Chapter 3

　　"Sister…" Daniel whispered, his hand tensing in hers.

　　Johanna held it tightly, her gaze fixed on her cousins. The rumors of their family’s recent business success were clearly true; though middle-class, their lavish attire made them look as wealthy as any noble. Her aunt wore an expensive silk dress and a pearl-adorned hat, with a sapphire necklace and earrings glittering at her throat and ears. Her husband was dressed in a fine wool suit, an ebony cane in his hand. Their two sons were just as elegantly attired, looking for all the world like the young masters of a prestigious house.

　　Johanna bit her lip, fighting to keep her expression neutral. Why are they here? Whatever the reason, it couldn’t be good.

　　"I heard the news this morning, dear. We were abroad and just returned yesterday," her aunt cooed, her performance of sorrow worthy of the stage. "My goodness… what on earth happened? I never thought my sister would pass so soon…"

　　One look at her eyes told Johanna she wasn’t the least bit sad.

　　As her aunt drew closer, the cloying scent of her perfume was suffocating. When the woman’s hand landed on her shoulder, Johanna brushed it off with a bitter smile. "What brings you here?"

　　"What? What kind of question is that?" her aunt snapped, her brows knitting together as if Johanna had said something outrageous. She seemed annoyed that her gesture of comfort had been rebuffed.

　　Johanna let the polite smile drop from her face.

　　"It’s just surprising," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "to see people who never once showed their faces while my mother was ill suddenly appear at her funeral."

　　"What? How dare you…" her aunt sputtered, dumbfounded.

　　Johanna’s eyes swept over the woman’s face, smooth and unlined for her age, and her hands, soft and free of calluses. She was the complete opposite of her mother, who had known nothing but hardship her entire life. It was her mother’s sacrifice that had allowed her ambitious aunt to marry a successful businessman. Their maternal family, though of noble blood, was poor and destined to die out without a male heir. Her grandfather had hoped to at least marry his daughters into good families, but the dowry he could offer was pitifully small.

　　Her aunt, the younger daughter, had been greedy despite their poverty. She had no intention of marrying just anyone; she wanted to be the wife of a wealthy man. It was a practical decision—better than marrying into a noble family that was barely clinging to its name. To secure her marriage, she had begged her mother to give up her share of the dowry. Her kind-hearted mother, who adored her younger sister, had agreed.

　　Once she had the life she wanted, her aunt had promptly cut ties with their family, transforming into a completely different person. She had maintained some contact with their mother, perhaps out of a final shred of conscience, but that had ceased the moment her mother was diagnosed with an incurable disease that required expensive treatment.

　　She didn’t want to spare a single penny for Mother or for us, Johanna thought, a familiar bitterness rising within her. Her aunt was a cold, selfish woman. Her mother had never blamed her, but Johanna couldn’t think of her without feeling a surge of disgust.

　　"How on earth did my sister raise such an ill-mannered daughter?" her aunt muttered with a click of her tongue. "Then again, I suppose a poor girl wouldn’t have learned any better. You never went to school or had a tutor, did you? I suppose I should be more understanding."

　　Johanna clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. Glaring at her aunt and her family, she shot back in a dangerously calm voice, "Did you come all the way to my mother’s funeral just to torment me?"

　　"Don’t be ridiculous! She was my sister. Of course I came to pay my respects! And I have business with your father."

　　"…With my father?"

　　A cold dread crept up her spine. A terrible possibility began to form in her mind, and her clenched hands grew slick with sweat. Her father was always getting into trouble. Wherever he was now, whatever he was doing… if he had caused another disaster…

　　"Your father borrowed money from us two weeks ago. About twenty thousand rubels."

　　The words hit Johanna like a physical blow. She snapped her head up to look at her aunt, who met her gaze with an expression of undisguised contempt, a cruel smirk playing on her lips.

　　"My father… borrowed money?" Johanna asked, her voice trembling slightly.

　　"Yes. I heard the new medicine for your mother’s illness was quite expensive. He originally asked for fifty thousand, but we couldn’t lend such a large sum, so we gave him twenty. It seems your father’s plan was to double it at the gambling tables. He showed up at the casino the very next day."

　　Going straight to a casino after receiving that money—it was so typical of him. Had he truly intended to pay for her mother’s treatment? Did he honestly believe he could double twenty thousand rubels? A hollow laugh escaped Johanna’s lips. He was a man so pickled in alcohol and gambling that he couldn’t think straight. He must have believed his own absurd delusions. And now, on top of everything, he was in debt to these people. He hadn’t even been there for his wife’s final moments.

　　The resentment she had harbored for her incompetent father her entire life was about to boil over. Her anger at this heartless woman, who could so casually speak of money at her own sister’s funeral, was also reaching its breaking point.

　　Johanna stared her aunt down. "So you knew there was a new medicine that could treat my mother’s illness."

　　For a moment, her aunt looked startled before forcing an awkward smile. "W-well… I sometimes meet people from pharmaceutical companies at my social gatherings."

　　"That medicine cost about eighty thousand rubels, didn’t it? It was so expensive… completely out of our reach."

　　If only someone who could easily afford such a sum had helped, things might have been different. The unspoken accusation hung in the air.

　　Her aunt, pricked by guilt, bristled. "They said that medicine wasn’t even a guaranteed cure! And you could only use it once. What would have changed if she had extended her life for a little while? It would have only prolonged your and your brother’s suffering. And do you think eighty thousand rubels grow on trees? You have no shame…"

　　Johanna rolled her eyes and scoffed. The jewelry and clothes her aunt was wearing today were worth at least sixty thousand rubels. Since she undoubtedly owned many such outfits, that sum was nothing to her. But how could she… Johanna shook her head. It was pointless trying to understand such people.

　　"I had no idea your family’s finances were so strained that you couldn’t manage eighty thousand rubels. If investors were to learn that you’re not as stable as you appear, things might get quite tense for you."

　　"Why, you… this is unbelievable!"

　　"Why did you come to this funeral?" Johanna pressed, her voice like ice. "It certainly wasn’t because you’re grieving for the sister you ignored. Did you come to demand that I pay my father’s debt?"

　　"You ill-mannered brat—!"

　　"Don’t you dare hit my sister!" Daniel shouted.

　　As her aunt, consumed by rage, raised her hand to strike, Daniel darted in front of Johanna, shielding her with his body. He stood with his arms spread wide, his back ramrod straight. Johanna stared blankly at the back of her much smaller brother’s head, a hot, protective fury surging through her.

　　Her aunt froze, hand still in the air, then slowly lowered it, looking deeply embarrassed by her loss of control.

　　"Johanna… you were just being so disrespectful… I didn’t mean…"

　　As her aunt trailed off, clearing her throat, Johanna placed her hands on Daniel’s shoulders and gently pulled him behind her. Only then did a sense of relief wash over her. Unlike her, a normal Beta, her brother was a Dominant Alpha, but in her eyes, he would always be her small, fragile little boy.

　　"If you want the debt repaid, ask my father," Johanna said coldly, her gaze locked on her aunt. "I’m not the one who borrowed the money."

　　Her uncle remained silent, clearly wanting no part in the confrontation. As her aunt gaped in disbelief, it was her second son who unexpectedly stepped forward.

　　"That’s not right, Johanna," he said. The boy, the same age as Daniel, was tall for his fourteen years, a result of being well-fed. But his eyes were already clouded with malice. "It was your father who borrowed the money. Since he took it and disappeared, you’re the one who has to repay it. And twenty thousand rubels is no insignificant amount."

　　Johanna was speechless, stunned by the boy’s undisguised sadism, the pleasure he took in cornering a trapped animal. Did she really have to argue with a child? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but before she could speak, the other cousin interjected.

　　"Besides, is Johanna really not an Omega?" the older boy, who was fifteen, chimed in from behind his mother. "She certainly looks like one."