Their Villain, The Mogul's Beloved

Chapter 263

Chapter 263

After dinner, Zinnia went upstairs to rest. She charged her phone and then headed to the bathroom for a shower. When she came out, she noticed a string of missed calls from unfamiliar numbers on the screen. Zinnia frowned.

Before she could put the phone down, it started ringing again. She hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Zinnia,” Maelis called out. Her voice was cautious, almost trembling.

Zinnia instinctively wanted to hang up.

“Zinnia, I’m sorry. I misunderstood you before,” Maelis said, her voice heavy with guilt.

Zinnia stayed silent, her expression cold and distant.

Maelis asked, “Zinnia, can I come pick you up tomorrow? Let’s go home together, okay?”

Maelis had planned to pick Zinnia home during the day, but Betty had rushed back home in the afternoon. Betty threw herself into Maelis’s arms, her sobs uncontrollable. Between her cries, she kept repeating, “I was so scared. I didn’t mean to. I am sorry.”

Maelis felt a pang of sympathy. Betty was the child she had raised, after all. Maelis understood that Betty’s fear was natural. But the fact that Betty had schemed to make them misunderstand Zinnia left a bitter knot in her heart that she couldn’t untangle.

Betty subtly suggested that Maelis should ask Jackson to take down the school posts. Betty also wanted Maelis to publicly declare, in the name of the Shaw family, that Betty was also a cherished daughter. But Maelis remained silent.

Maelis felt the Shaw family had already wronged Zinnia too much. As for Howard spreading the news, Maelis didn’t see it as a problem. Zinnia was their biological daughter, after all, even if they had never officially clarified her identity.

They had been so focused on protecting Betty’s feelings that they had forgotten Zinnia could be hurt too. And now, Betty had even schemed to frame Zinnia. As a mother, Maelis was overwhelmed with guilt, especially since Zinnia had only recently returned to their lives.

away. She felt Betty needed to face some consequences. She

felt like hours,

didn’t seem appropriate to go pick up Zinnia. She

and confirming Zinnia was free, Maelis tried calling again. Maelis could feel Zinnia slipping further and further away, she

for Maelis to finish speaking, then she said, “Mrs. Shaw, don’t call me again.” With that, she hung

process her emotions, the door to

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12:56

Chapter 263

Sept

Donald walked in with a grim

40%2

say those things? Do you even care about the Shaw family’s reputation?

how is she supposed to face anyone at school?” Donald’s

had been married for decades, but she had never seen him like this. The man who usually spoke with such calm and refinement was now openly lashing out at

angry because of Betty? While Isaac’s actions are indeed excessive, Betty isn’t entirely innocent either. Yet he doesn’t even bother to ask for the full story. He had

was wrinkled, and his usually composed face was clouded with anger. His eyes, filled with frustration, seemed to reveal a side of him

moment, Maelis felt as though she were looking at a

complexion and the distant look in her eyes, Donald asked, “Maelis,

to Donald. But

but she’s as good

She thought, ‘He

consider how Zinnia

leaving them up indefinitely. But the moment he returned, he started questioning me without even asking what I