Chapter 3
The rain pelted the cobblestone path, soaking the hem of my dress.
The car door swung open, and Lily burst out of the house, still gripping the trusteeship agreement tightly in her hand.
"Summer, don't go. Mom and Dad are just looking out for you, and Charles isn't ignoring you," Lily pleaded.
My gaze dropped to her slippers.
"Funny how you needed fever medicine just a minute ago, but now you're running after me in the yard?" I shot back.
She stopped in her tracks.
The housekeeper and the driver both turned to look.
My mom leaned against the doorframe and called out, "Summer, come back!"
I didn't look back.
Charles grabbed my arm.
"Let me take you back to the Rivers Residence," he said.
"No need," I said.
"You're carrying my child," he said.
"If you want this baby, then start acting like a dad. But if Lily's the one you want, stop using the baby as your excuse," I shot back.
His grip loosened a bit.
An old van pulled up at the end of the alley, and Joe got out.
He used to be the tea roaster at my grandma's tea house, but after injuring his leg, he opened a little shop outside the city.
Charles frowned.
"Who is he?" he asked.
Joe held the umbrella over me and gave Charles a polite nod.
"Mr. Rivers, I'm from the Wyatt family. I'm here to take Summer back to the Rainleaf Tea House," he said.
When Lily heard "Wyatt family," her tears froze on her face. She was so shocked she forgot to cry.
My mom came down the steps.
"Joe, who sent you here? The Rainleaf Tea House belongs to the Wynn family now," she snapped.
Joe pulled an old receipt from his pocket.
"That's not how it is, Mrs. Wynn. Before Mrs. Wyatt passed, she made it clear. The tea house was meant for Summer. The Wynn family was just supposed to look after it, not sell it," he said.
My dad came out of the house, his voice cold and rigid.
"Just a tea roaster—what makes you think you can butt into the Wynn family's affairs?" my dad snapped.
Joe didn't even flinch.
"I don't care about your family's business. I only answer to late Mrs. Wyatt's seal," he said.
"Did you find the seal?" I asked.
Joe shot a look at Lily.
"Someone tried to sell it at the Southvale tea fair, but it didn't sell," he said.
Lily blurted out, "I didn't take it."
I hadn't even asked her.
She was way too quick to answer.
Charles shot her a look.
Lily lowered her head and coughed twice.
My mom immediately stepped in front of her.
"Summer, are you really going to drive your sister to ruin just to make yourself feel better?" my mom snapped.
I got into Joe's car.
"Mom, relax. No one who deserves payback is going to get away. They'll all pay up in the end," I said.
The Rainleaf Tea House was tucked away on an old street in Westside, its entrance worn and the sign half-buried in dust.
Joe pushed open the wooden door, and a wave of musty air and the rich scent of tea hit me all at once.
Behind the counter sat a woman with short hair. When I walked in, her eyes went straight to my belly, then flicked to the space behind me.
"You're Summer Wynn?" she asked.
"That's me," I replied.
She slapped the ledger down on the counter.
"I'm Simone Lake, the accountant Mrs. Wyatt hired before she passed. If you'd shown up just a couple days later, Lily would've already used this place to host a new tea launch event," she said.
I flipped open the ledger.
In the past three months, a lot of unfamiliar expenses had appeared in the tea house's accounts.
Formal dresses, flower walls, promotions by famous tea masters, and sample tea purchases.
Every single expense was signed off by Lily.
Simone pointed to a page in the ledger.
"She claimed you authorized her and even brought a clay seal as proof. But the ink didn't look right, so I told her to get your signature to confirm. After that, she never came back," she said.
"Where's the clay seal?" I asked.
"She took it with her," Simone replied.
Joe came out from the back room, carrying a small tin of tea.
"This is Mrs. Wyatt's last batch of Spring Mountain White Tea. There used to be twenty tins in the warehouse, but now there's only this one left," he said.
Simone chimed in.
"The rest were sent to the Rivers family's tea party. The invitation said Lily was the host," she said.
I closed the ledger.