Inside the restroom, lody Sumrs stood to one side, arms crossed, watching Nina Sumrs with her head down as she tried to clean the dessert and wine off her dress.
The pale yellow dress still showed faint stains after being washed, but at least she didn’t look as disheveled as before. Nina Sumrs breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head, and said softly to lody Sumrs, "lody, thank you for helping out of that situation."
Looking at Nina Sumrs’ ek and submissive deanor, lody Sumrs felt a complicated mix of emotions.
She recalled the heatwave last year when Caleb Sumrs and his family had co to set her up on a blind date. Back then, even though Nina Sumrs was a bit down on her luck, she had still carried herself with her head held high, like a proud little peacock.
Now, just over a year later, the sharp confidence in Nina’s eyes was completely gone. She stood slightly hunched, with her head bowed and shoulders slumped. A trace of sorrow, unbefitting of her age, was hidden between her brows. She looked like a little quail that had been wronged one too many tis.
lody Sumrs frowned slightly. "That guy who pushed you just now... is he the boyfriend you ntioned before?"
Nina had ntioned having a boyfriend back when Caleb Sumrs’ family had tried to set lody up.
Hearing this, Nina Sumrs nodded gently. "Yeah, that’s him. My boyfriend, Winston Sheffield..."
The mory of her family trying to set lody up resurfaced, and Nina looked up guiltily. "lody, I’m so sorry. My parents forced that matchmaking attempt on you to help , and they said such awful things... I’m apologizing on their behalf."
lody Sumrs just shook her head, unconcerned. "Let’s not talk about the past. What about you? That guy treats you like this and you’re not even married yet. If you actually marry him, what kind of life do you think you’ll have?"
Nina Sumrs froze for a second before forcing a smile. "His... his family is very nice to ," she answered quietly. "His father is my dad’s boss, and he’s so young but he’s already a civil servant..."
Seeing lody Sumrs’ deepening frown and silence, Nina’s eyes reddened again. With a sob in her voice, she said, "lody, I don’t have a choice... My mom’s dead, my dad remarried and has a new baby. I don’t have a ho anymore... My only option is to get married and move out as fast as I can..."
After Nina Sumrs had barely escaped The Crestview Hotel with her life, she returned ho only for Caleb Sumrs to slap her across the face instead of showing any concern, cursing her for being so reckless.
Caleb Sumrs grew more and more unhappy with Nina. Compounding this, Zoe Kane was constantly poisoning his mind with pillow talk. Nina’s life at ho had beco like that of a slave; she had to endure Zoe Kane’s constant nitpicking and also wait on her little brother, Chester Sumrs.
Nina felt like she couldn’t go on. All she wanted was to move out, and getting married was the quickest way to do it.
If she had once wanted to marry Winston Sheffield to marry up, now she just wanted to marry him to save herself. She had to escape the ho that had beco an abyss.
Hearing this just gave lody Sumrs a headache. ’Why does escaping one abyss an you have to get married? Aren’t you afraid of just falling into another one?’ But she had just had a long discussion about marriage with Sophie Thorne and didn’t have the energy to rehash it with Nina.
She ignored what Nina had said and changed the subject. "So what’s your plan now?"
Nina Sumrs bit her lower lip, silent. Winston Sheffield had brought her, but now he was ignoring her. She didn’t know a soul at the party; it would just be awkward to go back to the banquet hall.
But Winston Sheffield had told her to wait in the underground garage. The banquet hadn’t even started. If she actually waited, it would be for hours.
But the thought of going ho by herself scared her... She was afraid she might run into trouble on the way.
lody Sumrs looked at Nina’s predicant and sighed to herself.
’Don’t get involved in other people’s business,’ she had told herself ti and ti again, but...
Like aunt, like niece, as they say.
Looking at Nina’s face, which bore such a strong resemblance to a young Winnie Sumrs, lody’s heart ultimately softened.
She reached out, straightened the collar of Nina’s dress, and said with a hint of resignation, "Alright... Since you’re here, you might as well eat. When we get back to the hall, just sit with . I’ll take you ho after the party’s over."
Nina’s eyes lit up. She grabbed the hem of lody’s dress and nodded gratefully.
Ever since lody had rescued her from The Crestview Hotel, Nina had co to trust and rely on her more and more. She felt like heaven itself was smiling on her; she was so lucky to have an aunt like lody.
As the two of them left the restroom and headed back toward the banquet hall, they unexpectedly ran into Lily Adler and Sylvia Lancaster in the hallway.
Lily Adler and Sylvia Lancaster were clearly waiting there for lody. The mont they saw her erge from the restroom, they walked over and offered her a smile.
Nina recognized them as the two won who had been chatting up Winston Sheffield earlier in the banquet hall, and her eyes filled with caution.
Just as Nina was about to demand what they wanted, lody patted her arm reassuringly. "Go on ahead and wait for . I’ll be right there."
Nina hesitated, but she instinctively chose to obey lody. She nodded and silently walked away.
Once Nina was out of earshot, lody turned to Lily Adler and Sylvia Lancaster. "What do you want?"
Lily Adler started with a gentle, kind smile. She took a few steps forward, reaching out to take lody’s hand in a familiar way, but lody quietly sidestepped her.
lody looked at Lily Adler with disgust. "Don’t touch with your filthy hands."
Lily Adler didn’t seem annoyed by this. Maintaining her gentle, kind smile, she said, "You must be the real Miss Lancaster, aren’t you? I heard that you and Sylvia were switched at birth..."
lody cut her off with a sneer. "Stop right there. Don’t even try that act with ."
lody then took two steps forward, staring coldly at Lily Adler. She spoke slowly, enunciating every word. "Lily Adler. The one who switched and Sylvia Lancaster... it was you, wasn’t it?"
Called out so directly, Lily Adler’s smile faltered for a mont.
But she showed no sign of panic. Instead, she continued with a sincere expression, "Miss Lancaster, you’ve truly misunderstood. I had no knowledge of this; I have no idea why you and Sylvia were switched. But I know that sothing like this is painful for both of you. And compared to Sylvia, my heart truly aches for you."
Seemingly oblivious to lody’s mocking gaze, Lily Adler went on in a gentle voice, "Sylvia was cared for by the Lancaster family for many years. Now that the Lancasters are in trouble... if you run into any difficulties, you can always co to . I truly hope I can make it up to you."
lody scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. "Enough, enough. I told you, cut the act. Sylvia has already returned to the Hayes Family. Are you coming to now because you’re afraid I’ll tell everyone that you were the one who switched us?"
lody studied Lily Adler’s face before continuing, "There’s no need. The Lancaster Family is in the state it’s in. Even if they found out you were the one who switched us, they don’t have the power to do anything about it. So you can drop the performance."
Lily Adler put on a helpless smile, speaking like a benevolent elder. "Miss Lancaster, why won’t you believe ? I’m a mother myself. My heart truly goes out to you, and that’s why I want to compensate you."
lody narrowed her eyes, eting Lily’s gaze. A smile of understanding spread across her face. "Or... are you afraid I’ll cause trouble for Sylvia? That I’ll expose all the things she’s done and ruin her chances of marrying into a wealthy family?"
At these words, the flawless smile on Lily Adler’s face finally cracked.
On the day Sylvia was reunited with Hector Hayes, Clara Hayes discovered what had happened between Sylvia and Flynn Adler. Sylvia could never figure out how Clara had found out. Flynn Adler was dead; there was no way to verify the matter.
After hearing the whole story from Sylvia, Lily Adler keenly perceived that lody was a loose cannon. That’s why she wanted to get lody under control.
Seeing her reaction, lody sneered. "Lily Adler, you’re a child-swapping kidnapper, and you have the nerve to co here and ask to spare your daughter, the cuckoo who stole my nest?"
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