the two-faced Adopted Girl Who Melted CEO's Ice-Cold Heart

Chapter 291: Do you choose to stand by my side, or your mother’s side?

After dinner, Delphine prepared to return to the Leclair mansion. Originally, Leah wanted to go with her, but Delphine politely declined.

Considering the significant scandal at the mansion, it would be impossible to let outsiders witness the family’s humiliation. If it weren’t for the matter involving Mrs. Carter, Delphine herself would’ve chosen to avoid it too.

When Delphine returned to the Leclair mansion, it was just past dinner time. On a winter night, the darkness descended early, and the light-filled red-bricked house was silhouetted beneath the shadow of the sycamore trees.

Standing at the entrance, Delphine let the cold wind brush against her face for a while, sorting through her thoughts and containing her emotions before stepping in.

In the night, the scent of camellias mingled with the piercing chill of the wind. She reached to pat her stiffened cheeks, took a deep breath, and entered the side hall.

Inside the side hall, the old butler was urgently arranging for the servants to replace the carpets and ornamental decor.

"This white jade Guanyin of fertility must stay where it is. Change the tea set over there to the purple clay tea set that the old master likes most."

"Use the cream-colored carpet from the storage room, the one with a pattern of three cranes. It was the madam’s favorite during her lifetime."

"Remove the orchids and cut a few plum blossoms from the garden to place in the flower vase."

Delphine’s expression shifted slightly; all this activity clearly signified that the Leclair patriarch was returning.

"Butler, replace all the decorations in my room with new ones," Bessie Leclair said while walking down from the third floor in slippers. Spotting Delphine at the entrance to the side hall, her slender brows furrowed, and she sneered coquettishly, "Oh, isn’t this the fifth Miss? After enduring for so many years, it seems you’ve finally endured your way to this moment."

These days, Bessie had been living in an apartment away from the mansion. With the Leclair family’s calamity stirring even the patriarch, she gleefully returned on the same day.

Delphine ignored her entirely and instead addressed the butler, "Butler, has my aunt returned?"

The old butler responded with a genial smile, "The madam came back briefly but has already left."

"Your aunt has gone out to flaunt," Bessie remarked with a disdainful eye roll, laughing coldly. "When she left, she was wearing such a huge ’pigeon egg’—afraid people wouldn’t realize she was nouveau riche."

As Bessie spoke, she gestured dramatically and swayed her lithe figure toward Delphine. Her eyes scanned Delphine’s sweater as she chuckled maliciously. "Delphine Carter, at a time like this, you still dare return?"

"If you dare return, why wouldn’t I?" Delphine replied indifferently, glancing at her with deliberate calm.

"Hmph, enjoy it while you can. Soon enough, you’ll have no chance to revel in it." Bessie offered a false smile, humming a tune merrily, clearly reveling in anticipation of drama as she seated herself on the sofa.

Delphine waited in the side hall for half an hour until Ignatius Leclair returned from outside, accompanied by Maximilian and a man named Jing Liu.

Ignatius’ expression was colder than the winter night. He held an ominous-looking dark wooden box, resembling a shrine or a reliquary, while his assistants Maximilian and Jing Liu wore similarly grim expressions.

"Butler, have everyone leave," Ignatius commanded detachedly, "Delphine, head upstairs. Stay there for the night and don’t come down."

Delphine had never seen him in such an icily indifferent state. Her gaze darted to the wooden box in his arms, her face paling as she stood and asked with a trembling heart, "I’m not going upstairs. What are you planning to do?"

Ignatius pressed his thin lips together, saying nothing.

Delphine felt her heart pounding wildly. Her voice shook as she pressed him, "What do you plan to do with my aunt? You know perfectly well that she only loves vanity—it was Stone Leclair who insisted on marrying her. She had no choice."

"You have a choice. The choice to stand by me or by Stone Leclair," Ignatius replied in a deep, somber voice, laden with unfathomable intent.