Ignored When Chasing: Why Cry After I Got Engaged-Chapter 152: Don’t You Know Her Identity?

Watching Frances Bennett’s undisguised disdain, Damian Hawthorne’s brow furrowed.

When Cecilia had been by his side, his mother had at least made an effort to restrain herself, wary of his temper. Now, she no longer bothered to hide her true feelings.

He realized that Frances Bennett had probably spoken to Cecilia in this tone many times when he wasn’t around.

No wonder Cecilia had no fondness for the Hawthorne Family.

Then he thought about how Cecilia used to cook for his mother. Damian Hawthorne lowered his gaze, his heart clenching.

Before, when he didn’t know Cecilia’s true identity, he had just thought she was deliberately trying to curry favor. Seeing that she seemed willing, he hadn’t stopped her.

But now that he knew who she really was, Damian Hawthorne felt a faint sense of guilt on top of his surprise.

She never should have had to do any of that.

"Mom, Cecilia isn’t helpless." Damian Hawthorne said calmly, pulling Cecilia behind him. "And she never relied on me in the past, either."

"Didn’t rely on you? Then where did she live? She was a fresh graduate with no job when she started following you around. Even if she earned a little money working for the Hawthorne Family all those years, what could she possibly do with that paltry salary? In the end, wasn’t she just living off your charity?" Frances Bennett was dismissive, believing her son was just making excuses for Cecilia. "And what about that new music store she just opened? The renovations and getting it set up must have cost a pretty penny, right? Don’t think I don’t know. The only reason she has that kind of money is because she wheedled it out of you."

Frances Bennett still remembered how Cecilia had once brazenly demanded thirty million.

Thirty million was enough for an ordinary person to live on for a lifetime.

Damian Hawthorne arched a brow. "When she left, she converted everything I bought her over the years into cash, put it on a single card, and left it at the Hawthorne estate. To this day, she hasn’t spent a single cent of my money."

Damian Hawthorne had never revealed this before.

When Cecilia left, she left behind a bank card containing several million.

Justin Bell had calculated it at the time. Not only had Cecilia not spent his money over the years, she had even returned the equivalent value with interest.

"She didn’t spend your money?" Frances Bennett looked at Cecilia with suspicion. "Then where did you get the money to open your store? Don’t tell me the Grant Family gave it to you?"

Watching Frances Bennett suspecting this person and that, never once considering that she might have earned the money herself, Cecilia found the situation absurdly funny.

"Ma’am, the money is my own. I didn’t rely on anyone."

Frances Bennett was about to say more, but her phone suddenly rang.

Seeing the name on the caller ID, Frances Bennett frowned. ’What is Fiona Sinclair calling me for?’

Although she disliked Fiona Sinclair, the woman was still the head of the Sinclair Family. Frances Bennett didn’t hesitate and quickly answered the call.

"Hello, Frances, dear, are you home?" Fiona Sinclair’s voice was exceptionally warm.

The cloyingly sweet voice made Frances Bennett’s skin crawl.

"I am."

"Oh, um... Cecilia is there with you, isn’t she? I heard she went back to the Hawthorne estate with Damian tonight." Fiona Sinclair’s voice carried a probing, ingratiating tone.

Hearing her use the name "Cecilia" so familiarly, Frances Bennett’s cheek twitched.

’Since when were Fiona Sinclair and Cecilia on such good terms?’

"Yes, she’s here, but she’s probably about to leave. After all, her relationship with Damian isn’t what it used to be. It wouldn’t be appropriate for her to spend the night..."

"Perfect, perfect, as long as she’s there! Quick, tell her to wait for me! I’m on my way over right now; I need to see her about something important." Hearing that Cecilia was at the Hawthorne estate, Fiona Sinclair was instantly energized.

Normally, she would have been asleep by this time, but ever since Serena Hughes had come home and told her Cecilia’s true identity, Fiona Sinclair had been scrambling to take a series of remedial measures.

But she felt that wasn’t enough. She had to go and apologize in person.

Just as she’d suspected, Cecilia was indeed Selina Nathan.

When she learned Cecilia’s identity and asked Serena Hughes if she had sent a gift, her foolish granddaughter had actually admitted to offending Cecilia yet again.

Thankfully, Serena hadn’t hidden anything and told her the whole story.

Fiona Sinclair had originally planned to give the Grant Family one hundred million as an apology, but after hearing what Serena Hughes said, she added another zero to the amount.

One billion was no small sum for the Sinclair Family, but it wasn’t an amount they couldn’t produce.

Even if Sharon Quincy was Linden Nathan’s goddaughter for now, anyone with eyes could see that the future of the Nathan Family belonged to Selina Nathan.

A family like the Nathans had surely done their estate planning long ago; they were set for generations to come.

Moreover, the Nathan Family had deep roots. Their business strategies always aligned with Veridia’s economic trends and opportunities, and every step they took was a sure one.

A national enterprise of their scale was the lifeblood of Veridia. It wasn’t just that the Nathan Family moved with the times; other corporations moved with the Nathan Family.

The Sinclair Family was nothing in comparison to the Nathans of Aethelgard. Even if they couldn’t curry favor with them, they absolutely could not afford to offend them.

Frances Bennett had no idea why Fiona Sinclair was suddenly being so nice to Cecilia. After hanging up, she had been about to leave, but thinking that Fiona was on her way, she decided to sit and wait.

She wanted to know what in the world had happened between Fiona Sinclair and Cecilia.

The Sinclair and Hawthorne estates were both in the city center’s affluent district and were very close to one another. Fiona Sinclair arrived in less than ten minutes.

Fiona Sinclair was followed by a dozen bodyguards, each of them carrying an armful of bags, large and small.

Seeing Fiona Sinclair’s grand entrance, Frances Bennett’s jaw fell slightly slack.

Under Frances’s astonished gaze, Fiona Sinclair strode quickly to Cecilia, grabbed her hands, and let tears well up in her eyes. "My child, I’ve been old and blind! I have eyes but failed to see!"

"Your father and I have known each other for years. I even held you when you were a baby! I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you immediately."

Faced with Fiona Sinclair’s effusive display, Cecilia felt a little awkward.

She gently withdrew her hand. "It’s all right. I look very different from when I was a child, so it’s perfectly normal that you didn’t recognize me."

"No, I actually suspected your identity before. But Serena, that child... she was raised outside the family for so long, she has no discernment, and she doesn’t listen to me... SIGH, I’ll have her come and apologize to you personally. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive her."

At the mention of Serena Hughes, a small smile touched Cecilia’s lips.

She had no strong feelings about Serena Hughes. The girl’s choices were none of her business. If her friend Chloe Sutton hadn’t been involved, their paths would never have crossed.

And even now that they had, they would be strangers in the future, if not enemies.

Evidently, Fiona Sinclair was well aware of her granddaughter’s personality. Noticing Cecilia’s impassive expression, she smoothly changed the subject. "My child, do you have a place to stay in Korsyth right now? Frances mentioned on the phone that it’s inconvenient for you here. Why don’t you stay at my other villa? It’s in this very neighborhood, and I have a housekeeper who keeps it spotless. You’re welcome to stay there for as long as you like."

Frances Bennett couldn’t stay seated, seeing how enthusiastically Fiona Sinclair was behaving.

"President Sinclair, what are you implying? You make it sound as if I’m not letting Cecilia stay. I... I was just worried about gossip." Frances Bennett watched Cecilia and Fiona Sinclair dance around each other, feeling they were hiding something from her. She muttered in dissatisfaction, "When did you two get so close..."

’First the matriarch of the Grant Family, now Fiona Sinclair of the Sinclair Family... why are they all desperately fawning over Cecilia all of a sudden?’

’Did Cecilia hit the jackpot or something?’

"You don’t know?" Fiona Sinclair’s mouth fell open in feigned surprise as she looked at Frances Bennett. "About Cecilia’s identity..."

"Know what?" Frances Bennett’s eyelid twitched.

Ever since this began, Frances Bennett had felt that the atmosphere in the Hawthorne home was off.

Thinking back on how Damian had seemed to be subtly trying to warn her, Frances Bennett’s lips felt dry. "Besides who she is now, does Cecilia have some other identity I don’t know about?"