Chapter 3

The next morning at breakfast, Romina ground me a cup of coffee by hand and smiled sweetly.

"Sister, I recommend the Moretino single-origin beans. You'll love them."

Oh? If you were so eager to wait on me, I wouldn’t hold back then.

I held out my hand and gave her a sweet smile. "Thank you."

As Romina passed me the coffee, her foot slipped.

Scalding coffee splashed across my thigh. My skin flared an angry red on contact.

Romina fluttered her hands, helpless, head bowed, tears falling. "Sister, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to..."

My mother frowned, scolding. "Ophelia, you can't even take a cup of coffee without dropping it? What if you'd burned Romina?"

[zero out of ten for this performance, the secondhand embarrassment is unreal!]

[the male lead's about to show up, she's working herself up for the big move!]

Right on cue, Orlando appeared.

Romina threw herself into his arms, sobbing. "I... I'm so clumsy... I burned my sister..."

Orlando's eyes filled with concern. He murmured to her for a moment, then turned a cold stare on me.

"Romina made that coffee for you herself. What are you playing at?"

I glanced down at my nearly cooked skin, pulled out my phone with my payment QR code on the screen, and walked over to Romina.

"Don't cry, Romina. I'm not blaming you at all."

"Thank you... thank you, Sister... I really didn't mean to..."

"Let's not dwell on it." I cut her off and held the payment code up in front of her. "But we should settle the medical bill, yeah?"

Romina froze.

I waited a beat. When she didn't move, I waved the phone in front of Orlando instead.

"Or... will Mr. Hale cover it for his fiancée?"

Orlando's face went dark and he said nothing. My mother jumped in to smooth it over.

"Is money really the issue here? Your sister's been frightened. That's what matters."

"You're so good at making money. I suppose it's fine if you don't get a share of the family fortune. We'll just give it all to Romina."

My father snorted. "I agree."

Orlando nodded too. "After the wedding, I'll set aside part of the family business for Romina as well."

Tsk. That was the heroine for you. A couple of tears and she got everything.

Be as generous as you liked. You still owed me my bill.

I lifted my leg, pointed at the red, raw skin with one hand, and kept waving the payment code in front of Orlando with the other.

"No objections from me. But settle the medical bill first."

[the villainess has actually lost it... why won't she just make a scene...]

Orlando's hands shook as he pulled out his phone. His voice cracked with fury. "Sent."

Another five million.

The note read: Take it. Stop giving Romina a hard time.

I sighed and texted back, "Please. I'm the victim here. And you still owe me twenty-five million."

Orlando read it, and his face went darker still.

He didn't so much as look at me. He wrapped an arm around Romina and walked out.

I didn't care where he went. As far as I was concerned, he was off rounding up the cash.

If he didn't pay the balance today, I'd chase him for it tomorrow.

By evening, Romina pushed open my door, sniffling.

"Sister, my pink diamond ring is gone! Orlando gave it to me as an engagement gift..."

She held up her phone to show me a photo.

The smile froze on my face.

I knew that ring.

A year ago, Orlando took me to a Sotheby's auction and told me to pick anything I wanted.

I chose that seven-carat pink diamond.

He bought it without a word.

But he never gave it to me. When I finally couldn't help asking, he said flatly, "Oh. Gave it to someone else."

So from the very start, it was always going to be Romina who won.

[the villainess is shook! she totally stole it!]

[here for the face-slap arc!]

Orlando followed her into my room, voice ice cold. "Ophelia. That doesn't belong to you. Hand it over."

My mother arrived too, face grim. "Are you getting back at your sister? If you took it, give it back now."

"Sister..." Romina wrung her hands. "If you like it, I can give you other jewelry, but not this ring..."

I almost laughed out loud.

What, now I had to prove my own innocence?

Fine. But it would cost you.

"How about a bet?"

I looked at them, daring them, and said it slow and clear. "Ten million. We go check the security footage and see if I actually took it."

Silence.

I pressed them. "Well? Or we can make it five million."

While we were still at a standstill, a maid came running. "Found it! Miss Romina! The ring slipped down into the crack by the bed!"

Orlando blinked, then couldn't help looking at me.

[okay I'm shook! it really was a misunderstanding!]

[hold on, something's off about this villainess, she really doesn't seem to want the male lead anymore...]

The comments stopped agreeing with each other and split into two camps.

Orlando cleared his throat and transferred me another sum, his voice low. "I'm sorry. It was a misunderstanding."

I checked it and muttered, "Why'd you only bet five million? Cheapskate."

Orlando's jaw clenched. He looked one breath away from bursting a vein.

I ignored him, shut the door, and opened my phone.

I booked an appointment to terminate the pregnancy.