Heiress' Househusband is a Secret Billionaire - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Why Blame Another When We’re At Fault?

<.Manor No. 6, Eldoria Heights.>

“Un—unforgivable! This is too much!”

Samantha’s indignant words rang above Stephanie’s sobbing. The middle-aged woman held the crying young lady in her arms, hoping to soothe her daughter’s hurt feelings.

Oh… How much her heart broke seeing her beloved daughter so miserable like this.

“M-mom… Is this my fault? Lari… is she so angry with me? I didn’t mean to make her upset… I swear! I never meant it!”

Nestling closer to Samantha, Stephanie hiccuped as she tried to speak. Her words were incoherent. Her chest rose and fell while her shoulders shook from her crying.

Strands of Stephanie’s blond hair clung to her damp face, her eyes bloodshot. The previous pristine appearance she curated for tonight’s event was ruined by the chaos left by Lariette.

Horrified, Samantha quickly shook her head. She pulled Stephanie closer to her, stroking the lady’s trembling back. Her heart hurt for the misery endured by her daughter.

“No! You’re not at fault, my dear. Don’t ever think like that. That girl is just rebelling against us! Yes! She’s trying to rebel!”

“Mom…”

“Oh, Phanie… Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”

Declan refrained from sighing out loud as he watched the exchange between Samantha and Stephanie. He had been quiet from the moment they gathered in the lounge after sending the Silvera family off just now.

To say the atmosphere turned awkward was an understatement.

Even though Matthias looked unbothered as always, his parents and younger sister were obviously dissatisfied with the turn of events. Mrs. Silvera didn’t even hide it from her face.

“I didn’t expect your children to have such… dramatic events going on in their lives. Well, you shouldn’t be surprised, don’t you? The baby switch decades ago was already drama-worthy.”

Mrs. Silvera’s words stung both Samantha’s and Jonathan’s hearts. They could barely look at the Silvera family as they tried to register the aftermath of the chaos in their minds.

Tonight’s dinner should end on a pleasant note as a prelude to a stellar wedding this coming weekend. Unfortunately, it became disastrous, something they never expected to happen.

Everyone gathered in the lounge except for Jonathan and Chairman Delaney. The former was called to the home office by his elderly father-in-law.

Most likely the two men were in the midst of their own verbal fight.

Celina had returned home, to the place she shared with Declan. She hugged him before driving away from the manor, wanting to give him encouragement. He had to stay here tonight.

As for Damien… Rafael literally dragged him from the dining room before kicking him out. The cheating scumbag fell pathetically on the front porch.

“Stop crying, Phanie! Lari wouldn’t retaliate if you didn’t provoke her! Enough with your sorry act!”

Declan almost cursed under his breath when Rafael suddenly scolded Stephanie. He knew what his third brother meant but, telling Stephanie off at such a time would just add more to the heated tension.

And…

Declan’s worry came true in the next second.

“Ray! Why are you blaming Phanie? That damn brat started this first!”

Alaric hollered, his tone ringing across the lounge. Intense fury set his sapphire eyes blazed, shooting lasers at Rafael who sat opposite him.

Alaric had been on edge from the moment Lariette and Ruediger ran out of the manor. He almost exploded on Declan and Rafael for stopping him but, his eldest brother’s darkened gaze discouraged him.

Scoffing, Rafael rolled his eyes, not being troubled by Alaric’s anger at all. He stared at his second brother as if he was the stupidest person alive.

“I don’t want to talk to you. Just wasting my breath. You’re at fault too. It’s so obvious how much you looked down on Mr. Alvord. Ha! Turned out, he’s not bothered to play with your stupid games at all!”

“Ray! Why are you…”

“SILENCE!”

A pin-drop silence instantly shrouded the entire lounge once Declan yelled. Even the crying Stephanie stopped sobbing. Everyone stared at the man in the suit with stunned looks.

Samantha and Stephanie gazed at Declan whose face expressed the thinning thread of his patience. It would snap anytime soon.

Rafael shifted his gaze elsewhere, annoyed with the situation while a frozen Alaric couldn’t look away from Declan.

The Elsher family’s heir exhaled a long and deep sigh. Veins of headache throbbed in his temple. He clenched his jaw, trying to calm the boiling anger he had been keeping to himself all this time.

‘Calm down. Calm the fuck down!’

Declan had always prided himself on keeping his emotions in check but, Damien’s nonsensical behaviors and the newly revealed details about his breakup with Lariette almost made the former snap.

Being forced to witness the ugly blaming game between his mother, sister and brothers didn’t help Declan to subdue his fury.

Declan slowly swept his gaze across the lounge, looking from his mother to siblings one by one. Once he spoke, the frostiness of his cold voice added a chill to the thick tension in the air.

“We can’t undo what has happened. But… why blame another when we’re at fault?”

Lariette’s action might seem unsightly but, Declan was fully aware that his sister was simply defending herself.

She stood up for herself when no one came to her defense — ever.

Lariette’s words before she left the dining room echoed in Declan’s mind. Recalling those exact remarks ghosted shivers down his spine.

“I have to stand up for myself because you’ve never done it for me. What were you doing when someone degraded your daughter into a whore? You did nothing.”

Lariette directed those words to their father, Jonathan, but… they still stung Declan’s heart for he knew the extent of his massive failure in protecting her, his youngest sibling.

Yes. He failed her.

A frown marred Samantha’s forehead. Staring at her eldest son, she uttered, her voice lacing with disbelief over Declan’s statements.

“…what fault? Why are you talking as if we’re at fault, Dec? None of this would happen if…”

“Why? Are you trying to blame Lari again, Mother? You haven’t had enough of it?”

Declan swiftly cut the rest of Samantha’s words. Disappointment ladened his voice despite knowing how biased their mother was toward Stephanie.

Froze, Samantha was tongue-tied. She was surprised to see the evident dismay in Declan’s eyes.

“You know I’m telling the truth, Declan. If Lariette didn’t cause a ruckus, tonight’s dinner wouldn’t end badly. She stirred a fuss because of her jealousy over…”

Rafael sighed out loud. Driven by his frustration, he intervened, “Mom, seriously? You sound funny.”

“Rafael… Drop it.”

Declan sighed, trying to stop his brother from saying things he would regret but, Rafael ignored his warning.

“I bet if the situation was reversed, if Lari provoked Phanie instead, you’d be the first to berate her, Mom.”

Samantha was speechless. Declan and Rafael’s darkened gazes carried the weight of their disappointment. Unable to counter her sons’ statements, she lowered her chin in defeat.

‘No! This can’t be happening!’

‘No!”

Stephanie could feel her insides twisted into knots. She looked at Declan and Rafael in horror, unwilling to believe how clearly they defended Lariette tonight.

If this continued… she would lose her throne in this family!