The Aftermath of the Worst First Day
The Sterling heirs returned home broken, mentally destroyed, and deeply concerned about how normal people survived life.
Zephyr had been banned from using the store's pricing system after nearly causing an inflation crisis in the canned goods aisle.
Solene had been betrayed by a four-year-old and locked in a closet for thirty minutes, her dignity permanently damaged.
Caspian had **triggered car alarms, mistaken tools for kitchen utensils, and been publicly humiliated by his mechanic boss.
They sat at the tiny dining table, their fancy designer outfits ruined, staring at each other like victims of war.
First Lesson of Survival: Cooking (Fails Immediately)
For the first time in their lives, they had to cook their own dinner.
The fridge contained:
A carton of eggs (mildly questionable). Uncooked rice (What were they supposed to do with this?). Vegetables that looked suspiciously wilted.A loaf of bread that was at least edible.
Zephyr grabbed the rice and confidently declared, "I'll cook this."
Within five minutes, he had:
Forgotten to add water.Burnt the bottom of the pot.Created what could only be described as a rice-based crime scene.
Solene attempted to scramble eggs, but the pan was too hot, leading to a disastrous mess of burnt clumps and sadness.
Caspian proudly made a sandwich—only to drop it on the floor and immediately regret his life choices.
Dinner ended with them eating dry toast and sipping plain water, silently mourning their former luxurious lives.
Cleaning: A Foreign Concept
After dinner, another terrifying realization hit them.
Dishes do not clean themselves.
For years, they had assumed that dirty plates simply disappeared and reappeared spotless—thanks to the silent army of housekeepers who had been there their entire lives.
Now, for the first time, they stared at a pile of disgusting dishes, completely unsure of what to do.
Zephyr attempted to use dish soap like shampoo ("Cleaning is cleaning, right?").
Solene refused to touch anything covered in grease, instead trying to scrub a fork with makeup wipes.
Caspian assumed the dishwasher would solve everything, only to realize the apartment did not have one.
By the end of the night, the sink was overflowing, the kitchen smelled worse than before, and somehow, nobody had learned a single skill.
The First Grocery Shopping Disaster
The next morning, they had no choice—they needed groceries, and Jonathan hadn't left them unlimited food supplies.
This led to another horror:
They had to shop for their own food.
They arrived at the local grocery store, where absolute chaos unfolded immediately.
Zephyr tried to approach shopping strategically, but his ideas about budgeting were completely useless. Solene wandered the store in disgust, only picking items that "looked expensive," completely ignoring nutritional value. Caspian threw random things into the cart, leading to the worst mix of ingredients possible—ketchup, cereal, canned mushrooms, and juice labeled "mystery flavor."
Then, the worst moment happened—they reached the checkout.
For the first time ever, they had to pay for something themselves.
Zephyr confidently swiped his card, only to be informed that his father had restricted all luxury-linked accounts.
Solene tried to negotiate with the cashier, offering Instagram exposure in exchange for free food—she was laughed at immediately.
Caspian panicked and attempted to calculate the total cost manually, only to fail at basic math and accidentally convince himself they owed the store $500 instead of $60.
By the time they left, they were deeply traumatized, carrying bags full of mostly useless groceries, and wondering how they would ever survive another week.
As they sat in their tiny, miserable apartment, staring at questionable groceries and a kitchen filled with their previous cooking failures, the same thought hit all of them at once:
Survival was impossible.
And worst of all?
They still had five more shifts at their jobs before they could even earn their first paycheck.
Jonathan Sterling had planned the perfect torture, and they were completely unprepared for what was coming next.