Elara’s face shifted straight into confusion.
She closed the piano lid, rose to her feet, and said flatly, “You’ve got the wrong person.”
Only then did Dorian Ashford snap back to himself.
His gaze dropped to the student badge pinned to her chest, where the girl’s name was written clearly.
Elara…
At that very moment, his grandfather was still at the hospital waiting for the paternity test results.
And that girl’s name was Elara too.
Dorian suddenly felt sure this time he hadn’t mistaken her.
That level of musical skill, that stunning face—yeah, it fit the Ashford bloodline way too perfectly.
But even while his heart was racing, he remembered Adrian Whitmore’s warning to the family: before they could confirm Elara was truly his little sister, they absolutely could not acknowledge her.
If they got it wrong, they would only hurt the girl.
So he forced down the excitement boiling inside him, stepped forward, and said gently, “Sorry.
I lost my composure.
You look a lot like my sister.
I’ve never heard that piece you played before.
Did you compose it yourself?”
Elara shook her head.
“No.
I happened to get a damaged score, and I restored part of it before playing it.”
Dorian was genuinely stunned.
Pieces that needed restoration were usually works from top masters a hundred years ago.
Most of them only existed in paper form, badly worn and heavily damaged.
Restoring one was no joke.
“You restored it by yourself?”
Elara looked at him.
“Yeah.
Why?”
Dorian shook his head.
“Nothing.
I just think you’re incredible.”
“It’s fine.” Elara calmly exposed who he was.
“Compared to Mr.
Dorian Ashford, I’m still nowhere close.”
Dorian blinked, surprised.
“You know me?”
Elara was a little speechless.
“Do you seriously have no idea how famous you are?
Anyone who knows even a bit about music should recognize you, right?”
The conversation was only halfway through when a boy suddenly rushed into the piano room, an invitation in his hand.
“Elara!
Young Master Sebastian told me to give this to you!”
The boy also noticed Dorian standing there.
That extraordinary presence made him instinctively wipe the mockery off his face.
He handed the invitation to Elara and said, “The Weston family banquet is tomorrow.
They want to reopen discussions about your engagement to Young Master Sebastian.
You have to be there.”
So Rosalind wasn’t enough, and now Sebastian was joining in too.
That trashy cheating pair seriously couldn’t wait for her to call off the engagement.
A mocking curve lifted at Elara’s lips.
“Got it.”
The boy didn’t even dare look Dorian in the eye.
He lowered his head and bolted.
Dorian Ashford asked a little too quickly, “You’re still in school, and they’re already making you get married?”
Elara packed up her things, walked to the door, then turned her head and looked at him.
“Not married.
Broken off.”
“Broken off?” Dorian’s face darkened on the spot.
“You mean the Merritt family wants to call off your engagement?
Is that guy blind?
He seriously thinks you’re not good enough for him?”
Hearing a total stranger stand up for her like that, Elara just smiled, casual and light, like it had nothing to do with her.
“Well, what can I say?
I’m the useless fake heiress who got kicked out of the house.”
“If you want to use the piano, go ahead.
I’m leaving.”
She didn’t say another word.
She stepped past Dorian, went down the stairs, and left.
But what she had said kept circling in his head, over and over, refusing to go away.
Only when Reginald Ashford suddenly called did Dorian snap back to himself.
The old man’s voice was so excited it was practically shaking.
“You little brat!
We finally found your sister!
Once your concert’s over, get to Capital City now!”
Dorian’s heart started pounding hard against his ribs.
Careful, but unable to hide the hope in his voice, he asked, “Is our sister studying at medical university?
The girl named Elara?”
Reginald Ashford blurted out, “Yes—wait, you already went to see her?
Who told you to go now?
I haven’t even finished planning a grand welcome for Little Four yet!”
If they were bringing Elara home, then of course it had to be done with the highest standards the Ashford family could offer.
Dorian knew that too.
He immediately said, “I didn’t expose who she is.
But I heard she’s engaged to the Merritt family.”
The smile on Reginald Ashford’s face froze instantly.
His voice shot up.
“She’s engaged to that playboy from the Merritt family?”
At that moment, Reginald Ashford was in Tristan Ashford’s hospital room.
Hearing that, Tristan picked up the thread at once.
“I only gave them the two-billion project in Capital City because I heard the Westons and the Merritts were close, and that it involved our sister’s marriage.”
Dorian heard his older brother through the phone, and his own tone dropped colder.
“The Merritt family doesn’t appreciate it at all.
They’re trying to break off the engagement now.
They said our sister is a loser.”
The moment Reginald heard what his granddaughter had been through, guilt and heartache hit him at the same time.
He was instantly furious.
“What gives them the right?
How dare they look down on my granddaughter?
If my granddaughter is matched with the Merritt family, that’s not a fair match—that’s a swan stuck with a toad!”
Tristan’s expression turned grim too.
“I didn’t know.”
Dorian said in a low voice, “I’ve met her.
She’s not trash, not even close.
She’s obviously incredible.”
“We absolutely can’t let them push our sister around like this.” Tristan’s voice was steady and hard.
“Looks like that partnership doesn’t need to go to the Merritt family anymore.”
…
Soon, it was the day of the banquet the Weston family had arranged.
To make Rosalind’s official return as high-profile as possible, the Westons had even invited a good number of reporters.
The whole family looked warm and happy together, and the only one missing was the eldest brother, Alexander.
Rosalind lowered her eyes and said softly, looking upset, “If only Alexander were here at a time like this.”
Mrs.
Weston gently stroked Rosalind’s hair, her face full of heartache.
“I really never thought that after raising Elara all these years, we’d end up with someone who’d hurt her own brother like that.”
Mr.
Weston’s face turned cold at once.
“Bad blood from the countryside is bad blood.
The fact that we’re not pressing legal charges is already more than generous.”
Broderick looked at his parents siding with Rosalind so openly.
His lips moved slightly, like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he stayed quiet.
“Elara is here!”
As soon as someone shouted, the crowd in formal wear instinctively parted down the middle, everyone craning their necks to look over.
But before they saw her, they heard it first—the sharp, roaring growl of a motorcycle engine, loud enough to cut through the entire banquet hall.
A sleek black motorcycle shot straight to the entrance of the banquet hall, then stopped with a clean, flashy drift.
The guests, all dressed to the nines, immediately gathered toward the doorway to watch.
Then Elara took off her helmet.
She casually ran a hand through her slightly messy long hair.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and fitted pants, she swung one long leg off the bike and stepped down.
Her vivid lips and stunningly striking features made quite a few young men in the room suck in a breath on the spot.
Those men had seen plenty of elegant, polished socialites before, but a girl who could blend nobility with that wild, untamed edge so perfectly?
That was new.
Every move she made had this dangerous kind of charm, and her figure was honestly flawless.
Even Sebastian, who had come intending to break off the engagement, froze for a second when he saw Elara like this.
Rosalind caught that reaction immediately, and jealousy exploded inside her so hard she almost lost it.
She secretly pinched his arm.
Sebastian snapped back to himself and quickly gave her a reassuring smile.
In everyone’s memory, Elara had always been the type to throw on a hoodie and dress however she liked, low-key and casual.
But right now, she was stunning enough to leave people speechless.
Elara walked up the steps.
In a room full of wealthy young ladies in gowns and jewels, her leather jacket and tight pants made her stand out in the most obvious way possible.
Chewing gum, she stopped in front of the Weston family and said flatly, “Give me two minutes.
I’m going upstairs.”
The moment she finished speaking, she turned and headed upstairs, going straight into her room.
Mrs.
Weston was so mad her face almost twisted.
“Look at what she’s wearing!
Today is the day Rosalind is officially returning as the Weston family’s daughter!
She really has zero manners!”
Callum, however, had his eyes fixed on the motorcycle outside the banquet hall.
He frowned hard and said, “Elara’s getting more and more outrageous.
Who knows what shady trick she used to get money this time.”
Broderick frowned and cut him off at once.
“Callum!
Don’t talk nonsense in front of everyone.”
But Callum clearly didn’t care.
He said bluntly, “I’m not talking nonsense.
You don’t know cars like I do.
That motorcycle parked at the entrance is called Moonshadow.
It’s a limited-edition bike worth ten million.
She already left the Weston family, so where did she get that kind of money?”