"I am not a stranger!" gritted out Amiah as she faced Raelle blank gaze. "I am Amiah Jade! I have more right on this house than you!"
Raelle took a step towards her and that one move felt oppressive to the other girl. Even though Amiah was actually older than Raelle in age but at this moment, the younger girl had a striking momentum.
After all, Amiah only dealer with actors and directors or investors. But Raelle was the big boss who called the shots. Her bearing was quite different from Amiah's. So, it was no surprise that Raelle was able to overwhelm Amiah just with her presence. Especially since she had left a traumatic shadow on Amiah's conscience.
"There is no one named Amiah Jade in our family," said Raelle in her usual calm voice.
Amiah opened her mouth but nothing came out. It was true, Amiah Jade didn't exist on the Shui Family tree. After all, she changed her name after she cut herself off from this family.
Amiah clenched her fists tightly and said, "I don't want to talk to you. I was here to see my brother and he isn't here."
"Then you should leave now since the one you're looking for isn't here," replied Raelle.
"Who are you to tell what I should do?"
"I think you already have an answer to that question."
Amiah looked at her suspiciously, "So, you're really the woman my brother married?"
"You have a problem with that?"
"I do?"
"Good. Keep it to yourself since whatever problem you have, it has no place in my relationship with your brother."
Amiah snickered at Raelle, "Do you think just because you married my brother, you own the world? You have it all?"
Raelle lifted her finger and shook it right in front of her in a no-no manner before saying, "I am Raelle Xiang. I owned the world long before marrying your brother. The only difference is, that I also have him now."
Amiah's eyes widened at her infuriating words. "Who do you think you are?"
"Shui Xian's legal wife," answered Raelle matter-of-factly.
Staying true to her personality, Raelle really knew how to have an infuriating conversation. Or more like, she knew how to annoy others with her words. Especially since the other person can't even deny her words. After all, all she said were facts!
Amiah didn't want to take the shorter end of the stick, so she thought of something and looked at her proudly, "So what if you're my brother's wife? Anyone can take that position. He had a wife before you as well. What happened? Eventually, she was also removed from that position. So, don't be so proud. As for me, I'm different. I'm his only sister. We are blood-related. And you must have heard, blood is thicker than water. You're nothing before me."
"You think too highly of yourself," commented Raelle. "No wonder your brother is tired of you."
"My relationship with my brother is my matter, it doesn't concern you at all!"
"Right back at you!" said Raelle. "My marriage is also my matter. Don't poke your nose where it doesn't belong."
"If I knew Ge wasn't here, I'd have never stepped inside this house."
Raelle pointed behind her, "You see that door there. It's still open. You can find your way back."
"Living in my brother's house, you really consider yourself to be the owner of this place."
"Not really," said Raelle. "I'm just a resident here."
"As long as you're self-aware," mocked Amiah.
"But you aren't even a resident here," reminded Raelle that stiffened Amiah's gloating smile. "Your brother is also just a resident in this house. Since the real owner of this house is Bà. We live here because he allows us to." She stared into Amiah's eyes and went on, "So, next time you raised your voice in front of our Bà... Last time, I stepped on the brakes on time. There won't be the next time."
Amiah bit her lip hatefully but she didn't know what to say. She had become too used to talking to her father however she liked. Today, a third person was calling her out for her behavior! It was just simply infuriating.
"If you're waiting for me to invite you to stay for dinner," began Raelle. "It's not impossible. As long as you go inside and apologize to our Bà sincerely, I'll also invite you to stay for dinner."
"I'll never apologize to him!"
"That's your loss!" said Raelle shrugging her shoulders. "Since you don't plan on doing that, I have no interest in entertaining a guest who can't respect the host of the house. So, kindly, you can leave our house now since you're not welcomed here." Seeing how Amiah was standing where she was without moving, she added, "I don't like repeating myself."
Amiah felt like if she spent another minute around Raelle, she'd be angered to death, so she chose to turn around and leave silently. A good soldier knew when to retreat. She'd get back at Raelle later on. That's what she planned in her head.
"When on a tiger's back, it is hard to dismount[1]," she heard Raelle voice from behind who quoted a proverb out of nowhere. As she looked back at her, Raelle explained, "I think this proverb described what you're going through very well."
Amiah stomped her foot and left huffing and puffing.
Raelle wasn't wrong though. The proverb really described Amiah's condition. She had already done way too much damage. Whether it was in her relationship with her father or her brother, now apologizing to her father was out of the question. Because she believed what was done was done. Since she already had carved an image of her father in her mind, she was gonna stick with that in the long run.
[1] 'When on a tiger's back, it is hard to dismount': When taking risks you have to live with the consequences, it is difficult to back out.
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