The Killer Queen by Noella Briony

Chapter 135

What’s his take on Ashlyn?

Beckett hadn’t expected her to ask this question, but now that she had, he pondered for at

moment.

He stroked his chiseled jawline and let out a heavy sigh. “To be honest, it’s complicated. As kids, we never really got along with Grandma. She didn’t like Mom, and she wasn’t too fond of us either. You might not believe it, but we had it rougher than Yvonne. That’s partly why us, especially Stirling and Jasper, didn’t care much for Yvonne; Grandma showed blatant favoritism from the start.

She used to say Yvonne was a gift from the heavens, and that Mom would lose you because of her sins, her lack of faith. She said you had bad luck, claimed Mom had a cursed fate. When. Yvonne was little, she could have anything she wanted, even if it meant taking things from Elara. And Grandma would scold Elara, not her.”

Under such extreme favoritism, and with Ashlyn constantly being hard on Sienna, it wasn’t surprising that the Schnabel kids didn’t have much love for Ashlyn!

“When we were little, Grandma said kids shouldn’t eat too much at night if they wanted to grow tall. I believed it until Yvonne came to our house, and then I realized she could eat her fill!”

I

Beckett felt a bit embarrassed recalling these memories. It was as though, even now, as the head of the Schnabel business empire, he still couldn’t shake off the memory of the meals he

missed out on as a kid!

“As for Yvonne, once we caught her taking Elara’s things and damaging them. Elara and Jasper gave her a thrashing, a proper one. But even then, Grandma made Elara apologize and refused to let her eat. Eventually. Dad took us and moved out. On one hand, I feel like I should respect Grandma as my elder, but on the other, it’s really hard to muster that respect.”

He had meant to sugarcoat his words, but for some reason, he found himself opening up more around Noella, sharing everything with her. He never felt this way about Elara.

Perhaps it was because Noella was his sister!

Noella nodded. “I get it.”

The fact that Beckett was this candid meant there wasn’t much affection for Ashlyn.

Noella pulled out a paternity test report and handed it to Beckett. “Beckett, this is for you.”

Beckett looked puzzled, but as soon as he saw what the report contained, he stood up abruptly. eyes wide with shock.

“Noella, what is… where did this come from?”

asked

share the latest pharmacological research with him, which would surely make him grit

the contents of the

it meant they had no blood connection to Ashlyn at all! Was that why Noella was asking all these questions, concerned about their feelings for Ashlyn? Perhaps she feared that if they were close, finding out the truth would

was just too kind–hearted, too

to calm down and caressed Noella’s

you. It’s up to you to decide when to tell Dad.”

and the one who knew the temperaments of the Schnabel family best,

health isn’t great

probably already

had emerged unscathed from the

harm Marcel. Thorpe said that Marcel had made enemies at

vigor and dominance

many times; could Marcel really

shock. “How could Grandpa know?”

knock. Marcel was outside in

air of calm authority, with his white hair a testament to his

let me see that.”

handed the clear and conclusive report to

This settles one of my worries. Once she’s in her

learn that Ashlyn wasn’t his biological mother; instead, Yvonne was revealed to

Tristan become a motherless child overnight? The revelation

10:23

my mom?

we’ll have to ask that old lady! But I doubt she’ll tell the truth.”

don’t know who you had a child with? I’m your blood, and you don’t know who my real

Tristan a swift kick in annoyance. “Shut it, you

didn’t dare speak

actual son? It’s probably not so simple, Beckett. I trust you to handle this; go

“Will do.”

looked at Noella. “Girl, was Ashlyn’s illness

must’ve been Yvonne who triggered a bad reaction with the remnants still in her