Chapter 20
Chapter 20: The Banquet
Moana
The day of the Morgan family dinner banquet finally came. Selina informed me that anyone attending
these banquets was expected to dress formally, so I found a nice, dark blue dress with bows in E’s
closet and dressed her up with cute socks and shoes, then curled her hair and put a big bow in it. She
seemed to havepletely forgotten Kelly’s rudements at the luncheon the week before, and if
she didn’t forget, she at least didn’t seem to let it bother her.
“Wow! My hair’s so curly!” E said, bobbing her head to make her curls bounce. “Thank you, Moana!”
I smiled at the little girl in the mirror and squeezed her shoulders. All of a sudden, her gaze slipped over
to my outfit, and her smile faded.
“Are you going to dress up?” she asked.
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I looked down at my own outfit with a slight frown. I had chosen the nicest clothes I owned that were
also appropriate for a nanny at a family gathering: a simple dress, low heeled shoes, and no jewelry so
as not to stand out too much. I thought I looked perfectly fine for my status, but now that E pointed it
out, I felt incredibly in.
“Oh… I’m just wearing this,” I said with a shrug.
“Nonsense.”
I looked up to see Selina standing in the doorway. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she looked
at me, shaking her head with her arms folded across her chest.
“Is this inappropriate?” I asked Selina, stepping away from E to show my full outfit.
Selina sighed. “It’s fine, but you can wear something a little nicer. You’re a pretty girl, but it makes you
look homely.”
I blushed at the housekeeper’s sudden kind words. She had never mentioned my appearance before,
save for the night of the interview. She seemed a bit shocked, herself, when she finished speaking, and
both of our faces turned a slight tinge of red.
“Come,” she said, quickly turning on her heel. “We’ll take care of this. Hurry up! You haven’t got all
day.”
With that, Selina disappeared down the hall. I jogged after her, ignoring E’s giggles.
“Now, let’s see…”
I looked around confusedly, not knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to
herself and the sounds of her digging through something. “Hmm… Too big… Too showy… Aha!”
Selina suddenly emerged from arge closet in the hallway holding a long dress. It was a dark emerald
green color and had short flutter sleeves.
“Here,” she said, holding it out to me. “The green willplement yourplexion and your hair.”
I took the dress. It felt like a light cotton material, perfect for the summer heat, but appeared luxurious.
“Thank you,” I said, holding the dress up to myself and turning to look in the hallway mirror. “Does this
belong to one of the maids?”
“It was mine when I was your age, actually,” Selina said, taking me by surprise. When I looked at her, I
noticed that her aging cheeks were a bit red and she quickly averted her gaze. “I haven’t worn it in
years. You can keep it.”
Once again, I was taken aback by the grumpy old housekeeper’s kindness. For a moment, I imagined
her as a young woman wearing this dress, and pictured her as being a beautiful young girl.
I put on the dress in my room. It fit like a glove, and Selina was right — it suited my coloring perfectly,
and brought out the green in my eyes. Although it was a dress that was appropriate for a nanny, it was
still a bit s*xy and showed off my curves, and I was surprised that Selina would pick it for me.
Next, Amy and Lily came into my room. They curled my hair and then pulled it back into a half-bun
before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red lipstick that made me feel attractive. Once they were
finished, I felt like an entirely new person.
Edrick was waiting in the lobby downstairs, so E and I quickly took the elevator down once I was
ready. As the elevator doors opened and I emerged with E’s hand in mine, Edrick’s eyes became
transfixed on me for a fleeting moment. I felt my heart pulse suddenly as he looked at me, and for a
brief moment, I felt Mina’s presence inside of me, as though the way he looked at me made my wolf
stir. Just as quickly as it began, however, it was over. Edrick looked away, returning to his usual aloof
self, and got into the car.
The house where the party was held was a pce. It had hundreds of rooms, countless staff, and
dozens of garden courtyards with fountains and marble sculptures. As we entered the foyer, I couldn’t
help but feel out of ce in such an expensive mansion, and wondered to myself how huge the Morgan
family must have been for them to need such a massive home.
Indeed, the Morgan family was enormous. E was immediately osted by older aunts and uncles
and cousins who all doted on her, and who also barely paid me any attention — not that I minded —
before we were even able to take our seats at the banquet table.
“Come here, E.”
A male voice boomed above the rest. I looked up to see an older man standing beside Verona; judging
from the steely gray eyes and his tall, thin build, he was Edrick’s father. E, somewhat nervously,
walked up to the old man.
“Hello, Grandpa.”
On Verona’s other side, just as I had worried, stood Kelly — and the way that her eyes widened when
she saw me told me all that I needed to know.
The banquet soon began, and I found myself seated between E and Kelly. Across from me sat Edrick
and Verona, with Edrick’s father — I discovered his name was Michael — sitting at the closest end of
the long banquet table. The luxurious meal was served, consisting of roast duck and countless other
dishes.
“I don’t like duck,” E whispered into my ear, making a face at her te.
“It’s alright,” I responded with a gentle smile. “You can eat something else.”
“So, tell me,” Kelly suddenly chimed in, grabbing my attention as she swirled her wine around in her
ss, “is such a dress suitable for a nanny?”
I was taken aback by the curt question and didn’t know how to respond; Verona, however, heard Kelly’s
comment.
“You look beautiful, darling,” Verona said with a wink. “I’m so d you were able toe. Aren’t you,
dear?” she said, turning to her husband.
Michael slowly chewed his duck, eyeing me up and down for several painfully long moments before
swallowing. “Hmph,” he said, before promptly turning toward Edrick. “Edrick, have you found a mate
yet?”
Edrick stared down at his te. “No, father.”
“Well, the clock is ticking,” the old man said, stabbing another piece of duck with his fork and waving it
around a bit as he spoke. “It’ll only be so long before the public finds out about your illegitimate child.
People will ask questions, and it won’t look good for the WereCorp image.”
Michael’s backhandedment caused the table to fall into silence. Beside me, E abruptly stood
and pushed her chair back. I looked down at her to see tears rolling down her little cheeks, and before I
could stop her, she stormed out.
I tentatively slid my chair out; Verona, from across the table, cast me a subtle but approving nod, and I
took that as my green light to follow E.
As I searched for E, it urred to me that Edrick’s cold and aloof demeanor must havee from
his father. It was strange to me that Verona, who was such a sweet and warm woman, would have
been married to such a brute for so many years.
I eventually found E in the garden. She was sitting on a stone bench, swinging her legs with her
hands folded in herp as she looked down at the ground.
“Can I sit with you?” I asked, to which she nodded.
I sat and put my arm around E’s shoulders.
“Grownups are mean,” she said finally after a few minutes.
“They sure can be,” I replied gently. “But when you grow up, you’ll be nicer than they are, and that’s all
that matters.”
“Ahem. Moana?” a familiar voice said suddenly.
E and I looked up.
“Uncle Ethan!” E said, jumping up and running to the man standing in front of us.
Ethan Bradley, the famous artist and the kind man who I met at the orphanage… was secretly a part of
the Morgan family?