All Chapters of Sorry for Being Brutally Honest: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The banquet hall instantly fell silent after I, Sylvia Holmes, finished speaking.The relatives who had been chatting just moments ago immediately lowered their heads and busied themselves with their drinks.The smile on Adeline Holmes' face—my supposed sister—froze. "I was just joking, Sylvia," she said."Which part of the joke was supposed to be funny?" I asked."That's not what I meant…""Then what exactly were you trying to say?"Adeline stared at me for a few seconds as her eyes gradually reddened. My eldest brother, Lucian Holmes, came over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder."Today's supposed to be a happy occasion, Sylvia. Don't get hung up on every little word," he said."I'm not," I replied. I pointed at the place card on the table before continuing, "My seat was right next to Mom's. Adeline moved my place card, took my seat, and then asked if I minded. "None of you see a problem with that?"A frown crossed Lucian's face. "It's just a seat. What differe

Chapter 2

Just like that, the homecoming banquet I'd been looking forward to for three years ended in less than an hour.When I returned to the Holmes residence, Adeline was leaning back on the couch, sipping water.Mom sat beside her as she gently patted her back, while all three of my brothers hovered around her as though she'd just come out of the emergency room.I'd just changed my shoes when Mom called out to me. "Sylvia, come over here and apologize to Adeline."I walked over and replied, "What exactly am I apologizing for?"Mom's hand stilled at my words. Marcus let out a cold scoff. "Do you really need someone to spell it out for you?" he snapped."Yes, I do. Otherwise, I might end up apologizing for the wrong thing. Is it because I asked her why she took my seat? Or because I didn't offer to give it up for her?" I asked, holding his gaze.Marcus shot to his feet. "There you go again. You always have to pick apart every single word we say until you make things awkward for everyone

Chapter 3

The next day, we arrived at the registry office at 9:00 am.Adeline came along with everyone else. She said she wanted to be there when I officially became part of the Holmes family.The clerk took our documents and began going through them. Halfway through, she looked up at Dad. "We're still missing one document to prove your relationship."Dad turned to look at Lucian. "Didn't I ask you to prepare it?"Lucian rummaged through the folder for a while before his expression shifted. "I left it on the desk in the study.""We're already here. Can't you just process it first?" Marcus couldn't help cutting in.The clerk shook her head before explaining, "The system won't let me proceed without all the required documents.""It's all my fault. Lucian was helping me find my medication last night. He probably got caught up with that and forgot about it," Adeline immediately chimed in.I looked at her. "Why's that your fault?"My question seemed to have caught her off guard. "I didn't me

Chapter 4

The clerk told me I could register independently through my employer. I'd been working in the city for six years, and all my Social Security and employment records were in order.It turned out I still had somewhere I belonged even if I didn't join the Holmes family registry.I called Brenda Monroe, the company's HR, and explained the situation. She immediately sent me the employer verification letter I needed. "You should've told us sooner. This is easy enough on our end," she replied.I stared at the electronic document on my phone. What the Holmes family had put off for three years took only 15 minutes to settle.By 2:00 pm that same afternoon, I'd received confirmation that my application had been accepted for processing. The family group chat, however, remained completely silent.The last message was still the one Mom had sent that morning. "We're welcoming Sylvia home today. No one's allowed to miss dinner tonight," she texted.All five of them had replied with the e

Chapter 5

Not once did I look back. After leaving the Holmes residence, I took a cab straight to the office.By then, Brenda was already waiting for me in the conference room. The sight of my suitcase caught her off guard for a moment. "You're really moving out?" she asked."Yes," I replied."Alright. We still have a room available in the employee housing. You can stay there for now. We'll deduct the rent from your paycheck." Having said that, she slid the documents across the table toward me."Here's the employer registry confirmation form. You can sign here," she continued.I looked down and signed the form. Just like that, everything was settled within five minutes.She glanced at my suitcase before asking, "Is your family fine with you moving out?""No, they're not.""And you still left?""Their opinion doesn't solve my problem," I replied simply.She gave me a thumbs-up. "You're still as stubborn as ever," she remarked.Just then, my phone rang. It was a call from Dad. His voice

Chapter 6

Three days later, I walked into a conference room at Holmes Group.Dad sat at the head of the table, and all three of my brothers were present as well. Adeline sat beside Mom with the emerald pendant still hanging around her neck.Dad's expression stiffened slightly when he saw me. "I didn't think you would come," he said."I'm here for work," I replied.Marcus leaned back in his chair with a smirk. "We couldn't get you to come home, but it turns out a project could."Ignoring the jab, I opened my laptop. "This project is charged by the hour. Every word you say from now on is billable."His smirk instantly vanished at my words. Dad tapped his fingers against the table. "Let's get down to business." Holmes Group was preparing to go public, and our firm had been brought in to review its internal accounts and related-party transactions. I pulled up the documents on the screen."The first item on the list is the Adeline Charitable Foundation."At that, Adeline lifted her ga

Chapter 7

This time, Adeline didn't burst into tears. She stared at the document for a moment before finally speaking. "I did take a copy of Sylvia's ID before."Mom's expression shifted before asking, "What did you need it for?""The insurance agent said they needed everyone's information when we set up the family insurance policy last year. I put it back as soon as I was done with it." She turned to look at me as she spoke.On the surface, her explanation sounded perfectly reasonable."Who contacted the consulting firm?" Lucian asked William.He checked the records before replying, "It was Ms. Adeline's assistant, Lilian Chandler."Adeline immediately pulled out her phone. "I'll have her come over right now."Half an hour later, Lilian walked into the conference room. All the color drained from her face the moment she saw the authorization form."I did it," she confessed.Adeline shot to her feet. "Why did you use Sylvia's name?"Lilian kept her head lowered. "Ms. Sylvia wasn't a m

Chapter 8

That same evening, Adeline came to my office looking for me. Word from the receptionist was that she'd been waiting downstairs for two hours.By the time I got off work, she was sitting alone in a corner of the lobby. This time, neither our parents nor the three brothers were with her.She stood up the moment she saw me. "Can we talk, Sylvia?" she asked."If it's about work, you can take it up with the legal department.""It's about family."I glanced at the time before replying, "You have ten minutes."Adeline followed me to the coffee shop downstairs. Once we were seated, she took off the emerald pendant and slid it across the table toward me."Here. It's yours," she said."This has nothing to do with the investigation," I stated.Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I know. I just wanted you to know that I never meant to take anything away from you."I held her gaze. "Then why did you refuse to give it back every time it came up?"She didn't answer me, so I pressed on. "

Chapter 9

The next day, Holmes Group recovered the 2.8 million dollars by 4:50 pm. Adeline personally repaid the remaining 600 thousand dollars.She stepped down as head of the foundation and issued a public apology. This time, the Holmes family made no attempt to sweep the matter under the rug.It was the first time Dad didn't ask me to make an exception.On the day the project wrapped up, the five of them waited for me outside the office. Mom held out the emerald pendant to me. "This belongs to you."Instead of taking it, I simply gave it a brief glance. "Where's the box?"She paused for a moment before replying, "Adeline has it. I'll get it back from her later.""Thanks."Taken aback, she waited for a while longer, seemingly expecting me to say more. I supposed it never crossed her mind that all I had to say was a simple "thanks" after everything that'd happened.Lucian placed a set of keys on the table. "Your old room's ready. We even replaced the previous clothes with ones your si

Chapter 10

Half a year later, I bought my own apartment. It wasn't big—just two bedrooms and a living room. But my name was the only one on the deed.The day I moved in, a few colleagues from HR came over to help. Even my boss, Richard, sent me a coffee machine as a housewarming gift.Wendy's case also came to a close around the same time. The company had sued her, and she was ordered to return every cent she'd taken in kickbacks. I heard she was still cursing me for not knowing how to take a hint on the day the verdict was handed down.I wasn't there to hear it. After all, that day was my birthday.The doorbell rang at 6:00 pm that evening. When I opened the door, I found all the Holmes family standing outside.Even Adeline was there. Although she looked a little thinner than before, her complexion was noticeably healthier.Mom was holding a cake, while Dad stood beside her with a bouquet. Judging by how stiff and awkward he looked, it might as well have been his first time giving some

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP