Chapter 020: Being Too Smart for One's Own Good

Even Silas and Sylvia, who usually kept their thoughts well-hidden, could barely maintain their composure.

They made an excuse about taking their luggage to their rooms and left.

Xenia said nothing, merely directing the servants carrying their bags to show them the way, before calling Auntie Du to bring fruit and other refreshments for the guests.

She was the picture of hospitality.

Silas didn't live in the main building.

Before going abroad, he had his own separate building on the Pierce estate, and upon his return, he naturally moved back into his old quarters.

The moment they left the noisy living room of the main building, Sylvia's smile vanished.

She only dared to show this expression because the servant trailing behind with the luggage couldn't see her face.

Even so, Silas shot her a warning glance.

Seeing this, the fury on Sylvia's face softened slightly.

Once inside Silas's small building and after the servant had left the bags and departed, Sylvia's true colors came out. She began to curse and swear. If the coffee table in front of the sofa hadn't only had a single vase with flowers—which would be easily missed if broken—she likely would have smashed it to vent her rage.

Unable to break the vase, she kicked the sofa instead. "I'm livid! Quentin and Xenia are one thing, but those two niblings of yours completely disregarded me! In all my years abroad, I've never been treated like this! And in front of the Fosters, no less—they humiliated me on purpose, making me a laughingstock for my own family!"

Kicking in high heels was no small feat.

The pain made Sylvia hop twice in place, ruining her mood even further.

Silas glanced at her but offered no words of comfort for her self-inflicted injury. He simply frowned and sat on the sofa.

Clearly, he was in a foul mood as well.

"This is the Pierce house. You'd better control your temper. If your impulsiveness lets them notice something and ruins my plans, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

Silas's tone was icy and laced with impatience.

The swearing Sylvia was instantly silenced.

She knew well that Silas was neither good-tempered nor a good man. If she jeopardized his goals, he wouldn't care that she'd been with him for over a decade; he wouldn't show her any mercy.

She sat down beside him, clinging to his arm and speaking in a coy tone: "Silas, I was just so angry that I lost control for a second. Besides, I only said those things because we're alone. In front of others, I promise I'll keep it all inside and never let anyone catch on. I swear!"

"Won't you forgive me just this once? Please?"

"Remember what you said!"

Seeing Silas's expression soften slightly, Sylvia let out a silent sigh of relief.

"Silas, don't be so mean to me."

Silas happened to have a weakness for this act of hers. Feeling her pressed against him, his thoughts began to wander.

If he didn't need to maintain a good impression for Quentin and Xenia to facilitate his future moves, he would have pinned Sylvia to the sofa right then and there to let off steam.

"Remember, be cautious about everything from now on. I don't care what you're thinking or if you're upset—you swallow it. You'll have your chance to vent later!"

"Mm, I believe you!"

A flash of venomous malice crossed Sylvia's eyes.

The humiliation she suffered today—sooner or later, she would pay it back with interest!

"Silas, the Pierces gave us such a hard time the moment we stepped in. Do you think they suspect something?"

"No. At least my 'big brother' and sister-in-law don't. As for the two kids, even if they suspect something, so what?" Silas's tone was arrogant.

No matter how talented Leo was, he was still just a seventeen-year-old; Silas didn't take him seriously. As for Seraphina, he dismissed her even more readily.

Quentin and Xenia trusted him; he had been abroad for years, and their impression of him was frozen in time from twelve years ago.

Twelve years ago, he had been the picture of a well-behaved young man.

Even if they had some wits about them and might notice something after being together for a while, he was confident he could finish them off before they caught on.

"Then why did Xenia side so blatantly with Seraphina when she was clearly humiliating me? If she didn't suspect anything, she wouldn't have treated me like that. I've kept in touch with Xenia all these years for the sake of our plans, and we were on good terms. I just called her a few days ago and she was very warm. She was happy we were coming home, said she'd prepare the rooms, and even said we'd discuss wedding preparations when we got back."

"That wasn't an act. So why did her attitude change completely today?"

"The Pierces are famous for doting on their children, especially their daughter. No matter how good your relationship is with her, compared to her own daughter, you naturally carry less weight in Xenia's heart. She was just siding with Seraphina; she wasn't truly hostile toward you."

Scanning the clean, well-appointed living room, Silas continued, "Looking at how this place is set up, Xenia definitely put effort into it. If she had a problem with us or suspected something, she wouldn't have gone to this much trouble."

Sylvia also looked around.

Indeed, effort had been made.

If Xenia had merely given a casual order and left it all to the servants, the decor wouldn't be this expensive.

The vase on the coffee table alone was worth at least a million.

Without the approval and planning of Xenia or Quentin, the servants wouldn't have done this.

"So you mean Xenia's actions were just because she favors her daughter? Nothing else?"

Before Silas could answer, Sylvia frowned with displeasure. "Those two Pierce children are truly unpleasant!"

Silas pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "Or perhaps, we're overthinking it."

Sylvia let go of his arm and asked in confusion, "What are we overthinking?"

"When we went abroad, Leo was only five. I didn't know him well, but we've gathered plenty of intelligence over the years. We have a good idea of what kind of person Leo is."

"I still have some impression of Seraphina, and since she's something of a celebrity, it's easy to find info on her. She's just a rich girl who knows nothing but music—extraordinarily simple-minded."

"But one thing is certain: they are both very smart."

"The reason they were so rude today is likely because they saw the news and guessed we leaked our return to the reporters. For proud young masters and misses like them, our methods must be repulsive."

"You're saying... their bad attitude is just because we leaked the news to the media?"

Sylvia thought about it and felt that it wasn't impossible.

How old were Seraphina and Leo anyway? They had been pampered since childhood and never faced hardship; they couldn't be that vigilant.

She had thought too much.

Silas's thoughts were similar to Sylvia's.

In the end, Silas was too overconfident and didn't care about Leo or Seraphina—especially Seraphina.

In his eyes, she was just a vase.

She posed no threat to him at all.

Little did he know that one day in the future, they would pay a heavy price for their naive assumptions.

Meanwhile, in the study on the second floor of the Pierce main building.

Xenia used an excuse to call Seraphina and Leo to the study.

As for Quentin, he was still sitting in the living room to keep order.

After all, there were two Foster elders present. Though the Foster second-branch head, Fang Zhiwei, wasn't anyone to fear, he was still a prominent figure in Seahaven. Since he was at the house, Quentin, as the host, couldn't ignore him completely.

However, the main reason Quentin stayed was that he knew Xenia was taking the siblings upstairs for questioning, and he needed to stay to distract the guests.

"I gave birth to you; I know your temperaments best. You've never been ones to cause trouble for no reason, let alone humiliate someone in public without cause."

In the study, Xenia sat on the sofa, looking at the siblings standing before her. "Tell me, what's really going on?"