Dear Immortal Tyrant

The next morning, Lina was hesitant to sit down at the breakfast table, but had no choice. She was hungry and the chefs here only listened to her mother. They wouldn't cook later if her mother said no.

Reluctantly, Lina went downstairs where her family was already waiting for her.

Lina paused at the sight of her father, merrily drinking his coffee and reading his newspaper even though most people watched the news nowadays. She saw her mother's thinned lips and narrowed eyes.

"Come come, I've saved you a seat near your favorite food!" Milo patted the spot beside him, where he was already seated next to the head of the table, their father.

"She should be sitting by me," her mother spat out. "It's where the salad is."

Lina took a seat by Milo. WIth this tense breakfast table, she was going to have indigestion. Her father didn't think so, setting his coffee down to take a bite of the food. He said nothing about the tension and was eating like normal.

"Here, your favorite," Milo eagerly said, piling the poached egg with hollandaise sauce onto her plate. He grinned in her direction.

"But this is also your favorite," Lina chuckled. "As the older sister, I should be letting you take it. Why are you so nice all of a sudden? I'm scared there will be a hurricane tomorrow."

Milo snorted and rolled his eyes. "If I'm not nice to you now, you might never come home from college."

Lina laughed, lifted her fork and knife, sliced through the food and brought it to her mouth. But then her mother spoke.

"Are you sure you want to eat that high-calorie food? You already can't fit into your extra small clothes," her mother spat out.

"Now, now, Evelyn," her father warned.

Her mother, Evelyn narrowed her eyes. "Are you really going to let her eat that? She already said her blind date ended horribly yesterday and it must be because she was so much skinnier in the photo!"

Lina narrowed her eyes. "Not everyone wants to eat an almond and be full."

Her mother gaped at her audacity, instantly turning to her husband. "Do you hear that, my husband? Your daughter is talking back now. I knew sending her off to college was no good!"

Milo sighed. "Can't we just enjoy one peaceful breakfast—"

"It was peaceful until your sister went ahead and ruined all of our plans. Everett is the heir to one of the most powerful law firms in the entire country and you've ruined your chances! What prospects do you have to even bring to the table, other than the good looks that you've inherited from me?" Evelyn spat out.

Lina didn't even blink. Her father was too busy gobbling down the poached eggs to argue with his wife who controlled the finances at home.

"If he's so amazing, maybe you should marry him," Lina leisurely commented, lifting the fork to her mouth, but then paused when a knock at the mansion's front entrance interrupted the conversation.

"Delivery?" The butler's voice softly echoed into the dining room, where everyone glanced up, except her gluttonous father.

"Yes, sir," the security guard said, handing him a luxurious package. "The package has already been tested for suspicion and we've found nothing."

"Very well," the butler said, deciding to bring the item to the family after the meal has been eaten.

Lina knew these walls weren't soundproof, which meant almost every servant here knew how crude her mother was.

"You there," Evelyn called to a maid, not caring for her name when she paid their salaries. "Go and fetch the package from the butler."

"Yes, Madam…" The maid whispered, bowing her head and exiting the room without showing her back to the family, as it was considered extremely disrespectful.

Lina wondered who it was from and what it could be.

The Second Mansion rarely received deliveries, as servants could obtain whatever the family wished. Or, designers would directly approach the Yang family, specifically her mother who married into it, but ran a tight ship.

Suddenly, a knock came in the dining room.

"Come in," Evelyn impatiently called out.

Everyone watched as the maid walked in with a black box tied by a silver ribbon that shimmered under the crystal chandelier.

Lina paid the present no mind. Seizing the opportunity of her distracted mother, she unloaded the poached egg from her fork and used her salad utensil to take a nibble of the salad dish.

Lina tensed at the taste of the salad, bland in her mouth. Eventually, she managed to swallow it, but made no effort to eat again.

"Must be for me," Evelyn chirped, grabbing the box and marveling at the packaging. "You shouldn't have, Frederick, our anniversary isn't coming up anytime soon."

Frederick, her husband, didn't bother responding as he took a sip of his coffee, peering over the mug. Frederick caught Lina's glum expression and his gaze softened, but before he could say anything, his wife loudly gasped.

"Oh my…" Evelyn murmured, her hands trembling at the sight of the priceless purse inside of the box. "T-this is one of a kind. There's only two in the world and the other was gifted to the Queen of Wraith by her husband!"

Evelyn was left speechless by the expensive item that not even money could buy, but only fame could.

To think her useless, good-for-nothing husband who wasn't even heir to Yang Enterprise, would gift her this.

Evelyn could die happy, thinking of the reputation boost this purse would bring her. Every socialite with eyes would be dripping with envy when they see this.

"This present is even better than what the Matriarch gave me for giving birth to Milo!" Evelyn exclaimed.

Evelyn quickly waved a maid over. "Fetch me my gloves!"

Evelyn didn't dare to touch the luxurious purse with her own fingers. The diamond-encrusted outside could be stained by the natural oil from her hands. Evelyn also didn't want to obstruct the purse's shimmer, so bright, it was blinding the entire table.

Once the maid came back with the gloves, Evelyn eagerly put them on and held up the purse for everyone to see. Even the maids bowing their heads were dying to lift them just to catch a glimpse of the highly-sought item.

"Oh wow," Evelyn sighed.

Evelyn would even laugh in her dreams, out of pure joy. She showed the purse to her only daughter.

"See, Lina, if your date had gone well and you listened to mommy, you could marry a husband like your Papa and have such an amazing anniversary gift as well!" Evelyn exasperated.

Lina said nothing and played with the cherry tomato on her plate. She stabbed it, watching the red juice gush out. Eventually, her stomach grumbled and she took a reluctant bite.

"Oh look, there's a note," Milo said, pointing to the white card rimmed with gold resting in the velvet package.

Not wanting to hear her father's sappy message to her mother, Lina stood up and left the table. She ate too much today and would need to begin her winter homework. But as she took a step towards the door, she heard pure silence.

"Oop," Milo's eyes went wide, glancing from his mother to his sister.

"To the dear dove eager to fly," Milo read from the card that sent his mother paling with confusion and then realization. "May you sell each diamond and buy your freedom. With no sincerity, Mister."