The Stray Heiress Strikes Back

"That girl earlier? She totally shut down the engagement party between the Lanes and the Kaisers. Wrecked the whole thing on the spot." Oliver clapped in admiration. "Man, she's fearless."

"But she used to be the rightful heiress of the Kaiser family, Victor's original fiancée. No clue what happened ten years ago-just dropped off the radar," he added.

The moment Oliver said "fiancée," Alexander's expression darkened a bit, a flicker of annoyance flashing in his eyes.

Oliver didn't notice a thing. He kept going. "She didn't just crash the party-she came to call off the engagement herself. And get this-she even wished them well. I mean, gutsy, right?"

"Oh? So how exactly did the whole thing fall apart?" Alexander sounded a lot more curious now.

Oliver hesitated, clearly unsure how to break the news. After stumbling a bit, he finally straightened up and said carefully, "She switched the screen setup before the banquet. Ended up playing a video of... Isabella confessing her love to a guy at some bar."

"A bar? A confession?" Alexander raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Something about it rang a bell. He eyed Oliver suspiciously.

Oliver stepped back, lifting his hands defensively. "I swear, I mean no offense, Mr. Prescott. But yeah... you guessed right. The guy was you..."

He had to admit-even he was impressed by Elizabeth's guts. That kind of move? Bold.

Too bad she just unintentionally ticked off the most powerful man in the room. He was already bracing himself for the storm-until he saw Alexander smirk.

"She's got brains. And balls," Alexander muttered with a tone that wasn't just amused... it was almost fond.

Oliver's eyes popped. Wait-did he just... smile? Was their stoic boss actually smiling?

Holy crap. Did Mr. Prescott just... catch feelings?

...

Elizabeth headed out to her grandma's place in the outskirts of Capitol City. The buildings around there were pretty run-down, and by the time she got there, it was already late afternoon. She figured her grandma would be home by now.

She walked up quietly-and right away, noticed the front door was barely open. And voices were coming from inside.

"You lazy old hag, quit faking and get up to clean!"

"I wish you'd just kick the bucket already. Burying you would save me so much trouble."The woman's angry yelling got clearer as Elizabeth got closer. Her face darkened instantly. She didn't need to guess-those words were aimed at her grandma. Without hesitation, she kicked the door open so hard it banged loudly against the wall.

Everyone inside jumped in shock.

With quick strides, Elizabeth stormed into the room. A mean-looking woman stood in front of a frail old lady on a recliner, still brimming with fury like she had just finished yelling. The sight made Elizabeth's blood boil; any trace of reason vanished in an instant. She stepped up and yanked Megan Quin's arm before flinging her aside. Megan stumbled and nearly saw stars.

Then, Elizabeth knelt gently in front of the old lady, her voice trembling with emotion, eyes glistening with tears.

"Grandma," she whispered, her throat tight, "I'm back."

Old Mrs. Steele froze in disbelief before sitting up with difficulty. Her worn hands trembled as they reached out to touch Elizabeth's face. "Are you... my sweet little Liz?" she asked, her voice quivering.

That rough hand was warm and full of love. Elizabeth choked up and nodded slightly.

Old Mrs. Steele's body shook as tears streamed down her wrinkled cheeks. She wrapped her arms tightly around Elizabeth and sobbed.

"My sweet Liz, I've missed you so much. You're finally home..."

Elizabeth wiped her face quickly. Seeing sweat on her grandmother's forehead, she pushed all emotions aside and asked softly, "Are you feeling sick? Let me take you to the hospital right now."

"No, no," Old Mrs. Steele said quickly. "I'm fine, really. You worry too much. Just wait and see-I'll make your favorite dishes later."

She forced a weak smile, trying to hide the pain in her abdomen.

The old woman slowly struggled to stand, but even the slightest movement pulled at the pain in her stomach. Sweat trickled down her face as she winced and collapsed back onto the recliner.

"Oh, what a miracle! Weren't you just playing dead?" Megan, now recovered, sneered as she stomped over. "Now suddenly you can get up and cook? What a joke-"

"Smack!" A loud slap cut her off, sending her stumbling backward.

Elizabeth's voice was laced with fury. "Megan, when I left a few years ago, I gave you a million bucks-for Grandma and Gabriel's living expenses and to thank you for helping out. And this is how you treat them?!"