Chapter 290

The supermarket hummed with life, its bright lights making every aisle feel warm and welcoming

Fannie pushed the cart beside Eleanor, her hands tightening and loosening on the handle as if debating with herself. At last, she leaned closer and whispered,"Eleanor...I heard my dad and that woman are back in town."

Eleanor's hand froze midway to the vegetable bin.Slowly, she turned, her eyes meeting the nervous flicker in Fannie's gaze.

She sighed inwardly.

A child her age ought to be carefree, chasing after dreams instead of being dragged down by family shadows.

Both she and Nolan had tried their best to shield Fannie from all that ugliness.

"Fannie,just keep your mind on your studies," Eleanor said gently. "The rest isn't yours to carry."

Fannie dropped her gaze, her lashes fanning shadows across her cheeks.

Deep down, she knew Eleanor and Nolan were only protecting her.

She hadn't been born when everything fell apart, with no memories to hold on to. But years of whispers from the household staff and gossip drifting in from outside had etched the truth into her heart.

She felt no true bond with the man who called himself her father, nor with the mother she had never had the chance to know.

One had never given her love, and the other was lost to her before she could even remember a face.

And yet... somehow, Fannie could still sense the sorrow her mother must have drowned in. That grief,though distant, felt like a thread tying their hearts together.

Seeing Fannie's spirits sink, Eleanor reached out and gently mussed her hair, her voice tender.

"Wherever your mother is, I'm sure she would want only one thing-for you to live happily. Leave the rest to us adults,hmm?"

Fannie nodded, her eyes shining with unspilled tears.

Just then, a sharp, saccharine voice sliced through the Not M...hum of the store.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Warren! What a coincidence running into you here!"

Eleanor turned her head and spotted Ady striding toward them, heels clicking like tiny hammers, her smile painted on with insincerity.

With only the faintest glance and a cool little hum,Eleanor steered Fannie to keep moving.

But Ady-still smarting from her run-in with Nolan last night-wasn't about to let them slip through her fingers.

She stepped squarely in their way, lips curling into a mock-sweet grin as her eyes swept over Fannie.

"My, my. Is this what the Bentons call manners? No hello for your fiancee's family? And this must be Fannie, right? Such a pretty little thing. Here-since it's our very first meeting, how about I give you a gift?"

Ady slipped her manicured hand into her designer bag and drew out a sleek black credit card, holding it toward Fannie with mock generosity. "Here.Go on-spend it however you like. Don't be shy with me...after all, I'm your mother."

Fannie's stomach twisted at the words. She stared at the card as if it were poison, then slapped it to the floor with a sharp crack. "You're not my mother!"

Eleanor immediately stepped in front of Fannie,shielding the girl with a protective arm. Her gaze turned to ice as it locked on Ady. "Let's go. Don't waste your breath on her."

"Stop right there!" Ady's face flushed crimson, her composure unraveling under the sting of public humiliation.

How dared these two insolent women treat her with such contempt?

Her voice rose as she addressed Eleanor. "Iam Colson's lawful wife! Once you marry Nolan, I'll be your mother-in-law."

Frowning, she continued, "And you, Fannie! I'm your father's wife, which makes me your mother. What?Don't you even know the basics of respect?"

She sneered."Perhaps it's time I had a little word with the Benton family about whether this engagement is still suitable!"

The word "mother-in-law" struck Eleanor like a shard of glass, stirring memories of Reyna, a gentle woman driven past her limits by betrayal.

Eleanor stopped mid-step. Slowly, she turned back,her eyes burning with contempt. "My future mother-in -law has long passed away. As for you, you're nothing but a homewrecker. Don't delude yourself, Fannie will never call you 'Mom.'"