The entire family suddenly turned their heads, their piercing gazes fixed on me.
Caught off guard by the five pairs of eyes staring straight at me, I flinched, then quickly acted as though nothing had happened and quietly returned to my seat.
“My dear Yunice, is everything okay now?” my dad asked casually.
‘What the heck? Why is he suddenly interested in my bathroom breaks?’
‘Anyway, with all the evidence locked in, there’s no way Dory is getting out of this one. That girl who got rescued—her body was completely covered in bruises and scars. She’s been through so much.’
‘Speaking of which, that girl happens to be Alicia’s younger schoolmate. Can you believe it? Alicia knew about Dory’s twisted preferences and still sent her younger schoolmate, who was just looking for a tutoring gig, straight into Dory’s hands. It’s like feeding a lamb to the wolves!’
‘Alicia, you’re absolutely despicable!’ I exclaimed inwardly.
“Impossible!” Harvey suddenly snapped, glaring at me with barely contained anger.
“What now?” I asked, utterly confused as I met his glare.
‘This guy’s losing it again, huh? Let’s see if you’ll still be yelling ‘impossible’ when you’re backed into a corner and can’t talk your way out!’
Harvey’s face turned crimson with fury, and just as he looked ready to explode, William smacked him on the back of the head, silencing him instantly.
I lowered my head, feigning sadness as I scrolled through the family gossip feed. ‘Wait a second, didn’t we leave off with William’s drama earlier?’
‘Oh, right. Turns out Alicia always knew Dory had a thing for her. But Alicia actually liked William, so she deliberately sent Dory to William, thinking it’d somehow create harmony between the three of them. Later in the original story, Alicia confesses to William, but he turns her down because he can’t get past the fact that they grew up as siblings. Alicia ends up harboring resentment, and down the line, she teams up with the male lead, Jeremy Miller, to sabotage the Stone Family. Oh, and Dory played a big role in the whole mess, too.’
‘Now, however, Alicia has changed her tune. It seems the family doesn’t hate me as much as she thought. Instead of risking her position by driving me out, she’s taken a different approach by targeting William. If she becomes the next head of the family by marrying him, wouldn’t the entire family fall into her hands?’
I sighed internally, shaking my head. ‘Ugh, what kind of lousy love interests does William attract? But since we share the same mother, should I at least warn him?’
Stealing a glance at William, I noticed he was watching me intently as if waiting for me to say something. Avoiding his gaze, I lowered my eyes, my thoughts swirling.
‘Forget it. In the original timeline, I warned him, didn’t I? But he still fell for Alicia’s instigations, thinking I was only badmouthing her because I didn’t like her. He even thought that I was trying to hurt Dory for the same reason. To punish me, he snatched several of my resources and handed them to Alicia. Later, he even helped her trick me into meeting some sleazy director with a disgusting reputation. Although he didn’t mean to, if I hadn’t been quick-witted, I would’ve fallen for it.’
