Thinking of the recent rumors about the Ashford family searching for a lost relative in Capital City, Elara had already half guessed who he was, though she still looked doubtful.
“You’re my brother?”
The man stopped in front of her, bent slightly at the waist, and smiled with easy warmth in his eyes.
“Hey now, little Elara, how come you stole my line?
First time meeting you.
I’m your brother, Leander Ashford.”
Elara: “…”
She swept her gaze over the absurdly grand lineup in front of her, then finally said, “The Weston family told me my parents were living out in some mountain backwater.”
No matter how she looked at it, that really didn’t match up with a family like the Ashfords, the richest of the rich.
Leander Ashford thought for a moment, then said seriously, “You’re not wrong.
Our great-grandfather really did build a castle in the mountains.
The Ashford ancestral home was up there too, but it’s a museum now.”
Elara: “…”
Seeing her go quiet, Leander Ashford added, “Grandpa told me to come pick you up, and he specifically said our first meeting had to be done properly.
So I borrowed a motorcade and a helicopter team on short notice.
Not that many, really, so don’t mind it.”
Elara looked at the massive convoy stretching out in front of her and calmly nodded.
“It’s fine.
Pretty good, actually.”
If it were anyone else, seeing a setup like this would’ve had them so hyped they couldn’t even stand straight.
But his little sister barely reacted at all.
She sat there cool as ever, steady and unbothered.
Honestly, that composure was kind of wild.
He glanced at her motorcycle and said, “Come home with your brother first.
I’ll have someone transport the bike back.”
Elara said, “Let’s go.”
Just as she was about to board the helicopter, she realized someone else was already inside.
“You’re here too?” Elara sounded genuinely surprised.
Adrian Whitmore sat in the cabin with one long leg slightly bent, his lean legs casually crossed.
The high-end gray suit in that cool lead shade traced his figure cleanly, sharp and flawless.
His face had been half-hidden in shadow, but when he leaned forward a little, his crisp jawline came into view.
“Your brother borrowed a convoy from me.
I was heading this way anyway.”
“You know each other?” Leander Ashford asked.
Elara climbed in and said, “Kind of.”
Leander Ashford explained, “The Ashford family’s holdings in Capital City aren’t that extensive, so we don’t come here much.
Among the people we know, only the Whitmore family has enough helicopters and escort vehicles to match this kind of trip, so I borrowed his.”
After all, Adrian Whitmore was a naval admiral, the top monster in military strategy.
Every year, plenty of enemy spies wanted him dead, so whenever he traveled, the security around him was always locked down to the max.
Elara gave a small nod to show she understood.
In front of the Ashford family, she didn’t act like she was especially close with Adrian Whitmore.
Only after the helicopter slowly lifted off and the motorcade drove out of the neighborhood did the security guards shut all the entrance and exit gates again.
Normally, the villa district only kept the two main gates open, but today the Ashford family had shown up with such an insane lineup that if every gate hadn’t been opened, the cars wouldn’t even have fit through.
A few guards huddled together and started whispering.
“If I’m not mistaken, the one the helicopter picked up was the Weston family’s eldest daughter who just got kicked out, right?”
The news of Elara leaving the Weston family had already been blasted all over the media in real time.
The guards compared the motorcycle from the news to the one hauled away by the helicopter.
It was exactly the same, and one of them couldn’t help saying, “I heard from some residents before that she’s not the Weston family’s biological daughter, and that her real parents live up in the mountains.”
“Yeah, but look at that kind of setup.
Does that look like some random mountain family to you?
Elara’s biological family has to be seriously big-time.”
“Haha, if that’s true, then the Weston family is gonna regret this till their guts turn green.”
The Weston family, still busy hosting their banquet, naturally had no idea what the guards were gossiping about.
But they did see that fleet of helicopters sweeping over the roof of their house.
Even so, none of them took it seriously.
Not one of them connected it to Elara.
After announcing the engagement of Rosalind and Sebastian, Father Weston turned to Sebastian with a polite smile and said, “I heard my future son-in-law secured a two-billion project with the Ashford family.
Any chance our Weston family could get in on it too?”
Sebastian looked full of swagger as he replied, “That was actually what I had in mind.
It’s just that this project involves a huge investment, so the details still need to be discussed with the Ashford family.
Father-in-law, you can come with me when the time comes.
I’ll put in a good word for you.”
Father Weston was instantly over the moon.
“That would be perfect!
Thank you, son-in-law!”
…
Capital City, Serenity Manor.
In the most absurdly expensive part of Capital City, there stood a mountain right in the center of it all, known as Serenity Manor.
At the heart of the mountain, there were only four households, with a few smaller residences scattered around the outer area.
Every home there had been built in the style of a private estate, each one standing alone without disturbing the others.
The scenery was top-tier, the privacy was insane, and the price tags had naturally reached sky-high levels.
Anyone who could live there was a super-rich heavyweight from somewhere across the country.
Elara had been there once before, back when she came to treat Adrian Whitmore.
The helicopter landed on a pad near the entrance of a vineyard.
The moment one of Elara’s feet touched the ground, she saw two neat rows of maids and bodyguards lined up on both sides in perfect formation.
In one voice, they shouted, “Welcome home, Miss!”
Leander Ashford stepped down behind her and said, “Grandpa bought this property years ago.
He originally planned to bring his little sister here for regular vacations.
But after you were lost, this place became a painful memory for us.
We were afraid it would bring everything back, so Grandpa and the rest of us rarely came.
It’s mostly been looked after all this time by an aunt from the branch family.”
Elara nodded lightly.
“Got it.”
Leander Ashford looked at his sister.
Her face hadn’t changed from start to finish, calm to the point that it made his chest ache.
His voice softened.
“Everything you lost before…
your brothers will pay it back to you, bit by bit.”
Adrian Whitmore didn’t get off the helicopter.
He only watched Elara’s retreating figure as she headed home, then took out his phone and made a call.
“Prepare a gift for me.
Send it to the manor next door later.”
At that moment, inside the Ashford family estate—
Reginald Ashford sat in the main seat on the sofa, both hands resting on his cane, his eyes fixed on the entrance with open anticipation.
Beside him sat Tristan Ashford and Dorian Ashford, while a whole crowd of other relatives from the branch families stood around the hall in a dense ring.
Every member of the Ashford family had been called here for one reason only—
to welcome Elara back.
The hall was so quiet it felt stiff, almost heavy.
In that tense atmosphere, Celeste Voss lowered her voice and said, “Our cousin has been out there all these years.
She must’ve suffered a lot.”
Next to her sat a boy who looked a lot like her.
But unlike her, his expression was clearly sour.
He muttered under his breath, “How long is she staying in our house?”
Celeste glanced at her mother, then answered gently, “However long she wants is fine.
This is our cousin’s home too.
We should all treat her well.”
Her words happened to reach Reginald Ashford’s ears, and he nodded with approval.
“Celest has really grown more sensible and graceful over the years.”
Celeste gave a shy little smile.
“It’s all thanks to Grandpa and my brothers.”
The reason she could act so generous, so proper, so full of eldest-young-lady poise, was simple—she hadn’t taken this soon-to-return cousin seriously at all.
She’d heard this cousin was just some bumpkin brought back from the countryside.
No way could that kind of girl shake her place in the family.
If they ever went out together in the future, that girl would probably just make her look even more polished, even more dazzling, more high-born.
Reginald had casually praised her, but his gaze never once left the front door.
Then, finally, two figures appeared at the entrance.
Leander Ashford called out, his voice ringing through the hall, “My sister is home!”