The Sweet Taste of Revenge

Rita put away her equipment and then indulged in a chocolate puff pastry she had cooked herself. It was a simple **F-grade** dish, but since acquiring the **God of the Culinary Arts** talent, each dish now came with a unique score, likely a feature exclusive to this divine ability.

**[Chocolate Puff Pastry (F-grade┃64 points)]: Restores a total of 30 HP over 5 seconds. If you savor it for 10 seconds, you'll be fully nourished, gaining +3 Constitution for 5 minutes.**

A simple low-level dessert.

However, with the **God of the Culinary Arts** talent, the food's effects were tripled. After eating the puff, her **Constitution** increased by **9**.

Her original Constitution of **11 → 4.4** was now updated to **[Constitution]: 20 → 8**.

Although her health didn't increase immediately, she felt less weakened. She followed it up with a glass of milk that boosted her **mental clarity**.

It was a little disappointing that the buff from **God of the Culinary Arts** prevented the effect of the **Gourmet's Bib** from stacking, but that item still provided a convenient cover for her abilities.

Two minutes later, Rita disappeared from the Wilson home. After a few quick **Phantom Shifts**, she returned to her villa but didn't rush to contact Rick or his family.

She knew that after a closed beta test, the game phone connections would all vanish into thin air for a while, leaving everyone temporarily out of contact.

Rita locked her doors and took a much-needed nap.

When she awoke after the **Disguise** skill cooldown had reset, she disguised herself as an elderly person and used **Phantom Shift** to appear in an airport restroom. After locating a flight to Las Vegas, she snuck into the baggage hold while cloaked by **Phantom Cloak**. Once there, she used **Animagus** to transform into a kitten and hid among the luggage. Finally, feeling safe, she took the opportunity to bind her **Chávez pocket watch** with a **Binding Stone**, securing it for good. Only then did she relax.

The flight had a stopover midway, departing at **17:45** and arriving in **Las Vegas** at **9:00** the next morning.

Once she landed, she returned to her hotel. After briefly stepping out to buy a new phone and a SIM card, she logged back online and immediately asked in the family chat whether Rick had succeeded the previous day.

Rick hadn't logged on yet.

Only Samuel and Scarlett were active in the chat.

After a few messages back and forth, Rita called them on video chat to ask how things had gone yesterday.

Both Samuel and Scarlett were glowing with joy, eagerly praising Rita for her thoughtfulness and care.

Rita felt a bitter sting. In her previous life, no matter how well she treated them, did she ever receive such praise? Never!

She admitted to herself that she couldn't give her all to anyone, not even her own family. But whenever she obtained something valuable, she always thought of them! She gave them whatever she could.

Items she could have sold for money or resources—because they said they needed them, she gave them.

Pets that could have increased her strength—because they said they were scared to go out without protection, she gave them.

Rare, priceless mission items—because Zoey wanted them, they helped knock her out and take them.

They knew Sanchez's Divine Gift allowed him to drain his partner's stats, yet they still pushed her to marry him.

Wiping away the tears forming in her eyes, Rita smiled at her parents through the screen. "Good, I'm glad you're both doing well."

Samuel and Scarlett were satisfied to see their daughter moved by their sweet words, and they happily hung up the call.

"Glad you're satisfied," Rita muttered, wiping her nose with a smile. She dug into the lamb dish in front of her, feeling like this was the most delicious meal she had eaten since her rebirth.

As for Rick, he had passed out after smashing everything in a fit of rage.

No matter how powerful the **Thief God** passive was, it couldn't help someone who constantly obsessed over it.

Almost immediately after the closed beta ended, Rick had begun frantically trying to summon his **Divine Gift**.

And then, it appeared.

But to his horror, the five brilliant skills he had grown used to were mostly gone—only one remained, with the four most crucial ones grayed out.

The most agonizing thing? Having received something so grand, only to lose it before he could fully enjoy it!

An **SS-tier Divine Gift**!!!

Now it was worthless.

Rick lost control, trashing everything in his secret room.

Jewels! — Smashed!

Antiques! — Broken!

Calligraphy! — Torn!

Gold bars! — Thrown to the floor and stomped on!

He had never been so unhinged in his life. He knew he was behaving like a madman, but he didn't care. He felt as if he were on the verge of insanity.

If he had initially drawn an A-tier or even B-tier Divine Gift, he wouldn't have lost his mind like this...

Once the treasures in his vault were wrecked, he stormed through the house, destroying anything in his path.

Eventually, exhausted, Rick collapsed and fell asleep.

After Samuel and Scarlett finished their video call with Rita, they began searching for their son, eventually discovering the chaos he had caused.

Pushing open the door, Scarlett found Rick lying among the ruins of their once-luxurious home.

Samuel, following the trail of destruction to the vault, took one look at the shattered antiques and artifacts inside and fainted on the spot.

…

When Scarlett called Rita, she was staying at a hotel near the police station, hiding out until her **severe weakness** debuff ended.

Hearing that both her father and brother were now hospitalized, Rita acted concerned. "Is it serious?" **Please don't let it be nothing!**

Scarlett sighed, "Your father just fainted, but do you have any more of that potion? Honestly, seeing the broken antiques made me want to pass out, too."

**You think it's ginseng?** Rita replied, "I do, I've learned how to make it. Ask Rick if he has any left, let him use that for now. We won't run out of it from now on."

Rick had also learned alchemy, so by offering this, she could earn some goodwill.

After stealing Rick's Divine Gift, Rita's burning hatred had subsided by about half. Now, she could even treat revenge as a kind of game.

Of course, she would always keep her real-world **Thief God** skill ready, to make sure Rick never recovered, until he died!

After a few more minutes of conversation, Rita hung up.

She spent the next few days holed up in her hotel, keeping the windows and curtains open to ensure the police across the street could hear her if needed.

Sitting by the window, Rita read through **Apache's Alchemy Notes**. She ordered takeout three times a day but didn't actually eat any of it, relying solely on the food from her inventory. At times, it felt like she was back in her fugitive days from the previous life.

Finally, on the afternoon of the **12th**, her **severe weakness** debuff ended, and all her health, mana, and other stats returned to normal. She left the hotel without hesitation, paid someone to drive her car back to Los Angeles, and caught a flight home.