As Brad kept apologizing on his knees, Shelby did not know how to feel about that. The only thing she was definite about was that Brad was afraid of his elder brother in a way. It was so glaring of a fact that Brad was almost shaking when he bowed his head almost to the floor and apologized fervently.
It was obvious he only did it because of some repercussions he was scared of. Considering the fact that his brother had been barely ’out’ from his self-imprisonment for an hour, it showed that the influence he had on Brad before was strong enough to linger even after all that time had passed.
However, what was baffling for her was the fact that he kept beseeching her to make something stop.
She felt herself suddenly get more upset and nearly tipped over to anger over the fact that he was making demands and apologizing in the same breath. Where was the sincerity in that?
She had no idea what he was referring to!
But Brad kept on going. He was the one who had thrown himself on her and tried to violate her. Shelby did not even want her mind to think of what would have happened if that weird connection to Ian had not had that incomprehensible protection. Would he have gone all the way through? But he was the one asking for a pardon and from the looks of it, he was in some sort of torment and thought that she was the reason?
She itched to condemn him but in front of her in-laws and everyone else, she couldn’t muster a word.
She started to feel warm on the inside when Ian stepped in. She had not even realized when Brad had been sent out of the place back to his room. However, that got her thinking deeply about this family that she had supposedly joined by contract.
However, with Geneva also coming in, her thoughts briefly went to her mother.
’Do parents ever apologize for anything?’
She had burnt the brunt of a lot of James’ advances over the years, and no matter how much he tried to hide it from his wife, there were times when Clara had stumbled upon them, especially before the accident when James could actually afford to touch her. But never in her life had she ever been consoled, apologized to or even sympathized with by her mother. In terms of an apology, the name James did not even qualify to be near it in any way.
She was so caught up in these thoughts before the dreaded name came up yet once again.
"...and why is that, Katie?" Geneva’s anger that had been shelved because of her long ’lost’ son’s appearance manifested again.
’Why is Katie testing my patience today? What is wrong with her this morning.’ Geneva, as well as almost everyone at the table, felt that Katie was ruining the mood.
"Because it is Mr Wendover, Miss Shelby’s father."
Shelby stiffened slightly. Ian was the first to notice as he had Shelby’s smaller hand in his.
He gently squeezed her hand and then turned to Geneva.
"What is he doing here so early in the morning with no advanced notice? What is with this couple? The wife wants to meet, and the husband just up and comes in as if they own the house-"
"Did he state why he was here? Or why does he want to meet? Is there an emergency of a sort?" Alex asked.
"He didn’t state the reason, Mr Thornston,"
The words were so absolute that even Alex could not afford to say anything to refute it. Ian had been out for just a few minutes short of an hour, but his presence was imposing.
Katie shivered, and the few workers who were around were surprised! It was not that they were in any better situation from that one line from Ian.
In their heads, they thought, ’So this is the legendary Master Ian? Wow!’ They were even more amazed at the fact that Katie had been overpowered with one single sentence. The Katie that always had them cowering in fear was cowering in fear.
Some of them felt drops of sweat pour down their backs.
Katie did not even dare to hesitate and swiftly left to convey the decision.
’Was Ian Thornston always this harsh and abrupt?’ she asked herself as she hurried away.
Alex shook his head and sighed feeling a bit small by his own son, "I had forgotten how decisive you were about things . But you should know that he is your father-in-law. Shouldn’t you give him the accorded respect?"
"I know perfectly well who he is."
Ian did not go further to explain what he meant by that. As for Geneva, she had been a bit surprised at Ian’s reaction to the name James Wendover. Geneva also knew her son enough to know that he meant every word he had said and had even been kind of prudent with what he had said.
"You didn’t even consult your wife on this-"
Ian pretended as if he had not heard of anything being said and picked out bits of food and placed them in the plate in front of Shelby.
Shelby lowered her head and obediently ate the food. It didn’t taste like anything as usual. The involuntary deep sigh that escaped her was enough for him to chuckle.
"Be a good girl and I will reward you with something better later on." He whispered in her ear.
She reddened at the display of affection in front of everyone but brightened considerably.
The elders smiled in satisfaction and continued their meal.
"Mum, why are you parading Shelby around like a ’slut’ in almost no clothes?"
The deep, long fit of cough escaped Alex. Geneva reached out unfazed, and handed him a glass of water.
Then, she turned to her son,
Ian dropped his cutlery on the table and looked straight at his mother. One hand was still clasping Shelby’s under the table.
"You are out of that damn room, and you can’t take your hands off her!"
In a way, Ian and his mother were very much alike in terms of attitude and how they faced situations.
"Then you should be blamed for your younger son’s actions too. You have my bride parade around almost naked, and you did not foresee this?"
He successfully made Geneva a bit guilty with that statement.
Currey did not once partake in the conversation.
While this was going on, Katie finally delivered the news.
"Please take a seat and wait here for a bit, Mr Wendover, the family is having breakfast now and they will be with you as soon as they are done."
"What?" He looked at her in surprise.
"Did you tell them who I was?"
Katie’s gentle smile remained in place. First, she instructed one of the two maids who followed her.
"Get some tea and snacks for Mr Wendover,"
Then she turned to him,
"You didn’t answer my question, woman!" James was someone who liked to dominate, and the fact that he had been ignored by a mere maid irked him. Not a single one of the workers in his family would dare to do that.
He tried hard to curb his irritation as this was not his playing grounds. He may be linked legally to the Thornston family but he knew he would never be on par with them nor walk shoulder to shoulder. The fact that Shelby had been chosen out the lot was even still an incomprehensive phenomenon to him.
"I’m sorry Mr Wendover. It will be the same whether you are related or not. The family is having breakfast now, and you can only meet them after they are done."
But James didn’t relent because he knew in his mind that he did not need an invitation nor even inform anyone ahead of time if he was visiting his in-laws. And then it struck him.
"Did that girl do something to anger them? Is that why they are treating me this way?"
Katie remained bowed but slightly raised her eyebrows in askance.
"Girl? Which girl are you referring to here, Mr Wendover?"
Alex narrowed his eyes at her and then asked instead of responding to her.
"I heard that after the wedding till now, Ian Thornston has still not shown up. I had thought that she could do something with that beauty of hers, but she still couldn’t. Just useless! She cannot achieve anything at all. All she has to do this time is to get a man to fuck her. Is that too hard?"
As the words fell out of his mouth, Katie couldn’t help but let a whirlwind of thoughts cloud her mind. To say she was shocked was an understatement. Even though James was not necessarily shouting, he did not whisper the words to her either.
The maid who had come to serve the tea and snacks felt her hand tremble; closing her eyes, she stilled so as not to spill anything. The poor girl hurried away and for once she did not want to even imagine being in Shelby’s shoes. To grow up with a man like that would be her worst nightmare come true!
’Is this man serious? Why is he talking about his own daughter like that? Step or not, Shelby is still related to him. Why would he have these thoughts and even say them out loud?’ Maybe I should-"
"What would you like to do to my wife?"
The harsh tone of the voice, coupled with its authoritativeness, made James freeze. For the first time in his life, he felt a level of fear just from hearing someone say an ’everyday-like’ statement.
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