The Fake Heiress Plagiarized My Code, Then Begged For Mercy

The Fake Heiress Plagiarized My Code, Then Begged For Mercy

Last time at the hackathon, the family's fake daughter and I submitted the exact same code.

She played the victim, all teary-eyed, "But, like, Sis, I already gave you back the parents, why are you stealing my code now?"

My "parents," just as dramatic, wailed, "It's all our fault for losing our real child! She clearly has no upbringing if she'd stoop to plagiarism."

My brother, Mr. Hothead, fumed, "I knew this girl was bad news! We shouldn't have brought her back! Now she's embarrassing the family and hurting the company's rep!"

Their comments totally buried me. The internet piled on with the hate, my "parents" kicked me out, and I was public enemy number one.

Meanwhile, the fake heiress used the competition to snag a relationship with some rich kid, and to get back at me, he had me brutally murdered.

I woke up the day before code submission. I packed a bag and got the heck out of Dodge.

Then, my always-sweet mom called, yelling her head off, "You little brat! Get back here and do your job! You want us all eating out of dumpsters?!"

1

I blinked, and there it was again – the opulent mansion. I glanced at my watch, two in the morning.

The house was silent. I shut my laptop and was getting ready to crash when the housekeeper popped up out of nowhere. "Faye, sleeping early tonight?"

I jumped, clutching my chest. "Yeah, just tired."

She nodded and left. As I gathered my stuff, Mom, in a silk robe, rushed in, "Faye, what's wrong? You sick?"

Then "Dad" was there, too. "I'm calling the family doctor! The competition's coming up! Faye can't be sick now!"

I couldn’t help but scoff.

I grew up in foster care, craving the warmth of family. When I was first found, they all babied me and I was stupid enough to think I finally had a loving family.

That was until the hackathon, when "Tiffany" – the fake heiress – showed up with my exact code. Then, it all became clear.

Tiffany played the martyr, sniffling into the mic, "I already gave back Faye's parents, so I don’t get why she’d copy my work." She even waved some forum posts as proof that she did it all herself.

Mom was all tears, "Judges, please give Faye a chance! She grew up in foster care! Stealing is, like, understandable! She's young; we'll teach her right!"

My “brother” was livid, “I always knew she was a jinx! We should’ve left her where she was! She comes back and now she's shaming our family with her plagiarism!”

“But I didn’t copy anything…”

Before I could even explain, Dad slapped me hard across the face.

"How dare you lie? We shouldn't have brought you back! Using the fact you’re a real heiress to steal Tiffany’s work! Get out! Our family won't harbor a creep like you!"

I was stunned. I wondered if I had stolen her work? How else would they be exactly the same?

Then I caught Tiffany smirking at me over Mom's shoulder. It was all a setup. She hated me for coming home and “stealing” her family.

With my parents and bro...