"Starting today, I’m entrusting Isvara to you. Sooner or later, the two of you are bound to get married."
"Don’t hesitate to discipline her. If she doesn’t obey, just hit her. You have the right to do anything you want to her," Yudistira said with a faint smile.
The living room looked livelier than usual. Glasses and all kinds of drinks were spread across the room. There was also plenty of food to accompany their conversation.
"All right, Uncle. Thank you for your concern. I’ll cherish Isvara. And don’t worry—I’ll definitely make her life happy," Erwin replied with a cheerful laugh.
Isvara had just walked in when she froze, hearing every word spoken by her father and the man she had been matched with.
It had only lasted a few seconds, but it made her heart ache. Her own biological father had been cruel enough to deceive his daughter.
Isvara’s eyes immediately filled with tears. The redness left from crying on her way home had yet to completely fade.
Isvara moved slowly, leaving the people who appeared to be enjoying themselves behind. Unfortunately, her stepsister’s eyes were too sharp, and her silhouette was immediately caught.
"You’re home, Sis?" Alexa leaned her head forward slightly so she could see her sister.
Isvara only glanced back, unwilling to answer the small-talk question that had slipped from her stepsister’s lips. None of it was sincere. It was all fake.
"Sit here, Sis. Your brother-in-law has been deliberately waiting for you to come home!" Alexa spoke again.
"Brother-in-law? What are you talking about?" Isvara asked, glaring unhappily at her stepsister.
"Aren’t you two getting married? Sooner or later, Erwin will be called your brother-in-law," Lovi said, giving Isvara a sarcastic look.
Alexa smiled knowingly. Her gaze shifted to her mother, who was also smiling with hidden meaning. Meanwhile, Erwin began moving toward Isvara.
The beautiful woman took a step back when Erwin stopped right in front of her. With a swift movement, the man grabbed Isvara’s arm.
"Why do you keep avoiding me whenever I come around, huh?" Erwin asked, glaring at Isvara in annoyance.
He forcibly pulled Isvara over to join the others. Yudistira merely watched them with a faint smile.
"Why did you come home so late, huh? Who did you meet?" Erwin asked, still glaring at her.
Isvara refused to answer. She remained silent, her face sullen. She was tired and in no mood to put up with Erwin’s rough behavior.
"Did you secretly meet some strange man behind my back, huh?" Erwin asked again.
This time, however, he raised his voice. He seemed to have lost patience because Isvara wasn’t responding to him.
"Erwin, there’s no need to get angry. She’s just a divorcee. If not you, who would want her, huh?" Yudistira tried to stop Erwin’s anger. Instead, the middle-aged man wounded Isvara’s feelings even further.
As her father, he was incapable of considering his daughter’s feelings. Ever since his wife died, he had regarded his daughter as nothing more than a threat to him.
Erwin slipped an arm around Isvara’s shoulders, but the woman did her best to avoid him.
"If you treat me well, I’ll treat you well too. From now on, I’ll give you a gift every day."
"But every day, you’ll also have to massage my back all the way down to my feet. Every single day."
Erwin reached for Isvara’s hand again, but she rejected him and pulled away once more. That made the man furious.
"You’re still acting all high and mighty, Isvara. You were married for three years, and now you’re divorced, yet you act like you’re still an untouched woman."
"I-I—"
"Shut up! Don’t mention or compare me to that shameless ex-husband of yours. Go on, say your husband’s name. Let me hear the name of that bastard right now!"
Isvara glared at Erwin with hatred. Her teeth clenched tightly as she held back all her anger. If her father hadn’t been there, she would have thrown a glass at Erwin’s head and taught him a lesson.
"That’s enough, Erwin. Isvara is just an immature woman. Forgive her, and don’t fight," Yudistira said, looking lazily in his daughter’s direction.
Yudistira reached for Isvara’s hand, trying to get her to sit in the empty chair.
"Isvara, calm down. Come sit here. Erwin has been deliberately waiting for you. He’s the one who brought all this food, too. So hurry up and try some!" Yudistira coaxed his daughter.
Isvara held back her tears. Both hands clenched the dress she was wearing. She wanted to run, but her legs felt incapable of moving. All she could do was endure it and follow her father’s wishes.
When he saw that his daughter refused to sit, Yudistira looked at Isvara angrily again.
"Isvara, have you forgotten what we discussed yesterday? If you keep rebelling, do you want your late mother to see you behaving like this?"
"You’re becoming a disobedient child who refuses to listen to her parents."
"Papa..." Isvara called to her father in a trembling voice. Meanwhile, her stepmother and stepsister smiled as if mocking Isvara’s misfortune.
With no other choice, Isvara finally sat in the empty chair. She didn’t join the conversation, only listening to whatever they talked about.
A few minutes later, Isvara had grown sick of all the conversation between her family and Erwin. She then excused herself to go to her room.
"Dad, I want to use the bathroom for a moment. I feel like taking a shower, too."
Without waiting for anyone to answer, Isvara left. She ran into her room. Erwin’s gaze remained fixed on the spot where Isvara had disappeared.
"Erwin, Isvara will still belong to you soon enough. Why don’t you take this opportunity?" Lovi said, looking meaningfully at Erwin.
"What do you mean, Auntie?" the man asked, pretending not to understand.
Erwin’s gaze shifted to Alexa. She, too, smiled meaningfully at him. A few seconds later, the man understood what the two women of different ages were implying.
Erwin ran after Isvara, who had entered her room, a wide smile spreading across his face.