Chapter 274
He swayed on his feet, raising a hand to press hard against his brow. “You… how could you let Serena live in a storage room p>
He took a deep breath to steady himself, then stumbled toward the dark corner at the far end of the hallway.
The three Wynn siblings exchanged glances and quickly followed.
At the very end of the hall, tucked into a corner beneath the spiral staircase, was the storage room.
The closed wooden door was incredibly thin and already somewhat warped.
Patrick’s temples throbbed as he reached out and pushed the door open.
A wave of damp, musty air and dust rushed out to meet them.
Patrick coughed violently, waving a hand in front of his face.
Before him was an extremely narrow room, with only a tiny ventilation window letting in a sliver of weak light.
A small single bed was pushed against the wall, covered with a cheap, faded sheet.
An old, paint-chipped dressing table stood in a corner, its mirror cracked.
A simple wardrobe had a door that hung crookedly.
Other than that, there was nothing.
He could even see water stains and mold in the corners of the walls!
The conditions were so squalid that even the servants’ quarters were hundreds of times better than this!
Patrick felt his vision go dark just looking at it.
His face ashen, he clutched his heavy head and spun around, glaring at Marianne, who had followed him. “At that time, Serena was still a daughter of the Wynn family! And this is the kind of place you arranged for her to live in p>
Marianne was frightened by his glare and felt a pang of guilt, but she forced herself to argue back
defiantly “Sh-she was just a country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere! What does she know about good or bad? It was good enough that she got to live in such a large mansion p>
Seeing Patrick’s gaze grow colder and his face darken p>
Marianne’s voice trailed off. She lowered her head and explained weakly, “At the time… she was brought back on short notice, and we didn’t have any empty rooms. I figured… I’d let her stay in the storage room temporarily, just for a bit. Once the servants cleaned up a proper room, I’d have her move. But then… then I forgot p>
That part was true.
She wasn’t so heartless as to deliberately put Serena, whom she had believed to be
her biological daughter at the time, in a storage room upon her return.
Even if she disliked Serena, there was no need to mistreat her in terms of food and lodging.
However, it was also true that she hadn’t cared enough to remember.
So she had simply put it out of her mind.
“You forgot?” Patrick was so angry he laughed. He pointed at Hailey. “Then how come Hailey got the best princess room the moment she came back? And Serena lived in this house for four years, and you forgot for four years p>
No wonder… No wonder Serena had worn such a sarcastic expression when he mentioned bringing her back to the family, saying her room was untouched and she could move back in anytime!
Patrick’s chest heaved with rage. He turned and pointed at Benedict and Logan, berating them as well. “And you two! Did you forget, too? You’re in and out of this house every day. Are you both blind p>
Faced with their father’s unrestrained fury, a look of shame flickered across the Wynn brothers’ faces. They were left speechless.
Looking at the narrow, damp, dark little space, and then thinking of the spacious, luxurious, castle-like room Hailey lived in p>
Even Logan couldn’t bring himself to shout back defiantly.
For the first time, they were confronted with a clear, profound realization p>
Their neglect of Serena was so tangible and cruel.