Chapter 174

Anastasia didn’t think twice about it, figuring Lancey probably wanted to discuss something, so she followed along.

But pretty quickly, she realized something was seriously off. The staff member wasn’t taking her to Lancey’s room – instead, they were heading out to the ornamental pond in the estate’s gardens.

The man-made pond was gorgeous, with crystal-clear flowing water and stunning koi swimming around. In the sunlight, each fish looked like it was glowing with vibrant colors. Word was that every single koi in there was championship stock, which explained why they were all so perfect – total eye candy.

Rich families were obsessed with feng shui, especially old-money dynasties like the Rhodes. During her previous visits, Anastasia had been too stressed about fitting in to really check out the grounds. Now that she was actually looking, the place was incredible.

That’s when someone stepped out from behind the landscaping. Anastasia’s attention shifted from the fish to whoever was approaching. Just like she’d figured, Lancey hadn’t sent for her – someone else was pulling strings.

Seeing Yuria, Anastasia raised an eyebrow. “Since you’re the one who wanted to chat, you could’ve just asked me straight up. Why drag my mother-in-law into this mess?”

Yuria’s eyes went narrow and deadly as she let out a bitter laugh. “If I’d asked you myself, would you have bothered showing up?”

“Hell no,” Anastasia said without missing a beat.

Yuria was absolutely seething, practically hyperventilating with rage. She got right up in Anastasia’s face. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

“Looks like someone had way too much sodium this morning and is now looking for drama,” Anastasia shot back, turning to bounce.

Yuria clenched her teeth and grabbed Anastasia’s arm. “Stop acting like you’re hot shit. You stole someone else’s man and now you’re strutting around like you won the lottery. It’s nauseating.”

Anastasia gave Yuria a look that could cut glass, like she was seeing straight into her soul. For a split second, Yuria felt totally naked and exposed. She bit down hard on her lip. “You stole Sonia’s…”

And there it was. Anastasia finally got the whole picture. Yuria was just some pawn in someone else’s game. So that creepy feeling of being watched lately – that was all Yuria. Apparently Yuria and Sonia were besties, but Yuria was too dumb to realize she was being played like a fiddle.

“Stole what exactly? Her crush? Or are you telling me Sonia and my husband were actually a thing and I broke them up?”

Yuria was completely stumped. She hadn’t expected Anastasia to come back swinging so hard. When you really thought about it, Sonia and Cassian had never been officially together. They’d always been in that weird zone of “more than friends, less than lovers.”

But still…

“Cassian and Sonia have known each other forever! If you hadn’t showed up, they definitely would’ve gotten together!”

Anastasia wasn’t backing down. “Oh really? If they actually wanted each other, they’ve had like, what, twenty years to make it happen? They didn’t, probably means someone wasn’t feeling it, don’t you think?”

Truth was, Anastasia felt pretty insecure talking this big. She definitely worried about Cassian’s history with Sonia. But there was no way she was gonna show weakness to some spoiled little princess, so she kept the facade going. Thank God Cassian wasn’t here to witness this train wreck – she’d literally die.

Her words hit Yuria like a slap. “Anastasia, you psycho bitch, go to hell!”

She shoved Anastasia with everything she had. Caught totally off guard, Anastasia started falling backward. Yuria’s face lit up with victory, but before she could celebrate, Anastasia grabbed her and they both went crashing into the pond.

The pond was designed pretty deep for the whole aesthetic vibe – if you couldn’t swim, you were genuinely screwed. Yuria wasn’t sweating it since she’d been swimming since she was like five. In the Rhodes family, you might not be Einstein, but you couldn’t be completely useless either. Even if you weren’t book-smart, you had to nail all the basic rich-kid skills. Besides swimming, Yuria could ride horses, arrange flowers, host proper tea service – the works.

What Yuria didn’t realize was that Anastasia couldn’t swim for shit. The second she hit the water, pure panic kicked in and she started flailing like crazy. In her terror, she latched onto Yuria like a desperate koala. Yuria could’ve easily made it to the edge solo, but now with a whole-ass person clinging to her, plus their clothes getting completely waterlogged, it felt like someone had strapped a concrete block to her back. She couldn’t even get her head above water – her lungs were about to explode.

Anastasia kept dunking Yuria’s head while putting on this whole drowning act, all while keeping track of what was happening around them. Her plan was to let go right before Yuria passed out—just enough to scare the shit out of her.

Then she spotted people running over. She quickly shoved Yuria under one last time before pretending to lose her grip and go limp.

Several people dove in and hauled them both out. The person holding Anastasia was Cassian. He looked absolutely terrified, not even bothering to grab shoes as he carried her away from the water.

“Cough cough cough…”

Anastasia hacked up water like crazy, but she was obviously much better. Only then did Cassian’s shoulders relax.

Gilbert and Michelle came sprinting over, their hearts breaking seeing their daughter looking like a half-drowned mess.

“What the hell happened?” Michelle demanded frantically.

Seeing her parents, Yuria immediately started bawling like she’d found her saviors. “Mom, Dad, I have no idea what got into her, but sister-in-law just totally pushed me in!”

“I thought I was gonna die and never see you guys again,” Yuria sobbed dramatically.

Her tears were like daggers straight to her parents’ hearts. They both turned to glare at Anastasia. Anastasia couldn’t believe this little psycho was actually trying to flip the script!

She was about to defend herself when Cassian, still holding her tight, said icily, “Yuria, you absolutely sure about that? Anastasia really pushed you?”

“I…” Yuria couldn’t meet Cassian’s eyes.

Cassian already knew the deal. “Lucky for us, there are cameras everywhere. Let’s pull the footage.”

Before Yuria could object, Cassian was already having security bring up the surveillance video.

The footage showed clear as day: Yuria shoving Anastasia into the pond.

“Yuria, how could you lie like that?” Michelle grabbed her daughter’s hands, looking devastated. “You must’ve been so scared you got confused, right?”

“It’s okay, honey, just tell me what really happened.”