Chapter 6

"Of course, I don’t think you’ve been bullying Mel behind her back, have you?"

In the coldest part of winter, the day after her brother Patrick’s birthday party, Melissa was called to her father’s study with her brother. Her father, with a voice as cold as the air outside, questioned her.

The "Mel" her father referred to was Amelia, not Melissa.

"Near the end of yesterday’s party, Miss Jacqueline consulted with Patrick and me privately before leaving. She mentioned that Mel sometimes suddenly becomes dejected and depressed, but when asked what she is troubled by, she doesn’t answer. She also avoids talking about Melissa. Miss Jacqueline even mentioned an incident from the tea party where they first met. She is worried that Melissa, whose engagement to Prince Christopher is rumored to be off, might be doing something to Mel."

As her father spoke, even her brother looked down at her coldly.

"Miss Jacqueline said that when talking to Mel, she noticed that Mel would suddenly become dejected and depressed, but when asked what she was troubled by, she wouldn’t answer. Mel talks about me, your father, and your grandmother, but avoids talking about Melissa. Miss Jacqueline is worried and has come to us with her concerns."

Under the sharp questioning from her father and brother, Melissa couldn’t think straight.

"I have never bullied Amelia."

Melissa later regretted not countering that it was Amelia who had been isolating her behind her back, but at the time, she could only respond with a trembling voice.

"I questioned Melissa and Mel’s maids, but they all said there was no such thing. Your mother said that the incident at the tea party was due to Mel’s nervousness. Mel lost her parents less than a year ago. Although she has improved recently, she was emotionally unstable when she first came to our home. The unstable behavior that Miss Jacqueline is worried about is likely due to the loss of her parents."

That’s what her father said. But why was he still interrogating her like this, even though he knew she was innocent?

"However, Grandmother said that Melissa was speaking ill of Mel."

With these words from her brother, Melissa regretted consulting her grandmother after the tea party. It was unfair that her trust and confiding in her grandmother had come back to haunt her this way. Her father, without softening his cold expression, asked her again.

"What about Mel makes you unhappy?"

It wasn’t that she was unhappy with Amelia. She was frustrated with her own inability to deal with someone like Amelia. She was sad that her father, brother, and grandmother had stopped paying attention to her. She couldn’t believe that they were seeing their beloved mother Vanessa in Amelia just because they had the same hair and eye color.

Melissa thought that Amelia, like her mother, was bright and always smiling. But her mother would actively engage with someone who was left out of the conversation and switch to a topic they could understand. Her mother would state her opinions clearly and wouldn’t change them based on who she was talking to. Her mother would point out when someone she cared about was doing something wrong, for their own good.

With just a little conversation, one should realize that Amelia and her mother were completely different on the inside. Melissa even wondered if her father, brother, and grandmother, who doted on Amelia as a replacement for their mother, had really loved their mother.

Her father and brother glared at her in silence, and the conversation ended.

From that day on, a clear divide was created between the four of them—her father, brother, grandmother, and Amelia—and Melissa. They no longer spoke to each other except for necessary matters.