Chapter 5
Caelen lounged back in his chair, exuding a kind of effortless elegance that didn’t fit his supposed status. A faint, knowing smile played on his lips as he fixed Delphine with a piercing stare.
“The true daughter of the Branor family is Iselle, isn’t she? Delphine, you’re just the adopted one. What right do you have to claim that bangle?”
The atmosphere at the table instantly froze. All eyes turned to Iselle, making her squirm with discomfort.
She quickly tugged at Caelen’s sleeve, whispering, “I don’t care about any of this. You don’t have to do this for me.”
Caelen flashed her a smile, then turned back to Delphine, his gaze growing almost brazen.
“Ms. Delphine, unless you want to beg me, I might just let Iselle drop the whole thing.
A chill swept through Iselle’s heart.
Caelen wasn’t standing up for her at all. He was just using her as an excuse to force Delphine to yield to him, never once considering what would happen to Iselle.
Isadora’s cane struck the floor with a heavy thud.
“Enough! Iselle, you’ve grown bold–letting your future husband
humiliate your own sister like this.
“Clearly, you’ve been harboring these thoughts for a long time.
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“I’m warning you if you make things any harder for Del me for throwing you out of this house.”
Iselle lowered her eyes, years of pent–up grievances rising up inside her.
She was about to marry into the Durrell family anyway–what did it matter if she got kicked out now?
Suddenly, Iselle lifted her head. “Delphine, want to make another bet with me?”
Delphine’s face flickered with unease at the word “bet.” She asked, “What are the stakes?”
This
bangle. We’ll take turns naming our price, but we can only use what we own as collateral. Whoever puts up the highest value gets the bangle-
and the
wager.”
others
Everyone around the table looked surprised. After all, they all knew Iselle had grown up in an orphanage and was never favored after being brought back. What did she have to compete with Delphine?
Clearly, Delphine thought the same. She whipped out a black card. “Don’t back out now. This is my entire savings.”
Iselle gave a quiet laugh and produced a card of her own.
The butler checked the balances, his expression growing odd. “Ms. Iselle
wins.”
“That’s impossible!” Delphine sputtered, then pulled out a ring of keys. “Dad gave me an island, Mom gave me a villa, and Nolan gifted me a yacht. That should be enough, right?”
Those were her birthday presents from last year, the year before, and the year before that.
Iselle calmly laid out several documents.
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Chapter 5
The butler’s face grew serious. “Ms. Iselle wins again.”
Now, the room was buzzing with shock. Everyone craned their necks, curious to see what was written on those papers.
Iselle’s expression didn’t change. “Still in?
“Everything you have was really just gifts from Mom and Dad. I doubt you have anything else.
288 Vouchers
“I’ll tell you
I what I’m putting up–my scholarship money and my patent contracts. All earned by me. And I’ve got more if you want to keep going.”
Delphine’s face burned red, her chest heaving as she spat, “Fine! My 260 million dollar courtyard house. There’s no way you can come up with that much in such a short time.”
Nolan’s face changed as he tried to intervene, “Delphine, don’t—”
“Why not? It’s all I have left, Nolan. Or do you want to see me lose?”
“No, it’s just ” Before Nolan could finish, the butler cut in.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Delphine, but those two courtyard houses are already registered to Ms. Iselle.”
“What?!” Delphine looked as if someone had strangled her, panic written all over her face.
Her 260 million estate was now Iselle’s collateral. If she couldn’t offer something worth more, everything she owned would belong to Iselle.
Delphine twisted her sleeves in desperation, while Isadora and Nolan looked on in anxious silence. They couldn’t risk their own reputations by openly helping Delphine cheat.
As Delphine bit her lip, on the verge of tears, Iselle simply watched her,
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calm and unyielding.
288 Vouchers
In the past, Iselle would never have pushed this far. She’d always tried to fit into the Branor family, never wanting to make things hard for their little princess Delphine. But today, no matter who tried to talk her down, Iselle wouldn’t budge.
Someone was already reaching for the bangle, ready to claim it as Iselle’s prize, when Delphine suddenly burst into loud sobs.
At that moment, the butler stared in disbelief at his computer screen.
“It’s 250 million dollars.
“Just now, someone transferred 250 million dollars into Ms. Delphine’s
account!”
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