Semua Bab Take Your Love, I'll Take the Fortune: Bab 1 - Bab 9

A cold, inward smirk was all I could muster.Too spineless to show his own sister basic kindness in front of his darling cousin—what a pitiful man.My fingers, however, flew across the screen: [I want the Bugatti.]That hypercar cost over five million after taxes, was one of five in the country, and was worth more than any antique necklace.It was my brother's crown jewel. He frowned, hesitated for a long moment, then finally gritted his teeth.[Fine.]As we were texting, the university's leadership arrived.The dean took one look at the glaringly out-of-place funeral wreath."What is the meaning of this?"One by one, eyes turned to me. I calmly met my cousin's gaze.The dean didn't wait for an explanation. He motioned for campus security to remove both the wreath and my cousin from the event."Completely inappropriate!"Watching several officers escort her out, my brother and father panicked."Audrey, go talk to the dean!" my brother shouted. "Cathy didn't mean anything b

If Cathy's father's friend hadn't cut corners on the site, maybe that I-beam never would have fallen.That whole tangled "debt of a life" had shackled me for years, forcing me into a permanent bow before my cousin. It felt like swallowing something foul—impossible to reject, impossible to digest.I took the Bugatti out onto the open highway, pushing it hard for miles before pulling into a station and filling the tank on my brother's account. Only then did the tightness in my chest ease slightly.When I pulled up to the campus gates, I saw my father's car. He got out and handed me a folder."Sweetheart. Look this over."A flicker of genuine surprise crossed my face.It wasn't just the ten percent stake.But because in my last life, my father never once came to see me in this city before I died. Now, he'd flown across the country just to deliver papers."It's cold. Your assistant could have handled this," I said, my tone flat.My tepid show of concern seemed to sharpen his disco

"Audrey!"It was the same as always. The moment Cathy's eyes welled up, right and wrong ceased to matter. It always ended with me yielding and making amends."This is my house, and I decide what happens here!"With that, my father signaled to the security detail by the door."Take Audrey to her uncle's grave! She doesn't leave that plot until she's knelt for three full days and nights."The last trace of reluctance in Nick's eyes vanished when he looked at Cathy's tear-streaked face. His voice turned cold."I warned you to let it go. You had to push it. Fine—go kneel on that frozen ground and think it over."Their reaction couldn't touch me anymore.I didn't spare them a glance. Without a word, I followed the security team out of that house, which had long since lost any warmth.Let them go on their Aeropean vacation. That way, I'd have enough time to inherit my mother's estate and to dig into the truth behind that falling steel beam.…On the first day at the gravesite, I t

My voice grew colder with every word."What happened back then cost Mom her life.""And you?" I continued. "You kept saying how much you cared about her, yet not a single one of you ever properly investigated that accident!"The final sentence tore out of my throat, almost a roar. "If it weren't for Cathy's father, Mom wouldn't have died at all! You two idiots worshiped a murderer like a god for fifteen whole years!"After shouting that, I flung all the evidence Grandma had uncovered at their faces."Open your damn eyes and take a good look!""Oh, right," I added coldly. "Isn't Cathy supposedly ill—unable to face her father's grave? Today, I'll personally drag her there and make her kneel in front of his grave for seven days and seven nights. I want to see whether, without the two of you by her side, she'll still suddenly go insane."I'd long suspected that my cousin's illness was fake.But back then, she was only twelve—there was no way she could have arranged a doctor's diagn