Chapter 403
James sneered. “Then where should I put her? If I really put her at the main table, surrounded by elders, would she even dare to sit down?”

….
Mary said, “Today, Keera is the guest of honor at the family banquet. What reason would she have for not being able to sit there? You…”

Before she could finish, James interrupted. “The guest of honor? So what? If she’s not honorable enough, she should just stay where she belongs.”

James meant that if Keera were a legitimate daughter of the Olsen family, she definitely would be able to sit at the main table!

None of the seven brothers would mind!

But Keera was just an insignificant lover kept by Uncle Olsen; why bother making such a fuss over where she sat?

Mary frowned at James’s words. “You…”

Victoria stepped forward and said, “Mary, the seating has been arranged long ago. Please don’t mind it and just take a seat quickly! If we don’t sit, others won’t be able to take their places either!”

Mary immediately felt as if she had been criticized and frowned.

Before she could speak, Keira tapped her on the shoulder. “Just sit down. It doesn’t matter to me where I sit.”

Taking a deep breath, Mary then sat down.

After she was seated, the rest of the Olsen family followed and took their seats accordingly.

Although their attitude had been poor just before, they couldn’t disregard their upbringing.

Keira walked to the third table and casually sat down.

It didn’t take long before several girls came over, took their seats next to her, and then turned to look at Keira.

In a low voice, someone asked, “I heard from Mary just now. Is she really today’s honorable guest? She’s the star of the family banquet, but she’s seated here. What’s going on?”

One of the girls, who was close to Victoria, already knew Keera’s identity. Hearing this, she scoffed. “Her? Apparently, she’s the Olsen family’s illegitimate daughter!”

“What? Is she the long-awaited ‘dear daughter’ of the Olsen family?”

“Nonsense! Would the ‘dear daughter’ be seated at the third table? Can’t you infer something from the seating arrangement?”

“No, what do you mean?”

The woman scoffed. “I see that she’s simply not valued in the Olsen family!”

“True. Even Victoria sits at the second table, below her brothers, while she’s at the third table… This clearly shows the Olsen family doesn’t take this illegitimate daughter seriously at all!”

“Victoria and Christina thought they were so precious! Now that the ‘dear daughter’ is back, she’s not treated too well!”

“Are you guys dumb? How could she ever be a precious daughter? Whether she’s from the first or the second branch, she has three or four brothers watching her like hawks! No matter how much they want a sister, they wouldn’t want one from a woman that’s not their mother!”

“Right, but… that illegitimate daughter, which branch is she from?”

Someone looked at Keira and asked.

Keira simply ignored them, picked up her fork, and started eating.

Those people were gossiping about her right in front of her and clearly didn’t care to lower their voices as if they wanted her to hear it. It was just because they thought the Olsen family didn’t value her and that they could bully her at will.

Why should she be courteous and respectful to them?

Keira’s actions made those young ladies purse their lips again.

“So rude. She doesn’t even respond when spoken to!”

“I know her. She got divorced recently. She comes from an insignificant background and probably has never seen this kind of banquet before, so that’s understandable.”

“Divorced? I want to hear about it. What happened?”

“…”

The group began to gossip once more.

At the same time, glances toward Victoria were filled with admiration.

Previously, she would always boast outside about how much the Olsen family valued her, but in reality, people didn’t quite believe that. Otherwise, Victoria and Christina would have already been married off to the scions of the other five major families.

As it turned out, Christina wanted to marry into the Horton family but was delayed by her age. It wasn’t just because there were no suitable men of the right age in the five major families but also because of her status as an adopted daughter, which led to her being unable to marry either above or below her station, and she ultimately chose the Murphy family.

Now it was Victoria’s turn…

Now that they saw the Olsen family’s illegitimate daughter arranged to sit below her, people began to ingratiate themselves with Victoria, smiling as they spoke.

“Speaking of which, Miss Victoria grew up with seven brothers, sharing bonds from childhood. Even if they are not blood-related, she’s at least better off than an illegitimate daughter, right?”

“Of course! Today’s seating arrangement was made by James. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

“I’m genuinely curious, this illegitimate daughter, is she James’s real sister, or Charles’s real sister?”

James belonged to the first branch of the family. Charles, on the other hand, was from the second branch.

Someone beside them chimed in, “Couldn’t she be from the third branch?”

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent.

There was only Uncle Olsen in the third branch, and he wasn’t even married. If she were his daughter, then she would surely not be an illegitimate daughter!

Moreover, strictly speaking, Uncle Olsen headed the Olsen family, and his lineage was the legitimate one. If she were his daughter, her status would surely be higher than her seven brothers!

She wouldn’t possibly be sitting here! She would definitely be seated at the head table!

Even the person who spoke smacked their lips. “I misspoke, how could that be possible?”

“Exactly, how could she possibly be from the third branch!”

Keira continued eating her food, completely ignoring these trivial people.

If Uncle Olsen had called her back only to be mocked, then she might as well not acknowledge these relatives, so he surely wouldn’t have meant that.

As she pondered, suddenly there was a shadow at her side.

Keira turned her head and saw Victoria standing beside her, suddenly leaning in close to her ear. “Keira, even if you are the Olsen family’s real daughter, what of it? Do you see? Be it the brothers or the guests, they all only recognize me as the daughter of the Olsen family! You, a divorced woman who’s like a wilting flower and a fallen leaf, are nothing!”

After saying this, she straightened up, proudly lifting her chin.

Keira didn’t know what to say.

Just about after Victoria finished speaking, Ellis finally entered the room.

Upon seeing them, he paused slightly.

Ellis walked straight to Keira’s side. “Why are you sitting here?”

Keira looked at him coolly. “Oh, it was arranged by James.”

Ellis was confused.

He frowned and turned to reprimand James. “What’s going on? Don’t you know who the guest of honor is today?”

James came over, took hold of Ellis, and spoke in a hushed voice. “Ellis, of course, I know. It’s just that I didn’t want her to sit with our uncle, that’s all!”

Ellis was dumbfounded.

He felt he didn’t quite understand. “What?”

“I’m saying, I…”

Before James could finish, Uncle Olsen and the other elders finally walked in from outside. As they headed to the head table, Uncle Olsen caught a glimpse of Keira.

He immediately said with a smile, “Alright, I’ll keep it short. Before we eat, let me introduce everyone to my daughter, who was lost and has now returned!”