Chapter 6

The heavy oak doors groaned as Elva pushed them open. Her boots struck the marble floor of the foyer, the sharp, rhythmic clicks echoing through the cavernous space.

She stepped into the blindingly bright living room, walking straight into the firing squad of the Schmitt family's collective glare.

Warren sat dead center on the Italian leather sofa, his posture rigid, trying to project the aura of a supreme judge.

Mona stood beside him, her arms crossed tight over her chest, her eyes dripping with aristocratic disdain and cheap calculation.

Haylie peeked out from behind her mother's shoulder, a nasty, gloating smirk plastered across her face, eagerly waiting for the execution to begin.

Elva didn't even break her stride. She ignored their suffocating glares, walked over to a single armchair, and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.

Warren's face twitched. He snatched the half-smoked cigar from his mouth and violently smashed it into the crystal ashtray.

"Have you completely lost your mind? !" Warren roared, the veins in his neck bulging. "You attack Erick in a hotel room like some street thug, and now you stroll in here like you own the place?"

Elva let out a dry, mocking chuckle. She tilted her head, her gaze sliding over to Haylie. "Didn't your precious daughter tell you why I rearranged his spine?"

Haylie shrank back slightly, her eyes darting away in guilt. "He... he came onto me! I was a victim!" she shrieked, her voice pitching up in a desperate lie.

Elva rolled her eyes, exhausted by the sheer stupidity. "Save the bad acting. Why did you call me back, Warren? Spit it out."

Warren ripped off his mask of concern. "You are going to pack your bags. Next week, you are taking Haylie's place. You are marrying into the Ramirez family."

He puffed out his chest. "It's for the good of the company. And frankly, it's the best outcome an orphaned burden like you could ever hope for."

Elva couldn't hold it in. She threw her head back and laughed, a harsh, grating sound that bounced off the walls.

"A good outcome?" Elva sneered, her eyes locking onto Warren. "You mean being sold off to a fifty-two-year-old, disgraced, crippled pervert? If it's such a fairy tale, why isn't your darling Haylie putting on the wedding dress?"

Haylie let out an offended gasp. "I am an Ivy League graduate! I belong in high society! I would rather die than be touched by a disgusting cripple!"

Mona stepped forward, pointing a manicured finger at Elva. "You listen to me, you uneducated little hick. You have no degree, no class, and no future. Marrying into the Ramirez family, even to a cripple, is a blessing your dead mother couldn't have bought for you!"

Elva's eyes instantly turned into shards of black ice. The temperature in the room plummeted.

"Keep my mother's name out of your filthy mouth," Elva warned, her voice a low, lethal vibration that made Mona physically step back.

Seeing his wife retreat, Warren decided to drop the nuclear bomb.

He reached under the coffee table, pulled out a thick legal binder, and slammed it down onto the glass surface with a deafening crack.

"You will marry him, Elva," Warren threatened, his face twisted in an ugly sneer. "Because if you don't, I will use my power as your legal guardian to permanently freeze your mother's trust fund. You won't see a single dime. You'll be out on the street."

He leaned back, crossing his arms, fully expecting her to break down in tears.

Elva stared at the binder. There was no panic in her chest. Only a deep, satisfying wave of mockery.

She slowly stood up, towering over Warren's seated form, looking down at him like he was a pathetic insect.

"You're going to freeze it?" Elva asked, her voice dripping with venom. "Warren, you're about to lose every ounce of control you think you have over that money."

Warren blinked, thrown off by her absolute calm. Then, he let out a loud, condescending bark of laughter. "Are you delusional? I hold the keys!"

Elva didn't bother explaining. She looked at the three of them with the dead, empty stare reserved for corpses.

She turned her back on them and walked toward the grand staircase, her posture screaming absolute arrogance.

"Walk away all you want!" Warren screamed at her back, his face red with fury. "The Ramirez family is coming tomorrow morning to set the date! You are marrying him, whether you like it or not!"