“No need.”
Elara cut her off cleanly.
“I’m not staying in a guest room.
I have my own home.”
The only reason she had come here at all was to acknowledge her family.
As for the open and hidden fights inside a rich household, she seriously had zero interest in getting dragged into that mess.
“Let’s just have a simple meal,” Elara said.
“I’ve got other things to handle tonight.”
Reginald Ashford’s face had already darkened the second Brennan Voss said “guest room.” Now he went full cold, his expression stern.
“‘Guest room’?
Are you saying my granddaughter comes back to her own house and can only stay in a guest room?”
“Did you forget who Serenity Manor belongs to?” Tristan Ashford stared at Brennan too, face blank but pressure heavy.
“You and your sister get to stay here, and every cent you eat, wear, and use comes from me.
My sister is coming back to her own home, and that still needs your approval?”
Leander Ashford let out a short, mocking laugh, his eyes icy.
“Been playing housekeeper for too long, huh?
Starting to think you’re the owner now?
And you even want my sister staying in the music room?
Does my sister need your charity, Celeste?”
The Ashford brothers were all veterans from the business world, the kind who had fought their way through one storm after another.
Their sister had only just returned.
They were still not done spoiling and protecting her.
There was no way they would let side-branch relatives, who were basically here to keep the house, step on her.
Celeste Voss trembled all over, her face going pale in an instant.
“I’m not.
I absolutely didn’t mean to pity or patronize Cousin Elara.”
“If that’s not what you meant, then pack up and move out of your room,” Leander Ashford said flatly, with zero room for argument.
“What?” Celeste’s pupils shrank.
“Then I…
where am I supposed to stay…”
“Stay in the music room,” her Broderick, Dorian Ashford, said with a gentle smile.
His voice was soft, but every word landed like a hidden needle.
“You need to compose for films anyway.
Living there means you won’t even have to move the piano, so that’s convenient.
The master bedroom you’re in was supposed to be my sister’s in the first place.
Giving it back now is just returning it to its rightful owner.”
Brennan Voss instantly blew up, shouting in protest, “Broderick, Callum!
Why are you bullying my sister like this?
She’s about to become a musician just like Broderick!
Isn’t she way better than this country girl who just got back?
You’re being totally biased!”
Miriam Voss realized at once that her son had gone too far.
She immediately smacked his arm.
“Shut up!
What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Why are you yelling at me?
I’m not wrong!” Brennan was dead set on standing up for his sister.
“There are so many rooms in this house, but the second she comes back, she has to take my sister’s room?”
“Little Brennan, stop talking!” Celeste forced down the turmoil in her chest, then turned to Elara and spoke softly, her tone gentle and wronged in just the right way.
“The brothers are right, and Brennan doesn’t mean any harm.
He just can’t stand seeing me treated unfairly.
Whether it’s the music room or my bedroom, if Cousin Elara likes it, I can give it to her.”
Looking at Celeste’s act, Elara suddenly thought of Rosalind.
Same old playbook.
Same manipulative vibe.
It was so familiar it was almost funny.
She said nothing, only felt a little speechless.
Then Celeste turned around again, pretending to be upset as she scolded, “Little Brennan, apologize to Elara.
She’s your sister too.”
Brennan’s face was full of disdain.
He gave a snort.
“What kind of sister is she supposed to be?”
“Bang—”
Reginald Ashford had clearly been holding it in for a long time.
He flung the cup in his hand straight to Brennan Voss’s feet, and the sharp crash made the boy jump on the spot.
The old man sat there with a cold, unreadable face, flicking the hot water from his fingers.
His gaze was like a blade as it pinned Brennan down.
“By blood, she is my legitimate granddaughter.
Not fit to be your sister?
Did you forget what your last name is?”
The moment those words dropped, the reckless swagger Brennan had just now vanished cleanly.
He folded almost instantly.
“Grandpa Ashford, I…
I was wrong.”
“Serenity Manor was bought in the first place for my granddaughter to spend her holidays in.
Celeste, you’ve lived in the Ashford family estate for over ten years.
Tell me honestly—have I ever let you suffer any real grievance?” Reginald Ashford’s earlier appreciation for her had disappeared without a trace.
His voice stayed calm, but the pressure in his eyes was heavy enough to make the room feel airless.
Celeste Voss had already gone pale, her face white as paper.
She hurried to deny it.
“No, Grandpa, that’s not what I meant.
You and the brothers misunderstood me.”
Miriam Voss looked awful too.
She quickly pulled both her children to her side, then forced a smile at Elara.
“This was my oversight.
Elara can stay however she likes, wherever she likes.
We have no objections.”
Tristan Ashford said steadily, “Since you have no objections, then don’t say things like that again in the future—things that make people misunderstand.
Callum, take our sister around the estate so she can get familiar with the place.
Once the room is cleared out, let her move in.”
Leander Ashford stepped forward and casually hooked an arm over Elara’s shoulder.
He smiled and winked at her, all easygoing charm.
“Come on, sis.
I’ll take you to pick some grapes.”
Elara lowered her eyes to the large hand resting on her shoulder, and suddenly noticed a long scar on the back of Leander’s hand.
That scar…
she felt like she’d seen it somewhere before.
Still caught in that brief daze, she was already being led off by Leander toward the vineyard.
After the two of them left, Reginald Ashford spoke again.
“Tonight is my first reunion dinner with Elara.
Tell the kitchen to prepare dishes from every regional cuisine.
Let’s see what she likes.”
Miriam nodded at once.
“I’ll have someone arrange it right away.
Brennan, help your sister pack up her room and luggage too.
Tell the servants to get it cleaned out as soon as possible for Elara.”
The second Celeste got back to her room, the discomfort she had been suppressing finally surged up.
She threw herself into her mother’s arms.
“Why?
I’ve worked this hard for so many years, and the second Elara came back, all the brothers started looking only at her.”
Miriam gently patted her daughter’s shoulder.
Her tone sounded soft, but there was something cold and sharp buried underneath.
“If you want to blame someone, blame your father for being from a branch line of the Ashford family.
He has no real ability, and we got dragged down with him.
But Celest, don’t forget—these past years, I raised you by the standards of a top-tier elite family.
Compared to that country girl who showed up halfway through, you’re better than her by who knows how many levels.”
“Your brothers are just dazzled for the moment by blood ties.
Once they attend a few truly important occasions, they’ll understand.
You are the real young lady of a prestigious house.
You’re the one worthy of being the Ashford family’s daughter.”
Miriam lifted her daughter’s face and pressed lightly at the reddened corners of her eyes.
“All you need to do is surpass Elara in every way.
That’s all.
You can do that, right?”
Celeste’s heart trembled.
Then she nodded.
“Of course I can.”
…
In the vineyard, Leander picked two plump bunches of grapes and stuffed them into Elara’s hands.
“Try them.
Grapes are crazy sweet this time of year.”
Elara popped two grapes into her mouth, then asked like it was no big deal, “Callum, what happened to your hand?”
The second Leander Ashford heard his little sister asking after him, the smile on his face got even brighter, all sunny and easy.
“Oh, it’s nothing.
Back then, at a casino in Macau, I got into a fight with some people and got nicked by a machete.
No big deal.”
Elara thought, just as I guessed.
A year ago, she had gone to Macau with the Weston family on a trip.
By pure coincidence, she had run into the Costa Family’s mafia power struggle inside that very casino.
That was where she had seen her third brother before.
The scar on his hand had been left behind when he protected an innocent girl.
Lately, fresh news had surfaced on the dark web.
The Costa Family’s godfather, Lida, was about to step down, and rumors said the seat of the second godfather would not go to Lida’s son, but to another mysterious man from Y Country.
Someone had even thrown out a sky-high bounty of one hundred million for that candidate’s head.
Putting the identity clues and the timeline together, Elara was almost certain her third brother was that mysterious choice for the second godfather.
She still remembered the comments under that dark-web notice.
Tons of killers had already signed up.
The bounty on her third brother’s head was still sitting at number two on the reward list.
Right now, he was in a seriously dangerous spot…