Chapter 84: Chapter 83: Misfortune Comes in Threes and Fours
The Lyle residence.
Outside the villa, the butler continued his routine task of replacing the flowers with fresh ones. At the moment, he held a half-bloomed bouquet of lilies in his arms, pacing at the doorway with a heavy expression, showing no intention of going inside.
Elliana Lyle was being wheeled inside by Lana, while Norman Bennett waited for her outside.
Her closest friend, Little Lilac, came out of the villa and just happened to see Elliana returning in her wheelchair, she immediately ran to her lady.
"Miss, you... why have you come back!"
The tone seemed unwelcome, yet it also appeared urgent and worried.
Little Lilac’s face alternated between red and white, instinctively glancing towards the villa’s entrance as if there was some unspeakable secret within.
"Little Lilac, what’s going on?" Then Elliana thought of something, her expression turning gradually sorrowful, "Is my dad very upset?"
... Little Lilac didn’t know how to respond, whether he was upset or not, she didn’t know, only that the master had brought someone back...
"Miss, perhaps... you should go in and see for yourself."
Once inside the villa, her wheelchair couldn’t go upstairs, fortunately, Lana could lift her.
The door to her father’s room seemed unlocked; she pressed down the handle and directly pushed it open.
As the gap in the door widened, the white light became clearer.
On the bed...
The two lumps of pale flesh were her father! And... a woman with a delicate face and a voluptuous figure!
"Elliana! Why are you back?" The two on the large bed were panicked, Mr. Lyle’s old face instantly flushed bright red!
"..."
Elliana stared at the two who dared not look at her while clutching the quilt, too angry to speak a word.
"Dad! My mom... her body is barely cold! You... you are a bastard!"
"Elliana! I am your father!" Mr. Lyle was so angry he blew his beard out, nobody had ever dared insult him, and let alone his daughter, since when does a daughter scold her father?
She thought her father would be sad, would be grieving, but... her father had brought someone home to mess around!
Is this still the father she had always believed in? This was simply another person.
"You don’t deserve to be my father, I hate you! I think my mom’s worth more than this!" Elliana said through gritted teeth, eyes reddened. She was furious and utterly disappointed in this father!
"You child! What are you saying, he is still your father, no matter what, and besides, isn’t your mother dead?" The woman hiding behind the blanket said coquettishly, only a pair of fox-like eyes exposed.
The voice sounded young, seemingly not much older than her.
"Is this your place to speak?" Elliana’s gaze turned fierce, scaring the woman into a reflexive shiver.
Mr. Lyle, seeing his daughter’s arrogant demeanor, was boiling with anger; when did he come to be lectured by his daughter?
"What kind of talk is this? She is your father’s woman! Even if she isn’t older than you, she’s still your elder!"
Elliana only felt a piercing pain in her heart, is this her father? In that split second, she even wanted to ask why the one who died in the accident wasn’t him, but her mother.
If he had died, maybe he would always remain a good father; this current father, Elliana couldn’t accept at all.
"You have disappointed me, Dad!"
Elliana turned her head away, leaning against the door as if she couldn’t stand steady, signaling Lana to take her away.
...
Outside the main door, Elliana, sitting in her wheelchair, gave Lana a deliberate look; she was just about to speak but was preempted by Lana: "Young madam, I understand."
"Thank you!"
She originally intended to take Little Lilac with her, but Little Lilac was leaving in three days, saying she wanted to return home to develop there.
―――Two days later.
The old Lyle residence.
Tomorrow was the day of her mother’s funeral; for the past two days, she had been kneeling in the mourning hall, just wanting to spend more time with the person inside the coffin.
Even Joy Lyle returned a day early, ironically, Grandma Phoebe and Mr. Lyle only informed everyone of the arrangements today, with not a shred of sorrow in their expressions.
Grandma Phoebe found the matter unlucky and even went to the chapel to ward off bad luck.
In the mourning hall, there was only a large coffin, white candles, and Elliana kneeling and burning paper money.
"Elliana!"
The voice of Joy Lyle came from behind, and when she turned her head, Joy, clad in a white sweater, was already by her side.
"Elliana~" Seeing her sister’s utterly weary face, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Elliana was shrouded in mourning clothes, her gaze appeared lifeless, grayish eyes, lips nearly bloodless, hair looking unwashed for days.
"Sister, you’re back." It took Elliana a long time to react and say a word.
Joy nodded, embracing her: "Mm, Uncle told us today, why didn’t you tell me sooner?"
"I forgot..." Elliana replied numbly.
Then she saw a pair of slender legs approaching them, black pants, rather loose-fitting, looking up it was Phoebe Lyle in somber black attire.
"Elliana, my condolences."
Hearing Phoebe’s words of condolence, she couldn’t hold back anymore, her eyes already dry from crying, yet tears rolled down unwillingly again.
At night.
To keep her company, Joy stayed in the same room with her.
"Elliana, let’s talk about something else." Joy didn’t want her to be immersed in sorrow, so she thought of discussing other things.
Lying on the bed, staring at the white patterned ceiling, Elliana was dazed for a moment and casually asked: "Sister, is your variety show filming completed?"
"Mm, it’s been done for a while, and has already aired. Surprisingly, Eleanor Llyod is now hugely popular in the entertainment industry," Joy said.
"Eleanor Lloyd?" With that, Elliana picked up her phone to check, as she hadn’t been looking at it much recently.
Indeed, Eleanor had become famous, and netizens were even pairing her with Eleanor Llyod, possibly because their on-screen personas were somewhat similar.
Although she didn’t want Eleanor to have it easy, right now, she wasn’t in the mindset to bother.
The next day.
Her mother’s funeral was successfully completed; quite a few people came to pay their respects, yet it seemed to become an opportunity for them to talk business, attending the funeral still with ulterior motives.
"Elliana, where’s your dad?" Her aunt walked briskly over, asking impatiently.
"I don’t know, should be inside." Elliana glanced towards the house.
Her aunt frowned and continued: "Go and call your dad out, your uncle has something to discuss with him."
"Okay." Elliana nodded and looked at Norman Bennett beside her: "I’ll be right back."
"Alright, I’ll wait for you." The man nodded slightly, signaling her to rest assured.
Upon entering Grandma Phoebe’s villa, she searched inside but overheard voices at the tea room’s door.
"Child, while you are still young, hurry up and marry a new wife and get her to have a son for you, so you have an heir."
The voice was unmistakably Grandma Phoebe’s, sharp and stern.
"Don’t worry, Mother; your son is also thinking about this. I will consider it carefully."
...
"Elliana?"
Seeing Elliana rushing back in a hurry, Norman Bennett was puzzled and quickly pulled her into his arms, softly inquiring: "What’s wrong? Did something happen?"
"Norman Bennett, let’s go back to North City, right now, please?" Elliana forced back the tears in her eyes; she almost had nothing worthy of attachment to the Lyle Family anymore.
This was the Lyle Family, not her home.
"Alright."
Norman Bennett didn’t ask more, just agreed.
In his heart, as long as she wanted, there was nothing that couldn’t be done.