I’m Done Letting My Sister Take It All Chapter 11
The Hinchcliffe family’s reputation lay in ruins, and the Guzman family fared no better.
After being confined at home to reflect on his actions, Matthew grew increasingly irritable. It was said he smashed quite a few things.
When Dad attended banquets outside, his former colleagues who once flattered him now whispered about what shameless thing his eldest daughter had done, leaving him too ashamed to lift his head.
Katherine suffered the most. Lauren’s decree that no noble man could marry her for three years cut like a dull blade straight into the reputation she valued above all else.
She had always held herself up with her talent and her decorum, but now, when she went out to attend banquets, the looks people gave her were full of appraisal.
I saw her again at a garden banquet held in the palace.
I had just taken my seat when someone deliberately remarked, “We hear you have rarely gone out lately. I didn’t expect to see you here, Miss Katherine.”
Katherine gripped her cup, forcing a smile. “I wasn’t feeling well for a while. Thank you all for your concern.”
Another noble lady chimed in, “A poor constitution isn’t a problem. A crooked heart is harder to cure. After all, things borrowed from one’s sister should eventually be returned.”
Katherine’s eyes reddened at once. She looked toward me as if waiting for me to rescue her.
I simply picked up a chilled grape and leisurely peeled its skin.
Unable to endure the humiliation, she bit her lip and stood up. “Please excuse me. I need to freshen up.”
Her retreating figure looked almost desperate.
At that moment, a commotion arose outside. Christopher had arrived as well.
He looked noticeably thinner than before. The moment he entered, people began casting strange looks his way. They looked at him as if he were a public joke.
Christopher stopped in front of me. “Clare, I want to speak with you alone.”
Without even raising my head, I replied, “I’m busy.”
“Just a few words.”
“Lord Hinchcliffe, have you misunderstood something? I don’t have to talk with you just because you wish it.”
His face stiffened. He lowered his voice. “I know you hate me. But only after the engagement was dissolved did I realize that the person I could never truly let go of was always you.”
I paused for a moment, then laughed in exasperation.
“Are you unable to let me go, or are you forced to lower your head because all of London now calls you ungrateful and heartless?”
It was as though I’d struck the heart of the matter. His face darkened. “No. I just…”
“Just what?” I stood up and stared into his eyes. “You just suddenly discovered that Kate could not marry you, so you wanted to come back and reclaim me as your alternative option?
“Christopher, what do you take me for?”
His lips parted, but no words came out.
The people around us were no longer bothering to hide their laughter. Christopher’s face turned livid, and he actually reached out to grab me.
In the next instant, a cup of wine was splashed straight onto his face.
It was not me. It was Lauren’s lady-in-waiting who did it.
She stood under the corridor and said expressionlessly, “Her Majesty has sent word that if Lord Hinchcliffe dares to pester Miss Clarice again, she would ask his father to come to the palace in person to collect him.”
Wine dripped down Christopher’s jaw, making him look utterly wretched. As I watched him, I suddenly found that even my disgust had faded.
He had fallen so low, and he didn’t even deserve my hatred.
The news spread quickly. Raymond was furious and dragged Christopher home for severe punishment. Later, I heard that the sounds of beating echoed through the Hinchcliffe’s mansion until midnight.
Afterward, to quell the rumors, the Hinchcliffe family hastily arranged a marriage for Christopher to the daughter of a noble from another region.
When the news reached me, I was learning to review accounts with a palace lady-in-waiting. I merely responded with a soft “Okay” and continued checking the shop revenues in front of me.
I had been very busy lately. Lauren had me learn various palace affairs. It started with reviewing accounts and keeping registers, then extended to managing the income and expenses of several royal shops outside.
Only then did I discover that when a person stayed occupied, she truly had no time to dwell on emotional pain.
That evening, when I returned from the palace, I found Mom waiting at the entrance of Royal Lodge again. This time she didn’t cry. She simply looked at me, her expression weary as if she had aged several years during these days.
“Clare, we want to bring you home for a few days.”
I stopped. “For what?”
Her voice faltered. “Kate… is ill.”
I nearly laughed aloud. She was ill, so they remembered me again.
“Can’t the imperial physicians treat her?”
Mom’s face turned pale. There was a pleading look in her eyes. “She’s been tormented by worry these past weeks. She has nightmares every night and keeps talking about you. Clare, I beg you, go see her. She is your sister after all.”
I looked at her quietly. My chest felt neither pain nor soreness, only exhaustion.
“Mom, the bond between sisters should not be built on my repeated concessions. Her illness is the consequence of her own choices. It’s not my responsibility.”
With that, I walked through the door.
Behind me came her suppressed sobs, but I didn’t turn back.
This time, I finally didn’t stop for anyone’s tears.