His Secret Child, Her Revenge: Remarrying Up novel Chapter 6

"You need that much cash? Did your mother seriously ask you for that?"

Sierra really could read Jasmine's mind like a book. That was what best friends were for.

"Yeah," Jasmine replied.

Sierra let out a sharp scoff. "I called it! I knew she'd come crawling to you eventually. She wants you to beg Silas, doesn't she?"

"Dead on."

"Hmph. She's turned a blind eye to all the hell you've endured in the Vance family, but the second things go south, she suddenly remembers she has a daughter."

"My father's always been decent to me."

He was just too overshadowed by Eleanor's overbearing personality to speak up most of the time.

"Besides, she did raise me. Consider it my final repayment for the 'gift' of my upbringing. After this, I owe her nothing."

Sierra nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. We pay our debts."

And we settle our scores, too.

Sierra, ever the realist, added, "Just don't bother asking Silas. You'll only get humiliated."

Jasmine saw through it even more clearly. "My 'favor' with Silas might be worth a hundred bucks if I'm lucky."

But six hundred million?

Not in her wildest dreams.

"You handle what you can," Sierra said with boss-girl energy. "Whatever's left, I'll cover the shortfall."

Jasmine offered a faint smile. "I love the confidence, Sierra, but I've run the numbers. I probably won't need it."

Sierra came from a medical dynasty but, like Jasmine, lived for coding.

When she was choosing her major, her family had tried to force her into medicine.

Sierra refused, going on a hunger strike until they finally caved.

Eventually, they shifted their hopes for the family business onto her younger brother, who was still in middle school.

Sierra worked at a tech firm now; the pay was good, but her savings weren't infinite.

Her bank account would barely make a dent in a debt that large.

Jasmine knew that if she actually took the money, Sierra would have to swallow her pride and beg her family for it.

She wasn't about to put her best friend in that position.

"That big shot I mentioned is a complete mystery; I've never actually met him," Sierra said. "I've been dealing with his assistant. I'll reach out to him tonight."

"Okay. No rush. Take it slow."

Thorne Enterprises wasn't going to collapse in a single weekend.

No sooner had she hung up than her father, Arthur Thorne, called.

"Dad? What's up?"

Arthur hesitated for a long moment. "Jasmine... I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

Jasmine spoke in a soothing tone. "Dad, we're family. If the house is on fire, I'm helping to put it out."

"I know. You've always been such a good girl."

Submissive, sensible, brilliant in school, and never a moment's trouble.

But Arthur knew the truth.

The only reason Jasmine was like that was because of the wall she'd built between herself and the family.

A wall built brick by brick by Eleanor Thorne.

"Jasmine, don't worry about the money. I'll figure something out," Arthur said. "Just focus on your own life. That's all that matters to me."

He felt a wave of guilt as he said it.

He knew exactly what her life was like at the Vance estate.

But after years of Eleanor brainwashing him with the "married-off daughters are like spilled water" talk, he had compromised time and again.

With the company in shambles, Arthur lacked the spine to stand up to the Vances.

The Vance family was, after all, the undisputed titan of Rivercrest.

"Dad, let me handle the money. I have a way."

"Six hundred million? How are you going to find that kind of money?"

Jasmine was momentarily speechless.

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