Tasting

95-Accused Once Again

Nora:

“Come on, give these pancakes a shot. The maid whipped up some blueberry ones just for you today,” Lord Atwood urged, piling more onto my plate. It had become a ritual with him. He seemed to think I wasn’t eating enough. So whenever I sat down with them at the table, he’d start loading up my plate as if he had to fill the void in my stomach.

“Do you like blueberry?” Nash inquired. Dressed in a white shirt, he looked incredibly handsome. His eyes sparkled as if he had just stepped out of the shower. I couldn’t help but wonder if under shower, his skin-an

yes would glow even more.

“Yes!” I nodded vigorously before glancing to the side and noticing that Ryker had barely touched his food. He hadn’t even lifted his head from his plate this whole time. Cain was eating quietly but would occasionally glance up at me with a smirk, sending tingles through my stomach.

And then there was Silas, who was missing. Just as I thought about his absence, he appeared.

“And she likes stealing stuff,” he announced, landing in the dining room with a thud, his hands on his hips and a threatening look in his eyes. The way he stood there made it seem like he had caught me in some mischief.

“What’s going on, Silas?” Lord Atwood sighed, clearly accustomed to his antics.

”

“Ask your perfect daughter,” Silas retorted, causing Cain to lower his fork and stare at me, then at his brother.

Nash grunted as he paused eating his cereal and looked up at him.

“I think we’re grown-ups now. That whole phase of not wanting a stepsister should be over by now,” Nash taunted Silas, struggling to cross his arms over his chest as his biceps were bulging a lot this morning.

“I’m not doing anything out of spite. Ask Nora why she stole my stuff, Silas hissed, accusing me of stealing from him.

“Huh? What the heck are you talking about?” I couldn’t believe my ears. One moment I’m eating pancakes, and the next, I’m being accused of stealing + sycho’s stuff?

“Okay, hold up! Who gave you the right to accuse her?” Lord Atwood grunted, throwing his napkin on the table.

“Why is it that without any clarification or research, you’ll start yelling at me and defending her? She arrived here just months ago, and everyone’s already believing her?” Silas wasn’t very good at expressing his anger. I’ve noticed that whenever he got angry, he couldn’t decide who his enemy was, so he would just lump everyone together and yell at all of them.

“Aren’t you doing the same thing? You appeared out of nowhere, interrupted a perfectly happy family dinner, and started

accusing her of stealing from you without any research or

explanation,” Cain wiped his lips, finished eating, and stood up to face his brother. A

I didn’t want them to fight for me, but Silas was in the wrong

here.

“What did she steal from you?” Cain continued, and Silas kept glaring at him.

I noticed Ryker stretching his arm out on the table and continuing to eat. He was the only one who didn’t seem

bothered by the ongoing drama. And that kind of messed with my head. He was acting odd.

“She stole something important from my study,” Silas hissed, his voice low, until his eyes landed on me, and he let out a loud grunt, “She was always interested in my study.”

As he spoke about his study, I began to wonder if that was the only reason he thought I stole from him.

“Just because I expressed

desire to use your study once, you

believe I stole from you?” I scoffed in disbelief, and he aggressively marched my way, only to be halted by Nash, who stepped between us. He did it abruptly, getting out of his chair and almost knocking it down.

“Step aside, let me talk to her,” Silas grunted at his brother, who shook his head.

“Talk to her from there,” Nash said, wiping his hands with a napkin.

“She stole from me,” Silas reiterated, but this time, his voice. grew even more frustrated.

I didn’t know if it was one of those things where they steal something from me and then accuse me of it, but I was certain Silas was up to no good.

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“Then tell us what it is that you lost and why you are accusing her of it,” Lord Atwood asked, while Cain began to take slow steps towards us. Ryker finally stopped eating and got out of his chair, standing apart but with a prominent frown on his forehead.

“There was a glass bottle with a sample of monster skin that went missing from my study,” Silas hissed, finally revealing what he had lost that made him lose his mind.

Ryker raised his head and ther lowered it, steadily running his hand through his hair but looking somewhat happy.

It was as if he had to lower his head to conceal a hint of a smile. I don’t know what it was, but it distracted me for a minute.

“I didn’t steal anything, from Ryker.

uptly spoke as I diverted my gaze

“And why would you think she stole it? Just because you lost it,” Nash hissed at his brother, hitting him on the chest and pushing him back. Cain instantly jumped between them to push them away from each other. Nash would lose his temper quite abruptly and out of the blue.

“I cannot believe you kept such an important thing in your study and now you have the nerve to accuse Nora of stealing it,” Lord Atwood, who seemed disappointed in his son, lowered his head.

“Why do you think she stole it?” However, that question came from none other than Ryker. He didn’t sound aggressive or upset that I was being accused of something so serious.

That’s when Silas answered his brother’s question, “Because I can smell it from her bedroom.”

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My heart sank as everyone turned to look at me.