Romance

Anderson frowned and looked at his assistant, Charles Green, unhappily. "How could that be? Stop freaking out."

He then turned and looked at me with a disappointed gaze. He began berating me, "Yvonne, I don't understand this tantrum. When will you change that spoiled temper of yours? 

"The Sherman family is no longer the same family that could back you up no matter what, and the Graham family isn't as easy to manipulate as we used to be."

Anderson clearly hadn't taken Charles' words to heart at all. He even thought I was just throwing a tantrum just to get his attention.

Charles' hand shook as he showed him something on his tablet. "There's… There's also a notification from the bank. Our funding has been completely cut off. T-They said the Sherman family demanded it."

Anderson's arms tensed up around Sophie. He then turned back to me and looked at me in disbelief. "Yvonne, you…"

I 

Exactly a week after Anderson had been arrested for further investigation, Julia finally found me. She stood in front of the Sherman residence. In just a few days, her hair had become streaked with grey, and she was frail and emaciated.

When she saw me, she fell to her knees.

"Yvonne… Yvonne, please, let Anderson go. He messed up, yes, but not this badly! You were with him for so long. Are you really willing to let him go to jail?"

I asked Zachary to help her to her feet. However, she refused. She sobbed as she tugged at the corner of my shirt. 

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. I was just concerned about your health! I was worried that Andy wouldn't be able to bear it if you died. As a mom, I—"

"Julia," I said, cutting her off. She froze and looked up at me.

I looked at her calmly. "Do you remember what you said three years ago before I left the country?"

Julia i

The next day, I enjoyed my breakfast while flipping through the information that Zachary had printed out for me. Apart from the documents, Sophie had been delivered to my doorstep tied up with a stinky sock shoved into her mouth.

There wasn't that much information on her. I was done after a few pages.

Sophie turned out to be a poor university student whom Anderson was funding. She'd eventually gotten a special invitation to work for Graham Group.

These past three years, Anderson had been introducing Sophie to every decent connection he had in the industry as his "female best friend."

He had even started the "Sophie Foundation" to help pave her way for the future. I guess he was trying to sneak Sophie into the upper-class community. 

I scoffed. That was up to me to decide. After breakfast, I looked at Sophie mildly. She glared back at me with a venomous stare.

Zachary approached her and took the dirty sock out of her mouth.

"Yvonne! Once Andy finds out that you've kidnapped me, he won't let you get away with it! Do you really think you're the same heiress from three years ago?"

I looked at her plainly. I couldn't figure out what Anderson liked about her.

"My full name is actually Yvonne Zane Sherman. My middle name was given to me by the Mortner family."

Sophie paused, not knowing what I was trying to say.

"After all, the richest man in Jeanton, Zayn Mortner, is my grandfather."

Sophie froze. Suddenly, her face turned pale as if she had finally realized something. "I-Impossible!"

I chuckled lightly. "I guess you've finally connected the dots."

"Ms. Sherman, the tattoo artists are here." I looked at the 15 or so tattoo artists behind Zachary and pointed at Sophie, who was still kneeling on the ground.

"Since she likes tattoos so much, give her all the tattoos you can fit on her."

Sophie's eyes filled with terror as my bodyguards approached and held her down firmly. The tattooists approached and began to tattoo words like "Slut," "No. 1 Best Bed-Hopper," "Anderson was Here," and "For Public Use."

Sophie started off screaming and cursing, but eventually began pleading and crying for mercy. At some point, she finally passed out. After all the tattoos were done, Anderson finally burst through the door.

His eyes widened in shock and rage as he stared at Sophie, who was almost completely naked and covered in tattoos.

"Yvonne! What the hell are you doing? When did you become so cruel? She's still young! 

"How is she going to live like this? You just ruined her life!"

I looked at him as he stood in front of her, protecting her as he would have protected me three years ago. Coldly, I replied, "Anderson, I gave you a second chance."

"Yvonne, my mom was right. You don't deserve to become my wife. Since you've already become so heartless and cruel, I don't have to worry about breaking our promises anymore. 

"Let's call off our engagement. I'll marry Sophie. You forced me to do this."

I couldn't stop my eyes from filling up with tears at the sight of Anderson standing in front of Sophie with that anxious, sorrowful expression on his face. How could someone change so much in such a short amount of time?

"Yvonne, if you think you can act so ruthlessly because of the Sherman family, then I have no reason to keep the Shermans afloat."

I couldn't believe my ears. He was willing to make the Sherman family disappear because of Sophie. Was that all just to get revenge for Sophie?

Did he really think the Graham family had become all-powerful?

Anderson bent down and picked Sophie up, who was still whimpering and sniffling. He turned to leave when he bumped into the man who had just hurried in through the door.

"Mr. Graham, our shareholders have all pulled out. Our partners have surrounded our building and are demanding that we cancel their contracts!"

Anderson frowned and looked at his assistant, Charles Green, unhappily. "How could that be? Stop freaking out."

He then turned and looked at me with a disappointed gaze. He began berating me, "Yvonne, I don't understand this tantrum. When will you change that spoiled temper of yours? 

"The Sherman family is no longer the same family that could back you up no matter what, and the Graham family isn't as easy to manipulate as we used to be."

Anderson clearly hadn't taken Charles' words to heart at all. He even thought I was just throwing a tantrum just to get his attention.

Charles' hand shook as he showed him something on his tablet. "There's… There's also a notification from the bank. Our funding has been completely cut off. T-They said the Sherman family demanded it."

Anderson's arms tensed up around Sophie. He then turned back to me and looked at me in disbelief. "Yvonne, you…"

I calmly cut him off. "I told you that you had three days to handle it, but I guess you chose a differ

Chapter 5