I Confronted His Dad, He Gave Me An Island

Chapter 7

Miranda gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride. She had no choice but to follow Cedric onto the luxury yacht.

She could not bear the thought of her friends being mistreated or insulted on her account.

The reception was indeed held on a grand scale. Everyone who was anyone in high society was in attendance.

Paige stood right in the center of the crowd, dressed in a high-fashion designer gown, accepting compliments and flattery from all sides. When her eyes met Miranda’s, they were filled with arrogance and open provocation.

Miranda couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge her.

Her close friends, Roxie and Bea, immediately gathered around her, looking at her with heartache and concern.

"Miranda, don't be sad. He isn't worth it. He is nothing but an ungrateful wretch."

"You treated her like a princess, gave her everything she ever asked for, and yet she shamelessly crawled into her own sister’s husband's bed!"

"Ah, there you are, sister," Paige said, walking up to Miranda holding a glass of champagne.

Miranda looked straight at her. "Tell me, what did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much?"

"Growing up, you always let me have everything I wanted. Why, when I finally wanted one man, did you refuse to give him up to me?!" Paige’s eyes burned with deep resentment. "I have been in love with Cedric since I was ten years old. Why is it that he could only ever see you?!"

Finally, Miranda understood the root cause of everything that had happened.

She listened in silence as Paige poured out her feelings and her love for Cedric, and a sharp pang of pain shot through her heart.

They had lost their mother very young, and their father had always been completely absorbed by his work.

Miranda had practically raised Paige herself. Yet, she had never realized what was going on inside her sister's heart.

Once the divorce with Cedric was finalized, she would go far, far away from this place and never come back!

Paige was, after all, her own flesh and blood. Could she really bring herself to kill her?

Paige looked at Miranda’s cold, expressionless face, and suddenly a sinister smile spread across her lips. "The thing I hate most about you is this superior, high-and-mighty attitude you have! You make everyone else feel like they are nothing compared to you, like they are just dust beneath your feet. But I promise you, I will completely erase every trace of you from his heart!"

The words had barely left her mouth when Paige suddenly let out a sharp, piercing scream and threw herself violently against the towering display of champagne glasses standing nearby.

Miranda’s eyebrows shot up in alarm.

At the same moment, Cedric rushed over in long strides and carefully helped Paige up, demanding sharply, "What happened here?!"

Paige looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, looking the picture of innocence and heartbreak. "It's Miranda... she said I am nothing but a shameless hussy who would even sleep with her own sister's husband! She said this fall was just a little lesson to teach me manners... and told me I had better crawl away and disappear before she does something worse!"

She held a hand against her chest, her eyes red and swollen as she continued, "Cedric, if I am lying about a single word, may I be thrown into the sea right now and fed to the sharks!"

"No one would ever joke about their own life like that!" Cedric’s face was dark and terrifying. He stared at Miranda with icy coldness. "When exactly did you become so vicious and cruel?"

His words were like a sharp dagger piercing straight through Miranda’s heart.

She looked at Paige, nestled safely in Cedric's arms, looking back at her with unmistakable triumph in her eyes.

The tiny spark of softness and pity she had felt just moments before now seemed like a ridiculous joke.

Paige walked over to Miranda’s side, putting on a show of being wronged and hurt. "Sister, I know you didn't mean to push me into the champagne tower. I won't hold it against you... as long as you get down on your knees and apologize to me, I will forgive you completely."

Those words were yet another blade driven into a heart that was already riddled with wounds.

Miranda stood perfectly still, looking at her. She saw only a smug, triumphant face. She could no longer recognize the little girl who used to follow her around, crying and begging her not to go or leave her behind.

She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, her heart had turned completely cold and hard.

A slow, cold smile curved Miranda’s lips. Before anyone around them could react or realize what she was doing, she suddenly reached out and shoved Paige hard, sending her tumbling straight over the deck railing and into the open sea.

Cedric roared in a rage, "Miranda! What have you done?!"

Miranda stood calmly at the edge of the deck, looking down, a stunning, dangerous sight like a black rose blooming in the dark of night.

"Didn't she just say that anyone who tells lies deserves to be thrown into the sea and fed to the sharks? Since she said it, I am just making sure it comes true."