This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 39: Earning a Side Income with Wheel of Fate

It was a nice day, and for once, Rita didn't go out to do anything serious. Instead, she hired a cleaning lady to give her house a deep clean, while she personally washed the cat bed of her "Myriad Cats Den." During this, she not only used **Insight** to check if the cleaner was a player but also hid her shadow within the woman's shadow as a surveillance measure.

With so many secrets, Rita was cautious that anyone sent to her home might plant surveillance equipment or try to monitor her.

Rita realized that her paranoia, born from her past life on the run, would likely never go away. She'd always be suspicious of anyone who got close to her. But she didn't mind—it kept her alive. Her only regret was not buying a cleaning skill. Then, she wouldn't have to let strangers into her home in the first place.

She wasn't sure exactly what benefits the cat bed would bring, but knowing it was an S-rank item capable of building a small force around a pet hospital in her previous life, Rita had already decided: once the game invaded, if the cat bed mutated, she'd bind it immediately with a **Binding Stone**. A mere 100 gold was nothing for something of that caliber.

As she dried the bed in the yard, seven or eight cats were lounging in the sun. In the past, she had been too busy to pay attention to the cats that frequented her yard. She only had a vague idea that the cats came and went, none of them staying long. But today, she realized that two of the cats seemed familiar. She had either seen them back in August or earlier when she lived in her previous mansion.

One was a chubby tabby with snow-white paws, and the other was a black-and-white cow-patterned cat.

Rita made a mental note of the two cats' appearances.

The cleaning lady spent the entire day working in Rita's house. Since Rita didn't want too many people in her home, she only hired one cleaner but paid handsomely—10,000 for the day. It was a big payday, much more than she would make working half a month at someone else's house. Naturally, many other cleaners had competed for the job.

Rita inspected the work and found it spotless. She paid the woman without hesitation and sent her on her way. However, she refused the lady's request to exchange WeChat contacts and didn't mention the possibility of hiring her again. Rita planned to rotate cleaners to avoid anyone getting too familiar with her home and possibly being bribed to plant bugs or other surveillance devices.

Her experiences from the last life were her greatest wealth.

Just after sending the cleaner away, Rita received a message from Zoey.

The buzz-cut youth checked his stats and saw that his luck had indeed risen to 10. He nodded to Sanchez, who gave him a subtle smile.

Rita also nodded to the group with a polite smile and prepared to leave. Zoey didn't try to keep her and instead had someone escort her back home.

As soon as Rita got into the car, she received the payment notification.

On the drive home, she felt someone attempting to divine her information again—it was the same buzz-cut youth. Rita smirked to herself. It seemed the **White** and **Lopez** families were collaborating.

...

Indeed, the White and Lopez families had formed an alliance. Shortly after Zoey's wedding, they had a secret meeting. The Lopez family was shocked to learn that someone had infiltrated the White family and severed Sanchez's arm. Meanwhile, the White family was equally stunned because someone had not only cut off Zoey's ear but also stolen a large stash of gold from the Lopez family's vault.

This created an awkward situation.

Even though the White family had come to the table with a diplomatic approach, deep down, they still harbored some resentment. Who's to say it wasn't the Lopez family's enemies trying to use the White family to get back at them? After all, Lopez had been hit hard, too.

The Lopez family, meanwhile, had mixed feelings. While losing a stash of gold bricks hurt, the family was wealthy enough that it wasn't a crippling blow. Zoey's injury, though unfortunate, was relatively minor compared to losing half an arm. She could easily cover her missing ear, and few would even notice.

It was a delicate situation. The White family, under the guise of wanting to "discuss," seemed to expect the Lopez family to explain. If they didn't, Sanchez's testimony that Zoey was the culprit could lead to serious conflict.

Both sides stared at each other in silence.