Diana
I scratched the side of my eye in surprise.
Jonah Pellard was a concept to me even while I was his wife.
He was rarely home, and whenever we crossed paths in the house, he wouldn't even bat an eye. I was practically invisible to him, which was why he didn't hesitate to blacklist me when it seemed I'd become a risk to his company.
"I-I… Diana, if you wanted the card so badly, you should've asked me for it. You didn't have to go running to Mr. Pellard."
First, Lana was stammering, obviously tongue-tied by his words, and the next second she was pointing fingers at me.
"Lana is your sister. What happened to talking it through instead of seeking attention?"
"You're the one who wanted to leave, so why did you have to go to Mr. Pellard and lie to him?"
Indeed. Indeed.
Emilia and Jude were doing plenty of finger-pointing as well.
By this time in my past life, I stood before Jonah, vouching for Lana and taking responsibility for everything, both what was my fault and what wasn't.
"Mother, you said if I didn't feel comfortable, I should take my things and leave. You also said I couldn't leave with anything since everything I have was given to me by the Brooke family. So I don't see how it's my fault that your daughter was caught trying to buy a car of that amount."
Jude batted his lashes, eyes widening slightly, while Emilia's face visibly heated up.
"Diana!"
"I sent over the card so Diana could use it," Jonah said calmly. "Are you saying she hasn't been the one using it these past few weeks because I sent it to the Brooke family?"
"W-well, our family tries to cultivate generosity," Emilia said hurriedly. "So nothing is truly for one person."
"So that's a no."
"N-no, I mean… Diana, tell him."
I nodded and turned to face Jonah squarely. "Yes. They've been spending from the card."
The air turned humid as he met my eyes.
Staring into those brown orbs, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. The mole beside his left eye was even more distracting, almost making me think he had an alluring third eye reading through my mind.
"Tomorrow morning, my driver will be here to fetch her." He mummed after a moment and left without another word.
Following him with my eyes, I blinked in confusion.
Fetch her?
As in… fetch me?
~~~
"You're not going anywhere."
Inside the house, Jude paced around worriedly.
"You told me to leave." I looked up at him, looking around for where to sit while Lana sat across from me, forcing on a smile.
"I'm the head of this house," Jude snapped. "And tomorrow, when Mr. Pellard comes, you'll tell him you're not going with him."
"Yes, Diana," Emilia added. "It doesn't sound right for a single woman to live with a single man."
Such rich words since only a a few weeks ago, they had no problem sending me to his home in the middle of the night to see if he 'needed' anything.
"We're getting married in a few months. What does it matter?"
"But Diana, don't you think you were petty, telling Mr. Pellard about the card?" Lana asked, trying to bring back the question.
I suck in my teeth. "Lana, we're talking about something important here. Do you really think anyone cares about a stupid card?"
"B-but it's not stupid to me," she said, biting her lip. "It's literally my first time owning a card like that. I apologize if my naivety isn't something you take seriously."
Oh. Not again.
I rolled my eyes.
"It's your first time owning a card, yet you wanted to buy a car worth one hundred and twenty million? Shouldn't your first thought have been to buy food?"
"The truth is, I didn't know what I was doing until you called Mr. Pellard. It was my first time shopping online. I really wanted to buy food… I just don't know when I ended up in the car section." She murmured, her eyes turning glossy.
I winced.
She couldn't even formulate a proper lie. How did I let someone like this get under my skin for so long?
"That's enough, Diana. Your father and I are letting this go for now because we have pressing issues at hand." Emilia hushed, going to a corner with Jude.
A flicker of annoyance flashed past Lana's eyes. It was gone the next second, but not quick enough.
But like Emilia said, this wasnt the time for it.
"I don't see what the problem is. You wanted me to marry Jonah Pellard. Shouldn't you be happy he wants me to move in before the official wedding date?"
"Yes," Jude nodded after a pause. "Your mother and I have talked about it."
"Talked about what?"
He exchanged glances with Emilia before she shrugged and stepped forward.
"We're going to ask Jonah Pellard for more money If he really wants to marry you."