Chapter 38
Upstairs, Celeste returned to her bedroom, clutching her phone tightly.
After tonight’s incident, there was now bad blood between Kendric and Manuel. Kendric is never someone easy to deal with, and Manuel is no pushover
either.
Celeste’s head ached the thought.
Vader family had been kind to her, and it was this debt of gratitude that made her extra sensitive to their feelings. She could handle Kendric’s harassment, but the thought of Manuel getting hurt because of her left her
feeling helpless.
The phone rings snapped her out of depression. It was a call from Manuel.
“Manuel?”
“Yeah.”
She offered a heartfelt apology, “Manuel, about what happened tonight….
I’m truly sorry. I never intended for him to show up.”
Manuel soothed her, “don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your fault.”
Celeste took a seat on the floor, her head hanging low. “I won’t let any of
this affect you and your father.”
After a moment of silence, Manuel suddenly chuckled, “hey Celeste, you
don’t trust that I can handle it?”
“Melville family isn’t all–powerful, and it hasn’t been only around sixty
years since Kendric’s grandfather made their fortune. Besides, my family isn’t
one to be underestimated, either.”
Redeorned From Caged Love
Chamersd
“Manuel, it’s not that I don’t trust you.”
She trusted Vader family more than anyone else, but she just so afraid to get
them involved in this chaos.
Manuel surely understood her concerns, and he knew that his persuasion.
would only add to her psychological burden.
He dropped the topic, “if you ever decide to leave Melville family, just give
me a call, and I’ll come pick you up.”
Their support made Celeste feel the road ahead didn’t seem so bleak. “thank
you, Manuel.”
After ending the call, she felt much better than before. She headed off to
freshen up.
As soon as she walked out of the bathroom, she found Kendric was seated
on her bed, holding her phone.
Celeste raised an eyebrow. “That’s my phone,” she pointed it out.
“Hmm,” he nodded his head.
Evidently he was not giving it back to her. Celeste extended her hand, “give
me yours.”
Kendric narrowed his eyes, “you want to check my phone?”
“To make it fair, you checked mine, so I’d like to check yours as well.”
This request was something entirely new to Kendric. He handed his phone
to Celeste without any fuss.
She hadn’t expected him to agree so readily.
Redeemned From Caged Love
Chapte
Nonchalantly, she tossed his phone onto the bed and avoided making eye contact. She remembered that she had deleted all the messages and call
records.
Yet it was right her thorough clean–up of messages and calls that raised his
suspicions.
He proceeded to check Celeste’s credit card bills. Then he found there was a
four–digit expenditure this morning.
“What did you purchase this morning?” he asked.
Celeste met his gaze without flinching, “I bought a birthday gift for
Manuel.”
As expected, Kendric failed to maintain his composure.
“Celeste, you think I can’t handle you?”
Celeste didn’t catch the imply in his words, but she had a bad feeling.
Kendric made a quick phone call. “Has he arrived?”
He? Who’s he?
After he got the answer, he ended the call.
“Let’s head downstairs, and you’ll see the surprise.”
Celeste was in utter confusion. “What kind of surprise?”
“You’ll find out once we get downstairs.”
Celeste felt a mix of curiosity and unease. It was quite late, and she
wondered who she was going to meet at this hour.
Redeemed From Caged Love
Kendric guided her downstairs, and as Celeste approached the sofa, she saw
a man seated there. As she got closer, his silhouette became clearer.
“Dad?!”
Myles turned around. His face instantly brightened as he saw his daughter.
He put down the glass of water he was holding and stood up from the sofa.
“Cely!”
Celeste was overwhelmed by joy seeing her father, but her initial happiness
quickly gave way to other emotions. Fear, like a fine drizzle, began to seep in
from all sides, penetrating her every pore and sending shivers down her spine.
She didn’t dare to contemplate the true intention of Kendric bringing her father to Melville family.
Kendric turned a blind eye to her stiffness, but held her hand. He nodded politely to Myles, “good evening, Mr. Alinsky.”
Myles noticed their intertwined hands. He felt satisfied, “good to see you,
Ken.”
Then he explained to his daughter, “Cely, Ken mentioned he wanted to plan a surprise for you, so when you called me yesterday, I didn’t tell you.”
Celeste had a wooden expression. Kendric held her hand tightly, and she couldn’t resist, fearing her father might find out their sour relationship.
Myles opened his luggage–all stuffed with Celeste’s favorite snacks, pastries, and even sausages he had made himself.
Celeste released Kendric’s hand, “dad, it’s getting late today. You should have a rest first.”
Chapter
Myles glanced at his somewhat worn–out watch, “oh, it’s already this late!”
Celeste picked up his bag and offered, “dad, I’ll show you to your room.”
!
The first floor had a master room for Madelyn and several housemaid
rooms, and the second floor had Celeste’s and Kendric’s bedrooms and study,
and the third floor was reserved for storage.
Celeste wondered where she should arrange her father to rest.
The storage room on the third floor was out of the question. There were no
spare guest rooms on the second floor, and the first floor was currently
occupied.
Kendric seized the moment to suggest, “let your father rest in your room.”
Celeste couldn’t come up with a better solution, so she agreed. She carried her father’s luggage upstairs and placed it in her own bedroom.