Chapter 3

Lavender stayed with her grandfather until the sky turned dark. All along, he only opened his eyes once. He could not even utter a word.

She was worried sick about him but there was nothing she could do. She could only pray silently in her heart that her grandfather will get better.

When Lavender left her grandfather's room, it was already nightfall. Although she had not eaten anything for a long time, she was not hungry. She only felt thirsty thus she made her way toward the kitchen to fetch herself a glass of water.

She found the family of five having dinner, and that is when she remembered that no one had gone to check on her grandfather or brought him any food. She was so engrossed in her grief that she had forgotten about her grandfather's welfare.

She remembered her auntie saying that a doctor will always come to check on her grandfather daily, but the day was already over and no doctor came, what was going on?

They were already having dinner, yet her grandfather was lying there, having no one to take care of him.

Just as she made her last step on the stairs, she had Rael's voice.

"Mom, are you not going to give that old man some food again?"

"Why would we give a useless old man the food? He is already on the verge of dying, what is the need of taking care of him?" Janet said.

Lavender was shocked and wanted to dash into the living to confront them, but she managed to control her anger.

'So these people lied earlier when they said that they have been taking care of grandfather? How could they do this? They were still living in grandfather's house yet they wanted him to die?' Lavender was seething with rage when she thought about it.

"The doctor only checked on him once and said that the old man's chances of recovery are very slim. Why should we waste our time and resources to take care of the old hag? We can as well let him die fast by denying him food and medical care." Janet said. It was as if helping Ferdinant who was bedridden will make them very poor.

"What if cousin finds out that we have not been taking good care of her grandfather, would she not cause a ruckus," Rael said.

"She wouldn't dare. What right does she have? She is now only an orphaned girl with nothing on her name, why would we be afraid of her?" Janet sneered.

She thought that the death of Lavender's parents will see their family emerging to glory, they never imagined that the company will go bankrupt, and now they were as good as poor. Where will they find the money to take care of the old man? It did not make sense to her. She even felt that she was gracious enough to have him stay in this house.

Lavender clenched her fists angrily. She felt so much anger that her breathing became hurried and heavy.

Without a second thought, she walked towards the second room, they did not even notice her presence as they continued to talk, it was only after Jeffrey stepped on her foot that she noticed Lavender's presence.

She immediately shut up wondering how much Lavender has heard.

"What are you doing standing there, come over and have dinner. We did not want to disturb your time with your grandfather so we did not call you." Janet acted like a good host as she welcomed Lavender with enthusiasm. She was different from the person who had been sneering just a moment ago. Even her children and husband were amazed at her acting skills.

Lavender only sneered in return.

"Where is grandpa's dinner?" She asked as she crossed her arms around her chest.

"That..." Janet stammered.

She has just claimed now that she won't be giving that old man any food, if she said that it was prepared, won't she be shooting herself in the foot? But thank God there were no outsiders so she won't be losing any face even if she changed her statement.

"That's what, don't tell me you did not prepare anything for grandfather." Lavender pressed on. Although she had heard everything, she wanted

"I...." Janet was tongue-tied.

"Of course, I have his food prepared. I just that, we will always take his food to him after we have dinner, moreover, you have been in there for the whole day we couldn't disturb you."

"Hehe..." Lavender laughed after hearing her aunt.

"So this is how you have been treating grandfather all this while. You only care about yourself, yet you have disregarded the man whom you are staying under his roof? How heartless could you be?" Lavender asked coldly.

She looked at her uncle with disappointment which led to him lowering his head in shame.

"Ha, Lavender, you think that you are still the princess of this house and you can order anyone around as you wish?" Rael sneered after hearing Lavender.

"Now, you are just a lowly orphan. You should humble yourself and be thankful that we have not thrown you out of the house yet."

"Ooh, who are you to throw me out of my house? If not for my grandmother, would you have been able to enjoy such a luxurious life all this time? Would even have gotten the chance to set foot in the capital, don't act arrogant in front of me you ugly duckling." Lavender said.

"You..." Rael was so mad. Her face concocted into an ugly look, making her look scary.

Just as she was about to stand up and slap Lavender, her father finally reacted.

"Enough."

"Don't make a fuse. Make sure you take some food to your grandfather." Jeffrey said as he pointed his finger at Rael.

He was too ashamed of what Lavender had said that he did not want to have dinner anymore.

Indeed, if not for Agatha taking them in, they will still be living a poor and unbearable life back in the village.

He felt guilty for the way he treated the old man but there was nothing he could do.

Seeing his retreating figure, his family snapped out of their daze.

Never, even once had they ever seen their father raise a voice at any of them. They were too shocked to think about anything else.

"Dad..." Rael was the first to call out.

But all she got was her father's retreating figure.

How could her dad tell her to give that paralyzed man food? Was she supposed to feed him, how could he do that to her?

Rael clenched her fists and left the dining room in a huff after sending Lavender a deathly stare. Lavender was not coward though, she did not fear anyone in the house nor did she see the need.

After Rael and her father left, the rest of the family also left. It seemed that Lavender had ruined their good mood. Sam was still young and did not know what was going on. He continued to have his dinner as if nothing had happened.

"Are you happy now after ruining our dinner?" Janet asked with gritted teeth as she walked passed Lavender.

Lavender on the other hand shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"I don't know what auntie is talking about. I did not mean to ruin your family dinner, I just never thought that auntie is someone who doesn't know how to be appreciative. You have already set a death sentence for my dad, I hope the heavens are watching you."

After saying her piece, Lavender walked towards the kitchen with her head held high. Janet looked at her without saying anything. No one knew what she was thinking.

Lavender had not foreseen how hard her life would turn out, the torture she received from this family, she could only grit her teeth in return.