Chapter 40
Zinnia listened to Timothy’s words without taking them to heart. She just thought he was too dumb to argue with – getting mad would only make her suffer. With nothing better to do, she idly fiddled with the teddy bear keychain on her backpack.
“Timothy, you’re so cold to Zinnia. Anyone who didn’t know better might think she wasn’t part of your family,” Isaac said with a curl of his lip.
Jackson had once said the whole Shaw family had something wrong with their heads – Isaac completely agreed. Timothy’s words were truly infuriating. Isaac didn’t know if Betty had bullied Zinnia back when she lived at the Shaw residence, but he wouldn’t be surprised.
Timothy was stunned. He pressed his lips together and looked at Zinnia.
“Zinnia, I didn’t mean to. I already explained everything to Mom and Dad. Please don’t be mad at me anymore, okay?” Betty said softly.
“Won’t you come home? I can move out if you want. Please don’t take your anger out on Mom and Dad.” As she spoke, Betty took a couple of steps forward and reached for Zinnia’s hand.
“Don’t touch me.” Zinnia raised her eyes and shot her a cold look, slapping her hand away.
Every time Betty touched her, trouble would come not long after. Zinnia hated trouble.
There was no one to clean up messes for her. She hated being surrounded by people pointing fingers at her like she was some monstrous villain.
If she could, she’d stay in Tareston forever.
“Zinnia, you still won’t forgive me?” Betty’s eyes suddenly filled with tears, her face full of hurt as she took two steps back, looking as though she’d been deeply wronged.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s disgusting,” Zinnia said coldly, her tone devoid of emotion, making no effort to hide her disgust.
“Zinnia, Betty is your sister!” Timothy exclaimed, stepping forward to catch Betty as she stumbled, her body trembling with grief. His voice rose, tinged with frustration. He hadn’t expected that even after Betty apologized, Zinnia would remain so unrelenting.
“Stop pretending. I don’t have a sister!” Zinnia flared up like a startled kitten, her beautiful eyes dark with irritation.
“Zinnia,” Jackson said gently, pulling her into his arms and stroking her head in a calming motion.
“Don’t get mad, Zinnia. Here, have a candy. Don’t waste your breath on that hypocrite,” Isaac said.
He hadn’t expected Zinnia, usually so quiet and well-behaved, to show such fiery resistance now. It seemed she really couldn’t stand Betty. Isaac leaned closer and unwrapped a piece of candy from his bag, popping it into Zinnia’s mouth.
“Betty, didn’t I warn you not to drag Zinnia into everything?” Jackson said, his tone turning icy. “If you want to climb up, don’t use Zinnia as your stepping stone.”
“And you, Timothy. Are you stupid? Can’t you understand plain words?” Jackson’s face turned cold, his gaze like ice as it swept across Timothy and Betty.
It was clear these two hadn’t taken yesterday’s warning to heart. Jackson shook his head inwardly. Timothy, a lawyer, yet completely blind to Betty’s manipulations – he was a lost cause.
Betty’s face turned pale.
Timothy frowned. He had the feeling that Jackson was trying to tell him something. But when he looked at Betty, her eyes red with sorrow, and then at Zinnia, guarded closely by Jackson and Isaac.
He was the one who shared Zinnia’s blood, her real brother. Yet it was her two cousins who were the ones protecting her.
Timothy couldn’t help but recall what Lucy had told him the night before – Zinnia was just a child who needed protection, too.
Yesterday afternoon, Betty had suffered from a terrible bout of diarrhea at the mall. Timothy ended up staying with her at a jewelry store’s medical room while she got an IV.
No one knew what Betty had eaten, but she couldn’t stop running to the bathroom.
At first, they didn’t think much of it. But when it happened again and again without end, and Betty’s face turned pale from exhaustion, Timothy realized something was wrong and called for a doctor.
Since she couldn’t leave the restroom, even the IV had to be administered inside. With Betty in that condition, Timothy couldn’t leave her alone and stayed with her in the hospital while she received fluids.
By the time they returned home, it was already dark.
Timothy’s eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion. After walking Betty up to her room, he immediately went downstairs to find Lucy and ask for some chamomile tea.
His brain was ringing with red alert warnings. His temples throbbed so hard it made him feel physically sick.
“Lucy! Lucy!” Timothy called as he came downstairs, pressing a hand to his pounding temple.
“Mr. Shaw, what’s wrong?” Lucy rushed out from the servants’ quarters, surprised. Since Timothy and Betty had come home late, the household staff had already retired for the night.
“Lucy, make me some chamomile tea. Quickly,” Timothy rasped, slumping into the couch, his voice hoarse.
“Chamomile tea?” Lucy hadn’t expected him to ask for that.
“Yes, chamomile tea. Hurry, my head is killing me,” Timothy said, gasping slightly.
“Mr. Shaw… we’re out of chamomile tea.” Lucy looked at him, pale and slouched on the sofa, clearly distressed.
“What? We’re out? Why didn’t you restock?” The only thing keeping Timothy upright through all of this had been the promise of that tea. Now, hearing it was gone, a surge of frustration hit him.
“Mr. Shaw, ever since Ms. Zinnia Shaw left, we haven’t received any of the ingredients used to make your chamomile tea,” Lucy said helplessly. She wanted to help, but the herbs used for the tea had always come from Zinnia.
“What does Zinnia have to do with it? Didn’t Betty buy the herbs?” Timothy’s headache was getting worse. Hearing Lucy mention Zinnia only made him more irritable.
“Mr. Shaw, the chamomile tea you drink was always prepared by Ms. Zinnia,” Lucy replied with a frown.
“What are you talking about? Betty told me she got the prescription from a famous herbalist!” Timothy frowned deeply.
Betty had said she had gone out of her way to consult a renowned doctor to get that recipe for him. But now Lucy was saying it came from Zinnia?
Zinnia was just a girl from the countryside. Timothy refused to believe she could’ve found such an effective formula.
“Mr. Shaw, we don’t know about any recipe from Ms. Betty Shaw. But the tea you’ve been drinking – Zinnia’s the one who’s been giving us the herbs all this time,” Lucy said, her expression serious.
They’d never once received instructions from Miss Betty to prepare chamomile tea for Mr. Shaw.
Looking at Lucy’s earnest face, Timothy fell into silence. Inside, a storm had begun to rage.
Lucy wasn’t someone who would lie. And yet, he couldn’t quite accept that the chamomile tea had come from Zinnia all along.
He was completely stunned. A terrible thought struck him – had Betty been lying all this time?
His pale lips pressed into a thin line. Remembering how coldly he had treated Zinnia before, Timothy’s expression darkened.
He wondered now – had Zinnia secretly looked down on him in her heart? He had never once imagined that the tea was from her.
And now that he knew it was, the first thing Timothy wanted to do was confront Betty. “Why had she said it came from her?”