Editor: Henyee Translations Grace had once been attracted to Matthias.
But not enough to marry a man confined to a wheelchair.
She didn’t want him for herself, yet she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else having him either.
That was why she harbored such resentment toward Evelyn.
Suppressing her satisfaction, Grace put on a concerned expression and asked gently, “Mom, what did Evelyn do to make you so upset?” As though she had finally found someone to vent to, Isabelle launched straight into her complaints.
“That girl embarrassed me in front of the Lowells!
Can you believe she stood there and claimed Northgate University?
Does she have any idea what kind of school is that?
She practically made it look like our entire family was lying.
I have never been so humiliated in my life.” Isabelle’s voice grew deeper.
“And if that was not even the worst part.
She pushed your brother down the stairs!
If Aric had been seriously injured, I swear I would never have forgiven her.” Grace was stunned.
Her older sister was far more ridiculous than she’d imagined.
If she was going to lie, shouldn’t she at least make it believable?
Northgate University?
Did she really think everyone else was imbecile?
Grace almost laughed out loud.
After calming her mother down for a few minutes, she returned to her room.
The first thing she did– as always–was open the private group chat shared by Norbright’s wealthy young socialites.
The moment she entered, she noticed she’d been tagged by Miles.
Grace’s heart instantly skipped a beat, and she quickly scrolled up to read the conversation.
Someone had asked Miles about Matthias’s blind date with Evelyn, and from Miles’s replies, it was obvious he wasn’t pleased with his future sister-in-law.
Then he had tagged Grace directly, and asked, “Grace, what’s your sister’s deal?
What’s she actually like?” Grace knew her mother desperately wanted Evelyn to marry into the Lowell family.
But she certainly didn’t.
Without hesitation, she repeated everything Isabelle had just told her.
Naturally, she omitted the part where Isabelle had encouraged Evelyn to claim she graduated from Crestview Medical University.
Instead, she made it sound as though Evelyn had independently fabricated the entire story and falsely claimed to be a graduate of Northgate University.
The first response came from Kevin Wright.
A laughing emoji appeared followed by.
Northgate University?
Did I read that right?
Damn.
That’s a bold lie!
She’s got some nerve.
Tons of mocking emojis from different families flooded the group chat.
Miles frowned.
What exactly had his mother found for his brother?
Being unattractive was one thing, and being poorly educated was another.
Also being a compulsive liar on top of that?
What kind of disaster was this?
As more people joined the conversation, the ridicule spread rapidly through the chat.
Grace felt no embarrassment watching people mock her own sister.
On the contrary, she found it immensely satisfying.
Still, she had a reputation to protect.
She quickly typed a response to Evelyn’s defence.
My sister only said that because she was afraid people might look down on her.
She didn’t mean any harm.
She’s actually a good person.
Growing up in a small town wasn’t easy for her.
She isn’t used to being around people like us.
She was probably just nervous and insecure.
Please, don’t be too hard on her.
The replies appeared almost instantly.
Come on, Grace.
You don’t have to make excuses for her just because she’s your sister.
Another person wrote, Nervous and insecure?
Sounds more like she’s vain.
If she doesn’t have the credentials, she shouldn’t pretend she does.
Now she has embarrassed her entire family.
Reading the flood of criticism directed at Evelyn, Grace smiled.
Surely this would make Miles reconsider the marriage.
As expected, Miles grew increasingly irritated the more he read.
At first, he had been willing to keep an open mind.
If Evelyn was kind, sensible, and genuinely cared for Matthias, he could have accepted her despite her background.
But now?
A woman who lied casually about something as significant as her education?
Someone like that would eventually bring trouble to the Lowell family.
Matthias had always been easygoing and rarely concerned himself with other people’s motives.
But Evelyn struck Miles as manipulative.
What if she took advantage of his brother?
No.
Absolutely not.
He wasn’t about to let someone like that ruin Matthias’s future.
Without another thought, Miles opened the group member list, found Grace’s profile, and sent her a friend request.
When the notification popped up on Grace’s phone, she thought she was imagining things.
Miles Lowell had added her?
The second son of the Lowell family had personally sent her a friend request?
Her shock quickly transformed into excitement.
The Ashfords were wealthy, but belonged to the lowest tier of Norbright’s elite social circle.
The Lowells, meanwhile, stood at the very top.
Miles only appeared in their group chat because of his friendship with Kevin Wright.
Under normal circumstances, someone of his status wouldn’t have even given Grace a second glance.
Trying desperately to contain her excitement, Grace accepted the request immediately, and carefully typed, Hey, there!
Do you need something?
His reply arrived almost at once.
Let’s meet.
Grace nearly screamed.
Years ago, she harboured feelings for Matthias.
But Miles was just as equally desirable.
And unlike Matthias, he wasn’t confined to a wheelchair.
Countless women in Norbright dreamed of getting close to him.
Biting her lip, she replied, Isn’t that a little sudden?
Wouldn’t it be a bit inappropriate for us to meet alone?
Miles nearly rolled his eyes.
What exactly was this woman imagining?
He quickly clarified.
You don’t want Evelyn marrying my brother either, right?
Let’s work together and stop this marriage.
Grace froze.
For a brief moment, she thought Miles might be interested in her.
She hadn’t expected his dislike of Evelyn to run this deep.
Nor had she expected him to approach her directly.
To Grace, this felt like an unexpected gift.
She could prevent Evelyn from marrying Matthias while simultaneously getting closer to Miles.
Two birds with one stone.
She wanted to agree immediately.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t.
Not openly.
She still needed to maintain her sweet and kind image.
After all, men always seemed to prefer a damsel in distress.
So instead she typed, This marriage has been arranged by our parents.
We shouldn’t interfere.
Besides, marrying Matthias would be a wonderful opportunity for my sister.
I should be happy for her.
How could I possibly try to stop it?
Whatever favorable impression Miles might have had of Grace disappeared instantly.
Although they had never spoken privately before, a few messages were enough for him to understand exactly what kind of person she was.
He had spent his entire life surrounded by people skilled at hiding their true intentions.
Recognizing insincerity came naturally to him.
Grace’s sweet, and innocent act was painfully transparent.
If she genuinely cared about Evelyn, she never would have publicly exposed all of her sister’s supposed flaws to an entire group chat.
The older sister was certainly a problem.
But the younger sister?
She was far worse.