Chapter 6
“Of course! Your word is law to me, Xanthea!”
The door suddenly swung open, and Ethan entered with a stern face, looking at the joyful siblings, “Xan, you woke up today and only hugged Samuel. Now here you are whispering secrets with him. Don’t you care about me anymore?”
Xanthea burst into laughter at the obvious jealousy on Ethan’s face and quickly ran over to pull him close, “Ethan, we were just planning a surprise for you!”
“What surprise?”
“We’re all going to the gem betting event the day after tomorrow!”
“Isn’t that supposed to be a surprise just for you?”
Late at night, laughter echoed from the second floor of the mansion. Miranda looked towards the brightly lit study, her grip tightening on her cellphone.
From her first day in this family, she was told that Samuel’s study was off-limits to everyone. Listening to the sounds from inside now, it seemed it was just off-limits to her alone.
In the Nightshade family, she was always just an adopted daughter, an outsider. Without any real support, she figured it was only a matter of time before she’d be pushed out.
“Miranda, are you still there?”
The voice on the phone snapped her back to reality, “Matt, I’m here; sorry, what were you
saying?”
“I was asking, did you notice anything off about Xan today?”
“Off?”
Miranda recalled how earlier that day she tried to help Xanthea, only to be publicly rebuffed, her face soured at the memory.
“Maybe she was just a bit irritable. After all, she’s the precious daughter of the family. I wasn’t there for her when she fell into the water, so I can’t really blame her.”
Normally, Matthew would have comforted her, sensing the subtext in her words. But now his mind was filled with images of Xanthea ignoring him when she woke up and the indifferent way she left, which seemed not too abnormal but lacked the usual adoring attention and instead carried a mysterious air.
“By the
way,
did she say anything after I left?”
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Chapter 7
Miranda replied, “Nothing much, she just mentioned Orion briefly.”
“What?”
Matthew frowned at her words, quickly recalling the scene in the garden where Orion was carrying Xanthea.
When did Xan ever show interest in anyone besides him, especially someone rumored to be a troublemaker?
“Matt, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. The Masked Singer finals are next weekend, right? I’ll definitely be there to support you, and to see you win the title of the century’s greatest singer!”
“Thanks, Matt.” Miranda smiled, her earlier dejection disappearing, “Now, seems like only you truly care about me. Most of the times, I feel like I’m just a spare part in the Nightshade family.”
As she continued to speak, Matthew checked his phone to see if Xanthea had texted him. Normally, she would have bombarded him with messages by now. He had been home for quite a while, yet there was still no sign from her.
event was all over the internet.
Xanthea did a quick search and got the gist. She’d been pondering over how to attend the event, and as it turned out, Eden Heights Estates was opening its doors to some of the prominent families of Crestwood that day. All she needed was an invite.
That was a small matter for Samuel to handle.
Samuel was in his study, buried in paperwork, when suddenly, a fluffy figure pounced on him, “Samuel, still buried in work at this late hour? You’re working too hard; let me give you a shoulder massage!”
“Unsolicited favors usually have strings attached,” Samuel let out a fond smile upon seeing her. He put down the contract, “Out with it, my little princess, what do you need from me now?”
“You know me better than I do myself, Samuel! I wanna go to the gem betting event the day after tomorrow!”
“The gem betting event? Since when did you become interested in that sort of thing?”
“It’s all the buzz online! Plus, I heard that a lot of prominent sons and daughters will be there. I’ve grown up now; can’t I go out, see the world, and make some new friends?”
“Of course, you can.” Samuel looked at her, pleasantly surprised, “I was worried you were too caught up with Matthew to care about anything else.”
He flipped open a document he was holding, “Here, I thought this was what you came for.” Xanthea looked and her expression changed abruptly, “Is that a bid book from the Martinez Group?”
“Yes, the group was initially considering proposals from thirteen companies, but Matth handed this directly to me, even mentioning you.”
“Don’t sign it!”
“What?”
“I said, don’t sign with the Martinez Group. If this bidding is supposed to be public, then Matthew bringing the bid book directly to you is a violation. And violations should be disqualified.”
Xanthea spoke with a grave and serious expression, leaving Samuel stunned.
Was this really his little sister? Normally, she would have been crying and pleading on Matthew’s behalf by now, but today….
Realizing she had been perhaps a bit harsh, Xanthea calmed down.
“Samuel, I’m not as enamored with Matthew as you think. You, Ethan, Mom, and Dad are my real family. Your thoughts and feelings matter the most to me. So, please don’t let your decision be swayed by me. Besides, if Matthew’s just someone who climbs up by clinging onto others, I’ll soon grow out of liking him.”
Before she could finish, Samuel pulled her into a tight embrace.
“My lit
little princess, you really have grown up. I’m so happy, so relieved!”
Xanthea had always been the family’s ray of sunshine, but ever since Matthew came into the picture, it felt like that sunshine had been hijacked. After a recent coming-of-age celebration, he felt as though his ray of sunshine had returned.
Listening to his laughter, Xanthea felt a twinge in her nose. She wasn’t just growing up; she was reliving a lifetime.
In her previous life, she had been deceived by Matthew, blindly favoring and aiding him, which led to the downfall of the Nightshade Group. Samuel died in a car accident v while trying to salvage the company.
She couldn’t bear to endure the loss of a family member again.
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Chapter
