Chapter 302: Chapter 302

The following day, Shelby kept her promise to Samantha and took all the kids out. This time, they had to take a bigger car that could accommodate them all, including Suzie and Murray, with Albert as their driver. They had one single agenda: to get the appropriate wardrobe for the kids. If having a good time was counted as another agenda, then that would have been their second focus.

Just before they boarded the car, Ingrid said something to Samantha that made the older girl burst out in anger, only to curb it. Shelby stared in amusement as Samantha counted backwards from ten to one until her mood stabilized.

Shelby pretended not to have seen the exchange, but she had lip-read Ingrid.

"It’s about time you stopped being childish and came around!"

Shelby thought that she had misread it because that statement was unlike anything Ingrid would say, but looking at Samantha’s reaction, it seemed that she did not misread her. It was interesting and astonishing that the little nine-year-old Ingrid could say such words to her older sister.

As time passed, Ingrid opened up more and more to the people around them, but that privilege did not apply to most people. What Shelby had found out was that Ingrid was a haughty little girl with many attitudes suppressed under the façade of timidness.

In fact, in Shelby’s view, Ingrid was anything but shy. She was just reserved, and given the right environment, the little girl could command a lot of presence.

She giggled and relaxed in the car as they sped along the now-familiar highways.

It was not long before their car pulled up in one of the largest malls.

Albert, the driver who now served the whole nuclear family instead of originally Ian only, stayed to park the car while Shelby held Ingrid and Gabriel’s hands with Samantha not too far from them. Suzie and Murray were a few steps behind them as well. This little family drew much attention and stares as they walked through the mall.

Shelby couldn’t help but think back to the conversation that she had with both Geneva and Suzie.

Following Ian’s recap of what had happened, Shelby had not been surprised when Geneva had called her over and ’handed’ over the mantle of managing the estate. Previously, Geneva had been trying to ease Shelby into the workings and the management of the place, but this time, she had just thrust everything onto Shelby with just a singular phrase: ’I know you can do it! With Suzie by your side, everything will be in good hands!’

Then Geneva had added,

"You can come to me anytime if you have issues."

Even though Shelby did not doubt herself, she did not understand how Geneva could hand a vast estate like that to two women in their early twenties.

She let out an unconscious sigh as she pictured Suzie’s enthusiasm when she had been handed the task. Shelby was happy that Suzie had been granted that chance to shine because she knew that her personal maid was more than capable of the task. She had never particularly liked Katie but Shelby was still surprised when she heard of what the older maid had done.

There had been whispers in the estate on where Katie had gone to and the official narrative had been that she wanted an early rest and decided to resign from her position.

It was weird and did not fit Katie’s style as there had been no warning at all, but many workers had seen Katie walk out of the place on her own two legs under no coercion whatsoever so even if they had doubts, they had no evidence to back that.

Shelby felt a tug on her hand and looked down to see two cute faces staring worriedly at her.

She smiled at them in reassurance as they entered the first shop. They first went to a kid shop and got a few clothes for both Gabriel and Ingrid, then they headed out to the next shop for Samantha’s sake.

Shelby handed over the two kids to Suzie as Murray carried the bags, so she could spend time with Samantha too.

However, before they could make any selection in the next shop, a familiar voice said,

"So, you decided to show up, and you could not even afford to say ’hello’ to your mum?"

Shelby sighed and rubbed her temples tiredly,

’Can I have a sane moment for once without irrelevant people barging in?’

Shelby turned towards the voice’s owner to see Clara glaring at her while Angela hovered in the background with another kind-looking girl.

For a moment, Shelby wondered what Clara was doing there, and then she remembered,

"Is this Madam Clara’s shop?"

"Yes, Miss. This is the shop. Madam has been diligent in coming in daily!" Angela interjected into the conversation. She was so happy to have met Shelby there that she could not hold her thoughts.

After they had returned from the hospital, Clara had become much more impossible to serve. Angela was at her wits’ end and stood her ground in everything, but only the heavens knew that she was struggling under the weight of having to serve Clara.

Clara still looked better despite ageing a decade in the span of a few hours. Clara had developed some age-related illnesses as well. The few workers in the house all had one thought: ’Karma had caught up with Clara!’

They were not far from wrong this time. Clara’s current predicament was a result of her actions years back. She was only reaping what she had sown.

Even Ian had explained to Shelby as well that there was magic at play with whatever had plagued Clara.

Initially, Clara was adamant about working and threw tantrums, but no matter what she had done, Rocky had never taken a single step into the home to care for her.

He did not pay any bills related to the house apart from paying the workers’ wages and making sure that there was just enough food to feed them.

Currey was also kind enough to remind Clara of the consequences of remaining stubborn. No one knew what Currey had said to Clara behind closed doors but immediately afterwards, Clara had hastened to the store and had been diligent in coming there for five days in a row.

She did not do much but still made the effort to be there. The good thing was that clothing was Clara’s domain and she felt at home there. She was just super annoyed that she had to be there.

Shelby nodded at Angela’s input but did not spare Clara another glance.

"Angela, nice to see you again. Is everything okay with you and the mansion?" Angela noted that Shelby had not used the word ’home’ but she understood this the reason very well. Shelby had suffered in the hands of her parents too much.

"Let me know if you need any help at all...."

"Yes, miss. Do take care of yourself too!"

Shelby turned to the other store attendant and smiled at her, making the girl blush. She looked so cute! In fact, Shelby had all but forgotten about Clara’s presence until she shouted,

"Did you just call me by name!? I am your mother!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Wendover, I have no mother like you!"

Samantha stood on the side with a huge, proud grin.

"What are you grinning at? Is this funny to you?" Clara turned and snapped, making Samantha take a few steps back. She was pretty surprised at how fast Clara had aged, considering that the last time Samantha had seen her was a few months prior at the wedding banquet.

’What happened to her?’ Samantha thought,

"Mum, can we go to another store?"

"You can’t find anything you want here?"

"Miss, do not mind her; we have some great goods at the back. If you come to the waiting room, I’ll bring them out for you!"

The girl at the back jumped into action as if she was the store owner. Her enthusiasm even shocked Shelby. She turned to Samantha and asked,

"You don’t have to force yourself. We’ll do whatever you’d like."

Samantha hesitated for a moment and then agreed, letting the girl lead the whole entourage into a well-air-conditioned room.

"Come over to the changing room, Miss," the girl gestured to Samantha.

Soon, a tall rack with different clothes was wheeled into the room while Angela served some light refreshments. Except for the sulking Clara, Shelby felt that the ambience and the reception were excellent.

"Mama, me too! I want to drink!" Gabriel, who had remained quiet for most of the trip climbed onto Shelby’s lap with ease. He was used to doing that and Shelby just leaned back so that he could find his spot. He pulled the glass of juice she had been about to drink and gulped it down.

Shelby reached around him for a cookie, just as Ingrid also snuggled up to her. She sighed and then handed the cookie to her, allowing Ingrid to relax against her.

This is the scene that Samantha came out to see, and she felt a lump build up in her throat as if she had been left out. Angela looked on fondly, but it would not be Clara if she did not have a way to mess up with this ambience:

"You let those orphans call you mother, but you cannot call your mum the same? What a waste of my time in raising you! I should’ve -"

"Should’ve done what?! Do you call this raising?! We may be orphans, but we have standards! Can anyone call themselves ’mother’ these days without doing the job? What a nutcase!"

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