I Thought Love Had to Be Earned Through Chores, They Hugged Me Chapter 07

I Thought Love Had to Be Earned Through Chores, They Hugged Me Chapter 07

On my third day in the hospital, the internet exploded. A leaked video hit every trending list. In it, I was wearing a server’s uniform at the Grant banquet. The caption read: “True Grant heiress returns. Poisons adopted sister for attention. Bungles arson attempt. Plays the victim.”

The comments were brutal-and almost impressively creative in their cruelty. “Scheming snake.” “New-money trash, twisted in the head.” “Send her back to whatever gutter she crawled out of.” I read for half an hour. Honestly, the quality was disappointing-repetitive phrasing, limited vocabulary. I was about to make an account and offer some professional guidance when Cole took my phone.

“Don’t read that.”

“Cole, they’ve got it wrong.”

“I know.”

“So why don’t we explain?”

He stared at the screen, his face stone-cold. “Oh, we’re explaining. Every last word.”

Half an hour later, the Grant Group’s official account posted the full, unedited security footage. Annabel cutting the gas line. Frances doctoring the invoices. Me clearing the kitchen, then going into the basement to shut the valve. Not a single frame cut.

Cole posted a video too. No suit, no tie-just him in a hospital visitor’s gown, eyes raw and bloodshot. “My name is Cole Grant. The girl in that footage is my biological sister, Marnie Grant. When she first came home, I misunderstood her, I forced her to apologize. I didn’t protect her. That’s not her fault-that’s mine, as her brother.”

The PR department lost their minds. Senior execs called one after another, telling him to delete it-admitting family dysfunction would tank the stock price. He turned off his phone. “Then let it tank. Money, I can earn back. I only have one sister.”

My chest felt hot. I shoved the blankets aside. “Cole, maybe I should discharge and come work for the company-

“Shut up.”

“Oh.”

The narrative flipped fast. The people who’d cursed me out started lining up to apologize. The account that leaked the video got traced-Annabel had hired them in advance. She’d even planned for both outcomes: if I died, I was a guilty suicide. If I lived, I was a fire-starting liar. She’d mapped out everything. Except one thing. The Grant family didn’t sweep it under the rug

this time.

Edward revoked every trust fund and beneficiary right in her name. Not for revenge-to compensate the victims. Catherine made a public statement: she would cooperate fully with

the investigation and would not seek leniency.

The marketing account tried one last desperate strike. They posted old photos of me washing dishes in that diner kitchen, with a caption claiming I’d been a thief since childhood, kicked out by multiple foster families. I stared at the photo for a long time. In the corner stood a woman. The diner owner. The one who’d bought me for two hundred dollars.

Cole saw my face. “You know her?” I nodded.

My phone rang. Unknown number. Her voice slithered through, familiar as a nightmare. “You little brat. Back with the rich folks now and you don’t come pay your respects? I want five million. Or I tell the whole world exactly what kind of thief you were. The precious Grant

-can you afford that kind of shame?” She laughed, smug and sure. She’d always had the upper hand.

heiress-can you

I tightened my grip on the phone. Once, her voice would have sent me scrambling for a rag. But this time, Cole’s hand rested on my shoulder. He didn’t speak for me. Just waited.

I took a breath. “Tsk. Five million, I don’t have. But I can get you a nice set of silver bracelets, Matching pair. Free delivery.”