Chapter 18
Thea walked in, tossing a file onto the couch as she sat down. “Weird. I couldn’t even get in the house earlier. The butler had to open the door for me. I only moved out for a bit, not forever, Was it really necessary to delete my fingerprints from the system?”
Emmalie quickly stood up, putting on a sweet smile. Thea, you’re finally back! We’ve missed you so much. Now we can be a family again.
She gently took Thea’s hand, as if expecting a warm response.
But Thea sneered, “Cut the act, Emmalic. I know exactly what you’re up to.”
For a moment. Emmalie’s face twisted, and then she burst into tears. Thea, how can you blame me for the fingerprint issue? It was just a glitch in the system.
“Do you know how worried we were? We thought someone might take advantage of you out there. And now, after all your fun, you come back and take it out on me, huh?”
Ivy clicked over in her high heels, stepping protectively in front of Emmalie. She glared at Thea. “Ungrateful brat! I should be the one upset with you, but here you are, bullying Emmalie. How did I end up with such a selfish daughter!”
“Worried about me?” Thea scoffed. “If you were so concerned, you must’ve known I was framed for leaking Avon Ventures” data.
“So why didn’t a single one of you reach out? Not one call, not one message. You’d already written me off. I bet you even had the paperwork ready to disown me if I ended up in jail.
“Have you lost your mind?” Ivy stared at Thea in disbelief, shaking with anger. “After everything that happened, I had Emmalie send you countless messages! You’re the one who shut us out. And now you’re blaming us, huh?”
“Messages?” Thea frowned and turned to Emmalie..
Emmalie avoided her gaze from behind Ivy. “Thea, don’t you remember? You blocked me. I thought you didn’t want to talk to us, so I didn’t call. I’m sorry if I upset you.”
Ivy scoffed, “Don’t apologize to her! It’s just her rotten attitude. It’s not your fault”
Thea laughed bitterly. “Fine. Then let’s see the proof. Let her show us her phone, and we’ll see if she really sent any messages.
“Enough!” Ivy snapped, grabbing Thea’s phone and slamming it to the floor. Her eyes burned with disgust. “We finally manage to have a family meal, and you have to bring this drama, huh? Having you was the worst mistake of my life.”
The hurt hit Thea for only a moment before she smiled coldly. “Yeah, I came here to stir things up. I want Emmalie to explain herself
She shoved past Ivy and threw the file in Emmalie’s face. “Nice work teaming up with Madelyn to steal Avon Ventures‘ data and selling it to Braden under my name.”
The papers scattered. Seeing the evidence in black and white, Fanmalie clenched her fists but still played the victimn, tears welling in her eyes. “Thea, what are you talking about? I didn’t do this! I swear!”
Ivy grabbed Thea’s arm, her voice sharp. “Have you lost your mind? Why would you try to pin this on Emmalie?”
Max chimed in, sounding impatient. “Look, I get it. You’re scared of jail, but there’s an easy way out just apologize to Jake and marry him, and everything will be fine. Why drag Emmalie to this?”
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