"No," Elena shouted in disbelief and denial.
She hadn’t wanted this.
It was better this way.
"Why?" Julian asked.
It wasn’t like Elena didn’t want to live a privileged life.
Only a fool would want to quit this life to move to the countryside.
So be it.
She was that fool.
It wasn’t like she could tell them of her being transmigrated into a novel world and they’ll come to hate her.
No one would believe her.
But what could she explain. It wasn’t like she hadn’t planned this situation.
She had enough time.
"What about my family then? Wouldn’t they want me just like you want her?" Elena replied with a trembling voice.
She had to show that she was shocked and it was unexpected for her.
She had to act natural to prevent any suspicions.
"Elena, they don’t have anything we do! You might not be able to go to college! Is that what you want?" Julian snapped.
"B-but they’re my family!" Elena retorted. "If your child can come here, then I must return!"
That was Elena’s plan. Being stubborn.
After all, she couldn’t come up with any other reason except family ties.
Meanwhile, her grandfather, Richard Shaw, was yet to come to his senses.
It was a shock to hear that the granddaughter he doted on wasn’t his.
Well, Elena would not agree with being doted on because all he did was compare her with Ethan Cole and that was a miserable life.
The only reason Richard was acceptable was because Elena won against Ethan, otherwise who knows what she would get.
"What nonsense are you spouting!" Richard spat through gritted teeth, unable to come to terms with the truth.
It wasn’t easy to accept and move on.
Eighteen years of life, eighteen years of upbringing couldn’t just be washed off.
No matter what, this was the granddaughter that made him proud when he stepped out.
And who knew what kind of granddaughter the unknown one was.
Not only was she from the countryside, she was from a farmer family.
What could she achieve.
And wouldn’t it make him the butt of jokes if word got out of this.
He was fuming.
"Absolutely not," he said with a tone of finality.
Of course, Elena wasn’t unprepared.
"I don’t care," she shouted bluntly and turned back into her room, locking it.
Before anyone could react she was back inside collapsed on the floor.
"That was exhausting," she let out a sigh.
It wasn’t much but it was honest work.
Then she headed to the bed, taking her packed suitcase and changing to get ready to leave.
She wasn’t just waiting for things to happen.
She was proactively becoming ready for it.
And it just so happened that the outside turned into chaos the moment she left.
Richard was shouting and cursing his son for making such a mistake.
He didn’t spare any face for his daughter-in-law either.
Since she knew of the birthmark, why not speak until now?
He was furious.
"Dad, I’m bringing my child back," Julian declared firmly.
His tone finalized things.
No matter how much he respected his father, he couldn’t just let things happen.
That was his child.
Estranged for eighteen years.
Living in the countryside.
How much would she have suffered.
Only he knew that his mind was a mess.
He never expected Elena to be rebellious at such a moment.
But he could understand her perspective.
She too wanted to know about her biological family.
The comforts of the military compound came with their own cost.
Having to compete with Ethan for all her life was unfair to her. She wasn’t even a Shaw. It wasn’t her duty.
He understood all of it but accepting it emotionally wasn’t to be done in the spur of the moment.
Just as the discussion died down, Elena emerged from her room, holding a single suitcase, wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans.
It wasn’t anything fancy or expensive, just the usual clothes she wore.
It didn’t make her stand out in a crowd or be irresistibly alluring.
She was a human, not a novel protagonist.
She knew that about herself.
And sensing the quiet in the room, she had emerged, hoping to end things today itself.
"Let’s go," she said, making to the door, not caring about anyone’s reactions.
She didn’t hesitate to go the car and put her suitcase in the trunk.
Then she sat in the backseat.
Her actions forced the Shaw couple to come out and frown at her.
She was being too rebellious and foolish.
What good would returning to the countryside do her?
"Husband, let’s just go," Lena said in a low voice before Julian could speak, holding his arm.
In the end the family of three went to Happy village again.
Richard was left alone because he didn’t want to go and the ride to the village was anything but easy.
It wouldn’t do them any good if he got sick from the car ride.
Having a car was already a luxury, people could barely afford bicycles.
So no one really knew that cars could be super comfortable irrespective of the road.
It just didn’t exist as of yet.
Of course, Elena and Lily knew the future so they were exceptions who knew about this kind of stuff.
Two hours later, the scene repeated itself as the villagers began discussing among themselves.
"Have the Bennet family struck it rich?"
"People visiting in the morning and evening!"
"You never know, we should stay on good terms with them."
"Hah! As if! They’re idiots who send their daughter to school and not their son! Where would they get wealthy relatives?"
"Yeah, right! Maybe she did something behind their backs and these people are here for something."
Since it was evening, the villagers were more or less returning from their farmland after finishing their work of the day.
Due to lack of entertainment, they could use up any source at its finest, let alone something this worthwhile.
So the Bennet household saw the massive number of villagers huddled around each other crowding behind the car, eager to hear what was being spoken.
Naturally, the most surprised was Lily.
She hadn’t known anything like this nor did it happen in her previous life.
But then again, she wasn’t home and just tracking her took a week’s worth of time, so it was fine for some things to change.
Elena, meanwhile, was observing the environment and where she’d be living from now on.
She had come prepared for thatched huts with rainwater dripping and damp walls but what she saw surprised her.
The house was well-built.
Although not the best in the village, it wasn’t the worst.
It looked neat and tidy at first glance which satisfied her.
At this moment, Thomas and Mary arrived home from the farm and seeing so many villagers stunned them.
"What’s happening? What’s going on?"
They shouted in a panic, wondering what went wrong at their home.