Free Web NovelChapter 250: Chapter 253: Do You Want This Blessing?
Charlotte Shaw had observed them carefully—twenty bodyguards in total at this villa. Five were stationed at each of the four cardinal points, completely surrounding the house.
Over the past couple of days, Charlotte Shaw had tried wandering downstairs. She discovered that as long as she stayed inside, simply strolling around the house, the bodyguards didn’t react much.
But the moment she dared to take a single step out the door, those bodyguards would swarm her like flies, sticking to her side and never leaving.
She was being closely monitored by more than a dozen pairs of eyes, not daring to make a single unnecessary move.
So, after some thought, she decided not to go downstairs anymore. No one was watching her upstairs, and she could at least feel a little more at ease.
"Damn bodyguards..." She stood on her room’s balcony, cursing through gritted teeth as she stared at the guards patrolling the courtyard. "All day long, you just pace back and forth. The second I show my head, it’s like flies smelling a rotten egg—your eyes are all over me... How much is Willow Quincy paying you? Is it worth all this?"
"Mr. Quincy pays quite well."
Aunt Bell’s cheerful voice sounded unexpectedly from behind Charlotte Shaw.
"Gah—!" Charlotte Shaw jumped, her legs instantly going weak.
"Aunt Bell, you didn’t make a sound coming in!" she said, turning to face the beaming woman, her eyes full of reproach.
Aunt Bell pointed innocently toward the doorway. "Sonia, I just called for you at the door. You didn’t answer."
Charlotte Shaw clutched her chest, her tone sharp. "If I didn’t answer, you should have knocked! Is that big door just for decoration?"
Aunt Bell stammered, "You... you didn’t close the door."
"...Huh?" Charlotte Shaw’s expression froze, suddenly looking a little awkward.
Aunt Bell stood before her with her head hung low. The hands at her sides unconsciously clenched her apron, and she looked terribly upset.
Charlotte Shaw knew she had wronged the woman. She knew her pent-up anger had led her to take it out on Aunt Bell, but she simply didn’t want to apologize.
Aunt Bell knew perfectly well that what Willow Quincy was doing was imprisonment, yet she continued to aid and abet him, helping him at every turn. To put it bluntly, she was Willow Quincy’s accomplice!
Charlotte Shaw felt no obligation to apologize to an accomplice.
"What is it?" Charlotte Shaw shot her an expressionless glance, breezily moving on from the matter.
Aunt Bell bit her lip, then looked up at her timidly. "I’ve stewed some pork ribs. I wanted to ask if you’d prefer them soy-braised or sweet and sour, Sonia."
"Whatever," Charlotte Shaw replied dismissively. "I’m a caged bird with no freedom. It makes no difference to me what I eat. There’s no need to ask my opinion."
Her words were filled with numbness and indifference, as if she had completely lost all hope for her life and future.
Aunt Bell felt a pang of discomfort as she listened.
"Sonia..." She took a step forward, her eyes filled with a mixture of vexation and confusion.
"There’s really no need to torment yourself like this. Mr. Quincy is handsome, wealthy, and he likes you so much. If you just give him a chance, he could make you very happy. Why won’t you accept him?"
"Because I already have someone I love!" Charlotte Shaw’s voice suddenly rose, each word sharp with emphasis. "I’m married! I already have a husband! I love my husband very much, and I will never accept anyone else as long as I live!"
"But a woman’s life is long. It’s not like you can only have one husband," Aunt Bell said, full of self-righteous conviction. "For women like us, as long as you can live well and be happy, it doesn’t matter if your husband’s last name is Pei or Quincy. You have to live your life one way or another, so why not with someone who’s good to you? That’s what matters."
"..." Charlotte Shaw stared at her, utterly speechless.
But she kept talking. "Aunt Bell has been around. I know how to live a comfortable life. Mr. Quincy is so good to you. If you just humor him a little, you’ll have a lifetime of luxury ahead of you."
Charlotte Shaw retorted, "...If it’s such a blessing, why don’t you take it?"
Aunt Bell said, "I’d love to, but I’m not so lucky. I’d never meet a man as exceptional as Mr. Quincy."
"...If you think he’s so exceptional, then you marry him!" Charlotte Shaw shot back, rolling her eyes as she turned and walked toward the bathroom.
Aunt Bell followed her like a persistent shadow. "Sonia, you can’t say things like that. I..."
"I’ll say what I want!" Charlotte Shaw whirled around and glared, showing her no mercy. "You marry him! You marry him! You go marry Willow Quincy! May you have a long and happy life together and be blessed with many children!"
"Tsk, Sonia!" Aunt Bell was getting annoyed now. "What kind of things are you saying?"
"Plain talk!" Charlotte Shaw said, stepping into the bathroom. She then turned and held the door, blocking Aunt Bell outside.
"If you think Willow Quincy is so great, then you go live with him! And if that’s not enough for you, then call up all your aunts and cousins and go live with him too!"
"Get out!"
SLAM!
The word "out" had barely left her lips when Charlotte Shaw slammed the bathroom door. It crashed heavily into the frame, nearly smashing into Aunt Bell’s nose.
Startled, Aunt Bell stumbled back a few steps. She spoke to the closed door, her voice a mix of anger and helplessness. "You child... why are you so full of malice?"
"Get out!" Charlotte Shaw yelled back.
"..." Aunt Bell immediately fell silent.
Charlotte Shaw was the apple of Willow Quincy’s eye. If Aunt Bell pushed her too far, her easy, high-paying job might be at risk.
Not daring to say another word, she sighed in exasperation, then turned and scurried out of the room with her tail between her legs.
After using the toilet, Charlotte Shaw came out and muttered to herself while washing her hands, "What a crazy old lady. Must be on too many health supplements..."
After she finished her muttering, she glanced up and noticed a small ventilation window above the shower stall.
"Hm?" Charlotte Shaw tilted her head back to look at the small window, and an idea instantly sparked in her mind.
She kicked off her slippers, ran barefoot back into the bedroom, and dragged the chair she used for meals into the shower stall.
The vent wasn’t too high. Standing on the chair, Charlotte Shaw could just reach it.
She gripped the ledge with both hands, stood on her tiptoes, and poked her head through the opening to look outside.
Outside the window lay a lawn coated in a thin layer of frost. Several tall crape myrtle trees grew on the grass. But since it was winter, they were completely bare—no leaves, let alone flowers, just skeletal branches.
The lawn was originally connected to the villa’s main garden, separated only by a pure-white wooden fence. But Willow Quincy, not trusting the fence’s integrity, had added another, taller iron fence beyond it.
The bars encircled the entire villa. Inside was a cage; outside was life and vitality.
A daring idea suddenly took root in Charlotte Shaw’s mind.
