I'll make him pay!

When Reine saw the dismissive feelings clearly written on Aelia's face, she could only grit her teeth and return to her own bedroom.

In fact, Reine had secretly stood outside the door after the Romanovs and Asher had gone into the office room for their conversation.

As she stood outside the door, Reine could only gather the information that Aelia and Asher's engagement was actually arranged by the Romanov family and was not because of their mutual feelings for each other.

Reine had initially wanted to learn more about what else the Romanovs and Asher were talking about, but was soon discovered by the head maid eavesdropping outside the door.

Though the maid, Aunt Clemmy did not dare to outright dismiss her from standing outside the door, her accusing expression made Reine too embarrassed to continue eavesdropping on the conversation.

So, Reine pretended that she was actually about to knock on the door, but then pretended to change her mind and return to the bedroom.

As she sat in her bedroom, Reine kept thinking about what she heard about Aelia's engagement with Asher and could not help feeling extremely jealous.

Reine thought, 'Either Mr Romanov or Azrael or perhaps both of them has made this arrangement for Aelia to be engaged with the Crown Prince of Delphia. I'm certain that being interested in permanently staying in the military, Asher has given up his rights to be the main heir of the Romanov family. That's probably why, they have arranged for this marriage alliance, so that Aelia can be the main heir, with Asher's support.'

Reine clenched her jaws in fury and thought, 'Just like I thought, in spite of providing the evidence of me being a part of the Romanov family, FATHER still favoured the daughters he spent more time with!'

Reine felt extremely indignant thinking 'How can Father do this to me, when I'm supposed to be the eldest daughter of the family! No, I'll definitely not let that bitch snatch away something that belongs to me!'

Reine had already forgotten that in reality, it was her who was the fake daughter. This talking about Aelia snatching away something that belonged to her absolutely held no ground, as Reine herself was the one who was plotting to snatch away something that never belonged to her.

Reine called her mother right away and the two began to hatch a scheme to break Asher's engagement with Aelia.

They continued plotting without knowing that though it was true that Aelia's engagement with Asher was arranged by both of their families, it had actually nothing to do with the Romanov family. Their marriage was actually due to the powers Aelia had inherited from her mother, Amelia Romanov and the Ducal House of De Ville.

Thus, Reine and her mother, Mrs Sandra Wilson could scheme however much they wanted, but would still fail to marry Reine into the Ivanov Royal family of Delphia, simply based on the fact that even if she would have been a Romanov, she could never inherit any of the Delphian powers.

So, why would the Crown Prince of Delphia seek a marriage alliance with an ordinary human, that too with someone like Reine who had no moral character?

...

The next morning, Asher joined the Romanovs for breakfast. Reine too had called her mother to join them for breakfast.

Mr Romanov sat at the head of the table with Azrael and Aylin on his left, while Aelia and Asher sat on his right.

Though Reine and Mrs Wilson, had tried to sit directly besides Mr Romanov, the others did not pay any attention to them.

After hearing that his wife was still alive, the hope inside Mr Romanov's heart had also been rekindled and thus he had become less muddled about the daily affairs.

He was already feeling uncomfortable after finding out that Reine was his daughter. He felt that Amelia would be hurt to return home to find that he had a daughter with someone else.

He knew that he could not do anything about Reine, since the girl was innocent and was born due to his own fault. However, that did not mean that he had to tolerate another woman trying to replace the position of his beloved Amelia as the mistress of the Romanov family.

Thus, when Mrs Wilson tried to sit beside Andrew Romanov, he did not try to give her any face and pretended that he didn't see her attempt.

Both the Wilson mother and daughter, thus, sat at the end of the table with a black expression on each of their faces.

Mr Romanov also took this chance to make some things clear.

"Sandra, you probably have heard from Reine about Aelia's engagement with Asher! Since Aelia will be going to Delphia soon, along with Asher and Azrael, and Aylin will be too busy with her own activities, as she'll be starting university in a couple of months; Reine will probably feel bored staying alone with me in the Romanov mansion. She should just go abroad and further her studies instead. Do you have any opinion against this?"

Mrs Wilson immediately tried to make Reine stay in Phillon. How could she give up the chance to let Reine be the only young miss who would be staying in the Romanov family?

Sandra pasted a smile on her face and replied, "Andrew, I'm glad that you care so much about our daughter! But I don't think that it's necessary to spend extra money to send Reine abroad and arrange for her education there, just to alleviate her boredom! You don't have to spoil her so much!"

But, Mr Romanov remained adamant about his decision.

He felt that since he could not do anything as Reine was already his daughter, it was better to send her abroad for a few years.

He hoped that this would ease the emotional burden felt by his wife after she returned home. At the same time, he also hoped that after studying abroad for a few years, Reine would turn over a new leaf and finally change her character.

When Mrs Wilson saw that she could not change Andrew's decision on the matter, she felt very confused. She felt as if the little favour she had gained with Andrew after Amelia's death had suddenly been washed away.

As she thought all these, the expression on Mrs Wilson's face got darker. She was sure that something had happened to make Andrew change his attitude towards her.

She thought, "Probably, that bastard Azrael has said something to Andrew! He's just like that slut Amelia! Let's see how I make him pay for disrespecting his elders, after I become his stepmother! Hmph!"