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.

right away. She felt Betty needed to face some consequences. She decided to wait a few days before seeking

to Maelis, crying for what felt like hours, until exhaustion finally overtook her

it was already late, and it didn’t seem appropriate to go pick up Zinnia. She called Zinnia multiple times, but none of the

calling again. Maelis could feel Zinnia slipping further and further away, she wanted

me again.” With that, she hung up. She had answered the call only to stop

process her emotions, the door to the room

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Chapter 263

Sept

walked in with a grim

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things? Do you even care about the Shaw family’s reputation? Betty’s been part of this family for over ten

to face anyone at school?” Donald’s tone grew sharper, his anger escalating with every word as he glared

been married for decades, but she had never seen him like this. The

entirely innocent either. Yet he doesn’t even bother to ask for the full story. He had come straight to accuse me and

eyes,

as though she

Maelis’s pale complexion and the distant look in her eyes, Donald asked, “Maelis, are you alright?” He stepped closer,

scent clinging to Donald. But

said, “Betty’s been our daughter for over ten years. She may not be ours by blood, but she’s as good as. This time, Betty was wrong, but those posts online are unacceptable. How will

She thought, ‘He

situations, yet Donald didn’t even consider how Zinnia

problem. I have no intention of leaving them up indefinitely. But the moment he returned, he started questioning me without even