Chapter 190
“Happy now, Zinnia? You’ve destroyed everything!” Maelis spat venomously. Seeing no hope with Sofia, she turned her hate–filled gaze on Zinnia.
Yannis instantly cupped he
ears with his hands, shielding her from Maelis‘ venomous glare.
“Maelis, you’re still blaming Zinnia. You’ve learned nothing,” Henry’s hawk–like stare silenced Maelis mid–breath.
Henry rarely showed sternness, but when he did, it cowed her.
“Grandpa, Mom didn’t mean it,” Yosef pleaded weakly.
He thought in despair, ‘If Mom isn’t a Lynn, we’ll lose everything. He knew exactly how hard life would be without the Lynn family’s backing. The thought terrified him.
“Yes, Maelis hasn’t been herself lately. Please don’t take it to heart. We’re family. Let me apologize for her.”
Donald jumped in, fighting the urge to scream at Maelis. He shot her a furious look. ‘Useless. Always making things worse, he thought.
“She meant every word. Those were her true feelings,” Jackson stated flatly.
“We’ve given you more than enough,” Henry declared, “But your greed knows no bounds. Then let me make this clear in front of everyone here today: from this moment on, you have no ties to the Lynn family. All support ends here.”
Henry’s gaze swept over Donald and his cowed sons, his voice brooked no argument.
Maelis knew Henry never bluffed. Her legs buckled. Howard and Timothy caught her just in time. Donald and Yosef felt as if their world had come crashing down. They had never expected things to go this far.
Family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public. But Henry made the declaration publicly. It meant no going back.
“What about Zinnia?” Maelis rasped, eyes hollow. “If I’m not your daughter, what is she to you?” Resentment thickened her voice.
The room cringed at her stupidity. Henry and Sofia liked Zinnia for her, not Maelis. She never needed Maelis to vouch for her. Otherwise, why hadn’t Betty, Maelis‘ own daughter, won their favor in over a decade?
“Mrs. Shaw, Zinnia is part of the Spence family now,” Yvette said, lips curving. “Her legal residence is with us. Didn’t you know?”
Maelis looked punched, her eyes wide with shock–a reaction mirrored by every member of the Shaw family.
With the influence of the Spence family, such matters could be dealt with discreetly. Moreover, the Shaws had recently been caught up in their own crisis. They didn’t have the time to focus on Zinnia, so none of them knew about this.
“She still has the Shaw name,” Maelis spat through gritted teeth.
“We can fix that right now,” Yvette replied smoothly. Then she turned to Zinnia. “Would you like to change your last name?”
Zinnia nodded. She wanted no tie to the Shaw family.
“So, Zinnia, would you prefer my last name or Aaron’s?” Yvette asked.
“Mom…” Zinnia hesitated.
Yannis asked gently, “Zinnia, are you thinking of a different surname?”
Zinnia jerked her head up. She was surprised that he understood her thoughts.
Maelis sneered. “What else? She’s eyeing ‘Lynn‘. Without me, she has no connection to the Lynn family. So she’s using chance to cling to them. She’s just
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Chapter 190
a shameless gold–digger. Don’t be fooled. She’s got you all under her thumb.”
“Enough!” Sofia snapped.
Maelis flinched.
97%
“Mrs. Shaw, use your brain.” Isaac sighed, “If Zinnia had really wanted to cling to our family, we’d have won the fight to get her legal residence to our address.”
No wonder the Lynn family were all geniuses except her. It turned out that she bore no blood of the line.
Isaac was born long after Maelis married into the Shaw family. From then on, she focused on the Shaw family. Every time she did come around, it was only to demand help for the Shaw family’s problems. Not surprisingly, Isaac never grew close to her.
After all that had happened recently, the entire Lynn family had reached their limit, whether it was regarding the Shaw family or Maelis herself.
“Mom, just stop talking,” Howard groaned, rubbing his temples.
Hearing Maelis‘ words, Jackson perked up. He turned to Zinnia and said warmly, “Zinnia, how about ‘Lynn‘? ‘Zinnia Lynn‘?” He was sad that he couldn’t get her legal residence changed to their address, at least he wanted her to have their last name.
“Zinnia, are you thinking of another last name?” Yvette asked gently. “Tell me what you like, okay? It’s your name. Choose the one that you like.”
Warmth flooded Zinnia’s chest and a lump rose in her throat.
“Whatever last name you want to take, whatever change you wish to make, we’ll make it happen,” Yannis murmured, stroking her hair.
Zinnia looked up at Yannis. His eyes were tender and doting, promising unconditional acceptance for any choice she might make.
Lowering her gaze, Zinnia whispered, “Mom, I want ‘Moore‘. M–O–O–R–E. Moore.”
She’d been Zinnia Murray before the Shaw family renamed her. But she was always quite unsure whether it was “Murray“. Now, in a sudden epiphany, she realized it might be “Moore“.
When she first wrote her name, Nathan stared at it for a long time, his eyes full of pain she couldn’t understand as a child. But now she realized–it was grief over her lost true name.
She could already piece together Nathan’s identity. The Moore residence, that wooden token, and the Flowing Technique–each pointed straight to who he truly was.
Yannis and Jackson exchanged a brief glance.
“Alright,” Yvette responded, surprise giving way to calm acceptance.
With that, Zinnia Shaw officially became Zinnia Moore, severing all ties with the Shaw family once and for all.
