Chapter 4 Conspiracy At Home

Maren called me, asking me to visit her house.

I had lived in Draton for four years, and she had never shown any interest in me. Now, she suddenly wanted to see me, expecting me to hurry over.

What made her think she could demand that!

However, before I could decline, she mentioned it concerned my father and she needed to speak with me.

Immediately, I caught a taxi to the Spencer family's residence.

On my way, I couldn't help but wonder why Maren had reached out to me now. Was she going to clarify something? Maybe there was more to my father's accident that I didn't understand, and she was misunderstood?

Upon entering the house, I was surprised to find my grandmother, who should have been at our countryside home, sitting close to Maren.

She wore gold bracelets, still tagged with their price, on her wrists.

A feeling of disappointment washed over me. I instantly thought Maren had bribed my grandmother.

While debating whether to inform my grandmother about my mother being responsible for my father's accident, Maren approached me quickly, inviting me to sit and expressing her concern warmly.

It was the first time she had ever looked at me with such kindness. This softness had previously been reserved for my sister alone.

Suddenly, my eyes welled up with tears, and the questions about my father's accident I had prepared to ask were choked back.

"Look, your mom really loves you. She even found you a great family to connect with," my grandmother cut in.

I felt a wave of maternal affection I hadn't experienced before. My grandmother's words took me by surprise. "What great family?" I questioned.

Maren shot my grandmother a stern look before taking my hand once more. "Sarah, you're all grown up now. There's someone I want you to meet, for your future happiness."

Then, my mother enthusiastically introduced a fifty-year-old man, recently widowed and eager to remarry, as an ideal match.

His significant dowry of five hundred thousand made my grandmother so thrilled she couldn't stop smiling. It seemed she was ready to send me off right away.

Feeling let down, I pulled my hand away from Maren. "If he's such a catch, why not suggest him to my sister? She's seven years my senior and still not married. I..."

"Sarah, my mom went out of her way to find you a man, and here you are, a loose woman, being choosy? Do you really think you're in a position to be so picky?" Janice, overhearing our conversation as she came downstairs, chimed in.

I was already upset, and her showing up and stirring things only made it worse. She was really asking for it.

I shot back, "And why shouldn't I be? Weren't you the one who would have sex for a bit of chocolate from the boys in school? Everyone back home talks about it. If you're calling me loose, what does that make you?"

"You bitch! What nonsense are you spewing? I'm going to shut you up for good!" Caught off guard and seething from my revelations about her past, Janice lunged at me, her fingers clawing at my face.

Her nails raked across my skin, leaving a stinging trail.

Furious, I raised my hand to slap her.

But before my hand could reach Janice, a sharp agony surged through my scalp as Maren seized my hair from behind.

It felt as though my hair might rip from my skin, the pain so intense that I instinctively bowed my head, trying to find solace near my mother to ease the discomfort. But in a twist of fate, my movement brought me unwittingly into the path of Maren's hand, and her slap landed directly on my face.

"She's your sister. She has the right to set you straight. How could you think to strike her? You ungrateful bastard! Did your father not teach you better?" Maren stood there, her hand poised in the air, her presence emanating sheer anger.

"You can't just bring up my father!" I shouted, getting to my feet. Maren's grip on my hair was unyielding, and the pain was like my scalp being ripped off!

At the end of my rope, I sunk my teeth into Maren's wrist.

She let out a cry, "Ah!" Her grip weakened in response to the pain.

I thought I was free, but suddenly, a brutal kick from behind sent me flying toward the dining table.

It was Janice who had kicked me.

As I hurtled toward the table corner, the fear of going blind made me shut my eyes tight.

But instead of the anticipated agony, I crashed into a sturdy chest, and the comforting smell of men's cologne surrounded me.

I opened my eyes to see his face in the faint light, and my thoughts just stopped.