Episode 124
Oliver’s voice teetered on the edge of anger when suddenly, Sophia intervened, her tone soothing as she took over the conversation. “Elizabeth, there’s no need to be so aggressive with us. We’re still family, after all. I understand that this apartment is the only legacy your mother left behind, and I have no intention of depriving you of it.
There was a brief pause before Sophia added, “But we have a proposition that could benefit us both. Should you accept, your father will relinquish his inheritance rights, and the apartment will be solely yours.”
Sophia’s cunning was no secret to Elizabeth. She had always been a master of manipulation, cloaking her sharp acumen with the facade of a benevolent stepmother, regardless of how Elizabeth responded.
With a skeptical frown, Elizabeth probed further, “And what exactly are you proposing?”
Elizabeth hadn’t dismissed the idea outright, which prompted Sophia to seize the opportunity, her words tinged with urgency. “Do you remember Nate Crawford? Your ex-fiance? Married or not, he still loves you—it doesn’t matter to him. Now that you’re contemplating a divorce from Elijah, perhaps reconsidering Nate isn’t such a bad idea?”
This was their true motive, then.
They were still clinging to ambitions they had failed to realize years earlier.
A surge of defiance tightened Elizabeth’s grip on her phone, her tone turning frosty. “Forget about it. We’re in a modern society—you can’t just treat me like a thing to be sold!”
Snatching the phone from Sophia, Oliver’s voice was laden with threats. “If you reject Nate and refuse to settle the debt, I’ll sell the apartment off to a salvage firm to convert into a storage facility!”
It seemed there was no familial bond left between him and Elizabeth, only the bitterness of adversaries.
Elizabeth slid down the wall, drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin upon them, her body curling into a shield against the world.
The apartment was a sanctuary of the few treasured memories of Danna. Regardless of its dilapidated state, it was a piece of her past she desperately clung to.
Elizabeth managed to steady her nerves before responding, “I’ll have my attorney review the offer you’ve made to ensure it’s fair, and I’ll pay you what’s reasonable. If that doesn’t satisfy you, feel free to take legal action. As for everything else, consider it forgotten. I refuse to let you three leverage my life for your gain!”
With those final words, she ended the call abruptly.
On the other end, Sophia and Oliver shared a bewildered look.
Oliver, clearly caught off guard, took a thoughtful sip of his lemonade, his brow furrowing. “Is she bluffing? She once said she’d walk away from the marriage empty-handed. Where’s all this money coming from suddenly? And even if she can pay, what are we going to tell the Crawfords?”
Sophia settled beside him, her expression one of exasperation.
She said, “You lack patience, Oliver. It doesn’t matter where her money’s from—if she has it, it’ll end up in our pockets one way or another. If she doesn’t, then she’s trapped, just where we want her. Besides, money doesn’t last forever. She’ll face more expenses soon enough.
