3- Engaged?

Her trembling mouth clenched into a bloodless line. Dim kept their secret to protect his wife. Years of betrayal went to the grave with him. She has an obligation to keep her faith in her brother. What good is the truth if it only brings more pain and distress? She didn't need anything Dim left her. She has her own life to live, and she doesn't want to possess anything that should belong more to her brother's widow.

She felt that was wrong, morally wrong. Rings are different. It's her only tangible connection to a tradition and background she hasn't had in her entire life.

"As you can see—I'm leaving." Mira raised her bright head high, examining the frighteningly tall black figure with bitter revulsion, "You have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to hang out and embarrass anyone—"

"If it was that simple, we wouldn't have this unpleasant meeting," Jacob said sternly. "I will drive you out of this house forcibly!"

Mira laughed contemptuously, and her temper became more and more intense. "Really, you can?" she challenged.

He glanced at the open suitcase, his hard mouth twisted. "

"You didn't leave. Maybe you're planning a quick trip somewhere, but nothing leads me to believe you're about to leave for the last time."

Mira gave him a hard look. "Hey, aren't we being too self-righteous? What makes you think I'm going to go to great lengths to convince you of something?"

A surge of black blood accentuated the savage slope of his striking cheekbones. There was a naked mockery in his black eyes. "I'm not going to lower myself to the point of exchanging insults with whores."

Mira has a sharp tongue that few can match. She didn't expect a provocative response. Frustrated anger swept through her body. "Get out now!" She suddenly attacked him. "Get out and leave me alone, you ignorant pig!"

"Before you answer my questions," Jacob hissed suddenly, staring at her thoughtfully. "You're pregnant right?" Mira, still in shock, glanced down at the flowy blouse she was wearing, then intercepted his squinting gaze in the same direction. Her cheeks were flushed.

"If you're pregnant— then, and only then, can I understand Dim's motives," Jacob admits reluctantly, visibly devastated by what his imagination suggests. It hadn't occurred to him until now that Mira had signed up, and gosh, the thought made him sick!

Naturally clear skin takes on an unhealthy pallor, presumably because the implications of this development have run deep.

This is what she would look like if Jacob had revealed her real relationship with Dim, and Mira felt a sudden burst of satisfaction.

Few would deny Dim's sister, who otherwise might have some sort of claim to his estate. If she chose to tell the truth, Jacob would not have dared to insult her.

She's Dim's stepsister, his only sibling, and definitely not a calculating little gold digger!

"You don't answer me." Jacob turned away abruptly, and then he turned back just as quickly, his strong features tensed. "If I had stumbled upon the truth, my opinion of you wouldn't have changed, but I should apologize for approaching you so angrily."

Mira was touched by morbid amusement. His offensive is retreating rapidly.

Was he afraid of her now, that her powers might disrupt the smoothly planned future he had no doubt envisioned for himself as the sole controller of Dim's various business enterprises?

The threat broke Jacob's heart at the thought that she might be pregnant with Dim's child.

"But don't worry," he said slowly. "If there is a child, every possible test needs to be done to substantiate your claims."

Mira watched helplessly as he tied his own knot. After thinking of his own worst-case scenario, he forgot the boundary line mentioned earlier.

"But wouldn't that make Clara very uneasy?"

He gasped in horror, eyes with a fierce golden gleam. "Your malice is inexcusable—"

When Mira speaks the words she wants to take back, she realizes too late what her voice will be like. For a moment she longed to fight back against Clara and Jacob, and now she was terribly ashamed of the hint of malice. She looked down, closed the case, and pulled it off the bed.

"I'm not pregnant. Go peacefully, Jacob. I'm not a threat to you or Clara," she muttered heavily.

The shrill doorbell rang downstairs, breaking the tense atmosphere in the bedroom.

"That's my taxi." Mira breathed a sigh of relief and walked past him. Her knees were trembling a bit, but she was supported by an innate sense of superiority.

Her brother was wrong in fact, only in name, about Jacob, his wards, and his favorite sibling. Jacob isn't Mr. Perfect after all— well, that's not surprising, is it?

Dim naively expected Jacob to open his arms generously to his own sibling. Mira had never paid much attention to her brother's repeated assurances that if Jacob had the chance, he would be all in for the little sister's sudden appearance. Dim never mentioned her and Jacob. To use such a terrible word of brothers and sisters!

No, instead Dim talked about "family obligations, family support, family honor" with great enthusiasm and approval, blissfully ignoring the fact that Mira would rather end her existence than be anything a man's duty! And she was born to be a complete cynic.

Jacob's reaction to the idea that Dim might have had a baby was exactly as she'd expected.

He was shocked, horrified, and dismayed as he foresaw how much such a child might take on his own financial expectations.

Mira felt that she was better than Jacob because her greed for money could not control her, so she held her head high.

"Don't open that door!" Jacob snapped a bite from behind her.

Mira was dizzy.

He was coming down the stairs, his black diamond-like eyes fixed fiercely on her.

"What?"

"Quiet, stay still!" he whispered gruffly, waving an extremely haughty brown hand in the air in firm command.

Not trying to hide her anger at all, Mira just ignored his request and slammed the front door open.

Confusingly, however, it was not the taxi driver standing at the door. Mira blinked, swallowed, and froze.

A petite, slender woman in a black suit stares at her with wide-eyed pain, every tinge of color fading from her pale skin.

She took a hesitant step back, then stood still, her eyebrows furrowed in an expression of utter bewilderment as Jacob's bulky form appeared behind Mira.

Facing the living dead brother's wife, Mira had already stopped breathing. Not a muscle moved in her paralyzed face, and she tried not to let her fear show.

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder like a bondage chain. Jacob said something softly, but Mira could feel his thick, powerful body pressing against hers in an unnatural way, full of savage tension.

Without warning, the woman raised her hand and gently grasped Mira's fingers, lifting them to study the emerald, which had trapped sunlight in its brilliant blue-green depths.

"Estrada engagement ring," Clara whispered unevenly, then she shook her head slowly in understanding. "Of course—Dim gave you the ring to her! Jacob, what a fool I was! I should have guessed—but why didn't you tell me?"

Jacob snapped at the bewildered plea. Taking a deep breath, Mira felt his stiffness. "Now doesn't seem like the right time to make an announcement."

"Only a man would believe it—It seems that the news that you are going to get married will not bring me any joy at any time!" Clara's face was filled with a joyful smile, and all the uncertainties and anxieties disappeared.

Clara's face and said to Mira with a smile appreciatively. "How long have you been engaged to my little brother?"

"Engaged?!" Mira repeated incredulously, the tip of her pink tongue stretched out, moisturizing her dry lower lip. "Uhm—"