The Killer Queen

The soup had been kept in the thermos for two hours and was still piping hot when it splashed onto Sienna’s wrist, turning a large patch of her fair skin bright red.

Instead of feeling like she’d done something wrong. Ashlyn let out a weird, low chuckle at the sight.

“That’s what you get for trying to mess with me, you witch! Scram! Get out of here, now!”

Tears welled up in Sienna’s eyes as she fought through the pain and left the hospital room, only to bump into Noella who had just come from Marcel’s room.

Noella had heard Sienna was with Ashlyn and, worried that Ashlyn might give Sienna a hard time, hurried over after giving the meds to the two old gents.

“Mom, what happened to you?”

Seeing the burns on Sienna’s wrist, Noella quickly led her to the washroom to rinse it with cool water and then applied some homemade ointment she’d made.

Sienna had held back her tears until then, but seeing her daughter take such good care of her made her heartache.

“Noella, do you think your grandma is out of her mind? She calls me over only to give me a hard time! She rang me up at 5:30 am to bring her chicken soup. I stood in that room for three hours. and then she accused me of poisoning her!”

Noella carefully spread the ointment over Sienna’s burn. She had developed the ointment. herself, and thankfully, after a few hours, the soup wasn’t as scalding as it would have been straight off the stove. This kind of burn would heal in a week.

*

Breathing a sigh of relief, Noella then took Sienna to Marcel’s room.

Marcel knew what had happened the moment he saw them. “Sienna, what’s this about? That old hag’s been bullying you again?”

the

“Marcel, you have to stand up for me! All these years, what have I ever done to displease the two of you since I married into the Schnabel family? We’re not some nobodies; our Horwich family has its own standing!” Sienna sobbed before continuing, “Why does she always have to make things difficult for me? Isn’t that just throwing her weight around? Does she want Tristan. to marry her niece from her side of the family? If that’s the case, just tell me, and Tristan and I can get divorced!”

Marcel’s expression turned awkward.

Back in the day, Ashlyn had a thousand and one grievances against Sienna. She had been hell–bent on marrying her niece to Tristan. The Schnabels were an educated family, and how could they engage in such backward and corrupt practices like cousin marriage?

Plus, Tristan was head over heels for the gentle and beautiful Sienna the moment he saw her,

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hanging around the Horwich household day in, and day out.

Seeing that the Horwich family was also respectable and Sienna clearly a good daughter–in–law, Marcel agreed to the marriage.

Ashlyn had always felt that Sienna snatched away a good match from her niece, preventing them from strengthening family ties. Over the years, she didn’t miss a chance to make life difficult for Sienna.

Marcel, busy with work, only had time to scold Ashlyn now and then, but she still thought Sienna was tattling and even accused Sienna of eyeing Marcel, her father–in–law, wanting to step into her shoes as Tristan’s stepmother. After back–and–forth squabbles, Sienna was too embarrassed to make a fuss, and Marcel found it humiliating.

Tristan, having heard some news, slid into the room and immediately crouched down to hug Sienna’s legs, bawling his eyes out. “My love! You can’t divorce me! You’re the one and only for me! You can’t leave me–ahhhh! If you divorce me, I’ll jump out of Dad’s hospital window right here, right now, and end it all!”

Noella and Marcel was dumbfounded by Tristan’s words.

Tristan was completely oblivious to his own father and daughter being present; all he knew was that if he was too late, his wife would be gone!

“Baby! You’re my one and only, my sweetheart, my life, my everything!”

“Bur your mom always bullies me; I have to divorce you!”

Looking at Sienna’s reddened wrist, Tristan got anxious. He turned to Marcel and stuttered. “Dad, maybe you should divorce Mom, then Sienna won’t technically be her daughter–in–law, right? You can’t let me lose my wife! Anyway, you don’t need a wife anymore, so maybe just divorce her?”

Marcel swung his cane down in frustration, cursing under his breath, “Get lost, you little brat! Even if your mom and I divorced, you’d still be her son, and Sienna would still be her daughter–in–law!”

What kind of son schemes to use his own father in his plans?

Sienna managed to extract her legs from Tristan’s grip, sobbing. “I’m going back to my parents‘ house! Now!”

Tristan hurriedly followed, still calling after his “precious sweetie“.

Marcel, feeling embarrassed, waved it off. “Don’t bother with them; your parents have always been like this. Every time your mom argues with your grandma, she heads back to her parents‘ place. I heard your grandparents are back in town recently. Have you seen them?”

Noella nodded obediently. “I saw Grandpa Merrick, and Grandma will be home this weekend.”

Marcel sighed deeply.

“When you head back, take something for Merrick from me as an apology. Your mom has had it tough all these years. If it weren’t for the conflict between your grandma and your mom, maybe you wouldn’t have been lost back then.”

Curious, Noella sat next to Marcel and started massaging his calves. She had the perfect touch, hitting all the right spots, making Marcel feel a whole lot better.

Thinking about that peculiar couple from before, he couldn’t help but appreciate his granddaughter more.

See, how caring she is!

“What happened back then? What does the feud between Grandma and Mom have to do with

me?”

“Back in the day, your mom had a rough time while she was expecting you, always in the hospital trying to keep you safe. Your grandma was convinced your mom was just being a drama queen and wouldn’t let her stay at our hospital. Instead, she sent her off to that backwater Tandy Hospital, claiming she knew folks who could look after your mom. Then, wouldn’t you know it. Tandy Hospital and Heartfelt Orphanage caught fire, and in all that chaos. they ended up mixing up the babies!”

So. Sienna ended up at a place like Tandy Hospital all because of Ashlyn?

“Why Tandy Hospital?”

“I’m not too sure myself. Tandy’s medical care wasn’t top–notch like our hospital, but it was decent enough, so your mom agreed to go. Looking back, if she hadn’t agreed, you wouldn’t have had to go through all that trouble!”

“I’m not troubled.”

Marcel chuckled, clearly pleased with his granddaughter’s sensibility. “Noella, listen, Grandpa’s getting on in years, and there’s a lot I can’t do anymore. But when it comes down to it, the Schnabel family owes your mom an apology for the way she’s been treated. If your grandma and your mom ever butt heads again, we, the Schnabel family, will have your mom’s back! You

got that?”

“Got it, Grandpa.” From NôvelDrama.Org.

Calvin pushed the door open and walked in. “Miss Yvonne took a tumble into the water, and she’s in the ICU now.”

Marcel looked surprised and asked, “How did she fall into the water?”

“Jasper said she wanted to learn swimming and tried to swim from Imperial City’s port back to the Schnabel Mansion, and ended up nearly drowning.”

Noella was like, is Jasper really fine with spouting such tall tales?

Marcel’s gaze flickered, his shrewd face took on a thoughtful expression. “Alright, make sure she’s well looked after. Don’t worry about anything else.”