Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 651

Liana was already holding several designer shopping bags, clearly having been on a spree of her own. But the moment her eyes locked onto Nora and Phoebe, her smile instantly froze.

"Why are they here?"

Finnian furrowed his brow, leaning in to whisper a stern warning. "Don't cause any trouble."

Liana pouted. Though clearly reluctant, she didn't dare argue. She simply averted her gaze and pretended not to notice them.

Unfortunately for her, avoiding trouble was no longer an option when someone else was itching for a fight.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Fairchild heiress who was shipped off abroad for plagiarizing," Phoebe drawled, her voice dripping with venomous amusement. "Back so soon? Has the esteemed Fairchild Family of Northampton completely given up on having any shame?"

Phoebe's tone was lazy but laced with ice, making no effort to hide her hostility.

Her intense dislike for Liana went beyond the fact that the woman had almost become her sister-in-law. She loathed her to her very core.

When Phoebe had first heard about the arranged marriage between Vincent and Liana, she had been thrilled, practically praying they would be stuck with each other for life.

Sadly, the plagiarism scandal had forced the Fairchilds to smuggle Liana out of the country overnight, ruining the engagement. Phoebe had sulked for days over that missed opportunity.

Seeing this miserable brat pop up right when she was having a fantastic day was incredibly irritating. She absolutely had to tear into her.

Liana's face flushed with anger as she glared at Phoebe. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"What's wrong? Did your trip abroad make you deaf?" Phoebe flashed a mocking smirk. "Or did you just devolve entirely and forget how to speak human?"

"You..."

Liana felt like she was going to explode, but the words died in her throat. She couldn't think of a single comeback.

At the end of the day, she was merely the Fairchild ward, while Phoebe was the legitimate heir of the Vaughn Family. She was entirely out of her league.

"Finnian, let's go. They aren't worth our time," Liana muttered, desperately grabbing Finnian's arm and dragging him toward the exit. The frantic clacking of her heels against the polished marble betrayed her panicked retreat.

Finnian stumbled slightly as he was pulled along. It wasn't until they had reached the floor below that he shook her off. "Enough. We're out of sight. You can stop running."

He scowled at her. "When exactly did you manage to piss off Ms. Vaughn?"

Given the massive collaboration between the Fairchild and Vaughn families, he needed Phoebe's favor for several crucial aspects of the deal. She was the absolute last person they could afford to offend.

"I didn't do anything to her!" Liana whined, putting on a highly exaggerated expression of utter innocence.

She would have bent over backwards to kiss up to the woman!

Back when she was engaged to Vincent, Phoebe was poised to become family. Why would she ever purposely antagonize her?

It had to be that bitch, Nora!

Who knew what kind of toxic lies Nora had been feeding Phoebe to make the heiress hate her this much!

A venomous glint flickered in Liana's eyes, but she quickly masked it, offering Finnian a sweet, placating smile.

Especially on Matriarch Fairchild.

The Dowager's entire existence had revolved around her precious granddaughter. When Evie vanished, she had fallen into a deep depression, becoming bedridden. She was practically knocking on death's door when his father brought Liana in as a ward to fill the void...

But now, the granddaughter she had prayed for every day for the last two decades had finally returned, only to reject them with such callous cruelty.

Finnian had been in such deep denial that he covertly collected a few strands of hair she had left behind on the sofa to run a DNA Paternity Test.

He knew it was an absurd thing to do, but he was desperate for answers.

In the end, there was no miracle.

A 99.90% genetic match.

She truly was Evangeline.

He had searched for twenty years. The fact that she was alive and well was the greatest blessing he could ask for.

If she didn't want to reconnect, he couldn't exactly drag her back to the Fairchild estate in chains.

"Don't be sad, Finnian. I think Evie is just overwhelmed. She was speaking out of anger," Liana murmured sympathetically. "She's suffered so much all these years; of course she's resentful. Once she cools down, she'll come back."

Finnian pressed his lips together and cast her a fleeting glance. "I hope so."

Noticing his mood had slightly leveled out, Liana secretly breathed a sigh of relief.