"Where are they?" Samantha opened the second connecting door from her room while pondering to herself. She walked to the end and opened Ingrid’s bathroom, but there was no one there.
Even though Samantha loved the privacy granted with the new room, she still decided to check on her siblings as soon as she woke up. It was almost a habit of a sort. The three had been so close to each other since their mother passed.
They only had themselves, and this would be the only time they did not spend the night in the same room. It would have been unusual if Samantha had not cared enough to check on them, no matter what front she put up in the presence of others. However, she had never expected the scene that greeted her.
’Calm down, Samantha! There is no way that they would have left the estate... They will be somewhere here.... But why did they not call me? What’s going on?’
Samantha thought to herself as she walked up to the bed and felt it with the back of her hand.
"It’s cold, and the lamps are still on. Did they not sleep here?"
Samantha started to get upset yet again.
’It’s that woman! Why does she want to take them away from me? Why does she want to split us up? Also, why are Ingrid and Gabriel so malleable?’
She crossed her arms and started tapping her feet, thinking of what she could do next.
Just then, the door swung open, and excited voices reached her.
Samantha was in the middle of Gabriel’s room then. Gabriel was leading the team of three who were talking excitedly. By that, it meant the conversation was between Gabriel and Suzie. Ingrid listened with a small smile, and her head slightly bowed.
She was still thinking of the words Mama Shelby had whispered in her ears just before they had left: ’Good morning sweetheart. I hope you had a good sleep. Go with Suzie to freshen up, and I’ll see you later, okay?’
These were sweet nothings, but for Ingrid, it meant the world to her. She craved that closeness to a mother figure after she lost hers. Over the few weeks that Shelby had stayed with them, Ingrid felt more and more like she belonged.
Also, after spending the night with her Mama, she was satiated on a more conscious level. In fact, she was not as hunched over as she would usually be. She was so focused on her inner self and the warm sentiments, to remember to be shy of the people around her. That morning, Ingrid was not even as apprehensive of her new father at all.
As for Suzie and Gabriel, their excited chatter was very interesting, and they answered all the questions that Samantha wanted to ask.
"How did you two end up in Miss Shelby’s room? Did you go there this morning or ...." Suzie asked, twisting her pigtails.
"No! Mama Shelby, let us sleep there! I slept with Daddy, and Ingrid slept with Mama. We saw this huge monster in our room last night, and then we went to Mama Shelby. She was seated on daddy on the bed, and they wer-"
Suzie coloured instantly, knowing where the conversation was going.
She went on her knees in front of Gabriel and clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Whatever you saw in there stays there. You should never talk about such things!"
Gabriel was puzzled. As soon as Suzie removed her hand, he asked,
"Ermmm!!! Because...."
Suzie did not know how to answer that; thankfully, Ingrid stepped in.
"Gabriel, I don’t think that Mama Shelby would like that at all. Maybe she might not let you sleep in her room again, and she-"
Gabriel’s little eyes widened at that implication. Ingrid knew her brother and especially knew which buttons to press.
"Okkkkaaaaayyyy" Gabriel dragged the ok, and his voice dipped reluctantly.
’Ingrid and Gabriel spent the night with that woman an him while I was here worrying about them?’ Samantha asked herself. She felt a pang in her heart, but she was not sure why she felt that way.
"Sam! You’re hereeee...."
Gabriel sprung towards her, totally forgotten about being shut out the night before.
Samantha let Gabriel hug her legs but made no move to touch him. She was frustrated and annoyed and made no effort to mask it at all.
"Ok! Let’s get you ready to go!"
"Where?" Samantha snapped.
Ingrid sighed and entered her room, shaking her head.
"Your father is sending you out to school when he leaves."
"I don’t care, and I won’t go with anybody!"
Suzie’s carefree face changed into a surprisingly stoic one, her voice taking on a cool tone. "That is your own cup of tea, young lady. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t advise you to test his limits. You might not like what you see when that happens."
This time, Samantha was startled and stepped back involuntarily. When she looked at Suzie, she only saw that carefree attitude. Suzie jumped up and skipped to Gabriel’s bathroom to run the bath.
"Did I imagine that?"
"No, you didn’t, Sam. Suzie was very scary right now!" Gabriel replied thoughtfully without being asked but still followed Suzie when she called out to him.
Suzie was no ordinary maid or handmaiden. If she were, Ian would probably have replaced her as soon as he could, but he never touched her because he was satisfied with her background. At twenty years old, Suzie had already graduated from the Maid and Butler Services with a high-ranking Diploma.
Getting into this institution was a great achievement on its own, and their graduation output was about 30% of all their matriculants. The training was gruelling, and many people gave up halfway. She was an elite handmaiden with just a sunny disposition, but her work was always done to perfection in any way.
Samantha was left dumbfounded. She staggered into her own room and for once, found herself doing exactly as she had been told.
In Shelby’s room, she sat lost in thoughts yet again after Ian had left.
Ian had come to her rescue when she thought that she would not tolerate her mother’s words again.
Was that even a word she could exist without? Over the years, Shelby had had to tolerate a lot. Never once did she think to retaliate back in anything that had happened while she was growing up. Shelby had tried to look at the positive aspects of everything, including making sure that her mother stayed happy, but to what end? However, she sighed.
"I can’t keep hiding behind people all the time. No matter what, Clara is still my mother, and I have to make sure that she is okay."
She made no attempt to go for her phone but helped herself to a fluffy robe and stepped out of the room.
A little later, the new family of five sat around the dining table having breakfast.
At some point, Alex and even Brad joined them. If they were surprised at seeing the three children eating at the table, they gave no indication of it.
Shelby only had a mug of steaming green tea, and she watched on in satisfaction as the rest ate. She did notice that Brad kept his eyes to himself, which was good for her. The children were surprisingly well-behaved at the table except Samantha, who looked to have a problem with someone!
It didn’t take long for Ian to get up from the chair, and giving Shelby a quick but lingering kiss, he left with the children. It didn’t take long before another person made her presence.
"Get me, Shelby!" Geneva’s crisp voice reached the remaining three at the dining table before the older woman appeared.
"Oh! Good that you are here!"
Geneva said again as her eyes landed on Shelby.
Alex and Brad knew Geneva enough to sense her foul mood from a mile away. Wise Brad grabbed a toast, shoved a sausage and bacon into his mouth and disappeared just as his mother took a seat.
Alex pulled up a seat for her at the table, and a cool glass of water was placed in front of her.
"Take a glass of water to calm down before you tell us what has got you so worked up."
Geneva took a sip and went right back to where she left off.
She tried not to look directly at Shelby, like most of the people in the house had started to do, so that they could function normally around her.
"You really should choose your friends well! What do you see in that rich brat anyway?"
By the mention of rich brat, Shelby knew exactly whom Geneva was referring to, but she did not understand the context one bit.
The reference to Brianna did bring her evening visit to the forefront of Shelby’s mind. This was the second time that someone had cautioned her about Brianna. Shelby knew that Brianna had her faults but did not understand what was happening.
’I should’ve called her yesterday. She is going to be so upset that I didn’t,’ Shelby thought.
Geneva opened her mouth and, with no hesitation, narrated all the occurrences from her meeting with Abi Mush. She was fuming and very upset.
Geneva was past the age where she cared for anything.
"A word of advice, Shelby: Stay away from that person who calls herself your friend! But before that, call that brat and invite her to visit. I want to see what is so special about her that she thinks that she can manipulate us through the teeny tiny bit of money that her parents have!"
Shelby was shell-struck. Unknowingly, she had been seated mute for a while, even when she was being addressed directly.
"Do you want to call her, or would you want me to?" Geneva narrowed her eyes, her tone almost threatening but booking no room for anything else.
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