I Hired Elite Tycoons as My Parents for Five Cents Chapter 01
I was three years old, digging through a dumpster, when a few kids decided I looked like an easy target.
So I spent five cents to buy myself two street thugs who would fight for me and act as my parents.
Turns out I’d hit the jackpot.
The punk-rock mom? Oakhaven old money, the kind of woman nobody crossed twice.
The street-thug dad? The most dangerous man in organized crime, and he liked the reputation just fine.
Mom taught me how to shred someone with my words. Dad taught me how to tear down the highway at 120.
Fifty cents. That’s what it cost. And for eighteen years, not one person laid a finger on me.
Then one day, my birth parents showed up, and it turned out I was the long-lost daughter of the Stratton family. As in the Strattons. Old money, big name, the whole package.
But the day I arrived at their front door, Brooke Stratton, the adopted daughter, blocked my way.
She stood at the top of the steps, looked me up and down, and sneered.
If I wanted inside, she said, I’d have to crawl through the dog door.
I didn’t move.
My oldest brother Trenton Stratton’s face went hard.
“It’s a dog door. So what? Stop acting like you’re above it. You should be grateful Brooke is letting you in at all.”
Beside him, my younger brother Caleb Stratton didn’t even try to hide his disgust.
“You’re an embarrassment just standing here, and you think you can give Brooke attitude? Get on your knees and crawl.”
I looked at my birth parents, Richard and Evelyn Stratton.
They didn’t even bat an eye.
“Brooke’s just upset. She’s not thrilled you’re back. Humor her a little, okay?”
“We’re a family. Let’s not start off on the wrong foot.”
I looked at every single one of their faces. Then, without a flicker of emotion, I pulled out my phone.
[Mom, Dad, the Strattons are ganging up on me. Get over here NOW.]
***
The message had barely sent before Caleb lunged and ripped the phone out of my hand.
The family group chat was still open on the screen, “Rossi Rescue Squad,” and two replies had already popped up.
[Mom (Stella)] [Baby, don’t you worry! I’m sending the fleet right now. Somebody over there wants to find out what happens when you mess with MY daughter.]
[Dad (Vincenzo)] [Someone TOUCHED my daughter? The Strattons? I’ll have them bankrupted before the sun goes down.]
Caleb stared at the two flashing profile pictures: heavy eyeliner, leather jackets, full street punk.
Then he let out a laugh. He read both messages out loud, dripping with mockery, making sure Richard and Evelyn heard every word.
Brooke doubled over in laughter, wiping her eyes, her voice thick with scorn.
“Oh my God, Hazel, your two little street thug parents are going to take on the Strattons? Seriously?”
“That’s like a chihuahua barking at a freight train.”
I blinked.
They didn’t even bother doing a background check on who raised me before dragging me back here?
Sure, my adoptive parents dressed like street punks back then. That didn’t make them actual thugs.
Beside me, Evelyn’s face twisted in disgust. The polite facade was gone.
She stepped toward me, and her voice left no room for argument.
“A Stratton, mixed up with street trash? Do you have any idea what people would say? We’d be a laughingstock.”
“You’re a Stratton now, Hazel. That means those people are out of your life. All of them.”
She shot Caleb a look and nodded toward the phone. He handed it back to me.
“Delete their numbers. Every single one. Right now.”
“Consider it your first lesson in being a Stratton.”
I swallowed my rage, reaching for the phone so I could just turn and leave.
My fingers barely brushed the screen before Brooke snatched it back.
She turned to Evelyn, feigning an innocent pout.
“Mom, look at her glaring at you. She’s not going to delete them. She doesn’t respect you at all.”
“Fine. Since she won’t do it, I’ll do it for her. Saves us the trouble when those people try to leech off us later.”
I let out a dry, humorless laugh. My blood was boiling. This entire family was delusional.
The great Stratton family? They weren’t worth the dirt on my shoes.
Whoever wanted to be their precious lost daughter could have the job. I was done.
