Chapter 4

I knew exactly how to say the right things to keep Mom and Claire happy. But for once, I was done pretending.

Zachary once recommended that I shouldn't be too nice.

Actually, he was right. The moment I finished talking, my mom threw the ashtray at me.

If I hadn't dodged, my face would've been wrecked right before today's meeting.

"You get a little authority and suddenly forget who you are, Helena. Who the hell do you think you are?" Mom screamed.

Dad gave his precious ashtray a mournful look before muttering, "We're family. Let's just discuss this calmly."

Claire poured fuel on the fire with a worried look.

"Ever since you became the heiress, do you even consider us family anymore?" she said.

Family? When had they ever treated me like family?

I just didn't get why my own parents treated me like I was their enemy.

Claire and I were both their daughters, only three years apart. Yet she got everything handed to her, while I got screamed at just for trying my hardest.

After more than twenty years of this, I was just exhausted.

The meeting couldn't wait, so I shoved everything down and switched back into work mode.

Once my head cleared, I was finally able to say something with as much dignity as I could muster.

"I'm busy. We can talk about this later," I said coldly.

In the midst of my mom's shrill yelling, I hurried out of their house.

Back to work. At least work rewarded effort. At least it didn't betray me.

That was way more dependable than feelings ever were.

After finishing up the more urgent investment proposals, I formally reached out to the Keaton family to discuss changing the candidate for the marriage alliance. To call it a discussion was generous—it was really just a notification.

After the mess Justin caused, we were already being considerate by not breaking off the engagement altogether, all for the sake of our longstanding ties.

I thought that was the end of it, but to my surprise, Justin came looking for me at my office.

He walked in and, without a word, smacked himself hard across the face.

This guy, who usually looked halfway decent, was now a teary, snotty mess.

The same man Claire always swore was "forced into the marriage" was now sobbing, begging me not to call it off.

"Helena, I was drunk that night. I thought Claire was you. Please, just give me another chance, okay?" he begged.

Seriously? Claire and I look nothing alike. How wasted did he have to be to mix us up?

Did he really take me for a fool?

"If you don't have actual business to discuss, get out." I gestured toward the door.

But of course, Justin, the kind of guy who'd ever get involved with Claire in the first place, had no shame. He just ignored me.

Seeing that I wasn't moved, he wiped away his tears and started reminiscing about our old history.

We'd met the summer after the SAT, set up by our families.

Back then, nobody mentioned marriage—it was just, "Why not get to know each other?"

I wasn't really interested in this guy as a friend, but Justin was all in from the start.

When people at college gossiped about me behind my back for being too cold, he went straight over and put them in their place.

If I was eating alone, he'd always come over and sit with me.

I wouldn't lie—my personality didn't exactly make college a social paradise. And yeah, his persistence wore me down, little by little.

But if his so-called "special treatment" was just going to turn into another way to screw me over, honestly, I'd rather be alone.

Justin was still going on about his feelings for me when the office door suddenly burst open.

Standing in the doorway was Claire, her face streaked with tears, and Zachary, looking like he had a splitting headache.

Zachary, standing behind Claire, shot me a helpless look.

I was just about to tell them to take their drama outside, but Claire looked at me, absolutely devastated.

She cried, "Helena, do you really have to tear us apart?"

What?

Zachary also looked confused.

He raised an eyebrow at me, tapping his head as a hint.

I just shook my head. Claire was hopeless.

Claire stood there in her little white dress, crying like the world had ended. "If you don't even want Justin, why can't you just let me have him? Do you have to take everything from me?"

So that was really what she thought.

She believed I'd stolen everything from her and that I was the villain of her story.

Suddenly, I found myself curious. Just how many complaints did this pampered little sister of mine have about me that I still didn't know?

But she didn't say anything more. Justin yanked her into his arms.

He didn't even glance my way. Just started wiping her tears like some lovesick knight.

He said, "Claire, don't cry. No one can take me from you."

Funny. Five minutes ago, he was swearing I was the only one he'd ever marry. Now, it was like Claire was his real love.

Zachary, meanwhile, looked like he was living for this drama. No attempt to be professional.

I half expected him to start whistling.

The two lovebirds kept going. Claire sniffed about how she'd "gladly be Helena's stand-in".

And Justin insisted, "You're not a replacement. You're the only one I love."

I gave it some real thought.

Setting aside how foolish they both were, Justin was probably pulling this stunt because he believed I never liked him.

Since he couldn't keep me, he was at least going to make sure he didn't lose Claire.

I thought I got it.

No way he actually thought he was some tragic hero, torn between the love of two women or whatever. Gross.