Chapter 4 Why Should It Come at My Expense?
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Julius might’ve looked gentle, but his grip was anything but that. When he yanked Lisa forward, it felt like the air had been knocked out of her. She shoved his hand away with all her strength. “Why should I be the one to apologize?”
“You messed up what else are you supposed to do?” Julius shot back, his voice sharp, “Didn’t your adoptive parent ever leach you something that basic? Oh, right… she’s useless. No wonder you didn’t learn a thing”
The moment he sneered at her adoptive mother, her eyes stung with tears, burning red with the rush of emotion.
Up She
Right–if her adoptive mother wasn’t foolish, why would she take in a child when she could barely scrape by herself? should’ve been honored as the one who helped the Olsens, yet Julius spoke of her like she was nothing
“What, you think you’re the victim here?” Julius looked at her like he couldn’t believe it. “You’re the one who messed up! Put everything else aside, you know Mom’s health isn’t great. That caviar was meant to help her recover–it’s rare and hard to get. So why did you take it?”
Lisa said calmly. “I don’t even know what caviar is
“You’re still being difficult?” Julius snapped, voice sharp with frustration
“So you trust them over me?”
Without skipping a beat, Julius replied, “Greta was Tiffany’s nanny. Why would she make something like this up? You, on the other hand–you lie all the time.”
Creta couldn’t help but smirk, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
She understood all too well–no matter what the situation was, as long as the blame landed on Lisa, no one in the Olses would bother listening to her side.
“Come with me!” Julius snapped, seizing Lisa’s wrist and pulling her roughly toward the door.
But Lisa yanked her hand free and went straight to strode over to a nearby cabinet. Without a word, she threw open the door.
Greta and Roxanne froze, gasping in shock. That cabinet was where they stashed all sorts of random things. Since no one else ever touched it, they hadn’t bothered locking it. They never expected Lisa to go straight for it like this.
Lisa grabbed a box and tossed it at Julius’s feet. Take a look for yourself. See what this is.”
Julius looked down–staring at a neatly wrapped box of cherries, the same ones Roxanne had claimed that had mysteriously gone missing earlier.
Before he
e could say a word, Lisa hurled another item to the floor. “And this… this is the caviar you were talking about, isn’t it?
Julius‘ eyes narrowed sharply.
It was the rare caviar–no doubt about it.
Lisa turned her gaze on Roxanne. “Roxanne, didn’t you just say things had gone missing? So how did it all end up in your
cabinet?
Roxanne’s face went pale. “1–I don’t know how that got there she stammered, flustered.
Lisa let out a cold laugh, then began pulling everything out of the cabinet–box after box. Imported chocolates, fancy brcuits, mixed nuts, cuts of fresh Wagyu beef… even a few precious vanilla pods came tumbling out.
“So these are the things I’m supposed to steal tomorrow, huh?” Lisa said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Even if Julius had been completely blind before, the scene in front of him made everything crystal clear.
Greta saw his face change and immediately begged for mercy. Tears poured down her cheeks, mixing with the snot running from her nose. “Mr. Julius, please! Don’t be mad at Roxanne–she just got carried away for a momem!”
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Chapter 4 Why Should It Come at My Expense?
Julius’s voice was icy. Ill give you one chance to explain.”
Roxanne, never the sharpest, stood frozen. She usually just followed Greta s lead and had no idea what to say Her eyes dared
Heron toward Greta, silently begging for help
Greta cursed under her breath but forced a pitiful look onto her tear–streaked face. “My mother back home is very said, voice trembling “She heard caviar was valuable and thought maybe maybe it could help her get better. And the rest of it–the food–my moms been poor her whole life. She never had anything nice she just got rempred
Julius frowned. “Caviar is a supplement, not some kind of miracle cure. It’s not that magical Besides, you’ve worked here for years. If you wanted something, you could’ve just asked. Did you really need to go this far?” –
Greta let out a long breath of relief, nodding quickly: “We know we messed up. It won’t happen again. I swear!
Julius waved dismissively. “Fine Just clean this up and get back to work”
Lisa let out a low mocking laugh.
Typical Julius–always so understanding with everyone else… just never with his s
If the blame had actually stuck to her today, there was no doubt in her mind he wouldn’t have let it slide. She’d probably already been locked away somewhere, being punished without a second thought
“Julius.” Lisa said, lifting her head to meet his eyes, “I’m the one who was wronged. I never said I’d forgive them to what gives you the right to do it for me?”
Julius gave a light, amused laugh. “Why? Because I’m your brother.”
Lisa’s voice turned cold. “Even if you were my father, you still don’t have the right to forgive someone in my place
Lisa’s voice was like ice. “Don’t think you can sweep this under the rug so easily, Greta, Roxanne -this isn’t the first time, is it Every time you wanted to take something home for your mother you just blamed it on me, saying I stole in
Julius snapped. “What nonsense are you saying? They’re not that kind of people!”
Greta collapsed to her knees, wailing dramatically as she beat the floor with her fists. “I can’t take this anymore. How could you accuse me like this, Ms. Lisa?”
Julius’s expression darkened as he snapped, “Apologize to Greta right now. How much longer are you going to stir things up?”
Stir things up?
Lisa felt a cold chill crawl down her spine
She’d been framed, humiliated–and yet the one person who should ve stood by her was demanding her to say sorry?
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said through clenched teeth. Tm not the one who should be apologizing”
Already irritable from issues with the new album, Julius patience snapped. “So what if you’re partly in the right You think that gives you the excuse to drag this on What harm have you even suffered Why make such a fuss?”
Emotional damage doesn’t count as harm?” Lisa shot back. “I want the truth out today. I won’t take the fall for something I didn’t do
Julius jaw tightened his usually calm face now cold and sharp. He locked eyes with her, saying nothing–but his silence was Touder than words
Off to the side. Greta and Roxanne were already breaking into nervous sweats
They’d stolen so many things and brought them home before, and pinned it all on Lisa–if she really started digging, how would they ever explain it
The atmosphere was tight with tension when a slender figure suddenly appeared at the door
Tiffany stepped in, her brows furrowed slightly “What’s going on here?”
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Chapter 4 Why Should It Come at My Expense?
The moment they saw her. Creta and Roxanne looked like they’d just spotted their guardian angel. Greta rushed forward and hugged Tiffany, sobbing. “Ms Tiffany I’m sorry!”
Back when Tiffany’s family had collapsed. Greta had been her nanny After Lisa disappeared, the Olsens took Tiffany in–and brought Greta along. In this house, even the housekeeper treated Greta with respect because of her connection to Tiffany
Tiffany was startled by Gretas crying and quickly comforted her. “Greta, please don’t cry–we can talk it through.”
But Greta clung to her, sobbing louder. “Please forgive us. Ms. Lisa…
Tiffany looked completely confused “What what exactly happened?”
Julius gave her a quick summary of the incident, his tone still cold. After a pause, Tiffany turned to Lisa with a hesitant expression “Lisa could you let this go? They did it out of filial duty to their families
“Why should their so–called nial duty come at my expense? Lisa asked sharply, her tone cutting and cold.
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