2025-01-21 16:35:54The matriarch's eyes widened. Her wrinkled face drew further into an ugly scowl as she rose from her throne-like seat.
She pointed her trembling slender fingers in Emily's face.
"How dare you object to my command? You've become such an insolent and spoiled lady! You are truly not deserving of the family business," the matriarch spat in annoyance and disgust.
Emily's tears fell in large pellets. "Grandmother, I worked hard for this. It was very little when it was handed over to me. You can't take it away," she passionately pleaded. "Please. It's all I have, and I love it so much."
The matriarch's eyes softened slightly as she patted Emily's cheeks.
"My darling, you've always been a good girl from your childhood, and I've always loved you for that," she deadpanned.
"Keep being a good girl now by handing over the company to your brother. Choose the best interest for your family. The family business will do better in Cullen's hands, don't you know?"
Emily wiped her tears away. The old woman's greed and manipulation would never cease to amaze her. Her eyes blazed as she shook her head.
"I will never give up the family business," she gritted out, moving away from her grandmother.
"You are a woman like me, yet you've had more rights and privileges in this family than I've ever had. You're always choosing my brother over me because I'm a lady. Isn't it hypocritical and shameful?"
Her grandmother's face grew hard, and she clenched her palms into an indignant fist.
"You don't know how much shame you would be pulling our family into if you keep handling the company. This isn't just about you being a lady. It's about keeping our family name in the mud along with yourself. Do you know how much your name has been muddied already? Will you let the business also follow you into the shame?"
There were nods of approval from the rest of the family seated at the table.
Emily shook her head in self-pity. "You put my name in the mud, grandmother. Because you're just a cruel, old witch!"
A loud smack echoed in the room as her grandmother's palms connected with her cheeks sharply.
Emily’s cheeks stung from the contact. She turned to her grandmother in disbelief. The woman had never raised her hands on her before. Has it really come to this?
"My decision is final, you silly child. You will hand over the family business to your brother and join the family group to assist him, or you can also consider yourself a bastard because we will sever all ties with you!" Her grandmother stated emphatically, heaving in rage.
Cullen, Emily's brother, walked over to her. He took her by the hand and led her back to her seat, shooting Emily a disapproving look.
"Look what you're doing, Emily. How stubborn can you be? Do you want grandmother to die because you're too selfish to hand over the business to me? If you ever loved this family, you would do what is right for the family. You will give me the family business, not stand here, trying to send grandmother to her grave early!"
"Thank you, Cullen. You've always been a responsible boy. You really deserve the family business, my son," grandmother stated warmly, patting Cullen's cheek fondly.
Cullen smirked, sneaking a mocking glance in Emily's direction. "I just want to see you happy, grandmother. You deserve all the happiness in the world."
A sad, sarcastic smile spread across Emily's cheeks as she watched their theatrics, her heart heavy with sadness.
Her mother watched from the other end of the table as she offered Emily a sympathetic smile.
"Emily, you are a disgrace already. Please save our family business the shame of being headed by you and your crippled husband. Hand it over to Cullen," an uncle who had flown into town for the meeting spoke up, and others concurred.
"Yes. Do something right for once in your life. Just go home and stay with that disgrace of a husband or something." Another uncle interjected. "You did choose him, after all."
From there, snide and mean remarks continued flying around the room, each word striking Emily's weak heart like a dagger.
She caught her brother's eyes as he pacified their grandmother. He gave her a knowing smile and mouthed, "Just leave already!"
Emily knew he had always been jealous of her from their childhood. He never let an opportunity to mock her for being born slip past him. Left to him, he would be the only child of his parents.
The pressure weighed down on her, but she plastered a fake smile on her face, refusing to bow to their desires.
"I don't care what anyone thinks. You'd have to kill me to get the company because you can't make me step down. After all, that's how I was able to grow the business to the heights it is now." She stated pointedly, emphasising every word in her last sentence.
Her uncle slammed his palm on the table in rage, ready to explode, but was suddenly cut short.
Emily wondered why he had gone silent all of a sudden. She was getting ready to hear his mean words.
She found him staring right behind her. Everyone in the room was looking behind her with confounded faces. Her brother's jaw nearly touched the ground.
Curiously, she turned around to see the object of their view. Before she saw who had come in, her heart skipped a beat at the familiar voice that firmly stated:
"I insist that my wife will not be handing over the control of the family business to any one of you! Anyone who dares lay a finger on her would be digging their graves."
It was Sylvester. A mild feeling of exhilaration pumped in her veins at his presence and support, and she felt tears of relief spring up in her eyes.
Her husband was saving her, like the superhero she wanted.
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“So, you say underground, huh?” Sly asked as he and Geral left the building where they were monitoring the CCTV footage.“Black markets. I found three vehicles that match our target. With any luck, we find one of them with a damaged front chassis,” Geral told his master as he fished out his tablet, which was a lot easier to use while they were on the go.The trip to the first location was short, a small warehouse that sold used cars, but the place had an open display setting.“Unlikely,” Geral pronounced before they even went in, and truth be told, they still had the blue car in their stock. This wasn’t their guy. The next dealer was further into the city and they needed to take a train to get there.While on transit, Sylvester settled in for a little bit of meditation.“You don’t think this isn’t the time for this?” Geral nudged him once. He didn’t answer.He caught Geral’s fist before he could nudge him a second time. “I need every ounce of strength I can get, because I don’t want t
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Katherine wasn’t going to go out just like that. She had fantasized this moment right down to the very moment that she and Sly would share their first kiss.She had thought about how he would hold her in his arms, and how the both of them would ride each other into blissful orgasms.The spot Emily was on was hers. Undoubtedly. She had served Sylvester for years as his student, and all this while, she had tried to still her emotions for him. She had tried desperately to wait until the time was right.The time was right now…and he was with someone else? No.The thought of seeing Emily smile because of Sylvester took away her own smile. She couldn’t bear it. Emily didn’t deserve the warlord. She did. Katherine. And as soon as Sylvester pushed her away, she made one thing clear in her mind.She was not going to go down easy.The very next day, she tried to come back to Sylvester…to try again.Maybe he sensed Emily coming, and decided to push her away to avoid any form of drama.Oh, how t
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Sylvester hadn’t called her yet, but she didn’t want to spend time with her mother any longer. Every moment between them nowadays was so tense.It was the same before Sylvester gained his ability to walk, but before, she was forced to bear it, because in some way, it was better than the tension between her and Sylvester.When faced with two evils, you go for the lesser.Now, things between her and Sylvester weren’t perfect, but it was incomparable to the tension between her and her mother.She and Isabella were a chasm apart when it came to ideologies, but because of the common predicament they shared – a crippled Sly, they had to put their differences aside. Now, there was no reason for them to.It turned out that she didn’t have to wait long, as barely a minute after she stepped out of the office, contemplating going to a nearby café to wait for her husband, she spotted him strolling to the venue.Yes, they shared one car which she took, so seeing him walk didn’t give her any sort o
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Emily slept a little hurt, but all the more confused. A lot of questions pulsed through her mind, but they were questions that she could not ask.They didn’t make sense to ask at this time in their relationship. Were they close enough to? She didn’t feel like they were.So why did she feel the stir of jealousy and the pang of betrayal stir inside her?Something was definitely going on between her husband and that woman that consistently calls him, “Boss”.Who was she? Another one of those ex-students of his?She helped her in the party, though…that was for sure. But was she coming to take her dues by sleeping with her husband?She was sure that Sylvester did not allow it, but how could she be certain. What if they were about to do something, but quickly disbanded when they heard her come in? A lot of unholy thoughts pooled into her mind, and she slept on them, bringing her into a sour mood when she woke up the next morning.Even then, Sylvester was nowhere to be found.Odd. He someti
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“Well, that was a disaster,” Emily collapsed on the bed when they arrived back home. “And don’t you dare give me the ‘I told you so’ lecture,” she warned her husband. “I’ll cry if you do,” she mumbled the last part.Sly chuckled. “I’m honestly just grateful you weren’t hurt through all this chaos. That’s something that would have killed me,”She took steady breaths for a bit, hearing his voice and allowing it soothe her before she admitted, “You were right,” she hummed. “We shouldn’t have gone,”“Ha! And then we’d have missed Mr. Round-butt!” Sylvester reminded her about the man they were making fun of, and the image of his weirdly round, jiggling butt probably from his abnormal diet, sparks a bubbling laughter in her.She could sleep easy now, knowing that Sly wasn’t angry at her.But even then, beneath the entire surface, she still had a lot of questions on her mind. He stepped in and put his life in front of her own multiple times.She thought about when they were driving to the e
