Cedars POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathaniel sat in the center of the gathering, surrounded by guests eager to engage with him. Despite his seventy years and silver hair, he maintained an imposing presence. When he spotted me entering, his expression remained unchanged as he motioned with his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCedar, come here,\u201d he commanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I approached with my gift bag in hand, forcing a smile. \u201cHappy birthday, Grandfather. May you be blessed with health and longevity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSelena tells me you haven\u2019t visited the Wright house for quite some time,\u201d Nathaniel said sternly. \u201cWhat\u2019s this about? We didn\u2019t raise you\u00a0<\/p>\n
just so you could fly the nest and forget where you came from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Grandfather,\u201d Selena wrapped herself around his arm, sighing dramatically. \u201cMy sister has her own circumstances now. She can\u2019t visit\u00a0<\/p>\n
frequently because she\u2019s not alone anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathaniel\u2019s eyebrows furrowed. \u201cWhat do you mean, not alone?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandfather, don\u2019t you know? My sister has a child\u2013a six\u2013year\u2013old boy\u2026 Oh! Should I not have mentioned that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selena covered her mouth with feigned remorse, but the damage was done. The atmosphere in the room shifted immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though I held a lower status as the Wright family\u2019s adopted daughter, everyone in Chicago\u2019s Gold Coast social circles knew of my existence. After all, why would a family like the Wrights adopt a daughter without reason?\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this\u2013this they hadn\u2019t heard before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was only twenty\u2013six, unmarried, yet apparently had a six\u2013year\u2013old son?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Cedar,\u201d Selena continued with her performance, covering her face as if about to cry. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have revealed your secret about having a child out of wedlock\u2026 Sister, I was wrong. Please don\u2019t be angry with me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nearly laughed from the absurdity. So this was her plan\u2013exposing Oliver\u2019s existence to humiliate me? Did she still think I was that defenseless adopted girl who would endure the Wright family\u2019s shame and accusations without fighting back?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d severed my ties with the Wright family. Whatever happened in my life was none of their business.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandfather,\u201d I said coldly, \u201cI\u2019ve delivered your birthday gift. I\u2019ll be leaving now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to leave, but Nathaniel\u2019s voice cut through the room like ice. \u201cStop right there. Explain this child situation to me immediately!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathaniel had raised three daughters and one son, each under his strict supervision. Though he favored his son, all his children received\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:42 Tue, Feb 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 97\u00a0<\/p>\n
proper education,\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Wright family prided itself on strict family values at least in Nathaniel\u2019s mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs what Selena said true?\u2018 he demanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned back, my gaze steady. \u201cWhat if it is? What if it isn\u2019t? Does it matter?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow dare you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nathaniel hurled his teacup toward me. It shattered at my feet, but I didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this how you address your elders? Is this the upbringing we gave you?\u201d he shouted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at the broken pieces, then back at him. \u201cMay I ask what upbringing that would be, Grandfather?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice remained calm as I continued, \u201cNo one ever taught me how to properly address elders, nor did anyone tell me I shouldn\u2019t have a child before marriage.\u201d I curled my lips into a mischievous smile. \u201cWhen Selena was in college, she constantly changed boyfriends and often stayed out all night with different men. I thought that was the Wright family upbringing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t make things up!\u201d Selena exploded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could see she was furious. Her plan had been to destroy my reputation, not have the spotlight turned on her. The hatred in her eyes made it clear she wanted to strangle me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCedar, how dare you make such accusations!\u201d Elara Wright interjected coldly. \u201cSelena has always conducted herself properly. She hasn\u2019t even had a boyfriend yet. Don\u2019t try to smear your sister\u2019s reputation! It\u2019s you who, unmarried, has a six\u2013year\u2013old son. That means you got pregnant at twenty! At that age, still in school, you dared to get pregnant and secretly have a child. The Wright family never taught you\u00a0<\/p>\n
such behavior.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ballroom erupted in gossip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goodness, the Wright\u2019s adopted daughter is so brazen, having a child that young and keeping it secret for six years!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, she\u2019s a foundling of unknown origin herself, now she\u2019s produced another illegitimate child. Like mother, like child!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our UnfiAnished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 97 Cedars POV\u00a0 Nathaniel sat in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}