Chapter 3

That night, Ruth and I went home together. She looked triumphant. "So, what if you get to marry Jon? You can have his body, but you'll never have his heart," she taunted, finally dropping the mask of innocence she always wore. "Or maybe he won't even let you touch him." Her gaze turned menacing. "I can take him away from you the same way I had your mother killed. Just wait, Harper. One day, everything that belongs to you will be mine." She thought she could rile me up, but I simply glanced at her. "I guess I'll just wish you luck moving out of the maid's quarters soon." I ignored her after that and walked straight into the house. Grandpa found me and mentioned that Maurice still needed some time to decide. Funnily, Jonathan probably didn't even remember there was a fifth grandchild in the family. Mr. Zink Senior had a daughter who had given up her inheritance to become a cop for love. She and her partner died on a mission, leaving only their son, Maurice, behind. The father-daughter conflict over that marriage had been messy. He had even demanded that the husband marry into the family. When she died, Mr. Zink Senior terribly regretted it. However, since Maurice—bearing his mother's maiden name—grew up mostly in the estate and rarely returned to the Zink residence, I reminded Mr. Zink Senior of his debt, and he acknowledged it. Even if Maurice didn't marry me, Mr. Zink Senior would still leave part of the inheritance to him. Jonathan was obsessed with gaining full control of the Zink Group, but he had no idea that he would never be able to take it all. I couldn't help but wonder how he would turn out in this lifetime. On Grandpa's 80th birthday, all the big names in the city were in attendance. To ensure everything went smoothly, I went over his health one last time with the doctor. Ruth spotted me and walked straight over. In the past few days, Jonathan had been taking her around all the luxury stores. Her social media feed was full of pictures showing how close they had gotten. Seeing me, she smiled brightly. "Harper, your future husband is amazing. He took me shopping for all sorts of fancy things. Not only that, but he even measured me himself, saying he wants to have something custom-made for me." When I didn't respond, she continued, "He also told me to drop the courtesy once you two are married. We'll be family, after all. I can do whatever I wish." I turned around, ready to tell her not to interrupt my conversation with the doctor, but I froze when I saw the brooch on her chest. That was the birthday gift Mom and Dad had given me when I was little. Mom and Dad had loved each other deeply. She had designed the brooch, and he had gone out of his way to find the finest craftsman in Edelwald to make it. It symbolized a simple wish that I would live a happy, fulfilled life. After everything fell apart—Mom died, and Dad lost the will to go on and turned to religion—I never received another birthday gift from them again. That brooch was one of a kind, so precious that I never wore it once. I grabbed Ruth by the collar and shoved her back into the corner, looking down at her coldly. "Where did you get that brooch?" She started choking up for no reason. "Harper, I know you've always hated me, but I've always thought of you as my real sister. Jonathan only bought me clothes because he felt bad for me. You can't get physical just because you're upset!" I wasn't buying it. I tightened my grip and snapped, "Tell me—where the hell did you get the booch from? Who gave it to you?" Ruth only stared back at me with wide eyes, and I felt sick. I reached out to snatch it away, but someone grabbed my wrist hard. "What are you doing, Harper? Are you trying to assault her in broad daylight?"