Stand Me Up? I'll Marry His Billionaire Uncle novel Chapter 85

By the time Sean arrived at the hospital, Sunny's tears had long since dried.

She sat rigid and vacant in the hospital room, her eyes barely flickering in Sean's direction as he entered.

"Mom, how could you leave us so suddenly?" Sean knelt by the bed, wailing in grief.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force out tears, but his performance rang hollow—thunder without rain.

Sunny watched him with detached indifference. She saw through the act, her heart barren and cold.

"Sunny, try not to be too sad," he murmured. "Grandma's gone to a better place now. She'll be watching over us from above, keeping our family safe."

He hesitated, then added, "Let me handle the rest. You don't need to worry about anything."

Sean was Grandma's only son. Sunny didn't refuse—this was his duty now, his burden to bear as he mourned.

---

The wake.

Grace Quinn finally saw her stepdaughter again.

It had only been a day, but something in the girl's eyes had changed. Grace couldn't name it—a coldness, perhaps, laced with a sharp, unsettling edge. When Sunny's gaze lingered on her, Grace felt a chill prickle down her spine.

Sunny said little throughout the ceremony. She moved quietly, offering a candle to each mourner who came to pay their respects.

Grace, always scheming, pulled Sean aside after the latest group of relatives had left.

"What's happening with Mom's five percent of the company? You're not seriously thinking of giving it to that girl, are you?"

Sean hesitated. "Let's not talk about that now. How am I supposed to bring it up with her? Did you see the look in her eyes? Gave me the creeps. I'm honestly afraid to even ask."

Everyone in the Carrington family knew how much Wendy had meant to Sunny.

"Fine," Grace relented. "But once the funeral's over, we need to deal with it—fast."

Neither of them noticed the slender shadow lurking in the gloom nearby—a shadow that let out a soft, mocking laugh.

---

"Chloe, your sister is terrifying. Didn't your grandmother dote on her the most? Why isn't she shedding a single tear?"

"Scared?" Sunny's voice was a frozen whisper. "Then maybe stop provoking me. I don't want to hear that kind of talk in Grandma's house ever again. If you do—"

The blade slid to Chloe's throat and paused. Sunny sneered, her voice cold as ice. "Next time, I won't stop here."

She withdrew the knife and walked away without a backward glance, leaving Chloe collapsed on the floor, shaking in terror.

For the first time, Chloe truly believed her stepsister had lost her mind.

That glint in her eyes—she would have killed her without hesitation.

Chloe ran, sobbing, to find her mother.

Her words tumbled out in a broken, tearful confession that made Grace Quinn's blood run cold.

"You're telling me your sister just threatened you with a knife?"

Chloe's tears spilled over. "Yes, Mom, I want to go home. Please, can I just leave? I don't want to stay here. What if she snaps and actually kills me?"

Grace was stunned. She hadn't expected the old woman's death to push her stepdaughter this far.