4: Uncle, you're my only hope!

“Theo,” Jeffrey Kruger warned, his tone heavy with caution. “Sit down.”

Theo glared murderously at Kimberly, but under his father’s stern gaze, he reluctantly sank back into the leather cushions.

Meanwhile, Finnick Kruger watched the dramatic circus unfolding before him, a flicker of genuine amusement dancing deep in his dark eyes, a rare sight, considering almost nothing ever amused him.

He shifted, his gaze icy and calculating as he focused on the father and son. “Theo. Care to explain what, exactly, is going on here?”

Jeffrey let out a heavy sigh, glancing awkwardly between Vivian and Theo before attempting to smooth things over. “This is Vivian Holland, Kimberly’s adopted sister. She and Theo... well, they’ve always been very close.”

Lucy nodded along frantically, eager to back her father up.

Finnick lowered his eyelids, his brain sifting through the ridiculous logic.

“Hmm. Let me get this straight.” His voice dropped, thick with menace. “His wife’s younger sister, pregnant, no less, enters our home? After I’ve been gone...” He shot Jeffrey a look that could curdle blood. “Is this how you uphold the Kruger family’s prestigious reputation?”

Jeffrey lowered his head, suddenly sweating under the weight of his younger brother’s cold gaze.

Vivian’s smug, victimized expression vanished instantly, replaced by a pale look of dread.

“No, Uncle! Wait, let me explain…” Theo blurted out, but his voice rapidly trailed off into silence as he realized there was literally no honorable explanation for knocking up his wife’s sister.

Watching Theo choke on his own hypocrisy, Kimberly let out a sharp, mocking snort, shaking her head.

Theo flushed bright red, speechless.

‘Just as I remembered,’ Kimberly smirked internally, her estimation of the man skyrocketing. ‘Uncle Finnick is the only person in this entire cursed novel who actually possesses a working brain and moral standards.’

She recalled the plot details vividly.

As the true titan behind the Kruger empire, Finnick had been the one who ordered a full-scale investigation after the original heroine’s tragic death.

It was only thanks to him that Vivian’s disgusting conspiracies were dragged into the light, using the heroine’s diary to deliver posthumous justice.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied his side profile. ‘Though... the author made him so ridiculously mysterious like there was something off about him. I thought the story would lean in toward the mystery surrounding Finn Kruger, but it just ended like that.’

Then she shook her head. ‘Whatever. Right now, he’s the ultimate power player. If I stick to him like glue, destroying these absolute clowns will be a walk in the park!’

She sneered at the thought.

Panicking as his son withered under scrutiny, Jeffrey scrambled to pivot the blame. “Finnick, you don’t understand the full picture. This Kimberly Holland... ever since she married into our family three years ago, she has been barren.”

Finnick’s cold eyes flicked back to Kimberly.

“Our Kruger bloodline is extraordinarily thin,” Jeffrey pressed on, gaining confidence. “Heirs are paramount to our legacy. That’s why…”

“Exactly!” Theo chimed in, grasping at straws. “That’s the only reason, Uncle!”

Kimberly looked at the pathetic duo, then met Finnick’s steady, impassive gaze.

A brilliant, dramatic idea sparked in her mind.

Her lips began to quiver uncontrollably and her eyes welled with instantaneous, Oscar-worthy tears.

“UNCLE!!” she wailed, throwing herself across the floor and sliding to her knees right in front of his armchair. “I have been so horribly wronged!”

Finnick snapped straight back against his chair, his usual unshakeable posture momentarily shattering in shock as the young woman threw her hands onto his thighs.

Gasping through dramatic, wracking sobs, Kimberly pointed an accusing finger at the men.

“Theo Kruger hasn't shared a bed with me ever!” She ranted. “He was far too busy chasing after his wife’s adopted sister! And now they have the audacity to blame me for not bearing a child?!”

Finnick slowly leaned back against the sofa, listening.

“Am I supposed to have a baby with the air?” Kimberly cried out, rounding on Jeffrey and Theo before dramatically resting her forehead right on Finnick’s knee. “Uncle... I’m begging you, please stand up for me! You’re my only hope!”

Finnick stiffened, looking away with a rare, visibly uncomfortable edge.

Vivian looked as if she’d swallowed a lemon, squirming where she stood.

Kim kept talking, tracing dramatic circles on Finnick’s trouser leg with a delicate finger, pouring out her grievances with pitiful flair.

“Ever since I married into the Kruger family, my father-in-law has despised me, my mother-in-law has loathed me, my husband gives me the cold shoulder, and my sister-in-law picks fights daily...”

Lucy Kruger immediately averted her gaze but none of them dared speak.

“If you Krugers look down on my background so much,” Kimberly sniffled, rubbing her face near his knee, “then why did you marry me just to treat me like a dog? Uncle…”

Swish!

Finnick violently jerked his leg backward, breaking her grip and leaving Kimberly awkwardly hovering over empty air.

He crossed his long legs, staring down at her with a dangerous, warning glare. “Stop touching my leg.”

Kimberly blinked, straightening up with an immediate, childish pout. “Oh.”

Taking his reaction as a victory, Jeffrey quickly cut in. “Finnick, don’t listen to her insane, theatrical nonsense…”

“I have eyes and ears. I am fully capable of judging the situation myself,” Finnick interrupted smoothly, his voice dropping an octave as he fixed Jeffrey with a deadly stare. “Unless, of course, you believe I’m an idiot. Am I?”

Jeffrey blinked, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck.

He swallowed hard.

Finnick tilted his head, his tone deceptively soft. “I asked you a direct question, Jeffrey. Am I stupid?”

Jeffrey let out a forced, rattling chuckle, shaking his head frantically. “Of course not! Never! How could you even say that?”

Finnick looked away, dismissing his brother’s panic. “The marriage alliance with the Holland family is absolute and unchangeable.”

Jeffrey nodded like a pendulum, while Theo’s face twisted into a bitter sneer.

“Marrying a daughter of the Holland lineage was a non-negotiable rule decreed by the old Patriarch himself,” Finnick continued, casting a sharp look at Jeffrey. “Brother... surely you haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Driven over the edge by frustration, Theo leaped to his feet, pointing wildly. “But all of you forced me to marry her! Did a single person stop to ask what I wanted?!”

Jeffrey’s eyes widened in horror.

He lunged upward, grabbing Theo’s wrist and aggressively tugging his shirt down. “Theo, shut your mouth and sit down! Show some respect!”

Theo gritted his teeth, his shoulders trembling with rage, but the sheer terror in his father’s eyes forced him back into his seat.

Finnick slowly turned his head toward his nephew, his icy demeanor utterly unbothered by the outburst. “Theo. Do you have a problem with the family’s arrangements?”

Theo looked away, biting his lip so hard it nearly bled.

Finnick shifted his gaze calmly toward the ceiling. “Then the solution is remarkably simple. Renounce your name and leave the Kruger family. No one is holding you hostage.”

A magnificent, triumphant smile burst across Kimberly’s face. She almost clapped.

“So long as you enjoy the immense power, wealth, and privilege of the Kruger name,” Finnick concluded with authority, “you will yield to the duties of the Kruger family. End of discussion.”