The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 26

CH26 Morgan

I shook my head. "You're delusional."

"You knew that Mizuki was a spendthrift and that her father was an idiot, and yet you stepped down anyway. You abandoned your duty as ahead of this family. Your father will be ashamed of you."

I glared at her. "How interesting you think that you can talk to me like that after bowing your head to this man, knowing that he was an idiot and his daughter was a spendthrift."

She flushed and sputtered before slamming her hand on the desk. "Don't try to turn this back on me. You were supposed to take over, so you need to step up and do what needs to be done! We can't keep running this place on our own! You need to use your newfound... power...and shower us with money! Hire some people to run the shop so none of us have to work another day!" She glanced at the guard beside me. "He's a good start.

I stared at her. This wasn't the family reunion I'd envisioned, but I wasn't surprised, really. Anger bubbled within me, threatening to boil over. She didn't care that I could have died. She didn't even care what trauma I might have had from the experience. All she cared about was her own continued survival. But before I could say a thing, Adele stepped forward.

"That's enough," she said, her voice firm but gentle. "Let's give Morgan a chance to explain."

"Explain? What's there to explain? If I hadn't stepped down, Mizuki would be dead, Goro would have killed me, and you'd still be poor. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but give it another five years with the way Goro spends money."

I took a deep breath. "And don't misunderstand. I'm not here to save you by bailing you out. I'm here to make you work for it. The Ryuyama Silks and Tailoring shop has been operational and self-sustaining for generations, and it will return to that state."

She sputtered, "How selfish of you! You show up here in your fancy new clothes with your bodyguard and tell us to work. Why do we have to work when you don't? You're just going to go off and live as a fairy tale dragon queen and leave us here? That's not what your father would

have done?"

"My father also let himself be killed by his brother. Should I follow in those footsteps, too?" Goro and Adele paled. My aunt flushed.

"Why are you bringing up something like that?"

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CH26

I narrowed my eyes. "So you knew the plan. What did Goro promise you?"

I scoffed. "Nothing

face scrunched

stepped forward. "Your

you speak of him," I said coldly. "I'm not here because of you or him or her; I'm here because of Hiro. My original plan to turn the family over to him when he's of age still stands, even more so now that I have more responsibilities to deal with, but I will not turn it over in the state that it's in right now. It's going to be profitable before he has to ever worry

mean. The shop's been empty for weeks! Chen's shop has taken all of our customers because

to the bolts of fabric on the walls. "All of this merchandise could have been moved. What happened? It's been

of paper. In a flurry of movement, I sketched out a design - a comfortable undergarment that offered support and

restrictive bras or binding. It was a version of the structured slip I was wearing

in here and make clothes the way you should have been doing for the last couple of weeks. And you're going to add this to the catalog. I slid the page across the table to the aunt. She sneered at it. "We'll call it a structured slip. Comfortable, supportive, and set to replace most women's underwear. Expand the style into something more seductive

design in the family

grin split

my

"We do... It was discontinued for reasons, but it wouldn't be hard

the return of the Dragon

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CH26

They all looked at me

Is it really going

nodded. "We use my position to push it as a symbol of tradition and a new era. The Imperial family is already loaning us money to deal with the cash

"And you will be

work."

""I don't-"

for his generosity," I said, glaring

aunt, whose arms were crossed and lips pursed in a disapproving

one chance," I said, my voice calm but firm, "are you in or out? This is a family business, and we need everyone on

hung heavy in the air. She turned a shade of purple, and for a moment, I thought she might

grumbled. "But don't expect me to like

smiled. "Thank you. Get to

a little too hard, eliciting

orders, or would you prefer Imperial orders?" I leaned close. "You slack off, and I'll have you and your little family packed and shipped to his family's little farm in