Rita sat back against her bedroom door, meditating until 3 a.m., when she finally heard movement outside. She immediately linked her vision with the thrush.
After a moment, she saw Samuel appear at the study doorway. First, he rotated the middle of one desk leg, then stood on a chair, feeling along the top of the bookshelf. He removed all books from the third shelf, fiddled with a corner, and the bookshelf swung open, revealing a passage just wide enough for one person.
After a while, Samuel emerged carrying a framed painting. Reversing the steps, he closed the bookshelf and replaced each book carefully.
As soon as Samuel returned to his room, Rita got up. Other parts of the Wilson house had no cameras, but she didn't know about the treasure room. To be safe, she changed clothes, donned gloves, and used Disguise to take on Rick's appearance. She moved lightly into the study.
Knowing the location and sequence of the mechanism, she soon opened the hidden passage. She left the thrush at the entrance to keep watch, instructing it to alert her at any disturbance.
Two meters in, she entered another room—the converted storage chamber. No door existed; the entry to the study was the only access. The room was roughly the size of the study and stacked with wooden crates.
She remembered these crates from her past life. Back then, she had been a wanted fugitive, living rough for months. Meanwhile, Samuel and Scarlett busily moved their lifetime treasures to the living room, preparing to transport them to the villa Rick had bought. Joy and pride shone on their faces.
Rita pulled out pre-prepared cardboard boxes of the same size, transferred the contents from the wooden crates, and mentally stacked them into her space bag, leaving only empty crates on the floor.
After finishing, she closed the secret room, returned to her room, changed clothes, deactivated Disguise, and lay down smiling. Finally, she could sleep.
On the 26th, Rita rose early for a run. Zoey would visit today, and she intended to be present. Zoey was a beta player, the legal wife of the male lead—she had to be on her guard. Rita couldn't understand why a wealthy heiress downloaded a game at midnight without promotion. Perhaps it was because Rick played, and she wanted to join? Or maybe fate itself favored her as the heroine.
The company called to tell her a role she had played for less than three days had been reassigned. Rita didn't care. Compared to the entertainment industry, she had far more important matters.
By 11 a.m., Rick arrived with Zoey. Rita had hidden her anger and even smiled when she saw Zoey. She admired herself for that.
But most of her feelings were gone. She couldn't flatter the Lopez family for Rick; last life, her brother claimed life in the Lopez family was difficult, but she couldn't appease them herself. The husband wasn't hers to manage.
Back then, when Zoey visited, she had been distressed over Robinson, which Zoey misinterpreted. Rick manipulated her into seeming like a sister with unhealthy feelings. Today, she maintained a courteous smile, even stealing from Zoey once during a toast. She couldn't use the skill successfully yet, but the activation confirmed Zoey was a player.
She stole three more times, reducing her HP to 40% before stopping. One successful theft appeared.
Looking at the results while leaning down to eat, she saw what she had stolen: 1 point of Luck.
In her previous life, Zoey had been a healer. Rita had assumed she would steal Intelligence or other attributes, but Luck was the highest value on Zoey's panel—and it could be stolen.
Initially, Rita had used the skill to annoy her enemy, expending health. Now, she resolved to keep going, even using potions, until she successfully stole Zoey's Luck.
Luck was a rare attribute. Once players leveled up and gained points, they would likely allocate them to their strongest stats, making this her only chance.
The higher the stakes, the slower she had to be. The Lopez family was powerful. Even though Thief God's passive effect delayed Zoey's realization of stolen items for a day, Rita couldn't risk exposure. She would repeatedly steal from Zoey, Rick, and his brothers, sometimes leaving briefly to drink healing potions—any mistake could arouse suspicion.
She never relied on luck. From the first theft, she took precautions.
For the next hour, she played the role of a cheerful observer, occasionally offering words of blessing. After the meal, as everyone settled to chat, she sent herself a call using a spare device, pretending to leave for work. She took the elevator, driving conspicuously out of the building.
Half an hour later, she had fully recovered using dried meat. She used Disguise to become a middle-aged man and returned to the Wilson family floor via the stairs.
Through the thrush, she observed the first floor empty. A few people were talking in the study, mentioning "Wilson family," "the Lopez family," and "marriage into the family."
No cameras were in the hallway, but each apartment had its own monitoring system.
Rita drank a Beginner Invisibility Potion, lasting five minutes with a seven-minute cooldown. The potion rendered her and her carried items invisible. She unlocked the Wilson family door with her invisible keys. The door creaked open slightly before closing slowly.
Timing precisely, she reached the study without closing the door.
Samuel sat at the desk; Scarlett and others lounged on the sofas, relaxed.
Rita moved gently next to Zoey. As Rick draped his arm over her shoulder, Rita began stealing continuously.
Four consecutive thefts left her pale, HP dropping to 20%. She downed a Beginner Healing Potion, recovering to 80%, and continued.
Three more thefts. Success. Another point of Luck.
Could this be the "more you steal, the luckier you get" phenomenon?
She tracked the time carefully. Two minutes remained before invisibility ended. She moved gently out of the room and into Rick's bedroom, hiding under the bed.
Her personal panel now showed Luck at 10—max value.
Shortly after, the potion expired. She ate dried meat, recovering HP steadily, waiting for the healing potion's cooldown. With the meat's effect, she recovered 5 points of HP and mana per minute.
Five minutes later, the potion's cooldown ended; her HP had reached 45%.
She didn't rush to use another potion. She continued eating, knowing that at low levels, she could steal without restraint. Later, at higher levels, each theft would deduct a percentage of her thousands of HP. Beginner potions only restored 60 HP. Higher-level potions would be necessary for fast recovery, making repeated thefts extremely costly.
As her health reached 96%, the bedroom door opened. Voices followed—it was Zoey and Rick.