Falling for a Lie, My Stepbrother’s Hidden Revenge. novel Chapter 82

Asher had just returned home when his grandmother sent him to the study to speak with his father. After their conversation, he'd barely stepped out of the elevator when he overheard his grandmother imperiously ordering Sylvia to serve the food.

He strode over, his tone deliberately casual. "Grandmother, has the family fortune suddenly dwindled to the point we can no longer afford household staff? Since when do we expect guests to serve meals?"

Seeing Asher come downstairs, Lady Blackwood Sr. didn't dare continue harassing Sylvia. She set down her teacup, her smile precisely calibrated. "I was merely seeing if Sylvia would be properly obedient."

Asher wasn't having it. His tone deepened. "My Via doesn't need to be obedient. She only needs to be happy."

Lady Blackwood's expression turned sour.

"Asher, are you actually criticizing your grandmother?"

It seemed Grace had been right—this Sylvia Lancelot had indeed bewitched Asher. He was actually talking back to his grandmother for her sake.

Asher's lips tightened, his handsome, chiseled features turning cold. The surrounding air seemed to fill with frost.

"I wouldn't dare," Asher replied coolly. "Grandmother, Via is someone I've waited years for. I sincerely hope you won't try to come between us. If Via becomes unhappy and calls off our engagement, I'll have no choice but to join a monastery."

Sylvia was startled by his words. She hadn't expected Asher to defend her so boldly in front of his family, even pointing out that he had waited years for her, putting himself in such a humble position.

Sylvia's heart fluttered. The frustration she'd felt from the old lady's difficult behavior evaporated instantly, replaced by warmth that felt like being wrapped in the softest cashmere.

His words infuriated the old lady considerably.

"You... this is preposterous! What utter nonsense are you speaking?"

When agitated, she would experience her old health problem—heart palpitations.

Grace supported Lady Blackwood, anxiously helping her calm down. "Grandmother, please don't upset yourself."

She kept her eyes downcast, concealing the jealousy within them.

Asher's gaze was deep and dark as he glanced toward Grace, his eyes probing. "Have you been speaking ill of Via to my grandmother?"

Grace's back stiffened. She swallowed nervously, her eyes flashing with panic. "I... I haven't..."

Asher narrowed his eyes as he studied her, his gaze as cold as an unexpected frost in March. He spoke one word at a time: "You'd better not have."

Grace broke into a cold sweat.

"Right then, shall we eat?" Lady Blackwood Jr. said with a smile, trying to ease the tension.

The formal dining room alone occupied over a thousand square feet, decorated in an elegant Georgian style. The dining table and chairs were antique mahogany, and the decorative plants included rare orchids worth over a hundred thousand pounds and prized roses worth tens of thousands.

Originally, Lady Blackwood Sr. had intended to make Sylvia serve the food, so she had specifically instructed the staff not to do so beforehand.

Now that Asher had intervened, her plan was forcibly terminated, and she had no choice but to instruct the staff to serve the meal.

Lord Blackwood Sr. was away in London and couldn't join them. At the long rectangular dining table, Lady Blackwood Sr. sat at the head position. Lord and Lady Blackwood Jr. sat in the positions immediately to the left and right of the head, facing each other.

Asher and Sylvia sat together, with Grace sitting across from Sylvia.

The staff finished serving the food and brought a bowl of consommé for everyone.

Except for Sylvia.

Sylvia felt displeasure rising within her.

She didn't believe the Blackwood family staff would make such a basic error.

This could only mean the servants were acting on Lady Blackwood's instructions deliberately, with the purpose of humiliating and intimidating her.

Even with her respect for elders, Sylvia couldn't tolerate Lady Blackwood's repeated harassment.

Just as she was about to speak up and question the old lady directly, Asher spoke first: "Grandmother, when did our family become so dreadfully impoverished that we can't even provide a simple consommé for everyone?"

Lady Blackwood's face stiffened. She glanced at Sylvia with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Perhaps the staff were preoccupied and overlooked it. It can be remedied immediately."

The servant nearby: "..."

Asher suddenly smiled.

"That's not true," Asher comforted her. "Don't overthink it. My parents both like you very much, and so does my grandfather. As for my grandmother, she misunderstands you. I'll sort things out with her."

Sylvia responded with an absent-minded "Mmm."

Asher gently pinched her cheek. "What would my Via like to eat? I'll take you somewhere special."

After the earlier incident, Sylvia's mood had soured, and she didn't have much appetite.

"Anything is fine."

Asher drove her to an exclusive, members-only Italian restaurant, where he ordered a table full of dishes that she loved.

In the Blackwood dining room, the atmosphere grew distinctly frosty after Asher's departure.

Lord Blackwood Jr. sighed, massaging his temples wearily. "Mother, why on earth are you giving Sylvia such a hard time? She's hardly more than a girl. What has she done to upset you so terribly?"

Lady Blackwood Jr. pressed her lips together in silence.

When she had first married into the Blackwood family, the old lady had subjected her to precisely the same treatment.

Having tormented her daughter-in-law, she was now employing identical tactics with her grandson's fiancée. The woman truly had a bottomless appetite for discord.

Would it be so dreadfully difficult to simply get along?

She couldn't fathom it. The Lancelot girl came from an impeccable background, perfectly matched with Asher in terms of social standing. She was strikingly beautiful, graceful, and unfailingly courteous with excellent breeding. Why wasn't the old lady satisfied? She even found fault with the poor girl's appearance and attire.

Lady Blackwood Sr. gave a cold laugh. "Did you not witness how Asher just addressed me? In all these years, when has he ever spoken to me in such a manner? Today he defied me for a woman. That Sylvia Lancelot must have poisoned him against me."

Lady Blackwood Jr. laughed inwardly. Rubbish. You were clearly the one stirring up trouble. Good for my son, defending his fiancée so gallantly.

Lord Blackwood Jr. said, "Mother, I wish you wouldn't be so prejudiced against the Lancelot girl. She's not at all the sort of person you imagine. She's quite lovely, actually. Please do try to be kinder to her."

"I'm being unkind to her? You haven't the faintest idea what she did to Grace the other day!"