Love's Wild Card

"Your sister is working at my company, in the same department, so I guess you could call her my colleague!" Alex said, looking at Emma Winter.

"What? You...!" Emma Carter, upon hearing Alex's words, pointed a finger at Emma Winter. "Sister, how could you work for our own family's company? If Father finds out, all the trouble we took running away will have been pointless!" (referencing the traditional family structure)

"That's none of your business," Emma Winter replied coldly. "I've already spoken to the general manager. If he dares to leak this information, I'll make sure he loses his job!"

"Hahahaha, hahahaha!" Alex burst out laughing, his laughter loud and exaggerated.

"What are you laughing at?" Emma Winter asked, her brows furrowed.

"I'm laughing at how naive you are!"

"You're the naive one!" Emma Winter glared at him.

"The company belongs to your father, not you. The salaries are paid by your father, not you. So why would they listen to you? Whose authority is greater—yours or your father's? Do you really think the manager would hide your employment from your father just to protect your little runaway stunt? If your father found out, he'd fire the manager even faster. Who would the manager rather offend—you or your father? Aren't you being a bit naive?" Alex said, smiling at Emma Winter.

"Sister is definitely naive!" Hearing Alex's words, even Emma Carter nodded in agreement.

"Then… then what do I do? I've been working here for a week now. If Father finds out… then… then…!" Emma Winter, realizing the logic of Alex's words, was at a loss for what to do.

"You reap what you sow. Though fate may be unpredictable, there's always a price for every action. You just have to wait until you're sent back to Shanghai. Hahahaha!" Alex laughed, finding pleasure in her distress. It wasn't like him to add fuel to the fire, but today? It felt too good to pass up.

Hearing Alex's words, Emma Winter's expression fell, her mood plummeting.

Sitting beside Alex, Emma Carter gently tugged on his shirt.

"What?" Alex asked, looking at her.

"I don't want to go back either!" Emma Carter looked at him with a pitiful expression.

*Damn, I only meant to scare the 'Little Miss,' but now I've managed to scare 'Big Miss' as well. Looks like my powers of persuasion are even greater than I thought.*

"I know!" Seeing Emma Winter with her head down, Alex quickly winked at Emma Carter, hoping she'd get his message.

"Ohhh!" Emma Carter seemed to understand, giving him a knowing look.

"Get it?" Alex smiled at her, noting their unexpectedly good teamwork.

"Yeah, I get it. You're saying… you won't stand by and do nothing! You'll definitely find a way to make me stay, right?" Emma Carter's large, bright eyes shone with pure trust as she looked at Alex. "I knew you'd treat me the best!" And with that, she hugged Alex tightly, looking utterly content.

*Mmm... teamwork?* Alex looked at the happy Emma Carter beside him, then buried his face in his hands. *I take it back, everything I just said...*

"You… you really have a plan?" Emma Winter suddenly raised her head, looking at Alex with hope.

"I…I think I can come up with something!" Alex stammered, though his confidence wavered slightly.

"Really?" Emma Winter asked skeptically.

"Yes!" Alex replied with a forced smile, his heart filled with a sense of doom.

"See? I knew Alex would have a solution!" Emma Carter said triumphantly, her face lighting up.

*Oh, if only I could live in a world where I was as carefree as she is,* Alex thought, gazing at Emma Carter.

"Alright, since you have a solution, I won't hold this incident against you. But if you dare to reveal my identity, you'll be sorry!" Emma Winter glared at him menacingly.

"So, it's my fault for everything happening tonight! I should be the one holding it against you." Alex shrugged, knowing she couldn't do anything to him anyway, so why not enjoy this?

"Alex is only putting up with you because you're my sister, so you'd better be grateful," Emma Carter said proudly, giving Emma Winter a smug look.

"Stop being smug. I'm going to get my money back. I'm not about to let anyone that loves to show off their appearance have my money!" Seeing Emma Carter's smugness, Emma Winter's anger flared. Her face changed from angry to a sweet smile, as she got up and walked to Alex's room to retrieve her money.

"No, you already gave the money to Alex! And Alex's belongings are my belongings, so I won't allow you to take my money!" Emma Carter immediately stood up to block her sister's path.

*My belongings are your belongings? This girl… is too arrogant!* Alex thought to himself.

"Don't talk nonsense! Move it!" Emma Winter tried to push past her older sister.

"No, I'm not letting you in!" Emma Carter planted her feet firmly, standing like a guard at the door.

"I said move it, or I'll lose my temper!" Emma Winter said impatiently.

"I won't move. Why should I move for you? I'm your older sister, so you should listen to me!" Emma Carter said, placing her hands on the door frame, as stubborn as ever.

"Older sister? You don't act like one at all!"

"And you don't act like a little sister!"

"Move it!"

"I won't!"

"Move!"

"I won't!"

"...!"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing!" Alex stood up abruptly, shouting, He knew that if he didn't intervene, the entire building would be woken by these two Miss Carters. He looked at his watch and noted it was almost midnight.

"As the smallest of the lot, may I propose a compromise?" Alex asked the two sisters.

"Quickly!" The sisters turned to look at Alex at the same time, their faces showing the exact same expression, a rare moment of synchronicity.

"Don't copy what I say!"

"You're the one copying me!"

"It's you!"

"It's you!"

*Alright, so my sixth sense was wrong.* Alex sighed deeply. Tonight was turning out to be one of the worst nights of his life.

"Alright, listen up," Alex said, "The money is a total of one hundred and thirty thousand. Let's split it evenly—sixty-five thousand each. How does that sound?" Alex looked at the two women as if he were dividing spoils of war.

"No way. That's my money. Why should she get half?" Emma Winter said, then looked at Alex as if he was secretly plotting with her sister.

"Hehe, your money? It's my money now, remember? It's sitting on *my* bed!" Emma Carter retorted, taking the opportunity to flex.

"Enough! It was *mine* before it got there! It's all mine! And what was that just now, all that "our" stuff? Where do you think you get your face to have all of my belongings be your belongings?" Emma Winter glared at Emma Carter, then waved her arm to encompass a large area. "Anything within five meters of me is now mine!"

"Hahaha, that's the funniest joke I've heard all day! If that's the case, anything within ten meters of me is mine, and that includes anything within your five-meter radius!" Emma Carter threw back equally smug, and equally expansive hand gesture, not to be outdone by her sister.

"I'll take fifteen meters!"

"Then I'll take twenty!"

Alex's mind was nearing its breaking point. According to these two "Miss" Carters, within ten minutes, the Earth, perhaps even the entire universe, would be claimed as personal property by one or the other.

"Stop!" Alex suddenly shouted. He knew that if he did not explode from his silence, he would perish in silence. Clearly, Alex was not destined to be the latter.

Alex's angry shout stunned the sisters, who had by then declared their ownership to an area of about twelve kilometers. They both fell silent and looked at him, as it was the first time they had ever seen Alex so angry.

"I don't care whose the universe belongs to. But this house is *mine*. If you two keep arguing like this, then get out. Go argue somewhere else!" Alex said, glaring at the two women, his fierce expression like a beast ready to devour its prey.

The two sisters stood there, stunned and unsure what to do.

Alex pushed them out of the way, went into his room, grabbed the one hundred and thirty thousand yuan from beside his pillow, and threw it on the floor.

"You can divide it yourselves! Just stop your damn bickering! And don't test my patience with your temper, you'll get hurt and in very entertaining ways!" Alex said, looking at them both coldly, before slamming the door shut with a bang.

*Damn it! Even clay figures have some fire in them! A tiger may be silent for a while, but you don't think he's a kitty cat! A donkey can kick too, I'm not a Snoopy doll!*

"You… you think you can scare me?" Once the heavy door was closed, Emma Winter spat at it, then looked at Emma Carter. "Sister, what do you think…?"

But Emma Winter found that her sister had already crouched down and began collecting the piles of cash on the floor.

"You… you're so shameless! That's mine!" Emma Winter yelled at her sister, then hurriedly crouched down to grab the remaining cash.

"Whoever gets it first, keeps it! You can't do anything about it!" Emma Carter replied mockingly, sticking her tongue out before gathering her loot, and running to her room, leaving Emma Winter alone and fuming.

"You...!" Looking at the two closed doors, Emma Winter was in a foul mood. She then threw the remaining stacks of cash at Emma Carter's door.

"Bang!" Emma Carter's door suddenly opened, and Emma Winter saw her sister's cold gaze. She had never seen her sister with such a cold expression.

The icy glare, the cold lips, and the tight arms… Emma Winter's eyes then drifted down, and saw her sister using her bare feet to kick the money she had thrown at the door into her room. There was just one stack left…

"Emma Carter! I won't let you get away with this!" Emma Winter's furious shout erupted just as Emma Carter kicked the last bundle of cash into her room, leaving Emma Winter alone and with her temper flaring.

"Hehe, in the end, all this money is still mine!" Emma Carter murmured smugly, leaning against her door. "Sister, you're still not good enough!"

With that, she disappeared inside her room. Her eyes glimmered with a knowing sparkle.