I Read Their Tragic Fates, and My Family Reads My Mind?

With Rachel Chandler having laid it all out, what came next was predictable.

But Melanie Yates was so shocked her voice cracked. "What? She has a fiancé?"

Mr. and Mrs. Yates turned to Zane Lynch in surprise. Zane hadn’t expected to be dragged into the fire himself after all that.

"Ahem. My late second aunt did indeed have a verbal agreement with Mrs. Sherwood. But my cousin is still young, so whether this agreement is binding will ultimately depend on her own wishes. Until a decision is made, we felt it was best not to publicize it, and the Sherwood family felt the same."

Zane Lynch deliberately avoided saying Cassandra Lynch’s name, trying to leave some wiggle room for the situation.

Unfortunately, no one present appreciated his subtle efforts.

Rachel Chandler sneered, living up to her reputation for having a venomous tongue as she continued her tirade.

"It really runs in the family! That cousin of yours told my friend the exact same thing. Something about how the engagement was arranged by their elders, that she was helpless, that she didn’t want to be tied to someone she had no feelings for because of some rash agreement. But since her uncle and aunt raised her, she couldn’t possibly disappoint them."

"Give me a break! Maybe I’m just blind, but I sure didn’t see her looking too unhappy about that engagement yesterday. She was practically climbing into that young master of the Sherwood family’s lap, and that was in public! If no one had been around, they’d probably have been all over each other. I thought I was going to go blind just watching them."

Rachel Chandler finished with a disgusted frown, as if to say, ’What kind of decent person acts so shamelessly!’

Hearing her say this, Zane was both embarrassed and furious. His voice trembled as he asked, "Did she really say that?"

"I’m not in the habit of making things up when I talk about people." She then kicked Ivan Yates’s hospital bed. "She told you that before, didn’t she? You were there yesterday when they were all over each other, weren’t you? Back me up here. Did I get a single word of that wrong?"

Mrs. Chapman quickly tried to stop her. "Don’t be so rough, Rachel! Ivan is still hurt!"

But Mrs. Yates waved her hand dismissively, backing Rachel up. "It’s fine, it’s fine. She should kick him a few more times, knock some sense into him."

"Mom’s right. My brother must have water on the brain to believe that kind of crap. ’The elders arranged my marriage and I have no say’... Anyone who didn’t know better would think the Lynch family was mistreating her, using her as a bargaining chip in a marriage alliance."

This was precisely what infuriated Zane. Because of what had happened to his aunt and uncle, his family had spent years doting on Cassandra, treating her like a fragile doll. They were terrified that the slightest unhappiness would affect her mood and worsen her condition.

And this was the story she was telling people about them?

Even though Zane had long known that Cassandra was cold-hearted and impossible to truly get close to, he still felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. The chill was so intense he wanted to shiver.

Arabella Donovan, however, didn’t notice Zane Lynch’s heart turning to ice. She watched the farce with great relish, thinking that this family was a rare comedy act.

’Hahaha, that’s a real mom and a real sister for you. I feel bad for him, but how am I supposed to not laugh? This Rachel Chandler is one of a kind. Her takedown of Cassandra Lynch was perfect—she’s saying everything I’m thinking!’

When Caspian Rhodes saw Arabella Donovan’s eyes sparkle as she stared at Rachel Chandler, the smile on his lips faded.

’This girl might be young, but she sure has a wandering eye.’

’Not long ago, she was checking out that celebrity Samuel Fulton at Zane’s company, and now she’s fixated on this Rachel Chandler.’

’Her heart is like a vast ocean, and it’s filled with all kinds of fish.’

Hit with a one-two punch from his mother and sister, Ivan Yates withdrew even further into himself.

Melanie Yates, however, thought that since a member of the Lynch family was present, this was the perfect chance to expose Cassandra’s true colors. She had to do it now to prevent anyone from dredging this up later, making it seem like they were in the wrong and letting her brother take all the blame.

"Rachel, you said my brother saw them together and thought that guy was forcing himself on Cassandra. Did they get into a fight?"

"If they hadn’t, would your brother have stayed out all night drinking himself into a stupor?"

Arabella Donovan froze for a second, finally identifying the point of divergence in this dramatic showdown.

’Huh? Simp No. 1 and Simp No. 2 actually clashed? In the original plot, they never even met!’

’You have to understand, the most basic skill for a veteran playgirl is managing the "fish" in her "pond" to make sure they never run into each other at the wrong time or place.’

’According to the original script, Ivan Yates was supposed to be unable to handle seeing their intimate moment and just turn and walk away.’

’After that, he was supposed to spend the night out alone, get into a drunk driving accident, and end up in a vegetative state, with no chance to ever tell anyone the truth.’

’That’s why, in the end, Melanie and her family never found out why a man who rarely drank would get so drunk that night, much less that he had seen Cassandra and her fiancé right before his accident.’

’Now Ivan has avoided his fate of ending up in a vegetative state, and he even had a face-to-face confrontation with Cassandra Lynch and Gregory Sherwood before he left. Is this the butterfly effect?’

A flicker of light crossed Eloise Donovan’s eyes as she lowered her head, lost in thought.

"Your brother treats her like a treasure, but she treats him like an unwanted ATM. That woman claimed they were just friends. She said your brother misunderstood, taking her silent rejections as encouragement and kept pestering her."

Rachel then adopted a mockingly sweet voice, mimicking Cassandra’s classic, manipulative spiel. "’Ivan, dear, I told you a long time ago that I have a fiancé. I always thought you just saw me as a little sister, and that you were just being kind to me the way you are with Melanie. Now that we’ve cleared the air and resolved this misunderstanding, can we please just go back to being like brother and sister? Okay?’"

Rachel shuddered before she could even finish, rubbing the goosebumps off her arms. "Melanie is Ivan’s actual sister. Who the hell does she think she is? The nerve of her, comparing herself to Melanie. She knew Ivan had a crush on her, but she still led him on. What kind of brother and sister text each other sweet nothings and demand gifts all day? Some kind of lovers pretending to be siblings? Hah..."

If the situation weren’t so serious, Arabella would probably be rolling on the floor laughing. ’How can someone’s takedown be so perfectly on point? Hahahaha...’

Eloise Donovan, however, thought of something else. "So, her fiancé didn’t react at all?" she asked suddenly.

Rachel seemed surprised by the interruption. She paused for a second before sneering, "Him? He’s got a brain the size of a sesame seed. That woman could be cheating on him right under his nose, and he’d probably still think she’s some fragile, pure, and innocent little thing."

Eloise Donovan recalled her recent conflict with Gregory Sherwood at the office and the self-righteous way he had defended Cassandra Lynch. A mocking smile curled her lips.

"So that’s how it is. Hah." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

A certain someone who had just gotten home and was about to have Cassandra Lynch thoroughly investigated: ACHOO!!!