Chapter 619: Chapter 619: Collecting the Interest I Deserve
Ann Vaughn pressed her lips tightly, her downcast eyes gently moving with the chaotic thoughts in her mind, something seemed to be stuck in her throat, neither up nor down.
The bitterness accumulated more and more in her throat, as if it would drown her completely before stopping.
"I’m fine." After a long silence, Ann Vaughn shook her head, a bitter smile on her lips, "It’s just a bit surprising, my mom really wanted a daughter at first, but maybe her mindset changed later, she thought having a daughter wasn’t so good, so she prayed to heaven, willing to trade her life so that I wouldn’t be a daughter."
Shuhua Vaughn’s wish was only half-fulfilled.
She was indeed a daughter, but there was also Wilder Sheridan.
Perhaps the warmth and emotion accumulated before were too much, suddenly she felt like she fell to the bottom of a cliff, making it hard for her to adapt.
Cyrus Hawthorne gently wiped away the traces on her cheek with a slightly rough fingertip, speaking softly: "Don’t use your eyes to see and ears to hear, think with your heart, do you really believe your mom doesn’t like you?"
Ann Vaughn’s eyelashes trembled, "But she never wanted me to be born."
Unexplained unwillingness.
"Look at this first." Cyrus Hawthorne picked up the stack of documents on the table, handing it to Ann Vaughn.
Ann Vaughn took it, glancing feebly at the content above.
Shipwrecked merchant ship, wish fulfilled, tribute trade, cost of a broken contract...
Fragmented words reflected in Ann Vaughn’s eyes, making her already water-filled eyes even more misty, full of deep confusion.
Her gaze landed on the words "The Mermaid Princess" on the last page.
Unlike The Siren, The Mermaid Princess doesn’t have a heavenly singing voice to lure sailors to crash their ships onto reefs, consuming them.
It is rumored that The Mermaid Princess only responds to the prayers and pleas of those in adversity, and makes extremely unreasonable life-and-death contracts with them, but even if it’s unreasonable, people at the time would choose to sign in order to survive.
The contract would then remain deeply buried in the person’s bloodline, passed down through generations.
"What is this? A myth?" Ann Vaughn sniffed, her voice stuffed, "A being that understands people’s wishes, isn’t that a turtle in a wishing well?"
Throwing coins to make wishes kind of thing.
Cyrus Hawthorne couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, his narrow eyes showing a hint of helplessness, "Most of the content on the paper is probably just your mom’s speculation."
"Speculation? What was she speculating about?" Ann Vaughn shifted her gaze to the damaged books in front of her, frowning in confusion.
Her mom... seems to really like reading bizarre and fanciful stories.
"She was speculating," Cyrus Hawthorne’s voice lowered, just as a gust of wind suddenly swept up outside the window behind him, trees falling over.
Yet he did not stop speaking, reciting word by word, "Why only your great-grandfather survived from that shipwrecked merchant ship back then."
Suddenly, Ann Vaughn’s heart thumped wildly.
The tightly closed windows blocked out the sound of the raging wind outside, leaving the room in silence.
Recalling the content on the stack of documents, Ann Vaughn quickly waved her hand, unsure if she was convincing Cyrus or herself: "Impossible, what era is this, there’s no becoming spirits after the founding."
A thousand-year-old turtle and a ten-thousand-year-old tortoise; she might believe if a little turtle in the wishing well became a spirit.
What’s this?
The Mermaid Princess?
Is that a creature meant to exist in reality??
After speaking, Ann Vaughn pursed her lips in conflict, looking up at the slightly amused Cyrus Hawthorne, "...I’m not really believing this story, just curious how my great-grandfather survived back then?"
"The answer is on the paper." Cyrus Hawthorne said flatly.
On the paper...
Ann Vaughn bit her lower lip, praying to God, Jesus, Jehovah, The Virgin Mary, and the Buddha: either she’s gone mad, or her mom after conceiving her and Wilder...
Got muddle-headed from reading myth stories??
She felt a sudden headache, making wild guesses: "Could it be that my great-grandfather made a deal with The Mermaid Princess back then, so he could survive that shipwreck, right?"
Despite saying she didn’t believe it, Ann Vaughn couldn’t help but search the paper for answers.
The answer involving her great-grandfather and whatever deal was made.
How could such an absurd thing be possible?
"Have you ever learned about the Sheridan Family’s history?" Seeing her half-believing, Cyrus Hawthorne asked again.
"No, who would bother to learn about someone else’s family history... uh." Mid-sentence, Ann Vaughn realized, sticking out her tongue, "Almost forgot, that really is my family’s."
Cyrus Hawthorne chuckled warmly, ruffling her fuzzy hair, his narrow eyes catching the sight of the wind-swept scene outside, deepening the smile on his lips.
He casually pulled the curtains, then continued: "Ordinary families pass down to future generations ancient books, treasures, or jade jewelry. But the Sheridan Family passes down tears of mermaids and Dragon Bone, among other rare things."
"You’re not making up a story to make me happy, are you?" Ann Vaughn blinked, probing.
Cyrus Hawthorne lowered his gaze at her, "What do you think?"
"...Seems unlikely."
If someone else told Ann Vaughn such a story, she might play along and make up stories with them.
But hearing this from Cyrus Hawthorne...
It’s truly unquestionable.
But there was one thing Ann Vaughn still couldn’t figure out.
"But what does that have to do with my mom not wanting me to be a daughter?"
Cyrus Hawthorne raised his eyebrows slightly, then released his hands supporting beside her, standing up and stating a conclusion in a deep voice: "Your mom loves you very much, of that there’s no doubt."
Ann Vaughn looked back at him in confusion, not understanding where he saw that from.
She wanted to continue asking when suddenly a sentence Wilder Sheridan had said flashed in her mind.
"Sometimes living without complete understanding, having a superficial knowledge and not delving into everything, is a kind of blessing."
What was he hinting at...
As she leaned her chin in frustration, suddenly a warm finger lifted her chin, making her meet his eyes.
"...What are you doing?"
Within the man’s narrow, deep eyes, there was a hidden flicker of darkness, so intense it made her feel like her soul’s edges were scalded.
"The gift is given, I ought to take back some deserved interest,"
As soon as the deep, husky voice fell, Ann Vaughn felt her waist tighten, and she was lifted from the seat by him, flipped over, and pressed onto the desk behind her!
Ann Vaughn’s breath hitched, she hurriedly placed her hands against his chest, protesting: "N-n-no, you said you were giving me something, why do I have to pay you interest??"
But then she heard a low, delighted chuckle brush past her ear, "Mrs. Hawthorne, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world."