Chapter 9

Sohpie replied, "Who else could it be? It's Elijah's wife. You know about what happened to Elijah, right? After he passed away, Mom and Dad found this woman and claimed it was Elijah's last wish for Edward to marry her. "Can you believe it? It's absurd. No sane person would agree to that, but somehow everyone did. What's worse, they've already sent out invitations, and the wedding's in two days. I can't stand it anymore. How can Edward marry a woman like her?" Pouring out her grievances, Sophie vented like she had finally found someone to share her frustration with. Meanwhile, Felicia turned pale. Edward was the dream man of every young woman in their community. Such an upstanding and admirable person was now reduced to a victim of this bizarre, almost superstitious family drama. It was hard to believe. "So... everyone agreed to this? Even Xavier?" Felicia's voice trembled, still clinging to a sliver of hope. "You have no idea. That woman's pregnant with twins. And both are boys. As soon as Grandpa found out he was getting great-grandsons, he was over the moon. He's practically spoiling her now; he didn't oppose it at all." Hearing Sophie complain, Felicia's heart sank. She tried to offer some half-hearted words of comfort before hanging up. Her family should have told her by now since the wedding would take place in two days. But if it hadn't been for Sophie's call, she wouldn't have known about it at all. Sure enough, an adopted daughter was far from being the biological one. Felicia gave a bitter laugh and sat in her chair for a long while. Soon after, though, her phone rang again—it was from Luca this time. "Felicia, Edward's getting married. I know you're busy and might not be able to come home in time, but if you can take some time off, it would be nice to have you here for the wedding. If not, don't worry about it." As soon as she heard Luca's voice, she responded without hesitation. "There's no way I'd miss his wedding. I'll ask for time off right now. I should be home by this afternoon, so I can help out with the preparations." Luca sounded pleased. "That's great. You're always the most thoughtful one. We'll see you soon." With that, he hung up. Felicia wasted no time. She immediately sought out her supervisor to request time off. As a teacher, she had been attending an out-of-town conference, but since she wasn't a key speaker, it wasn't difficult to get her leave approved. Her supervisor understood that it was for her brother's wedding and didn't hesitate to let her go. With her leave granted, Felicia rushed to catch the next train home. Meanwhile, Melanie, unaware that Sophie had stirred things up, was busy helping the others decorate the rooms. After all, it was a wedding—the room had to be cleaned and decorated. The previous plan had been to use Edward's room as the bridal suite, but this room had been meticulously redecorated by Sapphire, with a style that Nellie loved. So, Edward decided to make it their wedding room instead. Melanie took it all in, her thoughts racing. Edward was being far too kind to her, so much so that it felt surreal. Nobody was this nice without a reason, she thought. Even though she had once been married to Elijah, Edward had no obligation to treat her this well. She couldn't help but feel uneasy, her mind spinning with all kinds of suspicions. Nellie adored Edward and now even demanded to be carried by him. Since Melanie was going to marry Edward, they had decided that he would officially adopt Nellie. The Graysons insisted she start calling him "Dad" instead of "Uncle Edward". Edward was incredibly patient—even affectionate—with Nellie. When Felicia returned home, exhausted from her journey, the first thing she saw when she stepped into the living room was this strikingly uncomfortable scene. Edward was holding a little girl in his arms, and next to him stood a tall, unfamiliar woman. The woman glanced at them with a faint smile playing on her lips. Felicia's head buzzed as she wondered if this was the country bumpkin Sophie had mentioned. No, this woman was no bumpkin—she was stunning. She couldn't have grown up in the countryside, could she? How was her skin so fair? How could her hair be so smooth? And what was that smile about? Was she trying to seduce Edward? Felicia could barely keep herself from gasping for air. Seeing that Felicia had come home, Sapphire greeted her warmly. "Felicia, you're back! Have you eaten? Are you hungry? I can make you some pasta." Although Felicia was adopted, the Graysons had always treated her as one of their own. After all, her late father had done the Grayson family a great favor, and they had taken care of her since she was 12 years old, always treating her like a biological daughter. Sapphire's concern was genuine, and she smiled kindly at Felicia. Melanie heard the commotion and instinctively looked over. For the first time, Felicia saw Melanie's face clearly. She had guessed from Melanie's profile that she was attractive, but the full view left her stunned. The current beauty standards favored women with large eyes, bold features, and sturdy builds—exactly the type that men admired. But Melanie was different. She had delicately curved eyebrows and narrower, almond-shaped eyes with an upward tilt at the corners, and even her lips had a distinct shape with a prominent cupid's bow. Altogether, it was a striking combination. Even without much expression, her features had a captivating allure. It wasn't the conventional type of beauty, but no one could stop themselves from admiring her when they saw her. Staring at Melanie, Felicia nearly forgot to respond to Sapphire. Fury flickered in her eyes. Sensing the tension, Melanie raised an eyebrow. So, this was the Grayson family's adopted daughter. Judging by the way Felicia was looking at her, she could tell the latter wasn't going to be easy to deal with. People always talked about how good life was in the city and how wealthy the Grayson family was, but clearly, this household wasn't so easy to manage. There was the rude little brother, who called her names behind her back, and now the jealous adoptive sister. Sure, her future in-laws were kind enough, but life here was never going to be smooth sailing. Sapphire noticed Felicia staring at Melanie and quickly introduced them. "Oh, right! I forgot to introduce you. This is Melanie Smith, your sister-in-law." The title hit Felicia like a punch to the gut. She almost lost her composure on the spot, but with everyone's eyes on her, she forced a strained smile. "Mom, I get it. You asked if I wanted pasta. I'm actually pretty hungry." Sapphire didn't think much of it and headed to the kitchen. Felicia, meanwhile, walked over to Edward. He smiled warmly at her. "Thanks for making the trip. It must have been a lot, having to leave your work just to come back. I hope it didn't interfere too much with your work." Looking at Edward's familiar face, Felicia's heart ached.