Dumped At Engagement, I Showed My New Fiancé

Chapter 3

All the stubborn defiance Chloe had been clinging to while screaming her innocence evaporated in an instant. Pure, unmasked terror swamped her wide eyes.

Kian stepped right between us, pulling her behind his back, and roared at me through a furrowed brow. "Hazel. What the hell is wrong with you? You're way out of line. Chloe's still young. Even if she messed up, you don't have to hound her like this," he said.

I arched an eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're playing the hero and coming to her rescue?" I said.

Kian shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Five million dollars, that's all? I'll pay it back for her," he said. "But you have to promise me this ends here. You drop all charges against Chloe, and no going to the police, that's non-negotiable."

My mother rubbed Chloe's back in a soothing motion, cooing at her. "It's okay, baby, don't be scared. Mom's here. If the sky falls, your dad and I will hold it up for you. It's just five million dollars. We can handle this," she said.

My father shot me a sharp, furious glare. "Hazel, Kian already offered to pay the money back. Just let this go, okay? We're family. There's no need to push this all the way to getting her thrown in prison," he said.

Chloe hiccuped and sniffled through her ragged sobs, nodding along to his words. "Hazel, I know I messed up. Please just give me one more chance," she said.

I watched them perform this sappy little family drama with cold, detached eyes, and not a single emotion stirred in my chest.

I had expected this reaction all along.

After all, in their eyes, Chloe was always the precious little princess that needed to be coddled and protected, and I was always the cruel, unreasonable villain breathing down her neck.

When I did not answer, Kian took my silence as agreement and sharpened his tone even more. "Hazel, how did I never see how cruel you really are before? Chloe is your own little sister. How can you even talk about sending her to prison? I cannot believe how disappointed I am in you," he said.

I laughed. I was so angry. "Kian, are you brain-dead or something? If you are sick, go see a doctor. Do not stand here playing holier-than-thou. Where was her common sense when she was selling our company secrets? She is scared now? What was she doing before this all blew up?" I said.

My mother immediately leaped between us to defend Kian. "What kind of way is that to talk? Kian is only here trying to help you fix this mess, and you insult him? Hazel, you really are getting colder and crueler by the day," she said.

I suddenly raised my voice, and every bit of the resentment and anger I had bottled up inside for years came bursting out all at once.

"Colder and crueler?" I said. "You have the nerve to call me cold-hearted? Do any of you even need to ask who the real cold-hearted people here are? You all know exactly what you have done."

"When we were little, Chloe tried to steal my toy. When I would not give it to her, she bashed my head open with that same toy. I ended up in the hospital because of her, and all you two said was that I was the older sister, I should just give in to my little sister," I continued. "I thought things would get better once we grew up. But you are still just as biased as you always were."

"Building my company from scratch has not been easy, and she only worked there three whole days before she caused this massive mess. Instead of figuring out how to fix what she did, you all just turn around and blame me for pushing her too hard," I said.

I sucked in a deep, shaking breath, forcing down the thick, bitter lump that clawed its way up my throat.

"You never once asked if I was hurt. You never once stopped to think about how this looks from my side. If anyone is cold and heartless here, it is you," I said.

My parents stared back at me, completely speechless, not a single word coming to their defense.

Kian opened his mouth like he was going to jump in and argue for them, but one icy glare from me was enough to shut him right back up.

"I do not care which one of you is paying back that five million dollars. If I do not get the money by the deadline, I do not care who is standing between me and her. I am going straight to the cops. She will serve every single second of whatever sentence she gets, and no one is going to stop me," I said.

This was my final ultimatum. It was also the last shred of goodwill I had left for this so-called family of mine.

Right at that exact moment, my fiancé transferred ten million dollars to my account.

He said he could not make it back until the day of our engagement party, and asked me to handle all the preparations for the event on my own for now.

Seeing that huge sum hit my account, I immediately decided to spend some money on myself to blow off steam. I could not be bothered to waste another second on this bunch of deadweight losers.

"I have made myself clear about the money. You all can figure this out however you want. As for this mess you have created, you can clean it up yourselves. Just do not come bothering me anymore," I said.