Slowly, Ruby walked up to her mother and tugged at her sleeves gently, her voice low and deliberate. "Mom, remember he's still a guest?" she murmured, subtly casting a glance at Scarlet.
Then, turning to face her sister with a faux-sweet expression, Ruby added, "Scarlet, you wouldn't take it to heart, right? Mom is just worried about you."
She spoke in a tone laced with false concern, but her eyes betrayed her. While pretending to console, she sent a subtle wink in Lucian's direction.
Scarlet caught it. So did Lucian.
Pauline, unbothered by the performance, waved her hand dismissively. "Why bother if she takes it to heart? She's still the daughter of this family," she sneered coldly, her eyes barely flicking toward Scarlet.
With that, Pauline turned and walked off.
Ruby let out a small sigh, painting her lips with a dazzling smile as she turned her full attention to Lucian. With calculated elegance, she stepped forward and reached out to hold his hand.
Lucian's reaction was immediate. As though she were something filthy, he withdrew his hand sharply, eyes narrowing.
The rejection was subtle, yet so evident it might as well have been a public slap.
But Ruby, seasoned in pretense, maintained her charming smile. "Brother-in-law, please don't be offended," she cooed, tilting her head ever so slightly. "That's just how she is."
Scarlet, watching the little performance unfold, couldn't help the smirk that curled the corner of her lips. The "peacekeeper" routine was classic Ruby—always painting herself as the gracious sister, the peacemaker, the victim.
Lucian's brow lifted ever so slightly. "Did you just say that's how she is?"
Ruby blinked, caught off guard. She hadn't expected a retort.
"I mean…" she stuttered, quickly dropping her gaze to the floor, "…only when she's angry."
She bit her lower lip, cursing inwardly. What kind of man was this? Shouldn't he be praising her for being diplomatic? For being the 'good daughter'?
But then, her gaze darted toward Scarlet again, and the thoughts shifted. It must have been her, Ruby concluded bitterly. She must have told him something.
Scarlet watched her sister's countenance flicker through confusion, annoyance, and finally suspicion. The expressions were subtle but telling. She shook her head inwardly and decided it was time to play her own card.
With an innocent smile on her face, she stepped forward and slipped her hand around Ruby's.
"Thank you, sis," Scarlet said with deliberate sweetness. "You've always had me at heart."
The pressure from Scarlet's grip was no joke. It felt like her bones were about to crack. Ruby instinctively tried to pull back, but Scarlet held firm.
Ruby stared at her in disbelief, which she barely managed to mask with another of her bright, artificial smiles. She couldn't afford to let the mask slip. Not now. Not in front of Lucian.
"That's what a sister would do," Ruby said, though her voice was strained. Scarlet's grip wasn't budging.
Scarlet held the moment a bit longer, then finally released her sister and took a measured step back, letting the faux kindness linger in the air like perfume. Her smile didn't reach her eyes, but it was radiant.
Then she turned to her mother, who was standing nearby, arms crossed and gaze sharp.
"Mom," Scarlet began, her voice calm but firm. "This marriage has already been registered. I don't think it can be nullified that easily. Why not just make do with it?"
Pauline's face darkened instantly. "Make do with it?" she echoed. "Boss will still return to ask for his money. And how do you want me, your father, and your sister to appease him, hmm?"
Scarlet stood still, but inside, her heart was breaking. The cold, detached answer cut deeper than any insult.
Standing silently in the corner, she felt her throat constrict. Among all the reasons her mother could have offered—her future, her safety, her happiness—it still came down to money. To appeasement. To repay a debt.
Her chest tightened painfully.
She had hoped and prayed, even that the past forty-eight hours would have inspired at least a hint of regret. That her mother might have spent a moment reflecting on the gravity of what she had done. On the cost she had paid. On what might have been lost forever.
But no. It had only been her—her own heart thumping with hope. Her own breath sighing in pain. Her own wishful thinking.
Taking a deep breath, Scarlet steadied herself and turned her full gaze on her mother.
"Mom," she said quietly, "aren't you worried about how I'll fare?"
Pauline didn't answer.
Scarlet stepped forward. "Aren't you bothered by how I might be treated in that man's house?"
Still silence.
"Don't you care that I could be sold off… like a commodity? Used and discarded?"
The more Scarlet asked, the more her chest seemed to close in. Each word was like tearing open a wound that had barely scabbed. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her eyes reddened—not from tears alone, but from an anguish that had nowhere else to go.
She couldn't tell anymore if it was pain or fury choking her. Maybe it was both.
But nothing she said, nothing she felt could alter the hard truth: in this family, she was the scapegoat. The sacrificial lamb. The daughter sent to the slaughter so the rest could survive.
"Mom," she whispered hoarsely, "is this all you could say to me? Is this all you could wish for me?"
For a fleeting second, Scarlet saw it—a flicker of guilt in her mother's eyes. The briefest flash of hesitation. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
Pauline straightened her shoulders. "Scarlet," she said, voice firm again, "a spouse has been chosen for you. There is no room for backing out now. You're going to divorce this man and fulfill the agreement with Boss. We can't lose your father."
And just like that, any flicker of hope Scarlet had felt was extinguished.
Lucian, who had been standing silently this whole time, clenched his fists. His jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed to slits.
He had heard of heartless parents before—read about them, even seen one or two on the news—but this… this was the first time he was witnessing such cruelty firsthand.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Scarlet's face had paled. Her lips were trembling now. Even the soft humming in her ears from holding back sobs had started to fade, replaced by a piercing silence that clawed at her very soul.
Seeing her like this… something in Lucian snapped.
He took a step forward.
Scarlet's eyes flickered to him, her breath catching. More than anything, she wanted to be out of this house. Out of this room. Out of this life.
And judging by the fire in his eyes, Lucian felt the same.
He walked past Ruby, who shrank back instinctively, and stopped beside Scarlet. His towering figure blocked the sight of her mother completely, his presence a silent shield.
"She's not going anywhere," he said quietly, but every word dripped with finality. "She's my wife now. Whether you like it or not."
Pauline's lips parted as if to retort, but the sharp edge in Lucian's voice made her think better of it.
"This marriage," he continued, "is no longer yours to control. And as for the debt, let me make it simple—Scarlet will not be your pawn. Not anymore."
Ruby swallowed hard, suddenly unable to meet his gaze.
Pauline's mouth opened and closed, her words lost before they could form. The air in the room had changed—Lucian's presence had shifted everything.
Taking Scarlet by the hand, Lucian turned toward the door.
"Come with me," he said.
Scarlet hesitated just a second, then nodded, placing her trembling hand into his firm one.