Chapter 378: Chapter 378

Ava paused, unsure of how to answer the question. That was when it dawned on her that she was just a sous-chef in the estate. No matter how much Geneva and Alex doted on her, she was still a worker in the estate, and this family conversation should have had nothing to do with her.

Ava opened her mouth and then closed it as no words came out.

Geneva perched regally in her chair and sent a look at her son

"... and what’s that got to do with you if Ava is involved in this?" Geneva asked, and Alex shook his head. ’This son of mine never learns!’

Alex’s phone buzzed. He raised it to look at the caller ID and then flipped it to silence it.

Ava turned quickly to Geneva, surprised at her comment, while Brad blinked, momentarily thrown off.

"Mum! Am I your son, or is she?"

Before Ava could breathe in relief, she turned and saw a rare mischief dancing in Geneva’s eyes,

"Maybe Ava is overly concerned because she cares about the poor boy involved. More than you seem to, by the way. Just a thought. But please, by all means, carry on solving all our problems with your insightful commentary."

Ava stifled a gasp, and Brad flushed, biting back whatever retort he had on the tip of his tongue. He was both confused and embarrassed.

’How did Geneva know about this?’ Ava thought to herself, forgetting that nothing went in the Thornston estate without Geneva’s knowledge. Geneva took another sip of her tea, relishing in the vivid expressions dancing across their faces.

"Mum! What do you mean by that?"

"Mind your own business, dear," she added sweetly, her voice dripping with faux innocence, "and maybe let others mind theirs. In fact, what has it got to do with you, Brad?"

"Mum! I am your beloved youngest son! You-"

It was as if it dawned on him then, especially when he noticed Ava’s abnormal reaction. Brad had not had much interaction with Ava but he had grown to associate her with a fierce personality that would ideally not bow or give in to anyone but then....

"What boy are you referring to, mum?"

Alex looked at his son, wondering if he really came out of him. As they went on with this, the maid was still on her knees, shaking her head violently, her sobs growing louder. "No, no, I—I’ll prove myself! I swear, Mistress! I’ll never... never again!"

Geneva turned from Ava and Brad and then studied the distressed maid for a moment longer, then turned to Ava and Suzie.

"What do you think?" she asked, her tone detached, almost as if she were discussing the weather.

Ava’s lip curled. She cleared her mind and put the dilemma out of her mind. Clear amusement condensed on her face, but at the same time, it looked frosty.

"If it were up to me, I’d send her packing," she growled. She was irritated that the stupid maid had tried to drug her boyfriend.

"Tell me," Geneva added, and even though she had not asked anyone in particular, it was accepted that she was addressing Suzie, "Do you truly need me to step into a trivial issue ?"

Suzie blinked, caught off guard. "Madam Geneva, I-"

Geneva raised a hand, cutting her off.

"You’ve been made the chief maid for a reason, haven’t you? And with that comes the responsibility to handle situations without my intervention—or that of your madam."

Ava was not bothered that Geneva had not said anything to her point because Brad had been right, and this was generally something that Suzie or Shelby should handle considering their statuses, but the girl’s sobs and sniffles were a whole lot annoying as well; considering her crime. Ava could not even begin to imagine the scenario if the drug had been poison in itself.

Suzie swallowed hard, her confidence shrinking under Geneva’s measured words. The maid, still on her knees, clung to the front of her dress again, her tears slowing as confusion mixed with her fear.

Geneva turned her sharp gaze back to the girl. "This maid here will serve as a lesson," she declared, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Deal with her appropriately, but ensure this doesn’t happen again. I have no interest in micromanaging the servants. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, Mistress," Suzie responded, bowing her head.

Then Geneva turned to Ava, "You’re still soft-hearted. Making her go is an easy punishment for her. Leave it to Suzie and go take care of Rocky. I am sure he needs

Geneva winked and then stood up with Alex’s help. The two walked out of the room with their heads held up high.

"Wait, what did Mum just say?" Brad came out of his stupor to hear the last part of the words, while Ava wished that there was a hole that she could hide in.

The cat was already out of the bag!

"You are with Rocky? Why?!"

Ava turned to glare at Brad.

"What do you mean, why?!"

"What is he?" Ava asked, arms akimbo.

Brad looked her over and swallowed dryly. Frankly, Brad had never had any designs of the women around him, but Shelby and he had never taken that good of a look at Ava. The news was surprising, but at the same, it was not. Brad seemed to remember that he had sensed something between the two of them, but he had brushed it aside as Rocky was Shelby’s younger brother.

’He is of age though....’

It was then that Brad took a good look... like, really look at Ava. In his eyes, Ava did not hold a candle to Shelby, so he had never bothered with such a feisty lady. However, Brad was unsure why he was studying her in-depth at that point in time,

Clear ebony-skinned, short-cropped hair that she had dyed brown. Ava’s looks largely remained the same. She had a grey contact lens that set off and gave her an interesting look.

She had on her usual nose ring and dangling long earrings that touched her shoulders, but at this time, she had a long dress that touched her heel and a turtleneck. The thing was that the dress accurately traced every single curve on Ava. It was modest and not at the same time.

’Had she always looked ?’

Brad asked himself, and Ava turned. She did not have time for any of Brad’s gimmicks.

"I’ll leave that person in your hands,"

Suzie smiled and winked, "Don’t worry! He should be waiting, go!"

Ava walked briskly away as Brad’s stayed in his mind. He dropped whatever he was about to say and then turned and walked off in the opposite direction.

The maid hiccupped, her head snapping up to plead once more, after the room had all but emptied.

Suzie silenced her with a single cold glance. "Enough," she said, her voice icy.

"I would have loved to say that you’re lucky this time, but sadly, I can’t. You chose the wrong day to reap the benefits of what you did not sow."

With that, Suzie gave a brief instruction and then turned on her heel and walked out, her presence leaving a chill in the room that lingered long after her footsteps had faded. Two men who had brought the maid in exhaled sharply, glaring at the girl who still knelt on the floor.

They were also irked at the girl’s actions, but even more so was their fright of Suzie. They had grown to know Suzie as a jovial person that they could get along with despite the person that she directly served. However, this was the first time that they had seen a scary-looking Suzie. She was smiling all right, but that smile gave them the creeps!

’Looks like we have to be extra diligent than we were with Katie in order to survive in here....’

They made a conscious effort to warn their colleagues and then moved the crying girl to the cellars as Suzie had instructed.

With no questions asked, they left the maid in there.

A little later, Suzie walked back into the same cellar and stood looking at the girl who had cried herself weary.

"I’ll leave her to you."

She whispered and left. The voice startled the maid and made her scramble up, but the sight of Murray made her scream loud. She had no idea why a foreboding feeling crept up on her.

Suzie heard one last scream that was cut off. She knew very much that her mistress’ safety topped everything they were doing. It had been necessary to bring Murray in to find out if the target had any maliciousness towards Shelby as well. As for how Murray dealt with the maid, Suzie could care less.

"There is no room for second chances!"

Suzie said to herself and then went around to complete her tasks for the night. That night was due to be a rather long one for everyone.

Alex continued to ignore his sisters as he had promised. He was quite surprised with their persistence in what he felt were irrelevant matters, especially when they tried to bring back Katie, who supposedly did not remember anything about all of them at all. Alex continued to ignore their phone calls and requests for visits.

In the days that followed, major changes were seen in many of them. Changes that were subtle for some and startling for others. All these were due to the presence and awakening of Aliya seemingly from the dead.

The children were confused and uncertain of what their future life was like. Ava longed to have a conversation with Shelby, but that never happened, at least in the weeks that followed, as she had her hands full with issues herself.

Soon, about a month had passed, with all these open-ended issues still hanging, with even more added. The unexpected happened on exactly the thirtieth day since Aliya woke up from her coma.

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