Chapter 74

Lucian sighed. “I know, but Lemmy isn't as easy to coax as before. If you didn't have an umbrella, why didn't you just have a driver send one instead of insisting on getting hers?”

He knew Lemira wasn't taking kindly to them lately, yet he still expected her to comply. Wasn't that asking for trouble? "I was just trying to save time, and besides, can Lemira really handle such a large umbrella by herself? If she didn't want to give it to me, fine, but to actually hit me?"

Returning home, Alaric fumed. "No, this won't do. I need to send her a message to clear things up."

He sent a message, but a notification popped up: "You are not friends with the recipient. Please add them as a friend and try again."

Alaric's face went pale with anger. Gritting his teeth, he snapped, "She deleted me! How dare she!"

Lucian was helpless. "I warned you not to act rashly. You're still in the cooling-off period; you can't just go see her. If she calls the police, you could be in trouble."

"Am I supposed to be scared of her? Fine, I'll act like I don't have a sister like her!"

In a fit of anger, Alaric threw his phone down. He couldn't believe he'd been deleted, feeling utterly humiliated.

Lucian said, "Stop talking nonsense. She's going through a rebellious phase, and she's been wronged and influenced by that school doctor. That's why she's acting this way. She's our sister, and nothing can change that. I'll find a way to bring her home. If you don't want to lose your sister, don't do anything."

Alaric remained quiet. During dinner, he barely touched his food. "Who made this? It's awful. What happened to our previous chef?"

The butler replied uneasily, "The pork was actually prepared by Ms. Langston. She adjusted the seasoning to your taste, and the other chefs can't replicate it."

Alaric froze, staring at the pork. He'd never noticed these details before. After Lemira left, his life and the gaming team were a mess! Realizing he'd been deleted, he felt more panic than anger. He hadn't realized how much Lemira impacted him.

The next day, Lemira attended school as usual, but Evelina called in sick. Lucian watched Lemira from the hallway; she sat up straight in class, her expression serious and focused. Seeing this, he felt momentarily dazed. Lemira had indeed changed.

He hesitated before asking the teacher, "How has Lemira been performing lately?"

The teacher replied, "Lemira has made significant progress. I hope the family can pay more attention to her and try not to let her be negatively influenced. I think her previous poor performance was due to family influences, leading her to neglect her studies."

Lucian was puzzled. "Influenced by us? What do you mean?"

"Evelina's grades have always been average, but Lemira is quite intelligent. Could it be that you've been focusing too much on Evelina, so Lemira deliberately performed poorly to avoid putting pressure on her? I shouldn't say this, but Evelina is a bit petty, and that might be why Lemira's grades have been poor these last three years."

Lucian's face fell. Was Lemira really underperforming to avoid pressuring Evelina? The thought, coupled with her recent changes and sudden improvement, felt like a stab to his heart.

Lucian could barely stand. "Could you ask Lemira to come out for a moment?" He needed to ask her if it was true.

Lemira glanced up at her teacher and, lips pressed into a thin line, finally stepped out.