Chapter 10

Evelyn's smile vanished the moment she spotted Walter and Beverly. "How dare you show your faces here and claim to be my saviors?" Her voice dripped with icy contempt. "When I was starving in your house, it was Aunt Margaret who sneaked me food. And in the end, you even forced her to take me in."

Margaret gasped. "How did you two find this place? I never told anyone about it."

Beverly planted her hands on her hips, her lips curling into a sneer. "Oh, please, Margaret. We're Evelyn's legal guardians. Did you really think you could steal all the credit?"

Walter spat on the polished marble floor, his beady eyes gleaming with greed. "Exactly. Where's her real family? They must be loaded if they're staying at a place like this. They owe us compensation."

They had never imagined the girl they'd picked up off the streets would belong to such wealth. This was their golden ticket.

Evelyn stepped protectively in front of Margaret, her gaze sharp as a blade. "Keep dreaming. You won't get a single cent from me. Because of you, Uncle Benjamin got into a fight and ended up in the hospital."

Her voice cracked. "If you hadn't skipped out on your debts and delayed treatment, he wouldn't have been lying there, barely alive."

Margaret's eyes welled up. If not for their cruelty, Evelyn would never have agreed to marry Nathaniel—a man on death's doorstep—just to pay Benjamin's medical bills.

Walter shifted uncomfortably, but Beverly's face twisted with rage. She lunged forward, hand raised. "You ungrateful brat! I'll teach you some respect!"

"Who dares touch my sister?"

A voice, cold and lethal, sliced through the air.

Alexander Montgomery strode forward, his presence alone enough to freeze the blood in their veins. A dozen bodyguards flanked him, their expressions unreadable.

Beverly recoiled, her bravado crumbling. "I-I'm disciplining my daughter. This is none of your business!"

Alexander's eyes darkened. "She's my sister. When was she ever yours?"

Walter's face lit up with greed. He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Ah, so you're her real family? Raising her wasn't easy, you know. Compensation is only fair, right? Without us, she'd be dead in a ditch somewhere."

"How much?" Alexander asked flatly.

"One million dollars should cover it," Walter said quickly.

Beverly elbowed him. "Five million!"

Alexander scoffed. "Five million? My sister is worth at least a hundred million."

Their jaws dropped. A hundred million? That was more money than they could spend in three lifetimes.

Evelyn let out a bitter laugh. "You think you deserve a single penny? I'd rather burn that money than give it to you."

Margaret trembled with fury. "You locked her in a cellar without food! She was half-dead when I found her! And now you have the audacity to demand money?"

Evelyn squeezed her hand. "Aunt Margaret, don’t waste your breath on them."

Walter's face turned purple with rage. He raised his fist. "You little—"

Alexander moved faster than lightning. His kick sent Walter crashing into the wall. The man crumpled to the floor, groaning.

"The money," Alexander said, his voice like winter, "goes only to the woman who actually raised my sister. Not you."

Evelyn's breath caught. She hadn’t expected Alexander to be so… ruthless.

He turned to her, his expression softening. "You and Aunt Margaret go ahead to dinner. I'll handle this."

"But—"

"Trust me," he murmured, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "You're not alone anymore."

Evelyn's heart clenched. This—this was what it felt like to have someone fight for her.