Chapter 293: Chapter 293

Samantha’s excitement went through the roof, and the adults present did not miss it. They had all seen her drastic changes over the past few days and had a hunch that the changes had something to do with Shelby, but they had no idea of the specifics. Shelby was quickly becoming the golden touch of the household.

Ian appeared in their line of sight, and they stretched their heads past him to the petite female who was close to his heels.

"My dear girl!" Geneva got up first and walked up quickly to Shelby, slightly shoving Ian aside,

"You got us so worried and wouldn’t let us visit, too! How could you let me worry so much? Don’t you feel bad for an old woman who wants to see her daughter and grandchild?"

Geneva held Shelby at arm’s length and checked her from all sides, finally reassuring herself that Shelby was okay.

Shelby turned back to Ian and then back to Geneva’s eager face, looking puzzled as to when they had any grandchild other than the three at home. However, seeing Geneva’s gaze fixed on her tummy, she blushed.

"There is no baby yet, mum..." She added helplessly.

"No baby? Did you lose it?" Geneva’s panic was confusing for everyone except her husband, who had a similar look he was trying to mask. Geneva had already let Alex know of her observations from that wine tasting.

The two had not brought it up because Shelby had been fighting for her life. They had also thought Shelby and Ian would let them in on the joyous news, but after waiting for days even after Shelby had recovered, they still had not heard of the good news from the horse’s mouth.

"There is no baby, mum. Stop disturbing my wife!"

Alex stepped in and pulled the shocked Geneva aside, stopping her from saying anything else. Alex knew Geneva had gotten ahead of herself yet again.

"Let the girl rest, Geneva." Then he turned to Shelby, still making sure not to make eye contact.

"You should eat more to make up for the loss. You look a little thin!"

Shelby smiled, knowing that that was her father-in-law’s love language. She smiled and nodded.

The voices of the TV hosts continued to emanate from the television mounted on the wall as Shelby attempted to feign ignorance of the topic under discussion. She only appeared unsettled and in pain from her observers in the room.

Shelby did not know this, though, as she only wondered how the police could not find Avril when her small team knew precisely where Avril was. They had brought her pictures showing Avril in all her current ’glorious’ state, and Shelby could not help but shake her head at Avril’s choices.

Avril still had a choice in all that was going on by turning herself in and paying the price for her actions, but how she would choose to ’sell’ her very self to escape the law was beyond Shelby.

This was not something that Shelby wanted to spend her time thinking of. She would let Avril think she had gotten away with it and then sweep off the mat from underneath her legs. How better to handle someone like that by taking away the flicker of hope they think that they have?

"Let’s sit down first," Ian probed gently and led Shelby to one of the two-seater sofas in the room and sat, pulling Shelby down.

He wanted the family to have some with Shelby before he would whisk her off. The ambience in the large living room relaxed with those.

The soft hum of the morning filled the place, giving it a happier vibe. Brad also entered the room just around that time and rushed towards Shelby but then stopped short at the look that his brother gave him. Brad scratched his head sheepishly,

"Sister-in-law, glad to have you back!" Shelby nodded and smiled brightly up at him, making Brad freeze in his spot.

He could not avoid her beautiful blue eyes on time and made eye contact. His heart did a ’bu-dum!’ on him, making him curse under his breath. Brad forcibly pulled his eyes away and patted his chest, but just as he was about to say something, another voice they had all but forgotten beat him to it,

"Mum!" Samantha finally had her chance and rushed up to Shelby’s side, with a small tray of tea and biscuits. When she saw her parents come in, she was so shy, but Samantha remembered that a few of Aunt Ava’s pastries were still there.

Seeing the pleasant atmosphere, she did not have the heart to interrupt them, so she slipped out and arranged a small platter of the pastries and the tea. The staff were used to her going in and out of the kitchen, so no one disturbed nor questioned her,

Samantha slowed down just as she got to Shelby’s side; she pulled up a small table and placed the tray on it,

"Um ...Mum, Sir-, I mean, Dad, I brought you some light snacks."

Alex, Geneva, Katie and the few people around all turned to look at Samantha in surprise.

The older couple looked at each other, wondering, "Did she just call them mum and dad?"

All of them had seen Samantha’s rudeness towards everyone and, most importantly, towards her mother, so to say they were shocked was an understatement.

Even though Samantha’s voice had come out as a small whisper, every single person heard her. Brad’s jaw slacked, and the rest raised their eyebrows in surprise. Even Katie, who usually was emotionless, seemed to perk up at this.

Shelby caught Samantha’s eye and smiled, a gentle, encouraging smile that seemed to boost Samantha’s courage.

Samantha bent at the waist and served the tea to Shelby and Ian,

Even though this was not the first time that Samantha had called Shelby this, she still felt her heart tremble,

"Thanks, Sweety," Shelby said and accepted the cup of steaming green tea, but Ian declined it. Shelby’s eyes glistened with tears, and she did not trust herself to say anything else. She took a quick sip of the tea and closed her eyes,

"The tea served by our daughter is the best! Have a taste, Ian." Shelby said in a voice thick with emotion and brought the tea to Ian’s lips for a taste. He did not decline and hummed in response. This made Samantha smile widely,

"You look pretty when you smile; you should smile often!" Shelby said out loud, making Samantha blush.

Shelby helped herself to a cookie and nibbled on it, praising Ava in her heart. She did not ask of Ava because Shelby knew that with the upcoming festival, Ava had been super busy.

Ian was not the only one who also noted that she had tried to change how she addressed him from Sir to Dad. For him, he was not interested in superficial stuff, so he turned to Katie and asked directly,

Katie did not need any context and then highlighted all the relevant information relating to Samantha right in front of her. At a point, Samantha had straightened and folded her hands in a respective stance.

Ian nodded after he was briefed.

He turned to his parents, "What do you think?"

"No child of ours should work in the fields!"

That one statement summed up their feelings, and Ian nodded, knowing that Samantha had done all she could to convince his parents that she was willing to change.

"You can stop working in the fields for now, but you are still grounded!"

"Wouldn’t she miss the festival then?"

"That will be even better. A lesson learnt with an unforgettable experience."

Samantha whispered. Just as Ian added, "The matter has been dealt with!"

It took Samantha a moment to piece the statement together, but her eyes shone with gratitude: "Thanks, Dad!" This time, the enthusiasm was greater.

She had been broken-hearted, but after that brief conversation with Shelby, Samantha knew that she had been the fool and had nearly been taken advantage of.

She was glad that her phone had been changed, but she wondered what had been done to Raye.

’I’ll ask....’ Samantha dismissed the thought before it had formed because she did not have any person at school to ask about this. She had been granted a leave of absence for a week because she had been grounded, and that had also given her enough time to think of how foolish she had been.

’Anyway, I’ll find out sooner than later!’

"How’s the preparations for the festival?" Alex asked,

"Nothing much needs to be done from our side, but all is well and in order."

Alex nodded. The wine festival was an annual festival that was spearheaded mainly by the company, and it was the main festival on the island that most people looked forward to.

"Your father’s birthday is right after that so that we will be organizing a grand feast right after the festival!"

"Mum, really? Tell me more! What should we prepare for with this?" Brad chipped in excitedly. This would be his father’s seventy-first birthday, and Brad knew his mother would go all out for it.

Katie knew that Geneva did not like interruptions, but she had something that could not wait.

"The master’s family’s program will be held at that same time, and we cannot hold the birthday as planned,"

"Huh?" Geneva’s reaction could not be put into words, but her bodily actions made Shelby turn to her. This was the first time Shelby had seen Geneva at a loss for words and flustered. The single ’Huh’ spoke too much.

It showed a side of Geneva that made Shelby really interested in this part of the Thornston family.

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