When she had lived as Blood Shadow, she had never had a romantic relationship with a man. The intimate scenes in her head only made her shudder. Shaking her head, she tried to drive the memories away.
‘I’ll never let that bastard get close to me.’
After taking a better look at the quiet room, she thought it suited her. Except for the huge pink teddy bear in the corner by the bed.
‘If I remember correctly, it was the only gift Livia’s parents gave her when she was a teenager. What’s even sadder is that those old bastards gave it to Livia after Bella rejected it, saying it was a childish gift. Ah, Livia, why did you still crave their affection after everything they did to you?’
Without giving it much thought, Livia walked over to the stuffed bear, grabbed it by the head, and dragged it out of the bedroom.
Just as she opened the bedroom door, a middle-aged maid arrived with a tray of food in her hands.
“Miss Livia, what are you going to do with the teddy bear? Is it dirty? Give it to me. I’ll clean it.” The maid hurried into the room, set the tray on the table, then reached out to take the bear from Livia.
Everyone at the Quincy family residence, including those who merely worked in the yard, knew how much Livia loved that big teddy bear. Livia would panic and cry if the bear disappeared.
Meanwhile, Livia did not resist when the maid took the bear from her hands. She knew the maid. She was the only servant who treated Livia respectfully without trying to curry favor.
“Throw it away. It’s annoying.”
The maid was stunned to hear that Livia wanted to throw the bear away. But what shocked her even more was that Livia could speak.
Joy immediately spread across her face as she said, “Miss Livia! You can finally speak!”
After Ethan returned from the hospital yesterday, he had only told Margaret what had happened to Livia. So not many other people knew.
Knowing that the maid genuinely cared about her, Livia smiled. “Yes. Now please throw the bear away for me.”
“All right. All right, Miss.” Just as the maid was about to leave, she remembered something and said, “Since you just got out of the hospital, I brought your lunch here. I’ll come back after you finish.”
Livia glanced at the food on the table. She was starving. That soup would never satisfy her appetite. Besides, how could she gain weight eating something like that?
“Bring the food back after you throw away the bear. I want to eat downstairs.”
“But, Miss….”
The maid was worried because every member of the Quincy family except Ethan was present for lunch. After what had happened to Livia that day, she was afraid Livia would be frightened again when faced with those people’s hatred.
“Miss, you’d better stay in your room. If you’re not satisfied with the soup, I’ll get you something else,” the maid offered.
But Livia merely waved her hand and walked straight out.
In the dining room, the entire Quincy family had already gathered and was enjoying lunch. As Livia approached the dining table, she took note of everyone present.
As the head of the family, Dimitri Quincy sat at the head of the table. Margaret sat to Dimitri’s right. The indifferent-looking young girl beside her was Angie Quincy, Ethan’s younger sister. On the left side of the table, there was an empty chair near Dimitri. Livia remembered that it was Ethan’s seat.
Then, beside Ethan, there should have been a seat for Livia, but Bella was always there, forcing Livia to sit at the corner of the table, where she looked completely isolated.
Thinking of that, Livia snorted contemptuously.
Just then, a voice rang out. “Oh, look who’s joining us. How dare this traitor show her face here after trying to stir up more trouble to cover up her mistakes?”
The mocking voice prompted Livia to look toward its source. On the left side of the table, she saw a middle-aged woman glaring at her with disgust. Beside the woman, a fat middle-aged man was doing the same.
‘Emma Quincy, Dimitri Quincy’s younger sister. Even after marrying Joseph Hewitt, she refused to leave the Quincy family residence. Worse, Joseph Hewitt didn’t mind and even took the opportunity to join Quinton Corporation and climb the social ladder. Hah! No wonder their son grew up to be an unreliable fat pig.’
Livia then looked at the thickset young man who was greedily stuffing food into his mouth.
Without saying a word, Livia continued to the dining table and sat in the place where the real Livia had always sat in the past.
Shocked that Livia had ignored her, Emma couldn’t take her eyes off Livia. When she saw that Livia was completely unfazed, her surprise turned to anger. “Who gave you permission to sit there? A traitor like you will only ruin our appetites. Get out!”
At that, Livia’s lips curved into a crooked smile. She tilted her head to look at Emma and said mockingly, “The only thing that will ruin everyone’s appetite is a fat pig who doesn’t know how to behave at the dinner table.”
Livia briefly glanced at Blake Hewitt, signaling to Emma that she should worry about her own son.
It was the first time Livia had spoken in front of everyone in years. The other members of the Quincy family and the servants were stunned to hear her. More than that, the timid mute woman was acting far bolder than before.
‘Did she hit her head somewhere while she was unconscious from the poisoning? How dare she talk to me like that?’
Everyone was shocked that Livia could speak again, but her audacity in offending Emma in front of everyone was even more astonishing.
Emma was furious that Livia had called her son a fat pig. Just as she was about to make an even bigger scene, Dimitri’s stern voice rang out.
“Don’t make a scene at the dining table.”
Emma had no choice but to shut her mouth and angrily move her utensils around. She swore to herself that she would teach Livia a lesson.
Livia looked over the dishes on the table, transferred several of them to her plate, and began to eat.
Then Bella came from the kitchen with a glass of juice in her hand. “Mrs. Quincy, I made this juice for you. It’ll help you feel refreshed.”
Bella placed the juice in front of Margaret before sitting in her seat. She then gently helped the children finish their meals before asking the driver to take the three children to their classes. She was playing the role of the young Mrs. Quincy.
“Bella, you’re truly such a good girl. When you should be living a carefree life, you chose to take care of your nieces and nephew. My father should have chosen you back then. But he wouldn’t listen. Now, the useless woman he chose can only bring misfortune to the Quincy family.” Emma spoke again, deliberately targeting Livia.
Even so, Livia looked indifferent. She quickly finished her meal and stood up, with no intention of getting involved with either Emma or Bella.
However, Bella refused to let her go. She walked over to Livia and immediately wrapped her arms around Livia’s.
“Livia. Aunt Emma didn’t mean to offend you. Don’t be angry, okay? Even though you’ve never done anything useful for the Quincy family, you’re still Ethan’s wife and a daughter-in-law of the Quincy family.” Bella smiled gently, deliberately emphasizing certain words.
Livia was already sickened by Bella’s pretense, so she roughly pulled herself free.
However, she frowned when Bella suddenly threw herself to the floor, making it look as though Livia had deliberately shoved her. Although Livia had been a little rough, she didn’t think she had used enough force to make Bella fall.
“Bella!” Emma quickly rose from her seat, walked over to Bella, and helped her up.
Then she glared angrily at Livia. “You! You’re truly ungrateful! Shameless woman! The Quincy family accepted you, but you betrayed us. You even nearly dragged both your parents into trouble. And now you hurt Bella? Do you really have no conscience, Livia? What kind of person are you? Bella cares about you so much that she spends most of her time taking care of your children!”
“So?” Livia replied with a flat expression.
That only made Emma angrier. “You….”
“Enough, Aunt Emma. I’m fine. Livia probably felt tired. I was holding her back, so it’s only natural that she pushed me. She just wants to go back and rest.” Bella gently tried to soothe Emma.
“You heard her? Bella is still defending you. You filthy bitch! I’ll ask Ethan to send you to prison when he gets back. Your presence at the Quincy family residence brings nothing but disaster!”
No one joined Emma in berating Livia. But no one defended Livia, either.
Looking at each face around the room, Livia snorted contemptuously before saying, “Fine. I’ll wait for him. Let’s see who ends up in prison.”
After saying that, Livia gave Bella a meaningful look before walking straight toward the stairs to her room.
Bella was pleased that she had once again managed to create a bad impression of Livia. Despite the satisfaction in her heart, Livia’s gaze and words still bothered her. Somehow, she felt threatened by that woman.
‘Is she planning to speak up? No. No. I can’t let that happen. I have to do something to threaten her.’