CHAPTER 479

Just as they wished, they were found. Peachlyn was elated when she saw Jericho standing behind the door. Oh! He must be here to bring me home.

Though she’s the Clarkes' foster child, her birth mother and foster mother were best friends, and the latter took her in after her birth mother's death. While her foster mother might not have regarded her as her own, she still loved her regardless.

What was more, her foster mother always said she would only be doing her late birth mother right by raising her well.

She believed her foster mother would surely not sit idly by while she wandered in the streets, or how could her foster mother do right by her late birth mother?! Hence, she instantly assumed Jericho had come to take her home when she saw him.

But lo and behold, Jericho said nothing while Milana yelled and gave her two solid slaps the second they met. Instantly, she knew something was off. The Clarke siblings didn't seem to show up to bring her back but to criticize her mercilessly.

As panicked as she was, she felt even more aggrieved.

Regard her as their own, they say. Yeah, right! Once a foster child, always a foster child!

If the person marrying Zachariah was Milana, the Clarkes would've surely long called off the marriage. But because she was the one marrying him, none of the Clarkes were anxious about it, and no one would worry for her future even more so. All they had in mind was to sacrifice her happiness in exchange for the Clarkes and Soulsbys' alliance!

They were nothing but a group of selfish fools. Grievance overwhelmed her, and she held her face as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Save your breath, Milana." Jericho sounded disinterested. "What shame and integrity can you expect from her when she can elope with another man soon after her fiancé got into an accident?"

"Jeric, you—" Peachlyn covered her mouth and looked incredulously at Jericho, for she didn't expect him to say that of her.

Sure, Jericho never treated her as well as he treated Milana, but he still looked after her like a sweet older brother. But now, he was looking at her like she was a stranger, and it made her even more apprehensive.

Is Jericho not here to take me home? If that really is the case, what am I going to do then?!

"How can you say that about me, Jeric?!" She suppressed her fear and looked tearfully at Jericho. "I don't want this either, but I don't have any other choice—"

"You do," he retorted icily. "You could've rebelled, kicked up a fuss, and even gone on a hunger strike to express your unwillingness to marry Zachariah. As long as you were insistent, Mom and Dad would certainly change their mind and call off the marriage for you! The last thing you should do is elope with Hugo, do our family wrong, and make us the joke of the town because of your actions."

"That's all just in your head!" Peachlyn wept at Jericho's criticism. "You can say whatever you want now that it has already happened. But who's to say what will go down when it hasn't?!"

Jericho could say whatever he wanted now. He could paint his parents as reasonable, understanding, and even saint-like. After all, there was no way of verifying the truth at this point.

But if she didn't run away with Hugo at the time, she might have been married to a paralytic Zachariah.

Not only wouldn't his parents do what Jericho described, but the Clarkes would only be wary of her as a result of her rebellion, bellyache, and hunger strike. They would ground her, and by then, she wouldn't even have the chance to run away.

Talk was cheap, and anyone could do it. If the Clarkes were really as nice as Jericho perceived them to be, they'd have long called off the marriage. Would she even need to elope with Hugo?!

"If that's how you want to think." At that, Jericho disclosed, "I haven't come to argue with you. I'm here under Grandpa's order to retrieve the Clarke jade emblem."

With that, he extended his hand. "Give me the emblem."

"And the Soulsby Family's betrothal gifts!" Milana interjected disdainfully. "You're something; I'll give you that. To think you'll elope with another man with the Soulsbys' betrothal gifts. Have you no shame?"

Peachlyn's face flushed bright red in response. She wasn't shameless; she had no other choice. Because she was only the Clarkes' foster daughter, she didn't have much fortune to call her own. As the saying went, stay thrifty until you hit the road. Of course, she needed as much financial support as possible.

Most of the Soulsbys' betrothal gifts were with her foster mother, and she only had a few pieces of

jewelry she fancied that were given to her.

She hadn't given it too much thought when she took all the jewelry with her before leaving. But who'd have thought the Soulsbys were so penny-pinching? They remembered all the gifts they gave and even requested Milana to ask for them. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

Fortunately, they were still in her bag. She still wasn't willing to part with them, for the few pieces of jewelry were rare goodies. If she had sold them off, given how penny-pinching the Soulsbys were, they surely wouldn't let her off the hook easily.

She knew she certainly wouldn't be able to keep them any longer when Milana came as well. Thus, she didn't make any useless struggles and went into her bedroom to fetch the jewelry.

"I didn't mean to take them. I was in a rush to leave then, and they were mixed in with my other jewelry. I forgot to pick them out," she said while handing them to Milana, who sneered as she took the jewelry, "Well, you're a thoughtless one, aren't you?! Do you not find your ex-fiancé's things haunting when you eloped with them with another man?"

"I already said I've forgotten about them. I didn't mean to!" Peachlyn huffed. "Milana, we're sisters. Why must you always pick on me? Am I not already miserable enough? Why can't you treat me nicer?"

"It's your fault you're miserable. I have no interest in treating jack*sses nicely!" At that, Milana extended her hand at her. "Where's the emblem? Stop wasting time and hand over the jade emblem. We need to head back soon! Thanks to you and your act of eloping, Grandpa has decided to kick you out of the family. From now on, we won't ever have to see you again. This is probably the only good thing you've done after coming to our home!"

"You can't do this to me!" Peachlyn freaked out. "Mom swore to my mom she'd take good care of me before my mom passed."

"Hasn't she done enough after supporting you to this age? Don't tell me you plan on leeching on her forever," Milana denounced. "Stop wasting everyone's time. You can't change the fact that you're no longer a Clarke, no matter what you say now! If you buck up and say you're really happy now, that you don't regret your decisions, I might actually think highly of you!"

Peachlyn's face turned ghastly pale as she felt as hopeless as falling into the abyss.

She wanted to buck up as well. She wanted to live a comfortable life, one even better than Milana's that the latter would be jealous of her, but the reality was that she was doing absolutely miserably!

At that point, she only wanted to leave her sh*tty life. I just want to go back…

She'd accept it even if she were to marry Zachariah in the end after returning home.