“Who are you…?”
Faced with such enthusiastic warmth from a complete stranger, Ron immediately grew wary.
“I am your grand-aunt, Deere’s aunt, Carlotta.”
The old woman’s face was a mass of wrinkles, deep enough to trap flies.
Her smile held no warmth, instead carrying a sinister, dagger-concealing gloom.
“I held you when you were little. I never imagined you’d grow into such a beautiful woman… Will you come home with me after this is over?”
Although Carlotta phrased it as a question, her words dripped with a strong sense of control.
As she spoke, she grabbed Ron’s arm.
This made Ron extremely uncomfortable, and she instinctively pushed Carlotta’s hand away.
Before she could even respond, a voice sounded from nearby.
“Look who it is, our guest of honor…”
A man in a tailored suit walked over.
“First time meeting you, Ron. I’m your mother’s uncle, Cortland.”
Unlike Carlotta, whose eyes were only for Ron, his gaze immediately shifted to Su Fan.
“And this is…?”
“Fan Su, my friend.”
Cortland looked Su Fan up and down.
A man brought to one’s own mother’s funeral couldn’t be just a simple friend.
“Hello.”
Su Fan offered only a simple greeting and said no more.
He didn’t like the atmosphere here.
It appeared elegant and polite on the surface, but everywhere exuded a smell of decay and decadence.
Like a group of people who had time-traveled from the Middle Ages.
The two watched as the crowd carried Deere’s coffin in a procession to the family burial ground.
“Of those two just now, Master Fan Su, who do you think is good and who is bad?”
Suddenly, Ron spoke in a low voice.
Su Fan watched the bustling crowd, his expression blank.
“Neither is any good.”
Unwarranted enthusiasm always hides ill intent.
Those two had been excessively warm towards Ron.
What could attract them to a child who left the family over twenty years ago?
Nothing but the status she inherited from Deere and the contract with Lasher.
“From your tone, it seems you think there might be some good and some bad among them.”
“Let me guess, you think Cortland is slightly better than Carlotta, right?”
“I advise you to wake up.”
Su Fan’s tone was calm.
“Your mother is dead. Now, within your family, you are alone, a lone individual with a special inheritance to boot.”
“Someone like that, even if they had grown up within the family, would be coveted, let alone you, who is essentially an outsider.”
“Now think again. Who can you trust?”
Hearing Su Fan’s words, Ron’s body seemed to stiffen slightly, but she quickly nodded.
She really should remain vigilant.
After the funeral, Su Fan and Ron were quickly ushered to the Mayfair ancestral home for the post-funeral gathering for relatives and friends.
The two entered through the main door into the living room when a servant approached from behind.
“Miss Ron? Your great-aunt is waiting for you in the study.”
The servant glanced at Su Fan and added, “She wishes to see you alone.”
Upon hearing this, Su Fan immediately tried to disentangle his arm from Ron’s.
Splitting up was fine; he could use the chance to explore and find out where Lasher had gone.
Unexpectedly, a tug on his arm held him back.
“If Fan Su cannot go, then I won’t go either.”
Ron’s attitude was resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.
“Well…”
The servant hesitated.
“Very well, then. Please follow me.”
Su Fan turned his head and met Ron’s apologetic gaze.
She actually felt this was somewhat inappropriate too.
But after their earlier conversation, she suddenly felt that as a completely disinterested observer, Su Fan might be able to see through truths she couldn’t perceive.
This was especially important for her.
Soon, the two traversed the main hall and arrived at the study.
Seeing Ron, Carlotta once again broke into that chrysanthemum-like smile, but upon noticing Su Fan beside her, her face stiffened into a deadpan mask.
At that moment, Ron suddenly felt a pang of unease. She instinctively looked up and saw the somewhat icy smile on Su Fan’s face beside her.
Sensing trouble, Ron immediately spoke up to explain.
“I asked Fan Su to come along. He’s not an outsider; it’s fine.”
“We’re always together. He has the right to know everything I know.”
Hearing this, Carlotta said nothing more. Instead, she took out a stack of photos and began telling Ron about her mother.
She spoke of how close she and Deere were, how she had tirelessly cared for her daily needs over the past thirty years.
This also included Ron’s adoptive mother.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for her funeral, to say goodbye. But I feel even more regret for you. My condolences.”
“Both your mothers have passed. I truly cannot imagine that pain.”
Carlotta expressed her sympathy.
“Thank you… But she never mentioned these photos or these memories to me, not a single word… Why?”
Hearing this question, a sharp gleam appeared in Carlotta’s aged eyes.
She told Ron it was all for Ron’s own good.
The condition for her adoptive mother, Elena, taking Ron away was not to mention any of this, all to keep Ron away from that being.
Namely, Lasher.
The people in this family weren’t normal. They would lie, trying to tell Ron that Lasher was a gift from heaven.
But in reality, he was an evil devil.
Carlotta also said that in the past, Lasher had once chosen her to be his witch, but she, devoutly serving God, had sternly refused.
After that, Lasher had to settle for second best and sought out Ron’s mother, Deere.
Regarding this matter, she expressed her apologies.
However, she hoped Ron would not be tempted by the demon like her mother was, becoming a fallen woman.
“Pfft…”
Just then, a soft sound of laughter suddenly came from beside Ron.
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted, and both looked towards the source of the sound.
They saw Su Fan’s expression was unchanged, as usual.
This minor interlude didn’t affect the conversation between the two.
After a stream of meaningless talk, Ron and Su Fan left the study.
“Master Fan Su, what were you laughing at just now?”
Only when they were some distance from Carlotta did Ron ask curiously.
“There’s an Eastern saying: ‘playing both sides,’ or ‘acting innocent while being guilty.'”
“It means someone who clearly engages in dirty, despicable deeds in secret, yet boasts about themselves with flowery words, putting on a facade of high moral character to gain a good reputation.”
“Such shameless behavior is truly rare.”
Su Fan smiled as he turned his head.
“You mean Carlotta?”
“Who else could it be?”
Su Fan answered as if it were obvious.
“She has no talent. Her only advantage in this family is probably having lived long enough.”
“Someone like her actually has the nerve to subtly praise herself and disparage others in her speech, using your mother to highlight her own strong will and devout faith.”
“But in reality, someone like her wouldn’t even hold Lasher’s interest for a glance.”
“Yet she dares to say she refused Lasher’s humble request.”
“Not only sour grapes, but also subtly insulting the mother to the daughter.”
“A shameless old thing.”
“And there’s another key point.”
“Cyprian checked the doctor’s memories. Every time your mother was injected with an excessive dose of sedatives, there was an old woman supervising nearby.”
“So, over these thirty years, was she staying by your mother’s side out of care, or to imprison her? You should have the answer in your heart now, right?”
