Chapter 234: ANOTHER WASTED CHANCE

"Is everything okay?" Blaire asked.

"Did something happen?" Claire followed up immediately after.

"Do we need to call the authorities?" Sophie questioned, already heading for the landline.

"God, no. Sophie, no please. We were just discussing," Fay said, and laughed to show it wasn’t serious.

"Are you sure, Fay?" Sophie asked.

"I promise, my dear."

"Can we also join in the conversation? I’m kinda bored," Blaire said.

"Nope, you can’t. Let’s go," Claire said, pushing Blaire away, and then returning to also drag Sophie.

"You’re a darling, Claire." Fay blew her a kiss.

She caught it, and returned it to her with a smile on her face.

"They’re so precious," Marilyn praised, as they all disappeared up the stairs.

"They really are," Alice agreed with a nod of her head.

"But back to you, Mrs Fay. I can’t believe you and Sir Ace have a daughter. Does he know? Because he hasn’t made mention of her yet," Marilyn said with excitement heavy in her voice.

"Of course he knows. However, I don’t want the public to know about her just yet. You know how nasty they can be," Fay replied.

"I perfectly understand you. But I’m so happy for you, Mrs Fay." Alice clapped.

Fay didn’t have it in her to stop them from calling her a title that implied she was still married.

They were clearly excited for her, and that was all that mattered.

"Now I’m confident that by tomorrow, sir Ace would have snapped out of his mood," Marilyn said.

Alice’s eyes went to her, cautioning her with a slight raise of her brow.

She shrugged nonchalantly, and returned her gaze to Fay who had caught the entire exchange.

It wasn’t exactly her business if Ace was in a mood. Good or bad, when was he never in one?

However, what caught her was how they both clashed on speaking about the topic.

Marilyn wanted her to know for reasons best known to her. But Alice clearly wanted to protect the privacy of Ace.

"What is wrong with Ace?" She found herself asking.

"No—"

"He has been in a terrible mood, Mrs Fay," Marilyn quickly interrupted Alice.

Inwardly, Alice sighed in defeat, because there was just no shutting up Marilyn.

"Really? How so?" Fay questioned.

She told herself it was just principle rather than because she cared.

So what if he had called her beautiful the previous day? Who cared if he had shown his fatherly side so beautifully?

He was still Ace, and she was still Fay. Their history had not changed yet.

"The matriarch left almost at midnight. I’m not exactly sure what she discussed with sir Ace. Anyway, at about 1am, sir Ace went to Reigns room. He began to toss out everything that belonged to her. He slashed the walls, and was generally just going crazy. He even broke his fist, and—"

Marilyn paused when her eyes settled on Fay’s arm.

"Why did you stop talking? Since you want to blab so much, you might as well say everything," Alice said.

When Marilyn didn’t respond but continued being fixated on a particular thing, Fay grew worried.

"Marilyn, is there something wrong?" She asked.

"Your wrist, ma’am. What happened to you?" She asked.

Fay, who had successfully hidden the scar from the matriarch and Gabrielle, froze.

She didn’t know how to explain her way out of this one.

Alice followed her gaze, and gasped when she saw how reddened the spot was.

She jumped to her feet immediately, and dashed to the cold room.

There, she grabbed a patch of ice, and returned to the living room.

"Let me see that, Mrs Fay," Alice said.

Fay didn’t have a choice. She stretched out her hand, and Alice placed the ice on it.

"Did something bad happen? Who did this to you?" Marilyn asked worriedly.

"It’s nothing, Marilyn. Just my carelessness," Fay replied, finding her voice.

She could sense they didn’t believe her. Unfortunately, it was all she could say at the moment.

"I’ll go ask the matriarch for an ointment then," Marilyn said, already rising to her feet.

"No please. Don’t!" Fay called her back. "Besides, I still want to hear about Ace," she said more softly.

She knew it was the only way to avoid more questions, and the entire family in her business.

Xylon was hers, and hers alone to handle. She didn’t need anyone else cleaning up after her..

Reluctantly, Marilyn returned to her seat. However, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the scar, Alice was still rubbing the ice on.

"Snap out of it, Mar. Tell me what is going on with Ace."

"That’s all. We tried to get him to eat, but he hasn’t left his room ever since."

Fay recalled the matriarch had told her Mr King’s being sick was just a lie.

Perhaps, she had told Ace the same thing too, hence his reaction.

It was really done. Whatever arrangement he had with Reign was truly over.

She hated how a part of her jumped with glee.

Hated even more how another part of her sympathized with his plight.

It sucked to deceive anyone. She would know. After all, he had deceived her with at least the promise of protection.

"Thank you Alice, but I think that’s enough now," she said.

Alice nodded, and kissed the spot she had just taken the ice off, before rising to her feet.

When she returned, she met an awkward silence she decided to fill up.

"We’ve not told you everything yet," she said, taking her seat.

"Really? There’s more?"

"Yes. Marilyn, tell her about the painting."

Marilyn gasped, and her eyes widened in remembrance.

She couldn’t believe she had omitted, or rather, forgotten that part.

"I was supervising the cleaning of sir Ace’s room this morning, when I found a painting. It looked so much like you, Mrs Fay. But like a younger version of you."

"Me?" Fay touched her chest.

"Yes, you."

Fay’s eyes squinted as she tried to figure out what that could mean. Then it hit her.

Gabrielle and her mother had been best friends. Apparently, she had met Ace when she was a child, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember.

It was the same way she couldn’t remember her parents, or anything that happened before the accident.

But the painting was a different thing entirely. How could he have painted her, if he couldn’t remember it was her?

She was suddenly worried, confused, and exhausted.

"I have to go home now. Dream would be waiting for me," she said, rising to her feet.

Marilyn, and Alice exchanged a look. She hadn’t responded to the information they just gave her, which made them worried.

"Dream? She has a beautiful name," Marilyn said anyway.

They all hugged Fay, and escorted her to her car.

Fay waved them goodnight, and drove out of the Atticus mansion.

But as she drove, her mind remained restless. She didn’t want to give too much thought to Ace, but she also couldn’t deny she was bothered.

She was also curious to see this painting they had talked about.

Maybe, just maybe it would juggle her memory.

Just before the intersection that would determine where she was headed, she made a swift decision.

She turned right, and continued driving until she arrived in front of Ace’s mansion.

Her heart doubled against her chest, when her eyes went up to the building.

It had been what? Four years since she last saw this place?

There were not many changes to it. Maybe that was a good thing.

She honked twice, and a man ran out. Her eyes squinted in recognition when she saw him.

He turned at the same time his name formed on her lips.

"Frank," she whispered, and despite herself, smiled.

Frank walked up to her car, and bent his head, as she rolled down the windows.

His eyes snapped in recognition when he saw that it was her.

"Mrs Fay?!" He almost screamed the sky down.

She chuckled at his pleasant reaction to her presence.

It was good to know that the people in the mansion were still gracious.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Of course!"

He turned right around, and hurried to the gate.

Swiftly, he opened it up, and she drove into the compound.

To her surprise, she had spotted Landon, and Cam standing together.

She came out of her car, and strolled towards them.

"Is that— is that, Mrs Fay?" Cam asked in disbelief.

"It’s her," Landon replied, just as she arrived in front of them.

"Hey, Landon. Hey Cam," she said.

"Mrs Fay," Cam called in a breathless voice.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her since she became Fay Luxe. It was just that she had that maddening effect on everyone.

"I want to see Ace. Is he home?" She directed at Landon.

Landon sighed, and projected a note to her.

"What is this about?" She asked, opening the note.

She began to read through, and her heart almost ceased to breathe when she read the last part.

"I’m sorry, but I need to take out some time to pull myself together," she read.

Her mind instantly went to Dream, and how devastated she would be when her father didn’t show up for her birthday.

This was all she had been worried about when it came to Dream knowing her father.

She staggered back, and almost collapsed to the ground.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read