Chapter 7 He’s Not My Family #2
Magnus’s eyes snapped up from the screen. He turned fully toward her, shock flashing across his face.
“How the hell do you know about that?” he asked, appalled.
Camila let out a scoff. “I’m your mother. Did you really think you could hide it from me?”
Then her tone sharpened as she continued scolding him. “How can you be so insensitive? Do you really think that girl married you out of her own wish? Do you think she was dying to become your wife?”
Magnus froze.
His expression shifted, surprise flickering across his face.
“She didn’t?” he asked quietly.
Camila scoffed. She unfolded her legs, leaned back, and settled properly into her seat before turning to face him.
“Mila and I have been friends for many years,” she answered. “Without her, there would be no Prestige Wardrobe today. She’s the one who started that business years ago.”
Her gaze hardened. “It was only after Mila’s only daughter died that she handed control to Arthur, so the company could one day belong to Sophia. But then his brothers slowly started taking over—and Arthur is still blind to it.”
She let out a sharp breath. “If Mila hadn’t been desperate to protect Sophia from those wretched, ungrateful pigs, she would never have insisted on Sophia marrying into our family before she dies.”
Camila’s voice dropped, heavy with contempt.
“That was the only reason she begged me to have you marry Sophia—to keep her safe and make sure the majority shares stayed in her name. Otherwise, Arthur would have handed over even the remaining thirty percent to his brothers. He’s so blinded by the love for his brothers that he doesn’t see they’re bleeding him dry. ”
She looked straight at Magnus.
“If Mila hadn’t been on her deathbed, begging Sophia to marry you… Sophia would never have agreed to it. This marriage was never something she wanted.”
Magnus’s face darkened. His phone slipped from his fingers and landed in his lap, forgotten.
He sat there, frozen, unusually quiet. And with that silence came something unfamiliar—an overwhelming sense of disappointment he hadn’t expected to feel.
“Mrs. Graves?”
Thomas’s voice broke the silence.
Camila looked up. He wasn’t alone.
“This is Miss Violet King,” Thomas said. “Mr. Joseph King’s daughter.”
Violet smiled brightly at Camila and Magnus, while both of them looked at her with faint confusion.
“You’re Sophia’s cousin?” Camila was the first to speak.
Violet smiled wider and immediately walked toward Camila. Instead of sitting on the couch across from her, she moved closer and sat down right beside Camila.
“Hello, Mrs. Graves,” Violet said brightly. “How are you?”
She beamed with what looked like happiness. “I only just found out Sophia married into your family. I didn’t even realize she married your son! No wonder she didn’t tell anyone.”
Though her words were sweet, the bitterness beneath them was unmistakable, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
Magnus leaned back, dismissing her presence entirely.
The moment Violet’s eyes landed on him, she froze.
“This is Magnus,” Camila said, gesturing casually. “Sophia’s husband.”
Violet froze.
Her eyes widened as realization hit her. “This is… Magnus?” she blurted, her voice louder than intended.
She immediately corrected her posture, hands moving quickly as she adjusted her clothes and sat properly. Her gaze flicked back to the man sitting in front of her.
‘He’s this handsome?’ she thought, stunned.
Sophia had never mentioned marrying someone like this. Someone this rich. This powerful. This devastatingly attractive.
Violet’s gaze moved over Magnus openly now, from head to toe, hunger flashing in her eyes before she could stop it.
‘Even if he’s a gambler… even if his reputation is terrible,’ she thought greedily, ‘so many women are still dying to marry him.’
Looking at him now, it all made perfect sense.
Who wouldn’t want to marry a man who looked like this?
And the Graves family—didn’t they already have more money than they could ever spend? Even if he burned through millions a day, what did it matter? With that kind of wealth, he could set fire to fortune after fortune and still remain untouchably rich.
Violet kept staring at him for so long that she didn’t even realize she was openly watching him.
Magnus, who had been scrolling through his phone, lifted his eyes briefly and glanced at her. The look was cold—indifferent, uninterested. His gaze passed over her without the slightest pause.
But Violet misunderstood it completely.
The moment she saw his eyes land on her, her heart leaped with excitement.
‘Is he looking at me?’ she thought, thrilled. ‘I was worried about how to win him over, but it looks like he’s already interested in me. Getting him won’t be as difficult as I thought.
Her thoughts were abruptly broken by the sound of footsteps entering the room.
All three of them looked up at the same time.
Sophia walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand, heading toward the living room. The moment she stepped fully into the room and her eyes landed on Violet—who was sitting there comfortably—her steps halted instantly.
“What are you doing here?” Sophia asked coldly, displeasure evident in her voice.
That single sentence was enough to make both Camila and Magnus straighten slightly, immediately realizing that Sophia was far from happy to see this so-called cousin in their house.
At the same time, Magnus rose to his feet the moment he saw Sophia.
He walked toward her without hesitation.
Violet was sitting directly in his path, her legs crossed casually, making no effort to move aside.
Magnus didn’t slow down.
He roughly kicked her legs aside and stepped past her without sparing her a glance, his focus entirely on Sophia.
Violet jolted in shock. She turned her head and saw Sophia standing behind her—and in that moment, realization crashed down on her.
He hadn’t been looking at her at all.
He had been looking at Sophia.
The truth twisted Violet’s expression with anger and jealousy. The way Magnus shoved her aside without hesitation just to get to Sophia only fueled the fire burning inside her.
Magnus walked straight to Sophia and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close without a word.
Sophia froze for a brief second, caught off guard.
Then she brushed it aside.
‘He’s probably just putting on an act for his mother,’ she told herself. ‘So she doesn’t find out that our marriage is fake.’
So she didn’t pull away as he drew her closer, his body solid and warm beside hers.
Violet stared at them, eyes burning as she took in how close they stood—how naturally his arm rested around Sophia.
It only made her angrier.
Sophia stepped forward, stopping directly in front of Violet and Camila. Magnus remained right beside her, not leaving even an inch of space between them. One of his hands slipped casually into his pocket as his gaze stayed on Sophia.
Sophia’s eyes locked onto Violet as she asked again, her voice even colder this time.
“What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, Violet lifted her chin and raised her eyebrows. She stood up from the couch and walked over, stopping directly in front of Sophia—but close enough to Camila to clearly watch her reaction.
“Why didn’t you come to our house even once after getting married?” Violet asked, her voice tilting into something that sounded worried—almost accusing.
She spoke like a concerned relative, but the insult hidden beneath her words was unmistakable.
“Are you trying to hide your family situation from your husband?” Violet continued softly.
“Do you know how unhappy my dad and your dad were when you didn’t come back even once?
Even Uncle Curtis was talking about how you left the house and never returned after getting married.
” She shook her head slightly, disappointment etched into her face.
She sighed, shaking her head slightly. “It’s not good, Sophia. We’re family. How can you forget us so easily just because you got married?”
As Sophia listened, her lips pressed into a thin line.
‘No wonder she showed up,’ Sophia thought coldly. ‘She didn’t come here for me. She came to stir trouble in my marriage.’
Beside her, Magnus grew unnervingly still as Violet spoke, irritation coiling beneath the calm.
Even though Violet tried to hide her malice behind concern, the mockery laced into her tone was obvious to him.
Magnus’s arm tightened around Sophia’s waist, pulling her closer—so close that her side pressed firmly against his chest.
“That’s my fault,” Magnus said flatly, his gaze sharp as it locked onto Violet. “I didn’t want to be separated from my wife right after we got married. “
His hand tightened slightly at Sophia’s waist.
“We’re newly married,” he continued calmly. “I wanted her all to myself.”
Sophia looked up at him in surprise.
Magnus drew her closer, his arm tightening around her waist as he lowered his gaze to meet hers. A faint, unreadable smile touched his lips before he turned back to Violet.
“We’ve been busy settling Sophia into her new home,” he said coolly. “If you have nothing else to do here, you should leave. We don’t entertain uninvited guests.”
Violet’s eyes widened in shock.
She immediately turned to Camila, certain she would step in, that she wouldn’t allow Magnus and Sophia to insult and throw her out of the house so openly.
But Camila was smiling—no, almost grinning—her gaze moving between Magnus and Sophia with amusement.
The moment she noticed Violet looking at her, Camila met her gaze briefly… then looked away as if Violet didn’t exist at all
Then, she stood up.
“I’m getting a call,” Camila said, holding up her phone—its screen completely black—and walked away hurriedly.
Magnus turned to Thomas. “See her out.”
“No—wait, Magnus—” Violet started.
Before she could finish, Magnus took Sophia’s hand and pulled her away without looking back.
They didn’t stay at the Graves mansion much longer after that.