“Do you hate me?” I asked, surprising even myself.
His eyes widened. “Don’t ever ask such a foolish question again.”
“Sometimes... it feels like it,” I told him.
“I raised you. How could I hate you? Though you’re not of my blood, I’ve always treated you like you were one of my grandsons.”
His words were telling. To him, I was just one of the boys, not fit to marry his precious grandson. Only fit to kill and handle the business disagreements his grandsons fumbled. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I’ve long known how he saw me. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. I continued staring at the screen, watching the man I love rest. I yawned, growing sleepy myself. I should stop by his place and climb into bed with him after I left here.
About fifteen minutes later, I realized I wouldn’t be able to do that because someone else was climbing into bed with him. My sister stepped into Aiden’s bedroom. How the hell had she gotten in? My gaze jerked to Grandpa Park.
“How did she get into his house?”
“I gave her the code,” he told me, not even trying to pretend he wasn’t wrong as fuck.
“Why?” I whispered, hating how broken that word sounded when it emerged from me.
“Because of how you’re responding, Mist. You love him too much. It clouds your judgment.”
“I’m not Mist right now,” I yelled.
“You’re always Mist. Yet, you fail to realize that. You and Aiden both fail to realize it. He cannot marry Mist. And Mist cannot marry a CEO and live out in the open with him. Life doesn’t work that way. I’ve tried telling you both that for a long time. Now, the two of you have forced my hand,” he yelled, banging his cane on the floor.
My gaze dropped to the screen just in time to see my sister undressing.
“He’s your grandson,” I whispered.
“And she’s the woman I’ve raised for him. She understands her place. Understands her tasks. She’ll always do as I say. And when she has kids with Aiden, she’ll make sure she raises them the way I and Ji-an taught her.”
Grooming. That’s what that was called. Why hadn’t I realized it before? All these years, he’d been grooming my sister and me. I watched my naked twin sister climb into bed with the man I loved and begin touching him. Oh. My. God. She was about to touch his cock.
“This is sexual assault,” I snapped.
“This is what will lead to their marriage. She knows not to go too far. He only needs to believe he slept with her. He doesn’t have to truly sleep with her tonight. But eventually, nature will take its course.”
I watched Ellie press a kiss to Aiden’s chest. He stirred and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. My heart cracked, the ache damn near making me double over.
“Noe, you came back,” Aiden groaned, still half asleep.
“I did,” Ellie murmured, pretending to be me as she snuggled up against him.
“I was going to come find you,” Aiden whispered. “Don’t run off like that again. You know I can’t lose you.”
“I know, Aiden,” Ellie whispered. “I’ve always loved you. I’ll never leave you.”
Aiden drifted back to sleep, holding her close. I wanted to kill this bitch. And that hurt because how could I want to kill my only blood relative? But how could my only blood relative do something like this to me?
We were sisters. Not cousins. Not friends. Not associates. Sisters! Twins! We’d shared a womb. How could she hurt me this way?
“It won’t be hard for her to take your place,” Grandpa Park told me.
“We may have the same face, but she can never replace me,” I replied. “He’s drunk. But when he wakes up, he’ll realize it’s her and have a fit.”
“That’s where you come in at, Mist,” Grandpa Park said as he turned the feed off and folded his hands together on the desk.
A wave of uneasiness crept over me. He claimed Ellie wouldn’t go too far. But how far was too far? She was already in bed with him. Naked! I needed to get to Aiden. Needed to rip Ellie’s ass out of his bed right now.