Hostage Night: The Grant Ultimatum

You two—one greedy, one unskilled!

You have a black mark and you blame me?

Who am I supposed to complain to!

I’d rather die than give in!

Hope: “Your blind date is already here, downstairs in the living room. Want to go check him out?”

Huh?

Since he’s here, let’s see.

My blind date—pretty good looking.

Long, jet-black hair, the ends lazily brushing his neck, slender collarbones, that whole comic book vibe.

Seeing him, I gasped.

Dude.

Your fancy butt is sitting on the towel Hope used to wipe big brother’s sweat!

That’s the glory of a pampered novel, a symbol of love!

I sneaked a glance at big brother sitting nearby.

Noble didn’t react at all, didn’t seem to care about the towel.

Figures. He only remembers my mistakes.

“Hello, Miss Grant, I’m Eli Navarro.”

Comic-book guy stood up from the sofa and held out his hand to me.

“Hello, Mr. Navarro, I’m Tessa Grant.”

Eli was visibly surprised to hear my name.

“I’ve heard that Mr. Grant’s daughter is as mighty as a hurricane, with a name that wards off evil. Seeing is believing.”

I gave an awkward laugh.

“Mr. Navarro, your name is so gentle and a little sad. Is there a story behind it?”

Eli looked wistful.

“My father never married. He named me Eli—it’s the knot in his heart he could never untie. It’s the kind of thing you’d read in a novel.”

I believe you.

If I didn’t know the plot of this novel, I’d really think Eli’s dad had some tragic love story, like, ‘There’s a maple tree in the yard—my wife planted it before she died, now it’s grown into a canopy.’

The truth is simple.

Eli’s dad is a hopeless romantic.

And he’s always been the underdog.

His dream is to be the top dog.

He wants to be part of our six-person family, but the five Grant brothers see me as a problem.

They look at me every day, desperate to marry me off as soon as possible.

On the night of my first date with Eli, the whole family was ecstatic.

Fourth brother Stead even left the heroine behind to send me off.

He called up a bunch of his buddies and lined up a row of flashy Teslas.

He personally drove, escorting me to my date.

I was genuinely touched and thanked him sincerely:

“Fourth brother, I really feel your love, but this is just a date—it feels like a wedding send-off.”

Stead, who’s never met a dollar he didn’t spend, said, “At least you’re a Grant family girl. Don’t embarrass us—keep up appearances.”

I was moved to tears and gave him a mock salute: “Fourth brother, you’re so righteous!”

Fourth brother waved me off: “Just hurry up and marry Eli—and don’t come back if you do.”

Me: Hey, hey, hey? Am I really your biological sister?

“Do you really think you’re their real sister?”