Chapter 303: Chapter 303

The room fell into a hushed and eerie silence. Shelby sat up straight, the smile falling off her face as she glared at her mother. This woman had no shame in her life and specialized in messing up everything.

However, what had been surprising was Samantha’s words. The girl had always had a sharp mouth with no filter. However, Shelby never thought of reprimanding her in front of strangers. There was nothing wrong with the words that Samantha had spoken to Clara, and in Shelby’s mind, as well as Angela’s, Clara needed that reality check once in a while.

Shelby was touched that Samantha was speaking out for her instead. This little fact also shocked Clara who saw Shelby smiling at the brat who had misspoken to her.

Samantha had changed into a beautiful black dress which matched the colour of her hair. Samantha continued to glare at Clara with her hands on her tiny waist as she tapped her feet.

"How DARE you talk to me that way-" Clara was repulsed and bewildered.

"Madam Clara, WATCH YOUR WORDS and do not refer to my children as orphans!"

The two shouted simultaneously, with Shelby’s voice slightly higher pitched than Clara’s.

"You never learn, do you?"

Shelby leaned down as Gabriel nudged her,

"That woman is weird."

"She is indeed!" Shelby agreed.

Clara fumed, but when she opened her mouth to retort, she met the freezing gazes of the two kids by Shelby and the burning one by the oldest one closest to her. She could not help but take a hesitant step back.

"You should remember that you are doing business here, Clara. This is no family reunion, and as I told you earlier, you are not family. If I could, I would have washed the blood that flowed within me to cut ties with you, but this is something I cannot do, unfortunately.

I’ll just take it as is but remember, all you did was give birth to me. All other actions throughout life never conformed to you being a mother, and the sixty-year-old-looking you, at this moment will never have that right to a daughter like me."

Shelby tried not to think back to the day of her accident. To think that a mother who had laboured and birthed an individual could be so cruel to the extent that she would have watched her die. If Clara had called for help, maybe things would not have been that grave. Clara may not have been the one who had orchestrated things but to Shelby, she was one of the culprits!

Shelby stood up with Gabriel, as he wrapped his arms and legs around her torso. She supported him and he laid his head on her shoulder, enjoying the feel.

"I think it’s about time we leave!"

"Samantha, that dress suits you, so you can wear that to leave,"

Then Shelby turned to Angela,

"Wrap the clothes she came in and add those on the rack in her size."

"Suzie? Wait, get the clothes, settle the bill, and meet us in the parking lot."

Suzie replied but she also could not help but glare at the audacity of the woman.

Samantha and Ingrid approached Shelby’s side at the same time, and they quickly exited the shop with Murray close on their heels. He had not stepped in as there had been no threat to Shelby’s life but given the slightest threat, Murray would have snapped Clara’s neck with no hestitation.

"Is that the mistress you talked about?" The other attendant asked Angela, who was still staring at Shelby’s retreating back in awe.

Angela nodded, "She had matured so much that it makes me so happy to see her doing well."

"She’s beautiful and amazing!" the girl added, and then she jumped into action to get the things ready as directed.

Clara stomped and did not move until Shelby had left. Clara noticed two things. The first was that Shelby had dropped the ’madam’ from her name, and then she had been referred to as a woman in her sixties when she was only in her forties. That felt like an insult to her and reminded her that her looks were not as they were then.

She tried her best to use makeup to cover the many wrinkles, but the makeup was never enough to restore her to her old face.

She bit her lips and stomped her feet, an action that did not match her current sixty-ish appearance.

Uncle Brad! Gabriel shouted in the parking lot as Brad’s car pulled up next to theirs. Brad stepped out of his vehicle and greeted Shelby, then went straight to Gabriel and Ingrid. Shelby set Gabriel down, and he ran to meet Brad. He had not warmed up much to Samantha, and she did not care for him much.

Brad’s gaze lingered a little too long on Shelby, and then he averted it.

For the past day or so, Brad had locked himself in the room, thinking of what their parents had told them. He did not know what to do with the info, and it was earth-shattering for him to understand that the brother he had looked up to so much was not his father’s son. Actually, Brad did not care too much about those, but he was disturbed by a random thought that had plunged itself into his head,

’Will Shelby have been his wife then? Since she was to marry the Thornston hier to birth a child for the family?’

The thought shook him to the core but got him really disturbed.

Murray stared at him for a while and then walked close to him,

"Certain thoughts are dangerous, young master Brad," Murray whispered to him and then passed him to place the bags in the car boot. Brad jumped back as if he had been scalded and then looked over at Murray in shock.

He was confused as to what had happened but Brad could have sworn that he had heard that same voice that had been hunting him in his head, but why did it sound like Shelby’s bodyguard?

’Can he read minds? What kind of sorcery is this?’

Murray sent him a knowing smile that made Brad unsettled. The thought fizzled out in his mind almost instantaneously as he remembered the torture he had gone through the first time he had lost his mind and tried to touch Shelby.

"What is it, Brad? Why are you here?"

"Errrmmm. Sister-in-law..."

He sighed, thinking, ’Yes, she is my sister-in-law. I should do well to remember that always.’ He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, it was as if there had never been any confusion in his mind,

"I heard you were around and came to take the three brats to play."

Shelby raised an eyebrow and then nodded.

"They do indeed need some time out." Shelby handed over Gabriel to him, and Ingrid willingly followed.

Shelby walked up to Samantha. She suddenly flicked her forehead!

"You are the oldest! Stop showing such emotions!"

"What emotions?" Samantha whispered and Shelby rolled her eyes. "Let’s try to set a better example for the little ones, okay? Jealousy and other negative expressions will not help them. If you have grievances, I prefer you tell me outright!"

Samantha pouted but nodded, and just as suddenly, Shelby gave her a hug, whispering, "Thanks for standing up for me back then, but that woman is not worth our time. Go explore the town with your uncle, Brad."

"Of course, you can."

Shelby could detect Samantha’s face like a book. The little girl wanted to be part of things but did not know how to vocalize her thoughts. She had been used to holding back and taking the backseat in their family of five, and Shelby knew that it would take some time before Samantha would fully come out of her shell.

"Brad, Samantha is under strict time from Ian, so get them back before 6 pm. They need their beauty rest before the festival commences tomorrow. Suzie will join you to help out if needed."

"Gotcha, sist-in-law!"

Shelby smiled as they waited a little for Suzie to join them before she watched as they left.

"Any luck with the investigations?"

"Your Highness, it’s getting complicated. We cannot find any clue of the hooded figures that madam drew during the first attack in the park. We found nothing, even with our extensive resources. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that madam imagined t-"

The glare for Ian made Currey pause and go back to his reporting,

"I mean, we have no leads on that and are still checking. For the second attempt at the orphanage, apart from the witch helper that little Miss Ingrid dealt with, there is still nothi-"

"It appears even Ingrid is better than you all combined then. She was swift in her actions but a month later, you have still not found one clue? Of what use are you to me then?"

"I’m very sorry, your Highness. We will work harder!"

Ian gestured for Currey to go on.

"But we did find the traces of the presence of the Fae at the location. I suspect they might take advantage of this festival and mingle with the humans. I don’t know what they want with madam, but I think I have a hunch. It’s either someone from your side or someone from her side."

"What do you mean by that?"

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on NovelHub :) ~Uploaded only on NovelHub by Loctovia ~