56

At this moment, both Charlotte and Emily were eagerly looking at Isabella, as if her refusal would be heartless and against morality.
Even David chimed in, “Isabella, James is your brother-in-law, we’re all family, if you can help, please do.”
Great, it seemed the three of them shared the same thick-skinned attitude.
Isabella’s lips twitched as she managed to force a smile. “Dad, Auntie, I really want to help my sister and James…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Emily eagerly interrupted, “Then give me the land deed, I’ll take it to auction myself, to save you trouble.”
“…” Isabella didn’t know what to say; she almost wanted to slap her.
“I don’t want to cause trouble either, so why don’t you run an errand to the provincial government for me, sis,” she suggested.
“What do I need to go to the provincial government for?” Emily asked, puzzled.
“To get the land deed from my uncle. After my mom passed away, she entrusted everything to him, and he said he’d give it to me when I get married,” Isabella replied.
“You gave the land deed to William?” David was quite surprised.
“Yes,” Isabella nodded. She doubted Emily would dare to ask William for the deed. Even if it were Charlotte or David, they wouldn’t succeed.
Upon hearing William’s name, Charlotte knew that the matter of the land deed was doomed. She could only helplessly say, “Isabella, why didn’t you discuss such matters with us adults? Although William is your uncle, he’s still an outsider. How could you trust an outsider with such valuable things? You must find an opportunity to take it back and entrust it to your dad in the future.”
David also nodded in agreement.
Isabella, with a wry smile, replied, “I understand.”
But in her mind, she thought: handing over the land deed and the valuable things left by her mother to David was no different from giving meat buns to a dog.
After finishing her meal and collecting her things, Isabella prepared to leave. She felt suffocated every second in this house.
As she reached the door, before she could get into her car, Emily rushed out.
“Is there something else?” Isabella looked at her impatiently.
Emily stood in front of her car, her face arrogant and haughty, and said, “I’ve figured it out. Your uncle promised to give you the land deed once you get married, right? Just find someone to marry quickly. If you can’t find someone, a fake marriage will do.”
“…” Isabella was speechless. At that moment, she only felt the urge to accelerate and drive right over Emily.
Fortunately, she remained rational; she didn’t actually press the accelerator. Instead, she calmly fastened her seatbelt, looked at Emily through the car window, and coldly smiled, saying, “Sis, you’re really clever; that’s indeed a great idea.”
Listening to this, Emily was initially pleased, but then Isabella’s tone changed. “However, I can’t find a suitable marriage partner at the moment. I think James is quite suitable. I’ll use a dowry to help my future husband through hard times. And surely, my uncle won’t object.”
Emily’s face turned green, and she clenched her hands in anger. “Isabella, I knew you weren’t kind enough to help me. You’ve always had eyes for James, and now you’re targeting him.”
Isabella couldn’t help but sneer, replying mockingly, “Why would I bother with a bankrupt pauper?”
“You, you hypocrite! You prefer the rich over the poor! James should see your true face now,” Emily angrily retorted.
Isabella remained unperturbed and retorted, “If you don’t prefer the rich over the poor, then I’ll look forward to toasting at your and James’ wedding.”
With that, she turned the steering wheel and swiftly drove away.
Dejected, Emily returned to her room, and coincidentally, Victoria arrived.
Recently, she had just resumed work, taking on two TV dramas and a movie. Caleb also recommended her to become the brand ambassador for several major brands, keeping her busy with advertisements.
If it weren’t for hearing about the bankruptcy of the Brown family, she wouldn’t have had the time to come back at all.
Victoria was in favor of Emily and James breaking off their engagement to avoid being dragged down by him.
With red eyes, Emily disagreed. “Sis, I truly love James. Please help us. My brother-in-law is so wealthy; he just needs to lend us a bit.”
Victoria’s expression slightly contorted. If it weren’t for Charlotte, she wouldn’t bother talking to this foolish person. The Mitchell family originally looked down on her background, and if she caused trouble for Caleb, it would be like digging her own grave.
“Lend you a bit? How much is ‘a bit’?” Victoria raised an eyebrow, not hiding her displeasure.
Emily was still very afraid of her sister. With her head bowed, she couldn’t speak for a while. “I, I haven’t asked James how much money he needs.”
“You don’t need to ask. I’ve already asked Caleb. Without one or two billion, it will be difficult for the Brown family to survive this crisis. You don’t need to scheme with me; I don’t have enough face in Caleb’s family to borrow one or two billion. I also advise you to give up on James sooner, to avoid being burdened by him.”
After Victoria finished speaking, she went back to her room.
Emily could only cry to Charlotte, giving Charlotte a headache from the incessant weeping. Emily was fixated on her mother’s secret money.
Emily caused a ruckus at home for several days, stubbornly refusing to give up. In the end, it was Victoria who resolved it.
Victoria had Charlotte give Emily a passbook and a plane ticket.
“This passbook contains three million, my hard-earned secret savings over the years. Half is for your sister, and this half is your dowry. If you insist on being with James, I won’t stop you. Take this money and find him.”
Charlotte relayed Victoria’s words to Emily without missing a single detail.
“This plane ticket is for Italy. If you’re sure, and you don’t want to be with James, go to Italy for a few days to clear your mind. Mom will go to his house and dissolve the engagement for you.”
Charlotte handed the plane ticket to Emily and then sighed deeply, “Emily, do you remember the hard times we had when we were young? We couldn’t even afford a single ice cream. During one New Year, you saw a beautiful dress in the mall and begged me to buy it for you. But I didn’t have enough money in my pocket at the time. No matter what I said, you didn’t listen. In the end, I had to be firm and bring you home crying. Emily, they say that a poor husband and wife face a hundred hardships; if you follow James, you’ll only experience days of hardship in the future. The children you’ll have in the future will also suffer as you did in your childhood…”
Emily spent a whole night crying with the passbook and plane ticket. The next day, she left the passbook behind and went to the airport with the plane ticket.
This was her choice. In the face of reality, she unhesitatingly abandoned James. All that crying and fussing was just to satisfy herself, to ease her conscience.