James sneered. âThen where should I put her? If I
really put her at the main table, surrounded by elders, would she even be able to sit down?â
Mary said, âToday, Keera is the guest of honor at the family banquet. What reason would she have fornot being able to sit down? Youâ¦â
Before she could finish, James interrupted. âThe guest of honor? So what? If her status isnât sufficient,she should just stay squatting there.â
If she were a legitimate daughter of the Olsen family, she definitely would be able to sit at the maintable!
None of her seven brothers would mind!
But Keera was just an insignificant lover kept by Uncle Olsen; why bother making such a fuss overwhere she
sits?
Mary frowned at Jamesâs words. âYouâ¦â
Victoria stepped forward and said, âMary, the seating has been arranged long ago. Please donât mind itand just take a seat quickly! If we donât sit, others wonât be
able to take their places either!â
Mary immediately felt as if she had been criticized and furrowed her brows.
Before she could speak, Keira tapped her on the shoulder. âJust sit down. It doesnât matter to me where
I sit.â
Taking a deep breath, Mary then sat down.
After she was seated, the rest of the Olsen family followed and took their seats accordingly.
Although their attitude had been poor just before, their family education, ingrained to the bone, couldnâtbe disregarded.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Keira walked to the third table and casually sat down.
It didnât take long before several girls came over, took their seats next to her, and then turned to look at
Keira.
In a low voice, someone asked, âI heard from Mary just now. Is she really todayâs host? Sheâs the starof the family banquet, but sheâs seated here. Whatâs going
on?â
One of the girls, who was close to Victoria, already
knew Keeraâs identity. Hearing this, she scoffed. âHer? Apparently, sheâs the Olsen familyâs illegitimatedaughter!â
âWhat? Is she the long-awaited âdear daughterâ of the Olsen family?â
âNonsense! Would âdear daughterâ be seated at the third table? Canât you infer something from theseating arrangement?â
âNo, what do you mean?â
The woman scoffed. âI see that sheâs simply not valued in the Olsen family!â
âTrue. Even Victoria sits at the second table, below her brothers, while sheâs at the third table⦠Thisclearly shows the Olsen family doesnât take this illegitimate daughter seriously at all!â
âVictoria and Christina really thought they were so coveted! Now that âdear daughterâ is back, sheâs not
valued either!â
âAre you guys dumb? How could she ever be valued? Whether sheâs from the first or the secondbranch, she has three or four brothers watching her like hawks!
Who would want another sister especially one born to
their father by another woman?â
âRight, but⦠illegitimate daughter, which branch are you from?â
Someone looked at Keira and asked.
Keira simply ignored them, picked up her fork, and started eating.
These people were discussing her gossip right in front of her and clearly didnât care to lower theirvoices as if they wanted her to hear it; wasnât it just because they thought she wasnât valued by theOlsen family and that they could bully her at will?
Then why should she be courteous and respectful to
them?
Keiraâs actions made those young ladies purse their
lips again.
âSo impolite. She doesnât even respond when spoken
to!â
âI know her. She got divorced recently. She comes from an insignificant background and probably hasnever seen this kind of banquet before, so thatâs understandable.â
404 Chapit
âDivorced? I want to hear about it. What happened?â
The group began to gossip once more.
At the same time, glances toward Victoria were filled with admiration.
Previously, she would always boast outside about how much the Olsen family valued her, but in reality,people didnât quite believe that, otherwise, Victoria and Christina would have already been married offto the scions of the other five major families.
As it turned out, Christina wanted to marry into the Horton family but was delayed by her age. It wasnâtjust because there were no suitable men of the right age in the five major families but also because ofhe status as an adopted daughter, which led to her being unable to marry either above or below herstation, and she ultimately chose the Murphy family.
Now it was Victoriaâs turnâ¦
Now that they saw the Olsen familyâs illegitimate daughter arranged to sit below her, people began toingratiate themselves with Victoria, smiling as they
anake
âSpeaking of which, Miss Victoria grew up with seven brothers, sharing bonds from childhood. Even ifthey are not blood-related, sheâs at least better off than an illegitimate daughter, right?â
âOf course! Todayâs seating arrangement was made by James. Doesnât that tell you something?â
âIâm genuinely curious, this illegitimate daughter, is she Jamesâs real sister, or Charlesâs real sister?â
James belonged to the first branch of the family.
Charles, on the other hand, was from the second
branch.
Someone beside them chimed in. âCouldnât she be
from the third branch?â
As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent.
There was only Uncle Olsen in the third branch, and he wasnât even married. If she were his daughter,then she would surely not be an illegitimate daughter!
Moreover, strictly speaking, Uncle Olsen headed the Olsen family, and his lineage was the legitimateone. If she were his daughter, her status would surely be
higher than her seven brothers!
She wouldnât possibly be sitting here! She would definitely be seated at the head table!
Even the person who spoke smacked their lips. âI misspoke, how could that be possible?â
âExactly, how could she possibly be from the third branch!â
Keira continued eating her food, completely ignoring these trivial people.
If Uncle Olsen had called her back only to be mocked, then she might as well not acknowledge these
relatives, so he surely wouldnât have meant that.
As she pondered, suddenly there was a shadow at her side.
Keira turned her head and saw Victoria standing beside her, suddenly leaning in close to her ear.âKeera, even if you are the Olsen familyâs real daughter, what of it? Do you see? Be it the brothers orthe guests, they all only recognize me as the daughter of the Olsen family! You, a divorced womanwhoâs like a wilting flower and a fallen leaf, are nothing!â
After saying this, she straightened up, proudly lifting
her chin
Keira didnât know what to say.
Just about after Victoria finished speaking, Ellis finally
entered the room.
Upon seeing them, he paused slightly.
Ellis walked straight to Keiraâs side. âWhy are you sitting here?â
Keira looked at him coolly. âOh, it was arranged by
James.â
Ellis was confused.
He frowned and turned to reprimand James. âWhatâs going on? Donât you know who the guest of honoris today?â
James came over, took hold of Ellis, and spoke in a hushed voice. âEllis, of course. I know. Itâs just thatI didnât want her to sit with our uncle, thatâs all!â
Ellis was dumbfounded.
He felt he didnât quite understand. âWhat?â
âIâm saying, Iâ¦â
Before James could finish, Uncle Olsen and the other
elders finally walked in from outside. As they headed
to the head table, Uncle Olsen caught a glimpse of
Keira.
He immediately said with a smile. âAlright, Iâll keep it short. Before we eat, let me introduce everyone tomy daughter, who was lost and has now returned!â