His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 282: Sibling vs. Sibling

** Eli **

Eli cursed inwardly as Harper disappeared behind a marble column all too fast. Damn it, he wasn’t supposed to let her out of his sight! It’d probably take him quite a while to find her again in a venue as large as this one.

"I think she left so that we can talk alone. She’s so thoughtful." The black-dressed brunette behind him commented with a casual sip of her red wine. "We probably shouldn’t let her down."

Eli turned back, not bothering to hide a scowl.

He hadn’t taken a good look at this half-sister till now, and when he did, the young woman standing at the high table didn’t seem to fit at all into his vague recollection of the girl at the arcade. That girl had felt spirited and good-natured, whereas the one in front of him right now came across as ... calculating, and even a bit wicked, partially thanks to the obviously gothic attire she had chosen for the night.

How did Harper end up getting along so well with someone like this?

"I’m not sure what there is to talk about." Eli took a step back to the table he had left from. It was a lost cause to go after Harper at this point, so he might as well finish dealing with this side of the situation once and for all. "Contrary to what many people might think, we have very little in common, Emory."

He had no idea how this girl could’ve actually called him "brother" with such a serious face. Perhaps her father had trained her to do it for show — in their business circle, the public version of the tale was that Ronald Sterling had simply remarried after his first wife passed away, making the family history much less scandalous and uncomfortable for the half-siblings. Eli didn’t know which version it was that Emory had learned, though he did know for himself that he’d never be able to consider her a "sister" in any sort of way.

And he definitely wasn’t going to have a chat with her about that.

Emory tapped her brightly painted fingernails on the wine glass. "Really? You don’t think that your girlfriend being my boss is a lot to share in common already?" She smiled. "I was there when you sent those flowers to the office, you know. Got to admit, it was quite a romantic gesture. She was so over the moon about it."

"... Is that somehow your business?" Eli stared at the girl a bit suspiciously. She was actually here to talk about Harper, out of all people? "Also, has it never occurred to you that it might be a bit too insensitive to start a conversation with a stranger by going straight into their personal relationship?"

"Oh come on, you are not a stranger, and the fact that we’re talking in the first place is insensitive enough, isn’t it?" Emory scoffed. "Besides, you were the one to brandish those flowers so publicly in everyone’s face. I’ve wanted to tell you this in person ever since then — it reminded me so much of Dad, whenever he goes out of his way to do something sweet for my mom after pissing her off the day before."

... Alright, now Eli was ninety percent sure that his half-sister was here for trouble.

"It’s not just flowers, of course," Emory continued. "That’s too cheap for them these days. Sometimes it’d be jewelry, sometimes a golf invitation, and once it was a new car. It’s pretty easy to tell how bad their fight was based on the gift the next day—"

"Do not compare me to your father," Eli cut her off, his patience with the pointless conversation quickly wearing thin. "And once again, feel free to share your family anecdotes as much as you want, but I don’t owe you any romantic stories about Harper in exchange."

"No, you don’t. I’m just telling you that I had an interesting feeling of déjà vu, that’s all." His half-sister shrugged. "Oh, here’s the backstory — I overheard some conversations from Dad about a potential partnership between his company and another bank. And the same conversations seemed to have something to do with you ... alongside a certain woman named Vanessa? So it simply made me wonder if flowers were too cheap of a choice for something this big, given Dad’s standards."

Finally, for the first time tonight, she had Eli’s full attention.

"Voyage Bank, you mean?" Eli kept his expression and tone unchanged. Maybe this could be a good chance to probe what his father or Vanessa had planned for tonight, if Emory somehow had access to that information. "I guess he’s making the announcements this evening then," he added casually.

However, contrary to what he expected — which would be Emory denying or acquiescing the statement to give him a clue of an answer — she darted him a look that seemed ... angry instead. "So you do know about it," the girl snapped. "Whatever arrangement it is with this Vanessa, it’s actually a thing? Does Harper know it too?"

And then she really surprised him by jabbing a finger straight at his face. "You don’t get to be like Dad and play her like that. She’s so into you, and our whole office is already treating you two as an official couple! I can’t imagine how hurt she’ll be if you dare to go around and make any rumors with that Vanessa. Harper is the nicest person I’ve met in a long time, I’m definitely not letting you off if you break her heart!" fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"..."

Eli’s next words to pry further about his father’s gala agenda died on his tongue, and he wasn’t even sure if he should find the scene unfolding in front of him right now comedic or tragic.

For this whole time, he had assumed that Emory was here to stir up family drama. But she was actually trying to ... threaten him, and protect Harper? Since when had Harper managed to capture such loyalty from a work friend within mere weeks?

And just how bad was his own image, for his half-sister to feel the need to defend his own girlfriend the very first time they met?