They Wanted Family Drama And I Wanted A Property Deed Chapter 09
After the party ended, Catherine tugged me into the garden and sat with me for a long time.
She said quietly, “Lena, I used to think that with family, you just tough it out. But then I realized…
the more I put up with, the more everyone thought they could walk all over ine.”
I looked at her. “You figured it out. That’s what matters.”
Her eyes got a little red. “So what about you? Will you still have me as your mother?”
The wind blew through the garden. The lights caught the redness at the corners of her eyes.
I didn’t answer right off the bat.
After a long time, I said, “Mrs. Hart, family isn’t paperwork. You don’t sign and get instant
results.”
Her face fell.
Then I added, “But you can have a trial run.”
She froze.
I smiled. “Perform well during the trial period, and maybe you’ll get the permanent position.”
Catherine blinked a few times. Then she started laughing through her tears.
The Hart Group really fell apart a month later.
The supply chain dried up overnight. Several major clients canceled their contracts at the same
time. And the bank was hounding them for payments.
Richard aged ten years in one night.
Bennett was pacing like crazy. “Dad, how did this happen?”
Richard rubbed his temples. “Someone’s messing with us from behind the scenes.
I sat on the couch flipping through documents. “Not just someone. We’ve got a mole.”
Richard’s head snapped up. “How do you know?”
I spread out a few procurement contracts.
“These three have inflated prices and abnormal delivery timelines. The payment accounts all trace back to the same shell company. And the legal rep of that shell company? Connected to Marge’s’
nephew.”
Catherine looked shocked. “Marge?”
Sophia went pale. “She told me the other day that you were going to destroy the Harts.”
I smiled. “She got it backwards. She’s the termite. I’m the exterminator.”
Richard’s face turned purple. “I’m calling the police.”
“Not so fast,” I said. “Calling the police is too easy. The termite isn’t alone.”
Bennett froze. “Who else?”
I looked at Sophia.
She instinctively stepped back. “Lena, why are you looking at me? I really didn’t-”
“Not you,” I cut her off. “But someone used you.”
Sophia blinked.
I handed her my phone.
On it: the chat logs between Marla Sloane and Marge.
Marla had been pushing Marge to steal contract information from the Harts. She’d also been
contacting clients using Sophia’s name, spreading rumors that the Harts were tearing each other
apart over inheritance and that the company was about to collapse.
Sophia finished reading. Her face went white.
“She used my name?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “You used to play the victim all the time. Everyone felt sorry for you. So when she
borrowed your act, people bought it.”
Sophia’s lips trembled. “I…”
I could see she was about to cry. “Hold it in,” I said.
She choked her tears back, hard.
Bennett whispered, “Sophia’s come a long way.
Sophia sniffled. “Thanks.”
I kept flipping through the papers. “Two options. One, call the police. Let the legal system handle it.
Two, keep the clients steady first, then bait Marla and whoever’s backing her out into the open.”
Richard looked at me. “You have a plan?”
I nodded. “I do. But I charge.”
Richard went quiet.
Catherine quickly said, “Yes. Charge her. Absolutely.”
Bennett nodded too. “Fair is fair.”
Sophia added, “Lena doesn’t take losses. That’s how the Harts survive.”
I looked at all of them and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Fine. You’re teachable.”
For the next three days, I brought the Hart Group’s key clients to Fairhaven.
Not to a hotel. Not to a conference room. To Eleanor’s Table.
The place was tasteful, intimate, and quietly elegant. Every single dish was so perfect it looked like it had been personally inspected.
The clients came ready to cancel their contracts. After one meal, half of them had already softened.
Thomas sat nearby, sipping his coffee with a smile.
“Gentlemen, the Hart Group does have management problems. But the supply chain isn’t going to break. Because half of their upstream channels are with me right now.”
Richard stared at him in shock.
