Chapter 19
Before Edwin could stop her parents from hurling insults, Tiffany, who had tagged along, jumped in with her sugary sweet, venomous tune “Oh, sl, 1 understand you’re mad at me, but no matter how angry you are, you can’t just abandon Mom and Dad. They’ve been absolutely devastated looking for you. Just come home with us already!”
Witnessing these so called family members iminediately attack Sylvia, Ronald–typically level headed–had reached his limit. He let out a scornful laugh. “What kind of people show up at someone’s door and start barking?”
He repositioned himself to completely block Edwin’s view inside, then delivered a warning before they could explode: “This is a private island. Trespassing here isn’t like breaking into someone’s yard back in the States. The sharks around here are always hungry…”
He shot them a cold look that made all four freeze for a second–but their shock quickly reignited into fury.
“Who the hell do you think you-”
Edwin, bristling with rage after being so rudely dismissed, couldn’t even finish his sentence before the door slammed shut in his face. None of them had expected to be thrown out without even seeing Sylvia.
Inside, because the Ellery family hadn’t bothered lowering their voices, Sylvia had caught fragments of their conversation despite the distance.
So when Ronald approached and told her some scammers were claiming to be her family, her face showed no surprise. Instead, she corrected him:
“They’re not scammers.”
That single statement drew everyone’s attention in the dining room. After all, when Sylvia had ordered her custom–made family and boyfriend, she had claimed to be completely alone in the world. So how could these people…?
Before they could make sense of it, another round of violent knocking erupted at the door. Ronald frowned deeply, preparing to chase them away again, but Sylvia shook her head and stood up to answer it herself.
Whatever their reason for coming, she needed to end this situation definitively. She was the only one who could properly deal with them.
She walked ahead alone, but Ethel, Gary, and Ronald–concerned about the aggressive knocking and the unfriendly words they’d heard–quickly
followed after her.
By the time they caught up, she had just opened the front door.
Whether from momentum or deliberate intent to strike her, the moment the door opened, a hand flew toward Sylvia’s face.
Ronald’s heart leapt in fear she might be hurt, but she had anticipated this. She shifted slightly to the side at the last second, resulting in a loud thud as her father crashed to the ground.
Mr. Ellery, having made a fool of himself in front of everyone, scrambled to his feet, wheezing with rage and humiliation.
Tiffany rushed forward to help him up, her eyes full of reproach. “How could you do this to Dad? He’s your elder! If you’re angry, take it out on me—don’t treat Dad this way. He’s getting old. What if something serious had happened to him? Could you live with yourself?”
Mrs. Ellery was equally distressed. After seeing Tiffany help her husband up, she turned to Sylvia with unbridled fury.
“Sylvia Ellery, you ungrateful brat! How did I give birth to someone so heartless? Stealing your sister’s fiancé wasn’t enough? And now you physically attack your own father. You’re not even half as sensible as Tiffany!”
She stormed forward, hand raised to slap Sylvia, but the blow was intercepted by Ronald, who had been right behind Sylvia. He pushed Mrs. Ellery backward, sending her stumbling. Only Edwin’s quick reflexes prevented her from falling flat on her face.
This further inflamed the group’s anger. They began shouting not just at Sylvia but at everyone who had emerged from the house, calling them shit and demanding they all leave.
Sylvia ignored their insults, turning her attention to Edwin, who had been pushed to the back of the group. Her expression remained cold.
When their eyes met, he searched her face and found none of the excitement or joy he had imagined–only annoyance and indifference. She him not as a long–lost lover, but as a complete stranger.
Tat
