How To Deal With A Toxic Cousin?

Sara Jane wants nothing more than to get away from her ex husband —Jason, after his treacherous break up and betrayal. She takes her boss's offer on a vacation and spends the next few months buried in work. But things begins to change as her boss announces that a new client would be expecting Sara's marketing expertise for almost a million dollars. Sara is ecstatic of the good news and decides to accept her new reality away from Jason. Until... She bumps into the stranger at the pool. What happens when you bump into your next big client in the most weirdest way possible? He is mean. He is cold. He is ruthless. He is the cold elder brother of her ex husband. Sara Jane might have wished a world away from Jason, but fate had decided to plunge her right at the center of that world. An age long siblings rivalry, a cold boss, a selfish ex husband. Sara is forced into a family drama and the worse person she has on her side is her cold ruthless client , Alex Ford. He is dangerous. He is unforgiving. He is the mean ruthless heir that owns more than half of the family's empire. But when it comes to Sara, he takes actions that leaves everyone scratching their heads. Sara swore that she would never like him, she would never get close to him... But when push comes to shove. She sees herself doing questionable things. __________________________ Author's Warning The story is rated eighteen and features explicit scenes such as nudity, morally complex character, sex, curse words, vulgar words, violence, stalking, cyber bullying and obsession. Readers discretion is advised.

My cousin forgot to log out of her messaging app on my laptop. I was helping her sign out when a notification from a group chat popped up on the screen. “We’re having family dinner tonight to celebrate Lucas improving his exam scores.” Out of curiosity, I clicked into the chat. There were only four people in the group. My dad, my mom, my brother, and my cousin. Then my brother replied, “Just the four of us. Don’t invite Freya. She’s always so petty. She even fights with Emma over an apple.” I froze. That was when I realized I was the outsider in my own family.

My name is Ivanka Marie Harris. I am the black sheep of my family. I have had enough of their mistreatment of me for no reason. I am tired of begging for love and answers. I am fed up and I am not taking it anymore. I am tired of my sister and cousin trying to steal my identity and my life as well as use me to be their scapegoat. I just to get away from my toxic family before they cost me my freedom and my sanity. I have been lucky so far, but I know it won't last forever.

On New Year's Eve, my girlfriend of three years, Gina Jarrey, invited me to her place for dinner with her family. Before I could even take a bite, she drugged me and left me half-conscious. She mumbled, "If we don't pay them back, they're going to cut off my brother's hand. I had no other choice but to hand you over. Don't blame me for this. You're just unlucky for having a face identical to the man Ms. Carmelia Sanders is obsessed with. Once my brother's gambling debts are cleared, you might even end up living the high life. It's a win-win!" My mind drifted in and out as her entire family handed me over and sent me to a mansion that looked eerily familiar. First of all, unless I was mistaken, this place belonged to my aunt. Second, she had an extreme brother complex and had never liked any man other than Dad. And finally, years ago, a distant relative of mine got sent off to work in the mines in Frongo just for rolling his eyes at Dad. So really, who was the unlucky one getting delivered to my aunt's doorstep? Oh my, what a tough mystery to solve.

Everyone loved my older sister. When the novel I wrote shot to popularity, she got jealous and suddenly proclaimed that she wanted to be a popular author too. My older brother, who was the editor-in-chief, immediately announced that I plagiarized my sister's story at my book signing and she ended up becoming the genius author while I got cyberbullied so much that I was too scared to leave the house. After I got married to a young heir from high society and lived a happy life, my sister told me that she had a crush on him for years and wanted to be his bride at least once in her lifetime. He did not even think twice about divorcing me and holding the wedding of the century with my sister. My family was afraid that I would sabotage their relationship, so they made me leave the country. However, my sister did not think that I was miserable enough. She came for me outside the country and pushed me down the stairs. I was lying in a pool of blood when my mother rebuked me, "Did you say something that made your sister unhappy again?" That was how I died in despair. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my brother accused me of plagiarism.

I spent three years studying like my life depended on it before I finally earned a government job. Then, on my first week there, I saw a familiar face. My cousin. The same cousin I’d met at that awkward family reunion back home. Somehow, he had gotten hired by the same department. A few days later, at a family dinner, he made his move. With my uncle sitting right there at the head of the table, acting every bit like the important city official he was, my cousin shoved a classified file into my hands. The pages had clearly been tampered with. Before I could say a word, he let out a sharp cry and dropped to the floor. The file spilled open across the tile. “Ethan!” he shouted, his voice trembling with fake disbelief. “That’s confidential government material! How could you steal it and show it to outsiders? Was the finder’s fee really worth selling us out?” My uncle slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his face dark with rage. He said he would not protect family at the cost of justice. He said he would fire me on the spot and report me to the higher-ups himself. That was when a string of floating comments appeared in front of my eyes. [This cousin is painfully stupid. Does he seriously not know the male lead was brought in from above as the head of the internal inspection team? He’s here to investigate him.] [And the uncle is still acting. Hilarious. The inspection team’s car is literally about to pull up outside.] I read the comments, then calmly lifted my teacup and took a slow sip. Across from me, my cousin was still trying to look loyal and outraged. I set the cup down and smiled. “You’re right about one thing. This file is confidential.” His eyes lit up. Then I added, “But you changed the wrong section.” The color drained from his face. I turned to my uncle. “And Uncle, didn’t you just say you’d put justice before family?” I pushed back my chair and stood. “Great. Then come with me to the Special Investigations Unit and explain how many people you’ve illegally helped into the department over the years.” My cousin stared at me, completely stunned. He had fought so hard to get into public service. He had no idea I was the one sent to clean it up.