Page 69 of Maddening Fixation

My sister, Yarina, sat beside me with flawless posture, every strand of her dark hair secured in an elegant chignon.

Her expression was composed, but I caught the almost imperceptible tightening around her eyes.

It lasted only a second before she masked it again.

Most people would never have noticed.

I did.

She wasn’t happy.

Not after watching our grandparents leave me everything while she walked away with nothing.

My mother remained near the window in her wheelchair, her hands folded quietly in her lap.

Father occupied Grandfather’s old leather chair as though it had always belonged to him.

He rested one hand on the polished armrest, his piercing gaze moving slowly between Yarina and me before settling on my face.

For several long seconds, no one spoke.

Then I broke the silence first, though my pulse hammered against my ribs.

“Everyone can stop worrying.”

I kept my voice calm, though my heart was anything but.

“I won’t be marrying Romeo Flynn.”

A collective breath seemed to leave the room.

“If refusing the marriage means the inheritance is divided equally among the family, then so be it.”

I looked at my parents before letting my gaze settle on my sister.

“I won’t be the reason this family falls apart over money. Our grandparents spent their lives building this legacy. I won’t allow it to become the cause of its destruction.”

I shook my head.

“And I’m certainly not going to marry a man I’ve never met simply to inherit a fortune.”

Father rose with measured calm. The old leather chair creaked beneath him as he reached for one of the thick legal binders stacked neatly on the table.

Without ceremony, he set it squarely in front of me.

The weight of it landed with a dull thud.

It felt less like paperwork and more like a sentence.

“Read it,” he said.

I stared at the binder but didn’t open it.

“I already heard the lawyer.”

“Read. It.”

His voice remained even, devoid of anger, which somehow made it far more intimidating.