In the magnificent living room, all eyes were on the woman who was bowed her head in the middle.
"Emily, you must go through with this marriage!" the woman's father commanded.
"Emily, for the sake of our Oakley family, you have suffered. I believe you're a sensible and good child," her stepmother spoke gently.
"Sister, I'm sorry. I have an engagement with Lucas. Otherwise, I would never have you suffer this inconvenience," said her half-sister, Oakley Kayla.
Everyone was awaiting Emily's reply.
Just as the stern expression on Oakley Charles' face gradually tightened, about to burst into anger—
The woman suddenly raised her head. Her deep, cool eyes swept a glance around the room, a flicker of confusion playing in her dark pupils.
Where was she? Who were these people?
She had just finished a surgery that lasted for twelve hours. After stepping down from the operation table, she was so exhausted that she fainted, and when she woke up, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.
"Big sister, don’t worry, we’ll do our best to get you out of this," Kayla promised, her eyes watching her earnestly but with a hint of uneasiness.
Emily's gaze skimmed over her face which was realistically pretty, and her pitiful, innocent act was likely to trigger people's protective instinct. However, there was an almost undetectable guilty conscience.
With a slight smirk, Emily seemed to recall something.
Exuding a languid air, she laughed lightly as she leaned back against the leather sofa. Her relaxed posture on the sumptuous couch and fiery red dress highlighted the capricious coldness seeping from her bones.
Staring at Emily, who seemed quite different from her usual self, all three were slightly taken aback. The stepmother, Ava Addams, was the first to break the silence. "Emily, I understand you've been wronged. But if you become Mrs. Reynolds, you will enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of your life. The Reynolds family will no longer touch our family's assets, and your father's life will then improve."
It sounded like a win-win situation!
Emily's eyes slightly flickered, giving her a brief glance.
Suddenly, she remembered where she was, as unbelievable as it was, she had indeed found herself inside a novel!
Just a few days ago, a young nurse from her department had been intensely promoting a novel, and Emily had skimmed through it briefly. She generally had no interest in such books, but seeing a supporting female character sharing her first and last name acting so unreasonable, as if having her intelligence trampled upon, she couldn’t help but keep reading, curious about any potential plot twists.
Eventually, she saw the female lead, living in her delusions, attempting to save the supporting female character. The vengeful major antagonist certainly wouldn’t tolerate his wife betraying him, thus the supporting female character was inevitably written off …
And the female lead, an extremely innocent character, assuming the original male lead and the major antagonist were seriously injured in their secret conflict. Assuming the major antagonist was in a worse state, she purposefully went to ridicule him, resulting in angering his assistant who demanded the Oakley family to offer up their daughter for marriage, as a form of attacking the family's dignity!
The Oakley couple certainly wouldn’t want their darling daughter to go over, so their attention shifted to Emily, who was almost forgotten in the corner.
Emily began to suspect that Kayla was doing all this on purpose! Creating such a fuss, all to get rid of Emily!
Emily’s slender, fair fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the sofa, casting a sudden tension within the quiet living room.
Her deep, magnificent eyes revealed a sense of confusion: "Since the Reynolds household holds such power, why ally with the Oakley family?"
Hearing this, Charles couldn’t help but glare fiercely at Kayla, who immediately retracted her fingers.
"Sis, the Reynolds family is just abusing their power!” Kayla's watery eyes stared at her, putting on a pitiful act of helplessness: "They have great power and influence. If you refuse to marry, the Reynolds family will certainly make our life tough, causing our family business, accumulated over the years, to collapse!”
Having said that, Kayla gently touched her stomach, her face showing a bitter expression: "And, I am carrying the child of New Havens City. If I go there and they find out, they will be even angrier!"
Her pitiful image provoked sympathy in others' hearts. But there was an imperceptible smugness in her eyes when she glanced at Emily.
However, Emily's delicately beautiful face showed no emotion.
Seeing this, Kayla seemed a bit stunned. Didn't her sister quite like New Havens City?
"Could it be... she was too heartbroken to react?"
With such a guess, Kayla felt slightly relieved. Her face was filled with helplessness, but each word she uttered hammered at the other's heart, "Sis, I can go too... it's just that when Lucas wakes up and hears this news, I fear he won't be able to bear it!"
Emily loved Lucas to the extent she couldn't bear to see him upset.
Her red lips tipped up slightly, a hint of pain throbbing in her heart.
Perhaps it was the original host's emotions...
In the original book, the supporting female character would almost break down upon knowing this news and eventually agree with complete despair.
'You're such a foolish girl. That type of person is simply unworthy of you.'
But since I'm here now, I'm sure to help you reclaim justice!
Emily propped her chin with one hand, "Really? Even if I'm the unloved daughter of the Oakley household, won't they feel tricked when they find out?"
Hearing this, Charles hardened his heart, "Who says that? When the time comes, I will give you a dowry equal to that of Kayla, demonstrating your status!"
Kayla and Ava looked at Charles in surprise. How could their family's money be given to Emily?
It seemed like they had no other choice for now…
However, Emily was still not satisfied.
Her slender eyebrows knitted together slightly, "The same? Does that emphasize my status as the most cherished one?"
She made sure to press down on the word 'most'.
Charles frowned, his voice murky, "Then how much do you want?"
"Double!"
Kayla's pupils dilated in an instant.
"On what ground, to give her so much money? I'm the real daughter of the Oakley family! Emily is just a discarded daughter. If it weren't for my current situation, she wouldn't even be able to return to the Oakley family!"
Charles pondered for a moment, gritting his teeth, saying, "Fine!"
A light laugh spread across Emily's red lips.
It can be seen that Charles is reluctant, but how could this amount of money be enough to compensate for his years of neglect towards Emily?
In the future, she will take it back slowly.
Emily stood up, heading straight up the stairs.
Without a wedding, without a bride price, just like that. In the evening, someone from the Reynolds family came to take Emily away.
Charles gave the dowry on the spot, along with a card with twenty million.
Kayla saw that card with twenty million being accepted by Emily and unconsciously bit her lip.
After everything settled down, Kayla finally couldn't help but say, "Dad, is it really okay to give her that much money?"
Charles turned back to yell at her, "You idiot, what do you think? Do you know the Reynolds family blocked two of my orders today? Why are you so stupid?"
Being scolded, Charles's eyes gradually clouded over, and her voice choked, "Daddy, I, I am just not willing for Lucas…"
"Fool!"
Charles was so angry that he stormed off.
Ava comforts Kayla "Kayla, don't worry. After Emily gets married, all the property at home will be yours. No one can compete with you. As for that idiot Emily, who knows how much she might be bullied at the Reynolds's?"