<b>Chapter </b><b>109 </b>


    <b>(</b>Jasper’s POV)


    I stare at the wall, reying Scarlett’s words.


    She wants to buy the house.


    A


    I don’t know if James intends to sell it, but since I gave her my word, I’ll have to find out.


    475 Points 2


    The drive to their new house is longer than usual. Everything about this ce is wrong. <i>Too </i>modern, too cold, too much like a showroom and nothing like a home. When Virginia opens the <i>door</i>, she’s practically glowing


    with joy.


    “Jasper! Perfect timing. I just finished arranging the living room. Come see.”


    She drags me inside before I can protest. The room is all white furniture and metallic ents, expensive but soulless.


    “What do you think?” she asks, spinning around with her arms spread wide.


    “It’s very… clean.”


    “I know, right? Nothing like that cluttered old ce. This ce smells fresh.” She settles onto the couch. “I told James and ir they can donate all the old furniture to charity. No point keeping them around.”


    My jaw clenches. “Where are they?”


    “Kitchen, probably. nning dinner or something.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Why are you asking for


    them?<b>” </b>


    “I need to talk to them.”


    “About what?<b>” </b>


    I don’t answer. Instead, I head into the kitchen to find ir arranging flowers in a crystal vase while James reads the newspaper at the breakfast bar.


    “Jasper,” ir brightens when she sees me. “How nice. Will you stay for dinner?”


    “Actually, I need to discuss something with you both.”


    James looks up from his paper. “Everything alright?”


    “It’s about the old house.” I take a breath, choosing my words carefully. “Scarlett called me today. She wants


    to know if you’re nning to sell it.”


    ir’s hands still on the flowers. “Why did she ask?”


    “If you decide to sell, she wants to buy it.”


    James folds his newspaper slowly, his movements deliberate.


    “She wants to buy the house.” He repeats, as if to make sure he heard right.


    I nod. It was her only home for twenty–three years.


    “Buy it with what money?” Virginia’s voice cuts through the tension like a de. She’s standing in <b>the </b>


    <b>173 </b><fn555e> Checktest chapters at </fn555e>


    doorway, her expression ugly with something I’ve never seen before. “Her little bakery can’t possibly make enough for a house in that neighborhood.”


    “That’s not our concern,” I say evenly.


    “It is when she’s <i>trying </i>to buy our house.”


    My jaw tightens. “It’s not your house. It’s James and ir’s house. And if they want to sell it, she has the right


    to buy it.”


    “Oh, please.” Sheughs, sharp and joyless. “You think she can afford it? Unless…. is her new boyfriend giving her the money?”


    “I don’t know.”


    “Well<i>, </i><i>you </i>should,” she snaps, stepping into the room now, her heels clicking like gunshots. “Because if he is,


    it won’t be just her that lives there–he will too.”


    I take a breath. Calm. Steady.


    “Virginia” ir starts.


    “No, Mama. I need to say this.” Virginia’s eyes are wild now, all pretense of sweetness gone. “That house represents this family’s wealth. Our legacy. She’s not family anymore, remember? Then why should we sell


    our house to her?”


    “She left because you made her life hell,” I snap before I can stop myself.


    Virginia’s face goes white, then red. “Mom, he, he, how could he-” she stutters, but now that I’ve opened my mouth, I don’t stop.


    “She left because every time she needed me, I was with you. Every time she asked for understanding, she got


    criticism. She left because she was made to feel like nobody in this family loved her.”


    “She was a thief!” Virginia screams. “She lived my life for twenty–three years! Slept in my room, yed with my toys, got my parents‘ love! Everything that should have been mine went to her!”


    “That’s enough.” James’s voice explodes like thunder in the nosy kitchen.


    Virginia turns to him, tears streaming down her face. “Daddy, you can’t seriously be considering selling our house to her, right? She abandoned us. She took Lily away. She-”


    “She is still our daughter,” ir says quietly.


    The words hang in the air, and Virginia’s face crumples. “But I’m your real daughter. Your blood. Doesn’t that


    mean anything?”


    “Of course it does.” James stands, moving toward Virginia, but she backs away.


    “Then why are you even considering this? Why does she get toe back and take more from me?”


    “She’s not taking anything from you,” I say. “She’s offering to buy a house no one lives in anymore. With her


    own money.”


    “Money she wouldn’t have if not for her new fling. Money she made from skills she picked up through hical means, connections she made through Dorian’s name-<b>” </b>


    “Stop.” The wordes out harsher than I intended. “Please, Virginia, just stop.”


    Virginia looks at me like I’ve pped her. “You’re supposed <i>to </i>be on my side.”


    “You thought wrong. I’m not on anyone’s side. I’m trying to do what’s right.”


    “What’s right is protecting me. I’m the one who was stolen from this family. I’m the one who suffered. I’m the


    one who deserves-”


    “You deserve love,” I interrupt. “You deserve a family. You deserve to feel secure and wanted. But you won’t


    get those by smearing Scarlett’s name.”


    Violet Moon


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