and as I passed a quiet alley, I was suddenly dragged by four strong men. Without saying a word, they started hitting me harshly. I asked them who they were and why they were hitting me, but they ignored me. They just kept hitting me, as if I was not a person but just a punching bag.

Eventually, I collapsed to the ground like a dead dog, and they stopped. Then, a slender figure approached. "Jessica?!" I was shocked, "Did you order them to do this? Why?" "Why?" Jessica looked down, smiling at me.

"Because, the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt."

"I can see from your face that you are a troublemaker in the future."

"Someone like you staying by my side, I don't feel secure." I was speechless; what kind of logic was that? "What do you have to worry about? To you, I'm just a stranger!"

"You're not just a stranger, " she shook her head gently, "We have the blood from the same man." "If one day that man is gone, would you come out and take my fortune?" She was afraid that I would fight with her for the inheritance! "You're overthinking it.

That wouldn't happen. I'm not qualified to fight for it, and I wouldn't want to." I scoffed and spat out a mouthful of blood, which still contained two teeth, How harshly they had hit me! "If possible, I'd rather change this blood of mine."

"I'm more than willing to believe you, but one can change along with time outflow, and what I'm best at is stamping out risk in its infancy." Jessica bent down, and said, "Do you know?

We had two younger brothers after you, but they both died. Do you know why?"

"You killed them?" I shivered with fear. "Any factor that could be harmful to me, I would wipe out without hesitation. Whether it's a person or a ghost." Jessica pulled out a handgun and waved it in front of me, still smiling brightly, reminded me of a snake spitting out its venom. "So, are you going to blow my head off?"

"That would be easy; I have a thousand ways to make you disappear. Today, I came to you just to give you a lesson.

If you don't know your place, don't blame me for being ruthless." She smiled and patted my head with the handgun "Get out of this city and never let me see you again!" What could I say? Unless I wanted to die. This girl, a few years younger than me, how could she have such cruel and ruthless methods at such a young age?

After much thought, perhaps because of the good genes. Bill's children, were born with cleverness and cruelty in their bones!

I moved to the north, to an ancient and remote town. The townspeople were simple and honest, and the internet was not very developed. Here, I no longer needed to wear a mask and could live freely.

I used all my savings to open a bakery cafe. Every day, I bathed in the sweet aroma, and my mood was never so good. One day, while delivering a cake, I ran into a rain. A passing young man shared his umbrella with me.

I looked up and met a pair of warm eyes. At that moment, I was captivated. I fell in love with him and started living with him. His name was Andrew, a singer who dreamed of becoming a famous singer like Michael Jackson, and held a worldwide concert.

I didn't know much about music, but I was willing to watch him sing, offering him coffee when he was thirsty and massaging his shoulders when he was tired. Those were the most beautiful and happiest days of my life. Until that day, I overheard his conversation with a friend…