Chapter 26 Not Her Biological Brother
Her heart sank like a stone. It was as if it were plunging into an icy
sea.
She would never have guessed that the person who she had thought was her brother for over twenty years was not actually her biological brother!
Harmonia felt a ringing in her ears. She could not dwell on it further. She grabbed Hector’s hand and pulled him out of the house.
“Harmonia?”
They walked all the way out to the courtyard. Hector held Harmonia’s wrist.
His warm hand grasped her cold wrist. His brows furrowed in concern.
“I found out nine years ago.”
Harmonia trembled. She turned to look at Hector. Looking into his eyes which were filled with tenderness, she did not know how to react.
“Oh, Hector…”
“I was abandoned by my biological parents after I was born. Mom and Dad adopted me out of kindness. I was afraid you’d overthink it. I was worried you wouldn’t accept me as your brother. And I was afraid you’d end up crying like you are now That’s why I kept it from you and never told you.”
Hector’s tone was light: He raised his hand and gently wiped away 1er tears.
He had kept it from her for so long, for so many years.
*75 BONUS
He had imagined various scenarios of how Harmonia would react when she had learned the truth, but he never expected that the secret would be revealed in such an unexpected situation.
Harmonia bit her lower lip. She should have figured it out sooner!
How could her dad, a man of such high moral character, possibly have an extramarital affair? And how could her brother possibly be an illegitimate child?
Her brother had been abandoned by his biological parents. He was not the Marsh family’s biological child. He was supposed to be the one who felt the saddest, yet his immediate concern was her feelings.
“How could I ever not accept you?”
Harmonia’s eyes welled up with tears once again. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Seeing my dear sister cry like this breaks my heart.”
As Hector said that, he placed his hand on his chest and made an exaggeratedly hurt expression to cheer her up.
Seeing his theatrics, Harmonia could not help but smile through her tears.
t cry, Harmonia. How about I call you my big sister again?”
tor smiled and cheered her up, just like they used to when they were kids.
When they were little, Harmonia used to play house with him and would always insist on being the big sister.
So, whenever she cried, Hector would call her “big sister” to tease her and cheer her up.
‘Well, go ahead then!” She wanted to hear it-just like in the old days.
201
+ 25 BONUS
Hector leaned down and whispered softly in her ear. “Big sister?”
Harmonia could not help but chuckle. It was just like when they were kids. She looked up at him. Her smile was sweet and radiant.
Safan and Ginevra rushed out when they heard the commotion. They did not expect they would overhear a conversation like that. Watching the siblings’ interaction, they nodded and smiled.
Harmonia was bound to find out the truth sooner or later, after all. It was a good thing that they were still as close as ever even after she learned the truth.
Harmonia noticed them, but before she could say anything, the smile on Safan’s face disappeared in an instant and was replaced by a stern expression.
Suddenly, his phone rang. He answered it and walked back into the villa.
Ginevra, on the other hand, had her full attention on her daughter.
She hugged Harmonia tightly and examined her carefully. “My precious daughter, you’re still as beautiful and talented as ever.”
“Talented? What talent? I just got a call from the mayor!” Safan roared.
“She’s using my name for advertising. The man she brought here is teaching the locals to place orders on some sort of app called BuildEasy. He even said it’s the first bulk purchase event in Green Town! People only bulk purchase groceries, and she’s doing the same for housing construction?”
Ginevra asked, “Was the old mayor praising her or criticizing her then?”
“Does it matter if the mayor praised her? I’m her father, and I’m
criticizing her!”
“You old fool, the older you get, the more unreasonable you become! Just because I’ve been tolerant with you doesn’t mean my patience has no limits!”
Ginevra rolled up her sleeves and charged toward the small villa.
Except for her age-defying beauty, she looked nothing like a typical rich and graceful lady.
Suddenly, Harmonia’s phone started buzzing non-stop.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 27 What Are You Staring at? You Don’t Recognize Your Own Father Anymore?”
Buzz!
“You’ve got a new order on BuildEasy. Please process them promptly!”
Then her phone just kept on buzzing!
She took out her phone and immediately opened the “BuildEasy” app. She saw the order count soaring.
One after another, orders kept coming in. It had already exceeded two hundred orders!
At this rate, there was a real chance of hitting seven hundred orders!
Hector lowered his head and saw the rapidly increasing order count on her phone. He was genuinely happy for her.
He leaned in and whispered in Harmonia’s ear with a smile. “Excellent strategy, big sister.”
The products in the group purchase were the same, so naturally, the house designs for the group purchase were also identical.
Initiating a town-wide bulk purchase meant that even if over seven hundred households placed orders, producing the designs within a month was completely feasible.
Bulk purchasing for house construction not only saved time and costs but also allowed for town planning.
With everyone getting the same design, there would not be any feelings of inequality. It was truly a triple win.
+ 25 BONUS
Safan was calmer after Ginevra had straightened him out.
As they said, the wife held the reins. Safan, now a lot tamer, was washing his hands. He was going to make some soup for lunch.
Harmonia knew that her stubbornness had broken her father’s heart when he strongly opposed her marriage to Absalom back then.
So, what was she to do when the old man was upset? She had to be extra cute, of course!
She stood outside the kitchen and leaned against the glass door. She poked her head in and asked, “Dad, is there anything I can help with? Would you like me to do the dishes? Or prep some vegetables for you? Chef Safan, I’m your kitchen helper, Harmonia. I await your orders!”
Safan, who was currently chopping meat with his back turned to Harmonia, appeared deeply focused, but he was actually suppressing a laugh.
Thunk!
Safan’s cleaver landed squarely on the cutting board! He turned around and looked at her with a stern expression. He instructed, “Go to the backyard and pick some chives!”
Harmonia immediately made an “okay” hand gesture and then dashed toward the backyard.
There were flowers in the front yard, all kinds of vegetables in the backyard, a trellis for growing tomatoes, and a lemon tree.
Who could have imagined that Safan, once a prominent figure in the business world, would now embrace a pastoral lifestyle with such finesse?
Harmonia walked toward the vegetable garden on the side. A small
+25 BONUS
by colorful broken tiles, surrounded the lush chives
in the muddy ground.
Just as she bent over to pick some chives…
She heard a noise.
She heard a distinct mechanical hum. In this tranquil backyard, the noise stood out.
Harmonia followed the direction of the sound. She peered through a small window into the shed, only to realize that it was a cold storage
room.
On the shelves inside were neatly arranged containers of tea leaves.
“Why do we have so many containers of tea leaves?” Harmonia murmured to herself.
The tea-picking season in Green Hill was in late September. Now was not the harvest season, so where did those tea leaves come from?
Harmonia felt puzzled by this.
After entering the villa, she handed the chives to Safan. She looked at him and hesitated about asking him about the tea leaves.
“What are you staring at? You don’t recognize your own father anymore?”
right now. Don’t stay here and bother me. Go run around outside.”
A daughter knew her father best. Even if she asked about the cold. storage, her father would not tell her
Harmonia gave him a charming smile, and her voice turned tender. ” I’ll leave the kitchen to you then, Mr. Safan.”
Safan snorted a couple of times, making it clear he was exasperated,
T
+25 BONUS
but the constant upward curve of his mouth revealed the unspoken affection he had for his daughter.
After Harmonia left the kitchen, she headed toward the living room.
There, she found Hector flipping through some documents.
“Hector, what are you reading? Can I take a look?”
“Of course. What’s mine is yours too.”
+25 BONUS
Chapter 28 Someone Was Crashing
Hector was smiling, and he was full of love. He loved and spoiled her tirelessly every single day.
Even if he knew that she was not his biological sister, it did not change anything.
Ginevra shook her head helplessly. She then patted Hector’s knees.” Spoil her then!”
Hector laughed.
Harmonia was looking down at some documents and flipping
through them. She realized this was the tea plantation’s reports for the past few months. It recorded the growth of the tea leaves and several detailed explanations.
The residents of Green Town had been tea farmers for generations, but their tea industry had never gone well.
Six years ago, her parents started working with Green Town when they moved in. They rented farmland from the locals and organized it into a tea garden.
This large tea garden had also turned into one of Green Town’s tourist attractions.
Her father also hired tea farmers to tend to the tea garden. Not only did they have regular salaries, but they also received bonuses at the end of each year.
So, in recent years, the residents of Green Town slowly began to have a better quality of life. But the tea leaves in the storage were piling up into mountains.
“Mom.” Harmonia closed the document folder. She looked up at
+25 BONUS
Ginevra. Her expression was extremely solemn and serious.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s up with the tea leaves in the backyard’s storage?”
Hector was also stunned. Obviously, he had no idea what this was about either.
Ginevra did not expect her to be so observant. The storage room looked so pretty on the outside; people just thought it was a nursery.
She told her the truth. “That is last year’s remaining stock. We could only keep them in our cold storage unit to preserve them.”
“How could there be unsold stock for tea as good as this?” Harmonica could not understand.
Ginevra sighed, “It was during the third quarter of last September. After we’d packaged the tea leaves, we had prepared to transport them from Green Town to the airport like every year. But who would have thought…
“That hooligan, Blaed Herb, would extort us for three million dollars in protection fees. Even though it was a small sum to our family, three million dollars could help plenty of needy people!
“Of course, we would not agree to t! In the end, he brought along a gang of ruffians, blocked the truck transporting the tea, and started a staged accident!”
‘Have you reported this to the police?” Harmonia asked.
Ginevra nodded. “The police have already arrested them. But since hey didn’t commit any major crime, they were released after a few lays. After their release, they did not stop. They started using worse actics; they started harassing us by scaring the packing workers, the Irivers, and their families
+25 BONUS
“They have been creating trouble for us again and again. This led to us missing out on the new tea’s launch in the market. Large batches. of orders could not be handed over in time. We had to pay a huge. sum to compensate for breaking the contract. Our tea leaves went into unsold stock because of this too.”
When Ginevra brought this up, she was really unhappy.
“You know what’s worse? Your father and I have approached Blaed’s parents. We hoped they would talk to him. However, his parents were unreasonable too. They were crying in the middle of the streets
saying that we were bullying them!
“That Blaed’s mother even clutched her heart, saying her heart attack was acting up! They really are birds of a feather!
“Soon after, Blaed would say nasty things whenever he saw us. He said that if we gave him the three million, we would not have unsold stock. Listen for yourself, is this something a person should say?”
The more she spoke, the angrier she got!
Hector’s expression was solemn as he said, “I had no idea something like this happened.”
“You were already too busy with the consortium’s affair. Also, you were too far away to help us. It would be hard for you to handle him when he was in his element here too.”
Hector’s tone was stern. “Father has always been active in charity work. Blaed is a resident of Green Town. He enjoyed plenty of privileges here when you think about it.”
Harmonia smiled and stopped swiveling the ring on her pinkie.” Hector, what more do you expect from an ungrateful dog?”
Ginevra nodded, she agreed, and said, “Harmonia couldn’t have said it better. His whole family is a pack of ungrateful dogs. They are
» 25 BONUS
unreasonable. And there’s nothing we can say about it.”
Harmonia chuckled coldly.
Using reasoning and logic would not work with rabid hooligans like these.
One could only fight poison with poison and give them a taste of their own medicine.
She was going to note this “favor” down..
Suddenly her phone rang.
Once she picked it up, Louis’s shriek came through! “Ms. Marsh, someone is crashing our booth. Help!”
Chapter 29 If You Do Not Pay the Protection Fees, I Will Destroy Your Booth
Before Harmonia could say anything. The phone beeped, and the call ended!
Harmonia swiftly stood up from the sofa. While calling Louis back, she ran toward the outside of the villa.
Hector and Ginevra also heard what was going on. Hector also quickly caught up to Harmonia,
On the other hand, Ginevra was frantic. She ran into the kitchens to call for Safan.
Once Harmonia entered the town, she saw Louis holding onto the booth.
“Under broad daylight at that! This is preposterous! This is Mr. Safan’s new project!” Louis yelled.
Blaed said, chuckling. “What does it matter if it’s Mr. Safan? Why don’t you go check who I, Blaed Herb, am? You are in my territory. I will destroy your booth if you do not pay your protection fees!”
Blaed had a cigarette in his mouth. With big gold chains draped around him, revealing two large and tattooed arms, he seemed very Fierce.
He had a metal rod in his hand as he walked up to Louis. A few other minions followed him with their sticks in their hands.
Louis’ legs were shaking with fear, but he continued holding on to the
tall!
14
425 BONUS
This was Marshtown Studio’s signboard. As the assistant manager, who was working a triple-paid shift getting a doubled year-end bonus, he had sworn his life to protect it, no matter what!
“Son of a b*tch, do you wanna die?” Right after he said this, Blaed whirled his rod. He was prepared to smash it against Louis.
Harmonia took hold of the swinging metal rod.
Blaed was just about to curse her. However, when he looked up and saw Harmonia, her stunningly beautiful posture made his eyes light up. He revealed a greedy and lewd expression!
However, before he could react, Harmonia had already raised her leg toward his crotch and kicked him hard!
And after that, she gave him a reverse roundhouse kick! Then she gave him another flip, slamming his entire body hard into the ground!
The metal rod in his hand had also flown out of his hand. It made a clunking sound!
Seeing this, a few of Blaed’s minions swung their sticks and rushed toward Harmonia!
Hector rushed forward to protect Harmonia. Without much effort, he knocked them to the ground one by one, stacking them up in the process!
Blaed and his minions whimpered and wailed in pain!
Hector and Harmonia struck out one after another. Their movements
were clean and sharp. It was simply a satisfying sight!
The onlookers snickered, but no one dared to offend Blaed’s hooligans.
After all, these days, hooligans are the most difficult to deal with!
1:25 BONUS
There was a black car parked not far away. A man leaned against the body and took the phone away from his ear.
Harmonia turned her head and saw him from a distance through the crowd.
Wasn’t that Dimas?
At that moment, the police arrived.
Harmonia looked up again. The car had already left, and the person
was gone.
She must have been mistaken…
Soon after, the police took Blaed and all the others away.
The crowd of onlookers dispersed, but the whispers continued.
“Who’d known Mr. Safan’s daughter was actually so strong?”
“Not only is she strong, but she’s also exceptionally pretty. She’s like a celebrity.”
“Alas, as strong as she is, she’s still a little girl. When Blaed is
released in a couple of days, he might go looking for trouble with her again.”
When they heard this, everyone looked horrified and shook their heads.
Blaed was someone they could not afford to mess with, and neither did they dare to mess with him!
As they were involved, Harmonia, Hector, and Louis made their way to
he police station to make their statements.
Safan and Ginevra, who arrived later, worked together with a few
volunteers to clean up the booth.
+25 BONUS
Blaed arrived at the police station and pleaded guilty with excellent
manners.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re right about everything, Officer Scott. I didn’t expect that my foot would crush his phone either.” Blaed stomped his feet, “After all is said and done, it’s all my foot’s fault! I’ll pay for its price; I’ll compensate for it all!”
“I don’t need to remind you again about what you have to do after you pay, do I?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Aren’t I experienced in this?” Blaed smiled playfully and nodded his head.”
Then, he walked toward Harmonia and the others and nodded with a smile, “Hey hottie, I’m really, really sorry.”
The moment Harmonia met those eyes of his, she felt the change in his expression. it was treacherous and ferocious!
Harmonia’s gaze also changed. She laughed lightly. She was not being deterred by this look in his eyes. In fact, her presence had intimidated and crushed him!
This was the first time Blaed had encountered a woman like
armonia!
his opinion, women were just things for men to sleep with. However, now, Harmonia had filled his heart with contempt. ‘We will meet again.” Blaed left behind these words.
Chapter 30 Mr. Safan Has a Good Daughter, Uninvited Guests “I look forward to it.” Harmonia laughed coldly. She was not the slightest bit afraid.
Blaed’s eyes were wide open. He was astounded by her charisma.
While he was still dumbstruck, the police took him away and did everything according to procedure.
Blaed being detained in prison, was not news in town.
On the contrary, Harmonia going against him had become the talk of the town.
Marshland Studio’s booth for group purchasing housing projects was up once again!
Louis was dedicated to his job as he led volunteers to work hard to sell, promote, and explain their purpose of being there.
Their orders on BuildEasy were growing rapidly. It was to the point that the platform started to suspect them of making fake orders and began an investigation.
However, after their investigation, they realized there were no problems at all.
Their rankings skyrocketed. For the first time ever, the top ten, who had always been well-established at the top, felt a sense of danger.
After returning to the bungalow, Safan looked gravely worried as he
colded!
Count yourselves lucky today that the police were there just at the ight time! Don’t you know that it’s normal for Blaed to lord around the
streets like this? No one ever dares to report it to the police”
Harmonia was stunned. She feared that it was not a coincidence that the police were there. Someone helped them call the cops!
Safan pointed at Harmonia and roared again, “Blaed will seek revenge! Your mother and I avoid him whenever we can. He is reckless, impulsive, and an absolute outlaw. After he’s released a few days later, he will definitely come and seek trouble with you!”
Harmonia’s expression and tone of voice were exceptionally calm. Then, let him come.”
She was somewhat looking forward to Blaed to come knocking at their door. He could come over happily, but there was no guarantee that she would let him return the same way!
“You! You are such a rebel! Leave right now! Immediately leave Green Town and return to Nilus City!”
Safan pushed Harmonia’s suitcase. Then he tried to haul her out of the bungalow!
“Leave now. Immediately!”
Harmonia grabbed Safan’s hand. “Dad, the Marsh family has the final say in Nilus City. I’ll definitely be safe if I were to return, but what about you and Mom?”
When she said this, Safan and Ginevra were both speechless. Both of
anderstood it clearly…
armonia recounted, “Dad, why did Blaed come to crash our event? That’s because he didn’t receive his three million in protection fees! This time, he even got beaten up by Hector and me. He will definitely come to settle all these scores.
Hector and I can leave at any time, but the new tea leaves are due to aunch in less than three months. The two of you can’t leave at a
+25 BONUS
crucial time like this. Also, Dad, you are labeled as a kind, benevolent man here. You can’t do anything to him as he is a resident of Green Town!
“But there are no rules saying that the daughters of kind-hearted
fathers can’t be nasty. We can fight fire with fire, and violence with more violence! Let’s make Blaed serve prison time! That would be a good thing for the people of Green Town too!”
Harmonia’s every word made sense, and her logic was clear. There was nothing to refute.
But then again, from Safan’s point of view, he was a father before he was a kind-hearted person!
“Stop giving me excuses. You are to leave this place immediately. Do you understand?”
Harmonia knew that Safan was worried about her safety. But this time, she would not leave, no matter what he said!
“Dad, you and Mom have protected me for more than twenty years. It’s time for me to protect the two of you.”
Tears welled up in Ginevra’s eyes.
Safan was silent.
The air was still until a deep voice called out. It broke the silence.
Mr. Marsh, you have a good daughter.”
Everyone turned to look toward the door.
Harmonia’s eyes gleamed.
