Chapter 308 Parents Dead, Clan Annihilated!
Just before opening the door, Francesca was still trying hard to mentally prepare herself.
What if, when the door opened, the person standing there was Paige? How would she face her?
Fortunately, when the door opened, it was Pearl standing there.
Francesca knew very well the relationship between Pearl and Paige. But as long as it wasn't Paige, Francesca felt that the knife hanging over her neck hadn't fallen yet.
"Ms. Southern, why is it you?"
Francesca opened the door but stood there without any intention of letting Pearl in.
It was clear she was being cautious.
Pearl, who was quite adept at reading people, smiled and didn't try to enter either.
She simply handed over the food box she had brought.
"Mrs. Carnegie, this is some food the chef just prepared. No one ate much tonight, and Mr. Raymond asked me to bring you a portion as well."
Francesca, fully on guard for other matters, hadn't noticed the food box in Pearl's hand.
It was only when Pearl handed it over that Francesca saw it. Although she had no appetite, knowing it was Raymond's idea, and probably Paige's as well, she quickly took it.
Francesca nodded, "How thoughtful." Then, as if remembering something, she asked, "Ms. Southern, is Southern your original surname? It's quite rare."
Pearl smiled faintly and said, "Yes, I'm an orphan. I chose this surname myself."
Pearl and her three brothers had long been accustomed to their orphan status.
So, no matter when or who brought it up, she wouldn't have any emotional reaction.
Perhaps driven by emotion, Francesca asked another question, "An orphan? Have you ever thought about finding your biological parents?"
Pearl's gaze swept over Francesca's face. 'Was Francesca's question a bit too sensitive?'
After all, the recently deceased Xena had mentioned something related to this topic before she died!
'What was Francesca trying to imply?'
The question lingered in Pearl's mind, but she smiled slightly and answered Francesca's question.
"The four of us siblings were not abandoned. Our parents and relatives were all killed, our family was wiped out. Our life's goal is to assist Ms. Ellison."
Francesca was suddenly taken aback, her eyes fixed on Pearl.
To avoid any more sensitive questions, Pearl smiled faintly, nodded slightly at Francesca, and said, "Mrs. Carnegie, good night."
Pearl turned and left after speaking.
Francesca watched Pearl's back, only coming back to her senses after a long while.
Parents dead, family wiped out!
Piecing together certain memories, Francesca felt a slight pang in her heart.
Looking down at the food box in her hand, Francesca turned back to her room.
After delivering the food, Pearl also returned to her room.
Meanwhile, Amelia, carrying a food box, brought the food Raymond had ordered to Louis's door.
Unlike Francesca, Louis was in a much worse emotional state.
He didn't have Francesca's strength or the ability to quickly build emotional defenses.
As a result, when he opened the door, Amelia saw a man with a desolate expression.
Amelia raised the food box. "Mr. Carnegie asked me to bring you some dinner, but I secretly took a bottle of wine from the kitchen. Want some drink?"
Amelia and Louis were friends of sorts.
Although there had been a period of awkwardness, after all, she had drugged Louis.
It happened that Xena had also drugged him, turning the scheme into a farce.
Now, just a few months later, Xena had become a cold corpse, and Amelia was knocking on Louis's door with a food box.
Despite the past grievances, Louis wasn't annoying Amelia.
On the contrary, Louis envied her because she lived authentically and was cherished by her parents and brother."
Most importantly, she was smart!
Louis said, "Sure."
They entered the room, and Amelia took the wine out of the food box.
Louis found two glasses, and Amelia opened the wine, pouring a glass for each of them.
They sat casually on the carpet around the table, and Amelia handed a glass to Louis.
"Didn't expect you can use a gun."
Louis answered, "I've only ever used one at the shooting range."
As Louis finished speaking, he downed his entire glass in one gulp.
Seeing his obvious attempt to drown his sorrows, Amelia understood that today's events had been sudden and shocking for Louis as well.
Seeing him finish his drink, she poured him another glass.
"Your aim was pretty good."
Amelia raised her glass, and Louis casually clinked his glass against hers.
His expression showed a hint of pain, and then he downed the entire glass in one gulp again.
"Accurate? If it were really accurate, it would have been a fatal shot."
Now, the thing Louis regretted the most was why his aim hadn't been better. If it had been, he could have ended Xena's life with one shot, and she wouldn't have had the chance to say those things before she died.
As a result, a seed of doubt had been planted in Louis's heart.
But the questions Francesca had asked him, Louis knew he had no answers for.
Because he had no answers, he was in pain, and thus he turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows.
Amelia's wine came at just the right time, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
As Louis drank, he looked at Amelia and asked, "By the way, how is Paige?"
Amelia replied, "Not good, I guess. After Ms. Ellison and Mr. Carnegie went back to their room, Mr. Carnegie ordered the kitchen to prepare some food and had it sent to them. They haven't come out since, so I don't know how they're doing."
Louis took the bottle and poured himself more wine. Tonight, if he didn't drink himself into oblivion, he feared he wouldn't be able to sleep.
"I killed Xena. From now on, Paige will only hate me more. I knew her for so long, we grew up together in the countryside. We were so close, why did it come to this?"
"Those five years were my fault, but I had no choice. I thought Paige could understand me. And that marriage contract, I never intended to break it."
"She was in prison for five years, and every time I went to see her, I was told she didn't want to see me. But I always held onto hope, thinking that when she got out, I could marry her, give her happiness, and slowly make it up to her."
"Kids who grew up like us can endure all kinds of hardships. I just needed her to sacrifice a little, and I would have given her the entire Carnegie family."
"I planned to use the entire Carnegie family to make it up to her, but after she got out of prison, everything changed."
"She married Uncle Raymond. I thought I still had a chance to slowly make it up to her, at least to make her hate me less."
"But things have developed to this point."
"I know Xena was someone she wanted dead. That life was marked by her long ago."
"But I had no choice. If I didn't let Xena die, the things Xena said could have pushed Paige and me even further apart, leaving no room for reconciliation."
"Now, I don't even ask for her forgiveness. Amelia, can you understand how I feel?"
As Louis poured the wine, Amelia noticed that the hand he used to shoot was trembling slightly.
He might have practiced shooting because of his interests, but he never thought he would one day use it to shoot someone.
But that's murder! Even though Louis's face remained impassive, Amelia could see he was barely able to hold onto the bottle.
He gave up on pouring and started drinking straight from the bottle, while Amelia sipped her wine slowly.
Amelia sighed, "I've heard some things about your past, but not in great detail."
"Your kidnapping back then caused quite a stir. The Carnegie family seemed to suppress the news for your safety."
"But it took several years to find you. This is the first time I've heard that you grew up with Ms. Ellison during those years."
Louis smiled, "Yes, I fell in love with her for the first time I saw her. I knew her so early, yet in the end, I still lost her."
"Now, she probably hates me, despises me."
Amelia didn't know what Paige's feelings for Louis were, but it was clear that Mr. Carnegie was always wary of Louis.
No doubt, Mr. Carnegie saw Louis as a rival, not a nephew.
"Ms. Ellison has an extraordinary character, perhaps due to her experiences. However, what happened during those five years she was in prison?"
Louis shook his head and said, "I don't know. I applied to see her almost every month, but I was rejected all the five years. I wanted to know if she was okay in there, and I made some investigation, but I found nothing no matter how much money I spent or how much effort I put in.‘’
"She seemed like a completely different person in five years."
"Five years ago, she was just a girl from the countryside. After five years of challenges in prison, I could clearly see she had become exceptionally skilled in many areas."
"Whether it be business acumen, thinking, or even combat skills."
"I remember she only had some basic skills, nowhere near the impressive combat techniques she now possesses. Those five years must have been filled with extraordinary experiences, otherwise, how could she have transformed into Xanthe Ellison?"
Hearing this, Amelia couldn't help but worry, "Ms. Ellison's identity is indeed a ticking time bomb, who knows when it might explode."
Amelia shook her head with a sigh. She had staked her entire family's future on Paige, so she was the last person who wanted anything to go wrong with Paige.
But Paige's true identity seemed to be shrouded in layers of mystery.
Especially with Xena's words and Francesca's various reactions, Amelia felt that the coming days would not be peaceful.
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