The next morning, I sent a message in the family group chat.

"Good morning, everyone! Ian has decided to run his business with his girlfriend, so he will no longer be working with me. Thus, I'll be opening a separate branch. You're welcome to visit the new branch for a free tasting when it opens!"

I sent this message to explain why I was opening a new branch and to inform everyone about Ian and Louisa's plans.

I had to do this because if things went south with Ian later, he might turn on me. He could claim that I had made it big and didn't want to take him along—then I would be the one facing the backlash.

I needed to preemptively defend myself and let everyone see the type of people Ian and Louisa really were.

Moreover, it was better to have a witness with me during the inventory review, just in case things took a bad turn.

As soon as I sent the message, the group chat blew up.

One of Dad's younger brothers, Nathan Kingston, asked, "Why split up now when your business is booming? Sibling rivalry is bad for business."

Susan Ryder, the wife of Dad's older brother, Arthur Kingston, also said, "Wow, who is that girl? How bold of her to kick Vivian out before she even marries into the family!"

My cousin, Jennifer Leeds, piped up, "Vivian's been running the business all these years, while Ian has done nothing. Now that the business is doing well, he wants to take it all for himself and leave Vivian to start from scratch. What a classic case of sexism!"

Dad's other younger brother, Connor Kingston, said, "He's willing to ditch his own sister for some outsider? It's a huge mistake…"

My relatives all chimed in one after another with their opinions, and I was feeling pretty good reading them.

But then, Mom and Dad barged into my room.

Dad looked like he was about to explode.

"Arthur just called and gave me an earful, saying I didn't raise Ian properly and that he's now been seduced by some vixen and is now fighting with you. How could you embarrass us like this and post our family matter in the group chat?"

I secretly pinched myself, causing tears to fall from my eyes.

"Dad, I've worked my butt off for this cafe all these years. I've been the one grinding day in and day out. But look at Ian. After getting involved with Louisa, he wants to take everything I've worked for.

"I didn't want to make things harder for you and Mom, so I kept stepping aside. Ian's young, and it's natural that he's not seeing things clearly and getting influenced by others. But Dad, you understand my suffering, don't you?"

I cried, my voice breaking as I subtly made sure Dad knew that this whole mess was because of Ian and Louisa. It wasn't my fault.

Dad stood there speechless for a while, and then finally waved his hand in resignation.

"Whatever. I don't know what to say anymore."

The messages in the group chat were still pouring in, with more relatives discussing Ian and Louisa's actions, especially when Louisa wasn't even part of the family yet.

After all, though Ian had always been a bit of a slacker, he'd never made any weird demands like this before.

Louisa was already stirring the pot, causing chaos before even officially joining the family.

People were trying to get Ian to reconsider, but he wasn't having any of it. He shot back in the group chat, "Stop acting like you know better than me."

"You can talk about me, but don't you dare talk about Louisa like that."

"She just wants to work with me and build a good life for us. What's wrong with that? Why do you all have to mock her?"

"I never thought my family would be full of people who don't know right from wrong. If you keep talking badly about Louisa, I'm gonna cut ties with all of you!"

That night, to prove his loyalty to Louisa, Ian left the family group chat.