"Sister-in-law, I'm not your—"
Vivian Frost tried to explain, to clarify that she wasn't officially anything yet. But before she could finish, the girl hugging her suddenly tightened her arms.
It wasn't aggressive.
It was… enthusiastic.
Too enthusiastic.
Vivian's brain stalled.
She caught a faint lemon scent mixed with something light and clean. For a brief second, she genuinely felt like she might suffocate—not physically, but socially.
Fortunately, Ethan Reed stepped forward and pulled his sister away.
Only then did Vivian regain her ability to breathe.
She stared at the tall girl in front of her.
This was their first meeting.
First.
And she got hugged like family.
Why was this happening?
And… why was she so tall?
Vivian was around 1.6 meters. The girl in front of her was already noticeably taller at seventeen. If she grew any more, she could easily reach 1.75 meters.
And for girls, 1.75 didn't look like 1.75.
It looked like 1.8.
The girl smiled brightly, looking down at Vivian as if nothing unusual had happened.
"Relax," Ethan said casually. "My boss is a homebody who only acts tough with people she knows. You just overloaded her CPU."
Vivian wanted to protest.
But she couldn't.
He wasn't wrong.
She was exactly that type.
With close friends like Rachel Quinn, she could talk endlessly and even act dominant. But with strangers? She turned polite. Reserved. Quiet.
And this girl?
She was the complete opposite.
If you said hello, she would chat with you for thirty minutes straight and make you question your life choices.
"Brother, why are you blocking me? Let me talk to my sister-in-law~" the girl said playfully, grabbing Ethan's arm and shaking it.
"Get in the car first," Ethan replied firmly. "We'll eat."
"Barbecue!" she cheered immediately.
—
Inside the car, Ethan sat in the passenger seat.
Vivian was still rebooting.
He snapped his fingers in front of her.
"Boss. Back online. Let's go to the usual barbecue place."
"Oh. Right."
From the back seat, the girl leaned forward over the seatback. No seatbelt—Lumen City didn't strictly enforce them in the back.
She rested her chin on the seat and looked at Vivian's profile with sparkling eyes.
"Sister-in-law, you're so pretty~ The prettiest person I've ever seen."
Vivian's grip on the steering wheel tightened.
"Sister-in-law, you and my brother are super famous online! My classmates play your company's games. They even say 'Ethan–Vivian CP' is a perfect match. Lots of boys ship you!"
Vivian blinked.
CP?
"Sister-in-law, they don't know Ethan is my brother. And they definitely don't know you're my sister-in-law."
Vivian's CPU temperature rose again.
"Sister-in-law, what game are you making next?"
"Sister-in-law, I want a big Pokémon plush. They sell one near my school for 299 yuan. My allowance is only 150 per week…"
"Sister-in-law…"
"Sister-in-law~"
Vivian's lips pressed into a thin line.
She glanced at the rearview mirror, silently sending a desperate SOS signal to Ethan.
Help me.
Ethan coughed lightly.
"Shushu, your sister-in-law is driving. Don't distract her. If there's an accident, we're all done."
"Oh!"
The girl immediately covered her mouth.
Obedient.
Too obedient.
But out of Vivian's sight, she reached forward and pinched Ethan's waist lightly.
Ethan's lips curved.
Message received.
He understood her instantly.
The moment she saw them standing together at the station—close, natural, comfortable—she had figured it out.
They were in that stage.
Not officially together.
But clearly something.
So as a responsible younger sister…
She would accelerate things.
She kept calling Vivian "sister-in-law" because she could see it.
Vivian wasn't rejecting it.
She wasn't angry.
She was flustered.
Tsundere mode.
Vivian's thoughts were spiraling.
He didn't deny it.
He didn't correct her.
He even… supported it?
Wait.
Did that mean—
No.
No no no.
Her mental CPU was now completely burned out.
If this were an anime, her face would be bright red and steam would be rising from her head.
—
At 9:40 PM, they parked near their favorite northern-style barbecue restaurant.
The place was lively, smoky, warm.
Vivian still looked slightly dazed while ordering.
Ethan watched her and struggled to suppress a smile.
She hadn't objected once.
Not once.
He certainly wasn't foolish enough to act noble and say, "Don't talk nonsense."
He had never found the right opportunity to push their relationship forward.
Now?
Opportunity delivered itself by train.
Maybe this visit wasn't so troublesome after all.
They sat down.
Lamb skewers in one hand, corn skewers in the other, Shushu chewed happily.
"Sister-in-law, can I visit your company tomorrow?"
Vivian nodded quickly. "Just have your brother bring you."
"Great! I also want to find a job!"
Ethan paused mid-bite.
"A job?"
"Yes! I'm seventeen. Legal working age. I want to earn money."
Vivian immediately opened her handbag.
Without hesitation, she pulled out a thick stack of red banknotes and placed them on the table.
"Here. Take it."
Shushu blinked.
That stack was easily twenty thousand yuan.
Even Ethan looked surprised.
"No no no!" Shushu quickly waved her hands. "I don't need money. Your money is yours. If I need money, my brother will give it to me."
Before Vivian could insist, Shushu gently pushed the cash back into the bag.
"I just want to experience working early. Arrange something for me, sister-in-law~ Use me freely."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Use you? What can you do?"
Shushu raised one finger confidently.
"I can sing. Do voice acting. Draw. If needed, I can learn programming. I read a few books already."
Ethan stared at her.
What kind of monster genius was this?
But then—
An idea flashed in his mind.
Rachel Quinn had been urging him to start a new animation project.
And now…
He had talent sitting right in front of him.
Shushu could sing.
She could play instruments.
Add in Luna Ash—there would already be two.
They just needed two more core voices.
And this project—
Wouldn't just be an animation.
It would open a new genre for Northstar Games.
A genre they had never touched before.
Ethan slowly smiled.
A rhythm-based game.
Music.
Performance.
Voice acting.
Live concerts.
A multimedia expansion.
This wasn't just about giving his sister a job.
This could become Northstar's next breakthrough.
Shushu bit into another skewer and grinned.
"Sister-in-law, so tomorrow I start working?"
Vivian looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked at Vivian.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, something unspoken passed between them.
Then Ethan nodded.
"Yes. Tomorrow."
Shushu clapped her hands excitedly.
"Yay! Sister-in-law and brother's company, here I come!"
Vivian's heart skipped again.
That word.
Sister-in-law.
She lowered her head slightly, hiding the faint smile forming at the corner of her lips.
Her CPU had overheated earlier.
But now—
It was running a different program.
And for the first time,
It wasn't crashing.
It was accepting.
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