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Brilliant Lady

Brilliant Lady

Kayla Medina

Last update: 2022-12-16

Chapter 1 The Biological Daughter

  • Amelia Snyder.
  • The scorching July sun blazed down over the village and all the crops.
  • I was outdoors trying to withstand the heat and plant watermelon seedlings.
  • "Amelia, there's someone here to see you!" Suddenly, I heard somebody calling me. I looked up and saw that it was our neighbor, Mr. Warren. When he caught sight of me, I saw a trace of surprise and admiration flicker across his face even though I was no stranger to him. I guessed he was probably startled once again by how fair I was. Even though I was constantly at work in the village fields, I still retained my fair skin and unblemished complexion, unlike the rest of the ordinary village folks.
  • "She's at your house now. She looks really wealthy; she even drove here," Mr. Warren added.
  • I nodded and followed him back to our neighborhood.
  • There were several people present when I got back to the house I'd lived in for more than a decade. One of them was an unfamiliar woman, so I figured she was probably the one who had come to call on me.
  • She glanced at me, not bothering to hide the disdain in her eyes.
  • Her reaction was understandable. I was currently wearing a coarsely-woven linen top and black slacks, both of which were liberally mud-splattered and dirt-stained. I was pretty sure I didn't smell bad, but my appearance was rather embarrassing.
  • The visitor finally spoke, her tone dripping with disdain. "You're Amelia?"
  • I nodded expressionlessly.
  • The woman continued, "I'm May Channing, the Snyder family's majordomo. I look after all their miscellaneous affairs."
  • At this point, my mother, Flora, gave a cold sniff. To be perfectly accurate, though, Flora Golding was actually my adoptive mother.
  • Ms. Channing gave a short, derisive laugh and took out a pre-paid credit card from her handbag. She placed it on the table with great deliberation and said, "There are 50 thousand dollars loaded onto this card. You wouldn't be able to earn a quarter of this even if you worked all your lives in the fields."
  • My middle-aged, ordinary, village-born adoptive parents both leaned forward in their seats, staring at the card on the table.
  • Flora, however, tried to hold out for more. "Do you really think 50 thousand dollars can buy us off, Ms. Channing? We've raised her as our own for eighteen years!"
  • "Flora, just take the money. Don't be greedy," I piped up indolently.
  • Flora shot me a glare. "This is none of your business, you little brat! Go clean yourself up, and don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong." She had never displayed any affection for me in the entire time I had lived with her, from childhood until now. In her eyes, my grades were abysmal, my personality was eccentric, and I was a loner by nature. As far as she was concerned, I had no redeeming features to love.
  • I was aware that she was planning to marry me off as soon as possible in the hopes that my future husband's family would pay a handsome dowry for me.
  • However, I had left the village right after I finished junior high. That had been three years ago.
  • I'd heard that after I departed, some gossipy busybodies had spread it around that some man from another town had run off with me. As a result, Flora had been the laughingstock of our village for the entire three years. That was why she wasn't satisfied with a mere 50 thousand; she probably felt that I was responsible for the ridicule and humiliation she had suffered at the hands of the villagers and wanted more by way of compensation.
  • The day was scorching hot, and Flora's house had no air-conditioning installed. Ms. Channing already looked irritated; out of patience entirely, she shoved the card across the table at Flora. "Take it or leave it, that's your call. The girl comes with me, regardless."
  • After that, she turned to me and snapped, "Go change. You're filthy!"
  • I merely rolled my eyes and gave her a bored, indifferent look before going to get myself cleaned up.
  • It didn't take me long to wash up and get changed into a set of clean clothes. I shrugged on a backpack and slouched over to Ms. Channing's car. "Get in!" She ordered quietly.
  • I said nothing but got in anyway. There was nothing to keep me here, after all. Even though I had lived in this place for eighteen years, I had already known that the village was not my home.
  • Flora and her husband were both ordinary people, mere villagers.
  • When I was thirteen, my wolf emerged. Her name was Venus, and she told me that she could not sense any auras from my adoptive parents that would indicate they were of the same race as me. I didn't tell Flora and her husband that I was a Wolf Host, but I secretly had a paternity test done. The results established without a doubt that I was not biologically related to them at all.
  • That was when I knew for certain that I didn't belong here. Since then, I had wondered what it would be like to have an actual family.
  • Now, Ms. Channing was driving me to my real home. On one hand, I felt some measure of anticipation, but on the other, I felt slightly bored. Slumping back against the car seat, I began idly drumming my fingers on the window.
  • Suddenly, my phone rang insistently. Lazily, I retrieved it from my bag and answered the call.
  • An urgent-sounding voice came over the phone.
  • "What's up?" I asked nonchalantly.
  • The young man on the phone said excitedly, "Hey Ames, tomorrow there'll be some good stuff at the UN auction. Do you want to come?" His voice was full of anticipation, yet he still chose his words with care, and his tone was respectful despite its informality as if he were talking to someone more senior in rank.
  • This was Gerald Hall, a good friend of mine. Whenever anything good happened anywhere in the country, I was always the first person he would tell. I loved going to auctions, and I always bid generously on items I wanted, so he would always let me know before anyone else.
  • Now, however, I frowned involuntarily and replied, "No, I'm not free." I hung up right after that.
  • "Did you get one of those scam calls, Ms. Snyder? There are a lot of highly skilled scammers in Sudbury City; I'm sure you wouldn't have encountered them in a village like yours," Ms. Channing commented.
  • I merely closed my eyes, not bothering to answer. I found her manner of speaking amusing, to say the least. Sudbury City had a lot of scammers, did they? Was the fact that they were highly skilled something to be proud of?
  • Ms. Channing seemed to find my indifference infuriating. With a touch of contempt, she stated, "The Snyders are very wealthy and powerful. If you end up being part of the family, you'll need to change your phone. Don't disgrace the family by using something like that."
  • My phone? I guessed she was implying my phone was out of date. She wasn't wrong either; it was a second-hand one I'd gotten several years ago. An ordinary village girl like me didn't need the latest smartphone.
  • Ms. Channing shot me a cold glance as she finished speaking. When she saw that I still had my eyes closed, she involuntarily raised her voice. "I hear you only finished school up until junior high, Ms. Snyder. That means you probably don't know the rules of the Snyder family."
  • Was she deliberately trying to find fault with me? I opened one eye and smirked at her. "Oh?"
  • Ms. Channing's voice was frosty as if she were teaching a primitive child who knew nothing about rules. "Oh? How dare you speak to your betters like that? Haven't you been taught any manners at all?"
  • I gave a tiny snort of laughter and said nothing more. She was a mere majordomo. Who was she to try and school me, a member of the Snyder family?
  • I was pretty sure Ms. Channing was extremely displeased, but she seemed to have realized that she had overstepped her boundaries and fell silent at last.
  • The Snyder residence was a two-story villa set in remarkably pleasant surroundings.
  • When I arrived at the villa, I saw my birth mother hugging her beloved daughter tightly. Well, no, to be strictly correct, it was Flora's daughter, the girl called Angelica. I had no idea what had happened, but Angelica was weeping, and my mother was comforting her, telling her that this would always be her home.
  • I communicated with my wolf and told her, "Venus, hide your aura, alright? Don’t let them find out about you."
  • "Why? These are our parents, and this is our home." Venus was puzzled; she had no concept of how complex and tangled human emotions could be.
  • "Just do as I say for now and let them think we're good for nothing, my goddess. What happens after that will be really amusing. Aren't you even the slightest bit curious about how they'll treat us?"
  • Venus obediently hid her aura and did so extremely well. Anyone who glanced at me would think I was a normal human being. Even if the other party were a Wolf Host, they wouldn't be able to sense Venus's presence or establish contact with her.
  • Quietly, I stood there and watched the scene between mother and daughter; they were so utterly reluctant to part ways. It was as if I were an intruder.