Chapter 227

Chapter 227

Kevin's words echoed and slowly constricted my heart like poison ivy. My head was buzzing, and I

suddenly remembered Alicia's text message during the day. I never thought that those threatening

messages would turn out to be true! I never thought that she would have the courage to do that!

Instead of making a fuss, she chose to commit suicide after Shawn and I announced our engagement!

Kevin's words echoed and slowly constricted my heart like poison ivy. My head was buzzing, and I

suddenly remembered Alicia's text message during the day. I never thought that those threatening

messages would turn out to be true! I never thought that she would have the courage to do that!

Instead of making a fuss, she chose to commit suicide after Shawn and I announced our engagement!

I swiveled my head and anxiously looked at the man beside me. At this moment, his eyes were somber

and went hazy at the news.

Kevin's eyes were red-rimmed as he choked on his words, "According to Kiara, Mrs. Xenos committed

suicide in the Xenos Manor."

Shawn swiftly turned and stalked off. When I saw this, I immediately followed him downstairs. The

instant he rushed out of the villa, he swiftly headed to a black Bentley.

Kevin and Diego also got into the car. Meanwhile, I stood at the door and called out to Shawn, feeling

uneasy.

It didn’t help that he merely side-eyed me with a cold and bloodshot gaze.

However, he quickly reigned in his emotions as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Finally, he said,

"Wait for me in Eldham."

Although Shawn wasn't Alicia's biological son, he still had some degree of familial affection for her. As

his fiancée, I wished to stand by his side and accompany him, especially at this moment.

Yet, Shawn thought otherwise. He definitely seemed to be unwilling for me to accompany him.

So, it didn’t matter how discomfited it made me. I still took a step back and replied obediently, "Okay. I'll

wait for you at home."

Diego, on the other hand, tried to help by putting in good words for me. "Shawn, she's your fiancée

now. No matter what happens, you two should face it together. Why don't you just let her follow you to

the Xenos Manor?"

As expected, Diego was the most emotionally mature of the three and the one who understood my

thoughts the most. Nevertheless, Shawn ignored him and gave Kevin his orders, "Kevin, I'll let you be

in charge of the wheels. Drive us back to the Xenos Manor!"

I was a little dazed by his rejection as I stood frozen in place. Emma's comforting voice suddenly

sounded as she reassured me, "He has his own considerations."

I nodded slowly as I thought, Truthfully, I don't blame Shawn. Rather, I can understand why he acted

the way he did. After all, Alicia hates me the most, and now, she even committed suicide due to us

being engaged. What she's doing now is showing Shawn her strong objection to our engagement by

throwing away her own life. It's clear to me that she succeeded in achieving her goal. All of a sudden, a

vast gap seemed to appear between Shawn and me. But Shawn has two mothers. So, which one was

the one who committed suicide?

My phone decided to ring when I was still confused and immersed in my thoughts. It was an unfamiliar

number, but when my mind ran through the numbers, I came to the conclusion that it belonged to

Eldham's area code.

I walked back into the villa, sat at the dining table, and asked, "Hello, who is this?"

A gentle and graceful voice came from the other end of the phone, "It's me, Kiara."

She was the one who called Kevin just now.

I feigned ignorance as I asked, "And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She promptly replied, "I saw Shawn's Twitter post."

That's it? She can't be calling me just to say this, right? Still, I held myself back from replying. Then,

Kiara mused enviously, "I've learned about his existence ever since I was a child, but I never got the

chance to know him until the day he returned to the Xenos' Residence when he was 20. It was at that

moment that I had a clear view of what my future husband looked like. He was handsome, tall, yet

ruthless! To be honest, I didn't mind if he was cruel toward me. All I cared about was if I could be his

wife. Obviously, your existence disrupted everything. It was my first time seeing him attend to someone

in such a gentle manner when I saw him holding you tightly in his arms on that rainy night the moment

you showed up in front of the Xenos' Residence. It was also at that time that I realized he wasn't as

merciless and heartless as I knew he was. He just had no feelings for me. From that moment onward, I

knew from the bottom of my heart that I had lost everything!"

At this moment, Emma once again climbed up to the cabin, lay down, and enjoyed basking in the

moonlight. She even began playing games on her mobile phone.

I took a glimpse at Emma’s form, then lowered my voice as I replied dispassionately, "You can't

possibly be calling me just to talk about these things, right?"

"Renee, he has always been keeping a low profile. But now he’s being so flamboyant when showing

affection for you. He announced you as his fiancée in front of all netizens on the Internet and even

promised you a marriage date."

Kiara's hoarse voice continued to sound through the phone, "I'm very jealous of you. I resent that you

could catch his attention and receive his affection. But I'm no lesser than you! I appeared in his life

earlier than you and even received the entire Xenos Family's approval! So, what rights do you have

exactly?! How could you rob me of my place?! How could you steal the man I love away from me?! I

love him! I don't know what I can do in my life other than marry him! Since I was young, I have been

trained to be a good wife to him! So, tell me: what am I without him?!"

She kept venting her feelings throughout the conversation, and judging by how she didn’t allow me

more than a sentence edgewise, she was nursing this for a long time. Not once did she mention

anything about the death of Shawn's mother. Nonetheless, I couldn't just callously brush her off. After

all, she was a pitiful woman. She was merely a woman with a Feudal era mindset under the education

of the Xenos Family, which was shocking since we were well into the 21st Century.

I inadvertently raised my head and saw Charles coming toward me from afar. I thought for a while

before I comforted Kiara by saying, "You shouldn’t use Shawn as a measuring stick of your self-worth,

and love isn't based on a first-come, first-serve basis. I'm not sure why I was able to catch his eye. But

he loves me, and I love him. No matter what, we still stick with each other through thick and thin! Kiara,

you are still young and brilliant. I'm sure you will meet someone better than Shawn in the future. But

first, you need to learn how to let go and move on. Who knows, you might encounter a better future."

Kiara went silent at my words before suddenly blurting, "Renee, Mrs. Xenos has passed away."

I pretended that I didn’t hear of this and played up the concern in my tone, "When did this happen?"

"Just now. The news of your engagement with Shawn triggered her. Shawn has always respected Mrs.

Xenos, and they have lived with each other in the Xenos' Residence for so many years. And now,

because of your love, he has lost his mother. Even if you know that continuing to be in a relationship

with him will only hurt others around him, will you give up and leave him? You won't, Renee. I’m not

that cowardly that I would leave simply due to a temporary rough patch. Hence, it's useless for you to

persuade me. I will not give up even if you and Shawn get married in the future!"

At this juncture, I felt that this phone call between us was meaningless. What's the point when it's just

me listening to her stubborn obsession?!

I could already feel myself rapidly losing interest, so I decided to end this one-sided conversation

effectively immediately. "I’ll be hanging up now if you have nothing else to say!"

Kiara was startled by my sudden unwillingness to chat. "You—"

I didn’t hesitate as I hung up on her. It was also at this moment that Charles had already returned to the

villa.

I stopped him and asked, "Why don't you regard Shawn as an enemy now?" After I was there to

witness how Charles oppressed Shawn so cruelly before, I was really curious as to why he was willing

to allow Shawn to come and go from Brimstone Mountain as he pleased.

Charles bowed to me and explained respectfully, "Miss, I've told you before that I am nothing but the

executor of Old Master James’ plans. After I retire, everything about the Xenos Family has nothing to

do with me." Then, he paused for a moment before he sighed, "I was just obeying orders. I have never

regarded Mr. Xenos as an enemy. Once my mission is over, Mr. Xenos is still the man I res—an

admirable young man."

I breathed out a sigh and commented, "I hated you at the time."

My words didn’t fluster him as he replied calmly, "I can understand why."

"Charles, how is the relationship between Shawn and Mrs. Xenos?"

Since he was in the know about most things regarding the Xenos Family, he told me, "She was the only

person Mr. Xenos could trust when he hadn't returned to the Xenos' Residence. Although she wasn't

Mr. Xenos' biological mother, she had been treating Mr. Xenos with nothing but sincerity for so many

years. And since Mr. Xenos didn't receive much family affection since he was a child, he naturally could

feel that Mrs. Xenos genuinely cared about him. Miss, why are you suddenly asking me about this?"

I shook my head and answered dazedly, "It's nothing."

At this moment, I gradually came to realize that this incident was truly a big deal. At least, it's an

incident that Shawn and I can hardly solve. One will still be powerless against many things in the face

of kinship, even for someone as strong as him. I'm afraid that our relationship— At once, I snapped out

of my thoughts.

"Miss, regarding your engagement with Mr. Xenos… Was Mrs. Xenos okay with it?"