The Wrong Woman, The Wrong Move

On the weekend, Sean brought Isobel back home to meet Grandma. "Sasha." Sean came downstairs. "Izzie wants to try some of your homemade bread. Can you bake some for her?""Sure," I said, setting aside my work. As I rolled up my sleeves and headed to the kitchen, Sean beamed at me. "Sasha, you're the best.""Of course." I flashed him an indulgent smile. Since our parents passed away, it had always been the two of us. We were the closest family we had, and I had always pampered him. I took some eggs from the fridge while Sean lingered beside me instead of leaving right away. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Sasha, will you give me anything I want?"The kitchen fell silent. He went back to his bubbly demeanor again after a few seconds. "I heard a car outside. It must be Grandma. I'll go greet her!"He left. After what felt like ages had passed, I sighed. By the time the bread was ready, dinner had already been prepared. Isobel came downstairs and linked arms with Grandma

I gaped at him. "Sean, is that really what you think of me?"Tugging Sean's arm, Isobel looked particularly defiant as she stated, "Since Sasha disagrees, forget it. Never mind that she dislikes me, but to think that she's even reluctant to give you a house as your marriage gift! If it were me, I'd rather be without a sister like her."Sean pressed his lips together, doubt flickering in his eyes. My office door suddenly swung open. Grandma marched in and chided, "I can literally hear you quarreling from miles away.""Grandma, what brings you here?" Sean sidled up to her, eager to please her. Grandma rolled her eyes. "Of course, I have to be here for the discussion of your big day!"As soon as she settled on the couch, she began patronizingly, "Sasha, Sean is the only son of our family. We have to take his wedding seriously. I like Izzie, and since she's now pregnant, I figured it'd be nice to just get the wedding done properly next month."The fortune of the entire Carringt

Realization dawned on me—this was probably Grandma's true intention. Figuring that it was already so hard to demand a house from me, she thought it also wouldn't be easy to take the company away from me in the future. Too anxious to just sit idle, she rushed over, masking her concern with probing questions. But I was never someone to be easily manipulated. Displeased, I reminded her, saying, "Grandma, have you forgotten our identities?"Grandma fell silent. She shot me a complicated look, her gentle demeanor taking a 180 degree shift as she snarled. "Sasha, are you saying that you have no intention of returning the company to Sean?"I flashed her an indifferent smile and replied, "Grandma, perhaps age is catching up to you, after all. Your memory is deteriorating. I was never obligated to return the company to Sean in the first place. Besides, no matter who runs the company, you'll always be our grandmother. So, why go through all the trouble to take it over?""Grandma's expre

Isobel put on a full-blown sob story in front of the media, claiming that she and Sean were deeply in love while I was trying to tear them apart. She accused me of disowning Sean just to hoard the inheritance for myself and to stop their marriage from taking place.If it were just her—a complete outsider who had nothing to do with the Carringtons—people might not have believed her entirely. But then Grandma decided to add fuel to the fire. In an instant, I was buried under public scrutiny. "To think she's acting like that as his sister!""She's just a woman, yet she's shamelessly clinging onto the family business!""Daughters aren't even supposed to have the right to inherit their families' business in the first place. She's been living off her brother all these years, and now, she has the audacity to steal from him? How can someone be this greedy?"I calmly strolled through the comments while Agnes' smile vanished. "Sasha, the only reason we adopted Sean was to keep the family

I got up and shot Karl an unamused look. "Karl," I called out in a warning tone.Leaning against the table, he seemed deep in thought as he mused, "But they're already gone, darling. I don't know if I can still catch up to them if I go after them now.""Then what are you waiting for?"Karl poured a cup of tea and handed it to me. "Babe, calm down. I've booked tickets to Ostria. Let's go on a vacation tomorrow and put all these things behind us."Seeing a dignified CEO of a company sulk like a wronged husband amused me despite myself. "Doesn't your company need you? Can you just leave like that?"Honestly, I wasn't against the idea of having someone accompany me—especially if that someone was Karl. Whenever I was with my family, I was the elder sister. I had to act like an elder, worrying about almost everything. I could never rely on someone else. But with Karl, I could do whatever I wanted. I barely had to worry about anything. Twirling my hair between his fingers, Karl