As Everly blissfully snored, completely oblivious, her family was engaged in a full-blown argument right outside her new bedroom.
Anna, Charles, Magnus, and even Sylvia, looking utterly bewildered, emerged from Sylvia’s room to find the four brothers locked in a heated debate.
Charles fixed his four sons with a stern, questioning gaze.
“What in the blazes is all this commotion about?”
“Dad!
Alan’s gone rogue!
He’s moved her room here!”
Sylas practically shrieked, jabbing a finger at Everly’s door, his glare impaling Alan.
Charles, Anna, and Sylvia exchanged stunned glances.
Alan, the family’s resident peacekeeper, the one who navigated life by gracefully sidestepping anything resembling drama, had actually taken initiative?
And to place Everly’s room next to his?
Fury flickered in Sylvia’s eyes, quickly masked by a carefully cultivated expression of sorrow.
“Why, Alan?
Mom already arranged a perfectly suitable room for her downstairs.” Anna asked, she stared at her fourth son as if he’d suddenly sprouted a second head.
Alan, though outwardly calm, narrowed his eyes, his voice laced with an unfamiliar edge of controlled fury.
“Mom, are you truly content with letting Everly sleep in a servant’s room on the first floor?
Even our guest rooms are more spacious!
She is your real daughter!
My biological sister!
Everly has endured years without our family’s love, and now that she’s finally home, you push her away?”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Alan, typically a man of few, carefully chosen words, had just delivered a scathing monologue, his voice thrumming with an unfamiliar, righteous anger.
The family stared, utterly dumbfounded, at this unprecedented display.
For the umpteenth time that day, Anna wrestled with a cocktail of embarrassment, guilt, and a simmering irritation.
Alan’s words, though harsh, held a sting of truth she couldn’t entirely dismiss.
But still…
“Alan,” Anna began, her voice a strained whisper, “Mom understands this seems unfair to Everly, but we must also consider Sylvia’s delicate feelings.
Only weeks ago, she was inconsolable, terrified we’d discard her once Everly appeared.
If we allow Everly to sleep so close, Sylvia’s depression will only deepen.
Everly, having spent her life in the modest confines of an orphanage, surely won’t mind a downstairs room until Sylvia’s spirits recover.”
As if on cue, Sylvia’s eyes welled up, a single, glistening tear tracing a path down her cheek.
“Alan…
I fully understand that you’re bound to prefer Everly.
I mean, she is your real sister, after all…
” Sylvia whispers, voice breaking perfectly.
“I never meant for Mom to put her in the servant’s room…
I just told Mom that Everly might, perhaps, harbor some resentment towards me for this…
unfortunate situation.
Even though she seems sweet, I’m simply too vulnerable…
the mere thought of her sleeping nearby makes me…
physically ill with anxiety…” she clutches her chest dramatically, fingers splayed across her heart like a Victorian maiden.
“But I should be brave, shouldn’t I?
She’s my sister now, so my emotional well-being are totally trivial…” her breathing becomes labored, each inhale a theatrical struggle.
Anna immediately enveloped Sylvia in a comforting embrace, stroking her back soothingly.
The brothers, all except Alan, swarmed around Sylvia, a protective phalanx.
“Why do you always say that!” Nathan fumed, his face contorted with anger.
“If her being here makes you sick, I’ll move her room back downstairs right now!”
Sylvia gently pushed Anna away, a brave, pained smile gracing her lips.
“No, brother.
I must endure.
I have a lovely room and your unwavering attention.
Even if I feel unwell, at least Everly can have a comfortable place to sleep.”
Perhaps it was Everly’s mental commentary on Sylvia’s perpetual dramatics, or perhaps Alan had always harbored a deep-seated discomfort with Sylvia’s excessive fragility even before the paternity revelation. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
Whatever the reason, Alan visibly shuddered as Sylvia wept like a martyr, her performance implying she was nobly sacrificing her delicate mental state for the sake of Everly’s room not being relegated to the servant’s quarters.
“You don’t have to be so self-sacrificing, Sylvia,” Sylas hissed, his voice dripping with venom.
“You truly are too good for this world, utterly unselfish, unlike that shameful girl named Everly!”
Alan rubs his temples, a silent prayer of thanks going out to Everly’s uncanny ability to project her thoughts.
Otherwise, he might have been fooled, like the rest of his family, into believing Sylvia was genuinely sacrificing her mental well-being so Everly could enjoy a decent room.
Her manipulative nature was as subtle as a brick to the face, yet his family remained stubbornly blind.
His already dwindling affection for Sylvia plummeted to subterranean levels.
“Sylvia,” he stated, his tone flat, devoid of any warmth, “if Everly sleeping in a servant’s room doesn’t make you ‘sick,’ but Everly sleeping in a nice room does, then perhaps your affliction isn’t depression, but rather a severe case of jealousy.” He paused, letting the words hang in the air.
“If you genuinely care about Everly, as you so loudly proclaim, I suggest you never bring this topic up again.
Otherwise, I will assume you are deliberately orchestrating Everly’s mistreatment within this family.”
With that, Alan turned and strode towards his room.
Before disappearing inside, he paused, looking directly at Charles.
“Dad, if you insist on Everly changing rooms, I will ensure Everly moves out of this house.
And rest assured, I will be accompanying her.”
The door clicked shut, leaving a stunned silence in its wake.
“What on earth?
That’s not our Alan!”
Nathan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he gaped at his younger brother, who was behaving like an entirely different person.
“Alan…
seems rather attached…
to Everly…”
Felix mused, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“I told you!
That barbaric girl must be a witch, casting spells on Alan’s mind!”
Sylas seethed, his face turning a shade of purple.
Amidst the chaos, no one noticed the brief flash of pure hatred and cold calculation that crossed Sylvia’s face before she dramatically swooned, sending the family into a frenzy of panic as they scrambled to call the Tang family’s personal doctor.
*
*
*
The next morning, Everly woke up promptly, her internal body alarm going off like clockwork.
She stretched languidly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before reaching for her glasses on the bedside table.
As she surveyed her surroundings, she was reminded that she was no longer in the orphanage but in the opulent manor of her affluent biological family.
After a refreshing shower and a quick change of clothes, Everly started humming a tune that would make a Broadway star jealous.
She was practically bouncing on her toes with excitement, hoping for a day filled with juicy cliché drama.
And if it happened to be during breakfast, she was crossing her fingers for a feast fit for a queen…
or at least enough food to munch on like popcorn while watching the show.
Just as she was combing her hair, her phone buzzed like a swarm of angry bees.
She had a whopping 101 chats from Maria and Olivia.
Guilt washed over her, but she decided to deal with them later.
Right now, her stomach was growling, and she couldn’t wait to get out of her room and into the drama-filled dining room.
[I’m busy with family drama right now.
Will call you when I have time]
She quickly typed out a message to Olivia and hit send, then made a beeline for the door.
But just as Everly was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of herself in the large antique mirror.
Like a moth to a flame, she couldn’t resist striking a pose – channeling her inner supermodel.
After all, she was now the daughter of a wealthy man; she had to look the part of a proper heiress.
Unfortunately, the reflection in the mirror was less than flattering.
Instead of a refined young lady, she looked more like a gorilla trying to imitate a bodybuilder.
She had this air of “I may look delicate, but I could take on a rhinoceros in a wrestling match!” Of course, with her narcissistic personality, Everly was convinced she was already the epitome of elegance and beauty.
Finally, after thoroughly admiring herself, she swung open the door.
And at that exact moment, Sylas across the hall opened his door too.
Their eyes locked, and Everly couldn’t resist a mischievous smirk. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Good morning, little peacock,” she greeted, her voice dripping with playful mockery.
“Stop calling me peacock, you uncivilized girl!
Seeing you first thing in the morning makes me want to throw up!”
Sylas spat the words with venom, his feet stomping on the floorboards like a petulant child.
He scurried down the grand staircase towards the dining room, his silk robe billowing behind him.
Everly, of course, trailed after him, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
How could she pass up the opportunity to torment her irritating twin, who stubbornly refused to acknowledge their kinship, let alone their status as twins?
She let out an exaggerated sigh, her shoulders slumping dramatically as she followed in Sylas’s wake.
“Oh, dear little brother, when will you grow up?
No matter how vehemently you deny me as your sister, the truth remains: we are blood relatives!
In fact, you can start addressing me as ‘older sister’ from this moment forward.
Didn’t you lecture me about etiquette yesterday?
If my memory serves me correctly, proper etiquette dictates that you should address your elders with respect.
So, go ahead, call me ‘older sister’!”
If it weren’t for Alan’s revelation that Sylas was the youngest in the family, Everly would never have guessed that she was the elder twin.
And now, this newfound knowledge provided her with even more ammunition to taunt the brat.
“Older sister?!!!
I would rather perish than utter those words!!!”
Sylas was positively seething, his face contorted with rage.
He was still fuming about how Everly’s arrival had sent Sylvia into a tailspin and transformed Alan into a completely different person.
Their once close-knit brotherly bond had been shattered, and it was all her fault!
As they descended the grand staircase, their voices echoing through the opulent foyer, Everly couldn’t resist the temptation to play a little game.
With a mischievous glint in her eye, she reached out and firmly grasped Sylas by the shoulder.
Despite their nearly 10 cm height difference, Everly managed to drape her arm around her twin’s shoulders with ease, careful not to make direct skin contact.
She still vividly remembered the unexpected notification she received yesterday during dinner with Alan: [Side Effect: OFF].
Since she had no clue what the side effect of the gossip system was, she decided it was best to err on the side of caution and avoid physical contact for the time being.
Sylas, predictably, let out a startled yelp and tried to wriggle out of Everly’s grasp.
“Let go of me, you repulsive creature!!!” he shrieked, his face contorted with disgust.
Everly’s grip tightened, her fingers digging into Sylas’s shoulder.
“Stop squirming,” she hissed in his ear.
“Or else something…
unexpected might occur.”
Sylas froze, his eyes widening in alarm as he recalled something.
To his surprise, he realized that he couldn’t hear Everly’s thoughts.
Had the mind-reading ability only been temporary, or was Everly simply not thinking about anything at the moment?
A sense of curiosity gnawed at him, but he quickly pushed it aside, focusing on the more pressing matter at hand.
“What do you want from me…?” he demanded, his voice quivering with a mixture of fear and anger.
Everly merely smiled, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Ssssh, little brother,” she whispered.
“Some secrets are best left undiscovered by the younger generation.”
“I’m only two minutes younger than you!!!”
Sylas roared, his face turning a deep shade of crimson.
In his fury, he failed to notice that they had already entered the dining room, where the rest of the family was seated, staring at them in stunned silence.
In that moment, to the outside observer, the pair appeared to be engaged in a playful banter, like two inseparable twins sharing a lighthearted moment.
Of course, this sudden display of camaraderie left their entire family utterly flabbergasted.
It was no secret that among them all, Sylas was the one who had made his disdain and rejection of Everly as a family member abundantly clear.
And that, of course, was precisely what Everly had intended.
Her gaze did not linger on the faces of her parents or her other brothers.
Instead, her focus was fixed solely on the delicate beauty seated between them.
Sylvia’s eyes blazed with barely suppressed fury, her hatred for Everly evident in every fiber of her being.
Everly, however, merely responded with an exaggerated grin, relishing in the drama she had so artfully orchestrated.
Well…
it seems the morning’s cliché drama is about to commence~