I’m Done Letting My Sister Take It All Chapter 10
Two days later, Katherine knelt at the entrance of Royal Lodge, begging to see me.
The sun was merciless that day. Even the cushion beneath her knees was soaked through with sweat. Loose strands of hair clung to her cheeks, making her look fragile and pitiful.
When the servant came to ask if I would let her in, I was reclining on the couch reviewing account books. Upon hearing the question, I replied coldly, “Let her kneel.”
It was not that I was heartless. She owed me far more than this one act of kneeling.
She remained on her knees from the afternoon until dusk. When Lauren heard about it, she merely said indifferently, “Since she loves putting on a show, let her perform to her heart’s content.”
Only when the evening breeze stirred did I order someone to bring her inside.
The moment she entered, tears streamed down her face. She dropped to her knees before my couch with a heavy thud.
“Clare, I know you resent me. But I truly never intended to steal anything from you. I only wanted someone who would look at me and me alone.”
Her words almost made me laugh.
“So you stole my fiancé?”
“At first, I really tried to avoid him. But he kept coming to me. He said all you cared about was riding horses and climbing trees, that you didn’t understand him at all. After hearing it so many times, my heart began to waver.”
By the end, her shoulders shook with sobs, as if she were truly filled with grievance.
I stared at her and suddenly recalled scenes from our childhood. Every time she had taken my snacks, my jewelry, or my new clothes, she would look at me with reddened eyes and say, “Clare, just let me have it this once. I’ll return it to you tomorrow.”
She had never returned anything.
I walked slowly to stand before her.
“Kate, you wanted someone to look only at you. But what about me?
“I was sent to St. Crathie Kirk at twelve. While I froze in the mountain winds until sores covered my hands and feet, you were at home wearing newly made fox furs. I wrote letter after letter to you guys, but never received a reply. Meanwhile, you used the chance I earned by saving him to draw Christopher closer, little by little, until you took my marriage for yourself.
“And now you tell me that you have had it hard too?”
Her sobs faltered. I leaned down to look at her.
“Katherine, you are not someone who has had it hard. You are simply too greedy.
“You want the family’s favoritism and Christopher’s devotion. You want to enjoy what you stole while keeping your spotless reputation. You want everything, yet you think no one can see through it.”
She froze in place, even forgetting to cry.
I straightened up and said slowly, “You always liked my cabochon the most, did you not? Tomorrow, you had better return it along with every single thing you have taken from me over the years. Oh, you’d better not miss a single item.
“If anything is short, I’ll hand the list over to His Majesty. Those are royal gifts. Privately passing them around is no small matter.”
This time, she finally panicked in earnest.
The next morning, the Guzman family indeed delivered two large chests.
The cabochon, the pearl hairpin, the gold filigree brooch, and even the emerald bangle she had once claimed she was “borrowing to wear for a day” when we were children lay inside.
I examined each piece one by one. Only then did I realize just how many things she had taken from me over the years.
One of Lauren’s attendants checked everything against a written inventory. The further she read, the colder her expression became. After all, it included not only my personal belongings but also jewelry Lauren had bestowed upon me.
Finally, the lady-in-waiting closed the ledger. “The Guzman family has quite the nerve. They even dared to give royal gifts away.”
After the news reached the Guzman family, Mom panicked and came in person to apologize. She and Dad stood outside the castle for half a day, but Lauren didn’t see them at all. She only sent one message.
“If Clare lets the matter go, then so will I. But if Clare does want to pursue it, no one’s plea will help.”
In the afternoon, I had Jenna place the cabochon by the window. Last year, right after I received it, Christopher had taken it to please Katherine. Now it had returned.
Yet as I looked at it, I found I no longer held the fondness I once did. Some things, even when recovered, could never make me feel the same way.
In the evening, Katherine sent another message, saying she wished to see me and apologize in person. I had the servant refuse her directly.
Jenna stood nearby, clearly satisfied. “In the past, Miss Katherine never had to lift a finger. You would yield to her in everything, and she naturally got whatever she wanted. Now she’s finally learning what it feels like to want something and not get it.”
I lifted my teacup. “This is only the beginning.”
When Christopher had given me that fish-shaped paste pendant, he had taken a lock of my hair, saying he would keep it with his as a token of love.
After the news of the switched engagement spread, the Hinchcliffe family had never returned my token.
Their move was truly insidious. If I hadn’t made the whole affair public, people who didn’t know the truth would surely think I had been jilted, which would have damaged my reputation instead.
That night, I asked Lauren’s lady-in-waiting to pass my words to the Hinchcliffe family.
“Before noon tomorrow, you must deliver every gift I gave him and all our correspondence to Royal Lodge without missing a single item. If anything is short, I’ll personally take the list to the Hinchcliffe’s mansion and demand each piece back in front of all the nobles of London.”
Before noon the next day, Melanie arrived in person.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes. The moment she entered, she ordered servants to present a rosewood box. The smile on her face looked nervous.
“Clare, it was all the fault of the servants before. They handled things poorly and let you suffer. I have returned every single item without exception.”
I remained seated and made no move to stand. The lady-in-waiting opened the box in front of her. The letters I had written, the paste pendant, the sachet, and that lock of hair tied with a ribbon all lay neatly inside.
My gaze fell on the lock of hair. I gestured for Jenna to bring the brazier.
In front of Melanie, I threw the old letters into the fire one by one. Finally, I tossed the lock of dark hair into the flames as well.
Melanie’s face turned completely pale, her lips trembling. “You…”
I looked up at her. “I have taken back the token and dissolved the engagement. From now on, there is not the slightest connection between me and the Hinchcliffe family.
“My Lady, please tell Christopher when you return that his affection is cheap and filthy, and I just find it disgusting.”