Rachel didn’t respond to Yvette, but her eyes turned as cold as ice. Whenever her brows arched in that way, the disdain in her eyes was clear to see.

Furious that Rachel was ignoring her, Yvette’s voice rose to a sharp pitch as she screeched, “I told you to put the things down!”

Rachel continued ignoring her.

Yvette reached out to push her.

“Who in this family do you think will want to see you here? I advise you not to ask for a snub! Or is William not giving you enough money? I heard that the woman of his dreams is back, and she even attended the same school as you did.”

Rachel seemed to have expected Yvette’s move and stopped her attacking hand without missing a beat.

Rage burned in Rachel’s eyes. Her lips were pursed tightly, and the stormy look on her face sent shivers down Yvette’s spine.

“Don’t embarrass yourself. You’re the daughter of the Lloyd family, so you should at least show some basic courtesy. If others were to see how you behave, they’d laugh at the Lloyds for not teaching you well!” Rachel sneered.

It was true that Yvette only returned home to the Lloyds after she grew up.

Before that, she was raised by a couple in the village. Living in the villages meant that having a full meal itself was a privilege. Social graces and civil manners were a luxury villagers had neither time nor money to care about.

After Yvette’s return, her father did hire someone to teach her etiquette. However, she was lazy and gave up on the lessons halfway through.

Yvette’s face flushed with ire. She was trying to keep up a pretense earlier, but now, she couldn’t be bothered to continue doing so.

“Who else can I blame but you? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have suffered so much! You ruined the life that was supposed to be mine. The cheek of you to come back! Don’t forget, I’m the real daughter of this family! You’re just an adopted child with no blood relation to Dad and Mom!”

Rachel knew her place in this family.

Despite that, she refused to allow Yvette to step on her dignity, especially after she had returned Yvette the life that was supposed to belong to her.

If Rachel had a choice, she wouldn’t want things to be like this. Only those who experienced it knew how it felt to descend into hell from heaven. That experience was worse than death by a thousand cuts.

“I know. You don’t need to keep reminding me of that. I’m just here for a short visit, and I won’t come back again in the future.”

There was a cold, commanding air about Rachel. The rage reflected in her eyes whenever she got angry never failed to strike fear in people’s hearts.

Rachel took a step forward past Yvette.

Suddenly, something sharp flew past her left cheek. The piercing pain it left behind made her wince.

Yvette gloated when she saw Rachel getting hurt as she briskly walked toward the boy. “Good shot, Henry! If it weren’t for her, your younger brother wouldn’t have gone missing to this day. We don’t even know if he’s alive or dead right now.”

Henry glared viciously at Rachel and aimed his slingshot at her once more. “You’re a wicked witch! You’re the one who made my brother unable to return home till now! Leave, or I’ll hit you with my slingshot!”

“What’s with the ruckus?”

All of a sudden, a deep, mature voice of a man boomed from the staircase.

They all turned their attention to him.

Rachel greeted him respectfully, “Father.”

Jim Lloyd smiled kindly at her. “Why didn’t you call before coming?”

Rachel didn’t want her tussle with Yvette to affect Jim’s mood. She forced a smile and said as casually as she could, “I wanted to give you a surprise.”

Jim walked toward Rachel and pointed at her ear.

“Well, has there been any improvement? A friend mentioned to me a doctor from Arden who is an expert in this area. Take some time off work and give him a try.”