Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3398

Rhiannon instantly stood up, her voice laced with excessive, fawning concern. "Weren't you supposed to be sleeping? Why did you come down? Did we wake you?"

Jude chimed in just as quickly. "You need your rest. Your sister just got back, and we were just talking to her about the villa."

Carson instinctively glanced at Marina, a cold smirk touching the corner of his mouth. The blatant favoritism in this family was sickeningly obvious.

Marina simply pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze.

"It's okay. I was asleep, but I suddenly woke up," Phoebe said softly.

She walked over to Carson, biting her pale pink lip, looking the picture of innocence. "Mr. Foster, it's all my fault. Grandpa, Grandma, and my parents just wanted to buy that villa for me because of my health."

Carson offered a devastatingly polite smile. "It's alright. On Marina's behalf, I forgive you for being so inconsiderate."

Phoebe froze. "..."

Marina pressed her lips tightly together and turned her head away to hide her amusement.

Phoebe's expression morphed into one of deep guilt and sorrow. "I really am too thoughtless. Because of my health, I'm always putting the family in difficult positions."

She turned to Jude with tearful eyes. "Grandpa, I don't want the villa anymore. Please don't force my sister."

Marina suppressed a scoff. She knew exactly how this played out. No matter what happened, she would always be painted as the unaccommodating villain, with no way to defend herself.

Carson suddenly spoke up. "Miss Evert, why does it sound like you're accusing Marina of deliberately making things difficult for you? You're the one making things difficult for her. You try to take what she loves, and when you can't get it, you resort to moral blackmail. Just because you're sick doesn't give you the right to steal other people's things. Is it my Marina's fault that she's perfectly healthy?"

Marina's heart skipped a beat at the words 'my Marina.' She looked up at Carson, thoroughly impressed by how effortlessly he delivered the verbal smackdown without even blinking.

Carson's smile vanished, leaving a cold, hard expression. "That's exactly what I thought. But standing outside just now, I heard enough to think these esteemed elders were about to bully my fiancée right out of her own house over a piece of real estate."

"Alright," he continued, his tone dropping into a dangerous, commanding register. "I won't mince words. The Lakeshore Estates was developed by the Foster family. Marina and I picked that specific villa together. It is our future marital home. And nobody touches our marital home."

The entire room froze.

Even Marina couldn't help but stare at him in shock.

He was taking the entire burden onto his own shoulders!

Carson's tone was casual, but the absolute authority radiating from him was undeniable. The Evert family wasn't stupid. They knew better than to cross the heir to the Foster empire. In an instant, they made their calculations.

Grandpa Evert was the first to pivot. "Ah, I see! So that's how it is!"