Three Systems Made the Fake Heiress Unstoppable

At Brooke York’s words, Adrian Kane finally reacted, but not with the curiosity she had hoped for. His expression turned grim. "Is it your place to judge whether she’s worth it?"

"Mr. Kane, I’m just trying to look out for you. I’m her sister. You may not know her, but I certainly do. Don’t be fooled by her usual cold, standoffish act. She’s just playing hard to get, and she’s a master at it."

Brooke York was so caught up in her own gleeful tirade that she completely missed the growing chill in Adrian Kane’s gaze.

In her mind, Adrian Kane was just a cold person to begin with. Besides, ’didn’t his worsening expression mean her words were sinking in? He must look so upset because he realizes Chloe York has been playing him for a fool!’

With that thought, Brooke York continued to add fuel to the fire. "Do you know why she always pushes you away? It’s not that she doesn’t have feelings for you; it’s that she’s incredibly ambitious. She thinks what you have to offer isn’t good enough and wants to social climb! She cozies up to anyone who can benefit her. Everything you’ve done for her means nothing in her eyes. Look, hasn’t she already latched onto the Prescott Family?"

"She’s the Prescott Family’s goddaughter now, but even that’s not enough for her. That’s why she’s come after you, Mr. Kane. You can’t let a young woman like her play you for a fool!"

After finishing her speech, Brooke York suppressed a smug smile, waiting for Adrian Kane to fly into a rage and grow disgusted with Chloe York.

In her eyes, a man like Adrian Kane—who had achieved so much at such a young age, taking over and managing his family’s enterprise so skillfully—was surely no simpleton.

’Someone who’s had such smooth sailing his whole life definitely wouldn’t tolerate being toyed with and treated like an idiot.’

To her surprise, Adrian Kane suddenly let out a soft chuckle. He looked at Brooke York, his deep eyes holding an unreadable expression.

"Finished?" Adrian Kane asked, his tone frigid. "You introduced yourself as Chloe York’s sister the moment you opened your mouth. So, as her sister, is slandering her behind her back how you use the good upbringing the York Family provided you?"

The smug satisfaction in Brooke York’s heart evaporated at his words. She scrambled to defend herself. "I’m not slandering her, I’m telling you the facts! I’m trying to help you!"

"Help me?" Adrian Kane arched an eyebrow, his tone laced with mockery. "Who the hell do you think you are to ’help me’ by spouting a pile of nonsense here?"

His words made Brooke York’s face turn deathly pale. Asking "who the hell do you think you are" was a complete and utter humiliation.

Brooke York swallowed hard, forcing a calm facade. "I am Chloe York’s sister! I know her. I was afraid you’d be deceived by her because I can no longer discipline her. My thinking was, now that I’ve explained everything clearly, if you still choose to associate with her and she screws you over in the future, you can’t blame me or the York Family."

With her last sentence, Brooke York once again absolved herself and the York Family of any blame.

"As I recall, you and Chloe York are the ’real and fake heiresses,’ aren’t you? Switched at birth. If you were really sisters, you’d be trying to protect her, not running to an outsider to sow discord and trying your hardest to smear her name. Can you not stand to see her doing well, or are you just jealous that someone cherishes her?"

Her petty scheme laid bare, Brooke York’s face instantly flushed crimson. She stammered, flustered, "I wasn’t... I was just..."

"You were just being malicious. You can’t stand to see anyone else succeed, and you lack the ability to be anything like her, so you resort to gossiping behind her back to feel relevant."

Adrian Kane cut her off, his tone icy and sharp, every word a dagger to her weak spots. "You call her disingenuous and pretentious? I think the truly disingenuous one here is you."

"You deliberately approached me and fabricated a pile of lies, all because you can’t stand to see her valued by someone else. You thought that by slandering her, you could win my attention. Pathetic. Your clumsy little scheme is laughably stupid."

Adrian Kane found it almost funny. ’Do I look that stupid? Even someone like Brooke York thinks she can just say a few words and pull the wool over my eyes?’

"You went to all this trouble to come here and tell me this... who’s the one with the ulterior motives here? Who’s the real gold-digger? Do you have any self-awareness at all?"

"Let me tell you something. I know what kind of person Chloe York is better than you ever will. You have no right to say a single bad word about her, and you certainly have no right to gossip about her in front of me."

"I’m going to pretend this conversation never happened. But if you dare to spread a single rumor about her again, I guarantee you won’t be able to handle the consequences."

Brooke York was stunned into silence by his tirade. Her face flushed red, then drained of color. Awkward and flustered, she fidgeted in her chair as if sitting on pins and needles. All her previous smugness had vanished, leaving only humiliation and panic.

She wanted to argue, but she couldn’t utter a single word under Adrian Kane’s frigid stare.

She never imagined that today, far from tarnishing Adrian Kane’s opinion of Chloe York, she had only managed to destroy his opinion of herself.

’Why does everyone believe Chloe York so easily? What kind of spell has she cast on them? Is her ’system’ designed to make all these men fall madly in love with her?’

Just then, Chloe York, who was out shopping with Wendy Winters, happened to spot Brooke York and Adrian Kane sitting together in the hotel lobby through a large window. ’Just as I thought,’ she mused. ’The two of them are just like in the story. Adrian Kane is one of Brooke’s suitors.’

’He was probably using Nora all this time to get me to lower my guard.’

"Chloe, what’s wrong?" Wendy Winters asked, confused, noticing the sudden chill that seemed to emanate from her friend.

"It’s nothing."

"Alright. The car I called is almost here. I set the location to this hotel, so the driver should have no trouble finding us."

"Mhm!"

Just then, Adrian Kane, having received a notification from his driver, was walking out of the hotel. He looked up and his gaze landed on Chloe York and Wendy Winters standing by the curb.

A wave of panic washed over Adrian Kane. ’Chloe definitely saw me sitting with Brooke York.’

He was all too aware of Chloe’s resistance toward him. From the very beginning, she had never treated him warmly, always keeping a clear distance.

Given the whole "real and fake heiress" situation between Chloe and Brooke, now that she’d seen him with Brooke, he feared she would assume that all his interactions with her had been orchestrated by Brooke.

Adrian Kane walked up to Chloe York’s side. "Chloe, I wasn’t the one who sought her out. Brooke York came looking for me. I’m not in league with her."

Chloe York glanced up at him, a strange look in her eyes. ’Why is he explaining himself to me?’

’Adrian Kane is supposed to dote on Brooke York. They’re cut from the same cloth, after all.’

"It has nothing to do with me," Chloe York said, turning her gaze forward again.

Wendy Winters looked back and forth between Adrian Kane and Chloe York, scratching her head. ’Oh man, my best friend is surrounded by so many handsome guys. I don’t even know which ship to support anymore! Should I start placing bets? I think I can!’

’Then again,’ she thought, ’it seems like my dear Chloe isn’t interested in this particular handsome guy. In fact, she seems kind of annoyed by him.’