Taken By My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 63: Chapter 63

Eugene scoffed, "The villa's already blown to pieces. What are you even hoping to find?"
He jerked his chin at the little trinkets. "If you want new ones, I'll buy you as many as you want. I'll buy out the whole place if you want."
Lorraine looked at him, a bit in awe of his generosity, but she shook her head firmly. "I just want my old stuff," she said seriously, determined to get her things back.
Eugene wanted to snap her out of this stubbornness, so he looked up at her. She was just standing there. Her long hair was all messy from the sea breeze. Her face was set with determination, and her eyes were bright and a little lost.
"Alright, let's go dig through your pile of junk," he said, grabbing her hand and heading toward the ruins of the villa.
After two days of wind and sun, the villa that had been blown to bits was now nothing but broken walls and rubble.
Lorraine froze in shock for a few seconds, then dashed inside and started searching.
Eugene followed right behind her, a little exasperated but never leaving her side.
Lorraine searched every corner, and in the end, she actually managed to find them.
Her little trinkets were buried under the collapsed bed. She dug through the debris like a groundhog, pulling them out one by one.
The wind chime had lost most of its shells. The little photo frame was scorched black on one corner, and the wooden dolphin figurine had even lost its tail. Now it looked more like a dried-up roast duck than a dolphin.
Lorraine stared at them, speechless.
"You still want to keep these?" Eugene frowned, looking pretty disgusted.
"Oh, well." Lorraine glanced a little awkwardly at the battered trinkets in her hands, but her voice was still firm. "Honestly, I think it's kind of nice. At least now they're one of a kind. Nothing else can be like them, right?"
Even now, Lorraine could still find something good in all this. Eugene suddenly wondered if this was how she survived all those years at the Shaw residence, just by staying this optimistic.
He knew the business world in Auretian like the back of his hand, and he was well aware of how cold and selfish Zackery and Raquel were. He thought Lorraine's life before must have been really tough.
He glanced again at the things in her hands, holding back his distaste. "Did you get everything?"
"All here. Not a single one missing," Lorraine replied, sounding genuinely happy.
"Alright, let's go," Eugene said.
"Where to next?" Lorraine asked.
"We're—" Eugene began, but before he could finish, the heavy thumping of helicopter blades suddenly roared overhead.
The helicopter that had already left circled back and landed smoothly right in front of them. This time, only Queenie stepped out.
She was still dressed in that white Chanel dress, walking over steadily in her heels. She barely glanced at Lorraine without surprise, and she stood before them, her face expressionless. "Are we leaving for real this time?" she asked.
The question was for Eugene, and Lorraine knew this so-called vacation was truly over now.
The three of them got in the helicopter, and before long, they were up in the air. To Lorraine, the atmosphere in the cabin felt a little awkward.
She'd met Queenie before, and now she knew Queenie and Eugene were already acquainted.
Out of courtesy, she couldn't exactly ask, but she couldn't help being a little curious about what was really going on between them.
Bored in the back seat, she watched as Queenie and Eugene flipped through files, passed documents, and occasionally whispered to each other, making her feel like a total third wheel.
After a while, she lost interest and finally stood up. "You two go ahead and talk. I'm going to get some sleep," she said. She didn't even look back as she headed straight for the small bedroom in the cabin.
Lying on the bed and hugging a pillow, she just couldn't fall asleep. All she could think about was how close those two were, whispering about things she couldn't hear.
Lorraine shut her eyes and tried counting sheep, but in the end, she suddenly sat up in bed.
'Wait a second. Isn't this woman the same one I saw in the news ages ago? She was the one who'd been spotted with Eugene on the streets of Paustine? Back then, everyone called them the perfect couple,' she pondered.
Lorraine clutched her pillow, feeling a strange tightness in her chest. Now there was no way she was getting any sleep.
It was noon by the time their helicopter landed back home.
Lorraine got out of the helicopter with two dramatic dark circles under her eyes, trailing just behind Eugene.
After they got through security, Lorraine realized Queenie, who'd been quietly tagging along, was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't help but look back. "Where's Ms. Godfrey?" she asked.
"She went back to her own place," Eugene replied.
"She's not from here?" Lorraine asked, surprised.
Hearing that, Eugene gave her a weird look. "Why do you care about Queenie?"
"I was just asking," Lorraine said, not even sure why she had so many questions.
"Her family's in Jonalesburg. She's already gone to catch her connecting flight. She's really not from here, so we barely ever see each other," he said offhandedly.
Those words were music to Lorraine's ears, like a tiny plunger instantly unclogging that weird stuffiness in her chest.
She took a deep breath, stared at the familiar city in front of her, and threw her arms up, shouting, "I'm back, everybody! Lorraine Shaw is home!"
Eugene just watched her sudden outburst, holding back any comment. When the car pulled up, he stuffed her straight into the back seat. "You go back to Silverlake Villa first."
"What about you?" Lorraine asked without thinking.
"Back to the office." Eugene gave her cheek a quick pat and told the driver, "Drive her home."
He'd already gotten the video he needed. The next steps would need even more careful planning to make sure nothing went wrong. And as for her divorce from Stephen, that couldn't be dragged out any longer. It was time to deal with everything.
"Alright, see you!" Lorraine waved at him and then flopped into the back seat, replaying their conversation over and over in her mind. A silly little laugh suddenly floated from the back seat.
The driver in the front seat was so startled that he quickly glanced in the rearview mirror. Lorraine was already off in her own world, looking completely dazed and adorable.
The driver glanced sympathetically at the bandages wrapped around her arm. 'Looks like it isn't just her hand that got hurt. Maybe her head took a hit, too,' he thought.
The car soon pulled up at the entrance of Silverlake Villa. Lorraine got out, thanked the driver, and strolled inside at an easy pace.
The security guard looked a little nervous when he saw her. "Ms. Shaw, you have visitors," he said.
"Me? Visitor?" Lorraine pointed at herself, looking surprised.
'Who would come here to see me? Could it be Sheila?' she wondered.
"They said they know you well, and honestly, they seemed legit. I didn't want to cause any trouble, especially since I couldn't reach you or Mr. Moore, so I let them in," the guard explained.
"Oh," Lorraine replied, her curiosity piqued. She unconsciously picked up her pace, headed to the living room, and pushed the door open.
The moment she saw them, Lorraine instantly regretted coming back so soon. She saw some uninvited guests, and she did not want them around.
To be exact, Zackery, Raquel, and Elsie were sitting right there in the Silverlake Villa living room, acting like they owned the place. As soon as the door opened, all three of them turned to stare at Lorraine.
"You're back," Raquel said, her tone flat and indifferent. "Your dad's been waiting for you for ages."
They were completely taking over, as if this was their home. Lorraine felt a wave of discomfort. She'd finally carved out a little peace for herself, and now they were barging in, ruining everything.
Zackery said, his voice cold and commanding, "Come here. I need to talk to you." He didn't even glance at the bandage on her arm without even a single word of concern.
Lorraine bit her lip. Only after making sure they wouldn't dare hit her here did she slowly shuffle over and stop by the coffee table.
"Where have you been these past few days?" Zackery demanded.
His sudden interest in her whereabouts threw Lorraine off. Zackery had never cared about her before. She remembered falling into the dry pond behind the Shaw residence as a kid, and she was stuck there for three days before a servant finally found her.
She'd overheard the maids gossiping that during those three days, Zackery hadn't asked about her even once. He hadn't even noticed she was missing.
Lorraine lowered her head and stayed silent. She knew exactly what was going on. Everything that happened these past few days was tied to Eugene, so she couldn't tell them a thing.
Seeing her keep quiet, Zackery was already getting annoyed, but he managed to hold back his temper. "We're here because there's something you need to know."
Ever since Gordie's birthday party, everyone in the business world had been laughing at the Shaw family, and nobody wanted to work with them anymore.
Zackery swallowed his pride and begged the Moore Group more times than he could count, but Gordie wouldn't even give him the time of day. His family was just blacklisted completely.
Now the Shaw family's little factory was barely hanging on, running on fumes. They were close to going bankrupt, and the whole family was drowning in worry.
After thinking it over, Zackery thought the only shot he had was to switch sides. If he could get on Eugene's good side, maybe there was still a sliver of hope.
Since he had decided to side with Eugene, he had to prove that he was serious. He already knew what needed to be done, so as soon as he found out Lorraine and Eugene were living here, he came straight over with Raquel and Elsie.
"What is it?" Lorraine asked, already used to his bossy tone, but she didn't feel hurt or embarrassed anymore.
Zackery jerked his chin at the seat across from him. "Elsie, you tell her."
At that, Elsie lazily closed the game on her phone, looked up at Lorraine, and said, "Starting now, I'm officially going after Eugene. I want to be his wife. Lorraine, you're going to help me."