The Heir's Return

Chapter 10

"My, my, a rare visit," Sherly said coldly, her earlier anger rekindled by the cynical smile on Aleesha's face. "If you're only here to mock me, you should leave. I'll be getting married and leaving this house soon. I won't have to see your face anymore."

Aleesha laughed lightly, striding into Sherly's room as if she owned it.

The room, once the command center of a business genius, now felt desolate. The award trophies on the shelf looked dusty, and the photos of Sherly standing tall at various prestigious events seemed to look down on her with pity.

"Yours?" Aleesha repeated, her fingers sweeping across a silver picture frame. "Soon, this entire Edelweiss family will be under my control. And married? Haha, that depends on whether your convict lover can live to see tomorrow morning."

Sherly's heart felt like it had stopped beating. "What do you mean? Those thugs from earlier... you sent them?"

Aleesha leaned against the doorframe, twirling the end of her hair. "Oh, thugs? It's so unsafe these days, Sherly. Especially for people who can't run," she replied, neither confirming nor denying, her eyes glinting with victory. "He deserved to die! How dare a cockroach threaten a lion? Threatening us with a 'recording'? He was asking for death!"

The hateful words made Sherly nauseous. "You're so ungrateful! Have you forgotten how the Forger family helped us? How Javon—"

"Quiet!" Aleesha cut her off harshly. "Past kindness is worthless! The Forger family isn't even fit to carry our shoes now!"

Sherly shook her head, horrified at the monster before her. "How did you become like this?"

"Me?" Aleesha laughed. "I'm just being practical. And you, even though you're trash, you still have one last use."

Sherly was just about to reach for her phone—to call Javon, the police, anyone—when Aleesha darted forward and snatched it away. "Trying to tattle, you bitch? You really are a traitor!"

She raised her hand, about to slap Sherly across the face. But a thin figure leaped between them.

SLAP!

The sharp sound of a slap echoed. Lina, the young maid loyal to Sherly, fell to the floor, clutching her instantly reddening cheek. "Don't hit Miss Sherly!" she sobbed. "Hit me instead!"

"Get out of the way, you dog!" Aleesha snapped, disgusted. "You've soiled my hand with your face. I'll make sure you're kicked out of this house and starve to death!"

Lina, though trembling, crawled back up and stood in front of Sherly's wheelchair, a fragile human shield.

Sherly pulled her back, staring at Aleesha with fire in her eyes. "Bullying the weak! Planning a murder! I've only just realized today, the Edelweiss family is rotten to the core!"

"Retribution? Haha, even if it comes, you and that bastard Javon will feel it first!" Aleesha mocked. Suddenly, her smile became calculating. "But, as your sister, I have an offer for you. If you're willing to marry Mr. Dar—"

"Never!" Sherly refused instantly.

Darwin. The name was known throughout the business world as a predator. A senior executive from a rival company whose reputation was ruined by a scandal involving the abuse of women. Pushing her into his arms was the same as pushing her into hell.

Now Sherly understood. This wasn't just a malicious visit. This was a transaction.

"You will marry him, whether you like it or not," Aleesha said coldly. "Your face still has market value."

"I want to see Father! Grandfather!"

"Fool!" Aleesha's laughter erupted. "You think they don't know? This was Grandfather's order. The Edelweiss family has fed you for over twenty years. This is how you pay them back."

Those words hit Sherly like a sledgehammer. Her father, her grandfather, they were all in on it. They had all agreed to sell her.

Her world collapsed. Not because of her paralyzed legs, not because of Aleesha's betrayal, but because of the realization that to her own family, she was nothing but a commodity.

Aleesha gestured. Two burly bodyguards entered and stood on either side of the door. "Watch her," she commanded. "After the business with Javon is finished, tie her up and send her to Darwin's address."

"Yes, Miss!"

Sherly was snapped back to reality by the voice. "Give me back my phone!" she screamed as Aleesha walked out. "I want to see Grandfather! They couldn't possibly—"

"Hahaha!"

Her screams were answered only by Aleesha's satisfied laughter, which slowly faded down the corridor, followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock from the outside.

CLICK.

That sound was her sentence. Sherly was now a prisoner in her own room, in her gilded cage.

Outside the window, the tall cypress trees looked like prison bars. She was alone, her wings were broken, and she could not fly.

***

Downstairs, Aleesha threw herself into Javier's arms. "It's done. Soon, that prisoner will be dead, and Sherly will be sent as a gift."

Javier smiled, his thoughts suddenly drifting to Sherly's pale yet still captivating face. 'A gift, huh? Perhaps I'll 'open' it first before it gets sent...'

As the two of them were lost in their foul plans, no one noticed a small, thin shadow slipping away from a corner of the hallway.

It was Lina. In her trembling hand, she clutched Sherly's phone, which she had managed to pick up after Aleesha had tossed it away in disgust. She hid in a dark cleaning closet, her shaky finger trying to enter the password.

Ding!

[Incorrect password.]

She tried Sherly's birthdate.

Ding!

[Incorrect password.]

She tried her own birthdate.

Ding!

[Incorrect password.]

Tears began to stream down her still-stinging cheeks. The screen was her only hope, the only way out for her mistress.

"I can't open it," she sobbed in the suffocating silence. "Mr. Forger, wherever you are... please hurry..."