Chapter 282 Just a Debt Repaid

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    She refused to ept it at first, her eyes scanning the paper over and over.

    But after a long, silent pause, the truth settled in.

    A few thin sheets of paper were ripped to shreds in an instant.

    “This is fake!” Joanne snapped, her voice dripping with contempt. “Don’t think you can waltz in here with a few papers and im to be a Graves!”

    She red at Ste with icy fury. “Let me make this perfectly clear. I’m Zane’swful wife. You and your bastard can forget about touching a single penny of the Graves family fortune!”

    Her voice grew colder with every word. “And every penny Zane spent on you? I’ll make sure to take it all back, bit by bit.”

    The intensity of the moment exposed their intentions in no uncertain terms.

    Kaia, standing behind Lucien, watched the scene in stunned silence.

    What a mess…

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    Lucien had no interest in getting involved in this drama. He

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    calmly turned to Allen. “Dad, I’m taking Kaia home. Do you want toe with us?b” /b

    Allen sighed in relief, knowing Zane was no longer in immediate danger. He nodded slowly. “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

    He could feel the tension in his chest rise, and he feared if he stayed any longer, the chaos would send him into another spiral.

    As they prepared to leave, Ste grabbed Allen’s arm desperately. “Sir Graves, you can’t leave! Harold’s your grandson! If you go, this woman will tear us apart!”

    Allen snorted, a bitter smile curling on his lips. “I don’t know if she’ll tear you apart, but your timing and this little stunt make your intentions crystal clear!”

    Ste froze, her smugness faltering. This wasn’t how she’d imagined things going.

    Joanne, though still annoyed by Allen’s vague stance, was at least relieved he wasn’t favoring Harold, the illegitimate son.

    “Thinking you can just swoop in and im our fortune?” she sneered. “You didn’t even bother to do your homework. The Graves family isn’t that easy to fool!”

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    With that, Joanne stormed off, her footsteps echoing in the

    silence.

    Ste and Harold exchanged uneasy nces.

    “Mom, what do we do now? Should we… head back too?” Harold asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.

    Ste shot him a cold, frustrated look.

    “Head back for what? Your dad’s still in bed! Starting today, you’re staying here every single day, watching over him. Show him who really cares!”

    From what Ste knew, Alden was still abroad. The power dynamics were shifting, but they still had opportunities to turn things in their favor.

    XXXXX

    Back home, Kaia copsed onto the bed for a nap.

    Lucien, who hadn’t slept all night,y beside her for a while, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

    When Kaia woke up around noon, she quickly slipped on some clothes and stepped onto the balcony to call Alyssa.

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    What? You’re saying Uncle Zane has a son out there?” Alyssa’s What?

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    voice was filled with shock. “Then that means I have another

    cousin?!”

    Kaia sighed, looking out over the balcony. “Yeah… seems like it. You just missed a front–row seat to your fancy family’s drama fest.”

    Alyssa knew she shouldn’tugh, but a chuckle slipped out. “Seriously, this is my first time hearing about something like this, too.”

    That reminded Kaia of her cousin.

    “Not sure if my cousin’s back yet.”

    Alyssa blinked, confused. “Which cousin?”

    Kaia leaned against the railing.

    “The one I told you about. My grandpa’s family is all abroad. My uncle tracked me down a while back. I ran into my cousin here a few days ago, but I have no clue why he’s back. He said he’s leaving soon, though.”

    Lucien, stirring from bed and noticing Kaia’s empty side, rubbed his eyes and got up, looking for her.

    Hearing her mention her cousin, he asked, puzzled, “George is

    Back againb?/bb” /b

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    Kaia shot him a look. “Lucien, why do you always have it out for George? He said he’s leaving soon. It’s not like you have to y host.”

    Lucien pressed his lips together. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just saying it’s nice he’s back.”

    “Hey, Alyssa, is your signal bad or something? You went quiet,” Kaia asked, confused.

    “No…” Alyssa replied after a long pause, still processing the bombshell. “Kaia, what did you say your cousin’s name was?”

    “George Vane. He’s my Uncle Bernard’s son.”

    The name hit Alyssa like a ton of bricks. Her heart sank as she processed the information.

    The guy she’d had a crush on as a teenager was now her best friend’s cousin.

    Kaia immediately picked up on Alyssa’s odd vibe. “What’s wrong, Alyssa?”

    Alyssa hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “Is Uncle Lucien still there?”

    “Nah,” Kaia replied, ncing back to see Lucien heading into

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    the bathroom. “He’s washing up. He knows I’m talking to you, so he won’t butt in.”

    Alyssa went silent for a moment before dropping the

    bombshell. “Kaia, your cousin… he’s the guy I used to like. And he’s also my mom’s ex–stepson.”

    Kaia froze.

    What?

    The web of connections was too tangled for Kaia to process.

    “Alyssa, you’re not messing with me, right?”

    Alyssa gave a bitter smile. “Do I sound like I’m joking?”

    Kaia frowned.

    In her memory, George had always seemed quite a bit older than Alyssa.

    “He’s been living abroad for years. How’d you even end up falling for him?b” /b

    Alyssa let out a soft sigh, her voiceced with nostalgia. “He was back in the country for a while.”

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    She couldn’t really exin why she’d fallen for George. Maybe

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    it was his quiet confidence, the way he carried himself.

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    She’d always found boys her age immature. Maybe it had something to do with growing up without a father–but from the moment she first met George, so polished, so put–together, she’d been drawn to him.

    She used every excuse she could to bump into him, carefully crafting chance encounters. But she never quite found the courage to tell him how she felt.

    Then, just when she finally worked up the nerve to confess… she found out the man she’d been secretly crushing on was the son of her mother’s new fiancé.