Chapter 114 The Secret Of The Family
‘I guess rich mothers-inw really are cunning and brilliant,’ Essie thought.
Her first grandmother might have been bossy and arrogant, but to Essie, Mrs. Mary seemed like a wolf
in sheep’s clothing. It would be easier to please the likes of her grandmother than to deal with someone
like Zac’s mom.
‘I should probably keep my eyes on her so I can figure out her next move. Otherwise, I might find
myself in danger.’ Essie held her breath.
This time, Zac didn’t oppose her. He always did things in a proper way to avoid humiliating his mother
in front of others. Zac looked at Essie and nodded slightly, and then she walked up to Mary and sat
beside her.
Valery walked towards Zac and smugly took the seat beside him. She always tookfort in the fact
that his family had regarded her as someone who had the only right to be by his side. That even though
Essie was his legal wife, she still wouldn’t be acknowledged and would only be considered as his
mistress. Mistresses who had been in this house hade out feeling miserable. None of them ever
managed to please this family enough, and Essie would soon join them in their misery.
It was obvious to Essie that they all favored Valery more as if she was the real wife. There were mainly
two reasons why Mary wouldn’t allow Zac and Essie to reveal the truth of their marriage in the general
public. First, she wanted to protect Valery. This wasmon sense since she was the daughter of her
best friend, and she was carrying Zac’s child. Secondly, she didn’t want Essie to gain the support of
others. She wanted to edge her out to the point that Essie would be the one to finally quit.
In Essie’s mind, she wondered if Zac realized that her mother was a treacherous person.
On the other hand, Albert, her father-inw, was nice and kind. He was decent enough to give her a
genuine smile and speak to her in a gentle andfortable tone.
When all of them were seated, one of their house servants began to serve the dishes. Sage, the
servant brought in a cup of chicken soup andid it in front of Valery. "Miss Valery, please have a taste
of this soup. This was specially made by Mrs. Mary for you. It’s good for your health."
Knowing very well how to suck up to Mary, Valery gave her a sweet smile and sad, "Thank you, Auntie
Mary."
"Oh dear, we’ll be a family soon. You’re pregnant with her soon-to-be grandchild. I think you should
start calling her ‘mom,’" Elizabeth chimed in and urged her daughter. These three knew exactly how to
make a scene in front of so many people.
"Yeah, it’s all right. You can call me that," Mary responded quickly. As if they had rehearsed it from a
script, they spewed out lines so naturally, that these three could star effectively as viins in a TV
drama.
"Okay then, mom." There was an evil smile on Valery’s face as she gave an arrogant nce at Essie.
‘Know your ce, you cockroach! How dare youpete against me?!’ Valery made sure that Essie
was having a miserable time as they ate together.
‘What the hell!
I can’t stand this anymore!’ Essie was controlling herself but actually wanted to curse them.
‘Aren’t they in their right minds? I’m the legal wife. Why should I be treated this way?
I swear, one more word and I will p this Valery with our marriage certificate!’ She was almost
trembling as she held her fork.
Zac noticed Essie’s expression as he sipped his wine. He then turned to Valery and said in a sarcastic
tone, "Oh hey, that’s a good idea. Mom always treated you like her daughter, so maybe I should start
treating you as my sister. Well then, you can call me ‘brother’!" Everyone knew that he was trying to
ridicule Valery with his remarks.
Ivy, who was sitting next to Essie, snorted and patted her on the shoulder. "While you’re on it, call Essie
‘sister-inw’ too!" As an avid fan of Essie, she was determined to support her idol and cousin to be
together. With the opening that Zac created, she wouldn’t let that opportunity to be wasted.
"Hey kid, stop it," An said in a low voice as he nced at Ivy. "What? I’m just saying." Ivy continued
to smile as she winked at Essie.
Meanwhile, Valery was so angry that she almost wanted to pound the table. Elizabeth grew a little
worried. She knew that the biggest pain in her daughter’s heart was the fact that she couldn’t win Zac’s
heart. She couldn’t help but feel like she was looking in the mirror when she saw her daughter. In her
mind, she didn’t want Valery to suffer and go through what she had with Baron. As much as she didn’t
want to ept it, she knew that Baron had been seeing other women behind her back. There was even
a time when a woman threatened their position by stating that she and Baron had a son.
It was a serious matter for her, so she needed her daughter to find a way to win Zac’s love after she
gave birth to their baby.
"All right, all right. It’s just a joke. Let’s continue eating," Mary intervened and tried to lighten the
atmosphere.
After that, everyone at the table kept quiet and ate in silence.
Essie wasn’t able to eat much. The depressing atmosphere in the dining room had seriously affected
her appetite.
After lunch, Ivy suggested taking Essie for a walk around the mansion. At the same time, Albert called
his son to his study.
Sitting on the sofa, Albert casually lit a cigar while Zac prepared some tea.
"How long has it been since we just sat here and drank tea like this?" Albert said with a faint smile.
Since Zac was already living in Yang City, he had fewer opportunities to visit his family at home.
"Don’t worry. I’ll bring Essie back here often so we can have tea with you," Zac replied as he handed
his father a cup of tea. Albert leaned against the sofa and took a few sips before he managed to ask his
son, "So, tell me the truth. Are you really the father of Valery’s baby?"
Zac smiled as he knew that his father wouldn’t wait so long to ask that question. After all, his father
knew him very much. The way Zac treated Valery all this time was too strange no matter the angle.
With this, it wasn’t unexpected that Albert would suspect that there was some secret behind this.
"We’ll all know when the baby’s out," Zac answered in a calm and soft voice. However, it was pretty
obvious that there was a lingering intriguing tone in his words.
Albert puffed out a smoke ring. His eyes narrowed as he heard his son’s response. He knew that he
would get nothing even if he forced him to tell him. He took some hints but he still wasn’t sure. It could
only be that Zac also didn’t know the answer, or he just didn’t want to say it right now. Either way, since
Zac basically told him to just wait, then he decided to do so.
"All right. We can put aside that topic for the time being. But what about Essie, do you really like her?
Or are you just using her so you can get rid of Valery?" Albert asked with a straight face. With a pair of
eyes that could see through everything, he was sharper and more sensitive than anyone else.
"Come on, dad. Marriage is a serious thing. I can’t just marry a random woman." The words came out
surprisingly sincere. Zac even looked at his father directly in his eyes.
"You need to find a way to appease your mother. Don’t let Elizabeth and her daughter have their way."
If truth be told, Albert didn’t really like his wife’s best friend at all. Moreover, there was no way that he
wanted Valery to be his daughter-inw. So he waspletely relieved when he heard how his son
really felt about Essie.
"You don’t care what mom would think?" Zac raised his eyebrows as he felt a little intrigued by his
father’s answer.
With a helpless look, Albert shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your mom is a lost cause. She has been
poisoned too much by Elizabeth and her daughter. But maybe, you can still do something about it."
Zac touched his chin with a sudden glint in his eyes. "How about this? Why don’t you go out and find a
woman that you can have a good time with? Then maybe mom will have no time to worry about my
situation."
"You idiot. That’s the best solution you can think of?" Albert pretended to be angry as he slightly hit
Zac’s head. He actually had a hint of guilt as he said those words. Back then, Albert tried to really
This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.
punish her wife by bringing a woman in their own house.
"Why don’t you just give us a grandchild from the woman you really like? That sounds like a better idea
than me finding a woman," Albert jested.
"Oh! Good idea!" Zac gave him a thumbs up. With a teasing smile, he added, "Besides, I think you’re
too old for that now. Ha-ha!"
In the garden, Ivy was showing Essie around.
The family had its own orchard, vegetable garden, fish pool, and a training ground. It was as if
everything that they might need was already there.
It was known that their family enjoyed maintaining their anonymity in various sectors. They even
supported many forces abroad, but they didn’t know that it was the Rong family who was behind it. No
one knew how much wealth they exactly had, and only a small part of it had been disclosed to the
general public. Nheless, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they were a superpower in the world
of finance.
"Hey, Essie. Don’t forget that evening dress that I told you to design for me," Ivy reminded smilingly.
She was genuinely happier to wear the clothes designed by Essie rather than the customized high-end
ones from the biggest and famous brands.
"I will finish the sketches this afternoon. The only problem is, all my machines are in Yang City. I’m
afraid I won’t be able to make them until I go back to Yang City." Essie gave her an apologetic shrug.
"Oh! Don’t worry about that. Zac will set up a studio for you here. You see, there are a lot of rooms here
that you can choose from to convert into your studio. You can choose the biggest one if you like!" Ivy
replied in an energetic tone.
However, this didn’t make Essie smile. She was shocked to hear that they would even n to move her
studio here. ‘How long am I supposed to stay here?’ She just wanted to go back to Yang City as soon
as possible.
They walked some more and talked andughed until they arrived at a deserted courtyard.
It was pretty obvious that the ce was totally different from the other areas.
The courtyard wall was tall, covered in dark-colored mosses. A creepy vibe could be felt just by looking
at it.
Arge iron door stood in the middle with a visiblerge lock chained to it. Strange runes were
suspended on it, which seemed like the kind that was used to suppress evil.
Out of curiosity, Essie took a peek inside.
The vast space inside looked bleak and deste. There were thick grasses, locust trees, and ancient
vines which looked like ws of skeletons scattered in all directions. Ordinary people would shudder in
fear when they look at it.
"Oh no! I didn’t notice that we started heading this way. Come on. Let’s leave quickly!" Ivy held Essie by
her arm as she pulled her away and rushed to the other path.
"What was that ce?" Essie asked in confusion as she saw the nervous expression on Ivy’s face. Ivy
didn’t manage to answer right away because she was still catching her breath.
"I’m warning you. You can go anywhere in the mansion except there. Just stay away from that ce,"
she cautioned her as she tried to recover from her goosebumps.
"Is there a ghost inside?" Essie asked in a yful tone. She actually felt kind of interested because she
happened to have read a book on how to steal a tomb recently.
"Yeah, that’s right," Ivy answered with all seriousness. "I was still a child back then. I heard from the
servants that someone had died in that ce. After that, she became a ferocious ghost, haunting
around and asionally appearing as ady in a red dress. The family asked a Taoist priest to ce a
seal on that area. No one was allowed to get close to that ce except Uncle Li." As she was still
speaking, a cold wind blew from afar. The wind whistled through the bamboo grove, as though
speaking in a high-pitched voice. She immediately felt a shiver down her spine and urged Essie to
quickly run away, fearing that the ghost in the red dress would appear and chase them.
They didn’t stop running until they reached an area where a servant was standing, watering the nts.
Ivy patted her chest and gasped, "Ooh! I‘m so scared! That was too scary!"
"Is that story even true? I think stories about ghosts are just made up." Essie wasn’t really scared. She
was the type to purely believe in science, therefore she didn’t believe in the existence of supernatural
beings.
"What? Of course they’re true. She’s roaming around in the middle of the night, you could even hear
someone crying. It’s so scary. I’m telling you, I’ve heard it myself!" she continued to convince Essie.
"This ce has a history of more than a hundred years. It experienced wars. It would not be
umon if there was something mysterious lingering here," she added.
Atst, Essie nodded and agreed with her. ‘I guess the older the ces are, the more extraordinary
stuff they experience. Consequently, more rumors and stories were passed down,’ Essie thought.
"Why would Uncle Li be the only one allowed to get close to that ce? Is he not afraid of the ghost
that dwells in there?" Essie asked curiously.
"Uncle Li used to be a Taoist priest. He knows the spell to calm the vicious ghost." The more Ivy spoke
about it, the more Essie found the ce mysterious.