Chapter 379

Alexander and Eleanor froze when they heard Vivian's response. Their hearts pounded inexplicably.

"Did you say you've found your parents?" they asked in unison.

Vivian nodded with a faint smile. "Yes. My biological parents."

Eleanor's face lit up with genuine joy upon hearing this confirmation.

"That's wonderful news," she beamed. "You'll finally have your family back."

"Family?" Vivian repeated the word with bitter amusement. "I'll never have that chance."

Eleanor frowned. "Why not?"

"Because they don't recognize me standing right before them. And they refuse to acknowledge me."

Vivian's piercing gaze locked onto Eleanor and William. Their expressions turned to shock.

With a humorless laugh, Vivian broke the tension. "Perhaps I'm just cursed. Lost by my parents as a child, abandoned by my lover as an adult. Though at my lowest point, fate granted me one extraordinary man - a true diamond in the rough."

William and Eleanor exchanged glances. They knew she meant Alexander.

An uncomfortable silence fell until Beatrice emerged with three steaming bowls.

"Madam, Sir, Miss Prescott - please enjoy this special chowder."

Eleanor quickly explained, "Miss Prescott, Beatrice makes the most exquisite seafood chowder in Willowbrook. You must try it."

"Of course." Vivian returned to her seat.

Though she knew this hospitality was meant for Victoria, this rare moment with her parents - however hypocritical - still mattered.

As she lifted the spoon, her keen senses detected something amiss in the broth.

"Miss Prescott? Is something wrong with the chowder?" Eleanor asked when Vivian set down her spoon.

"You should ask Beatrice about that," Vivian said, eyeing the housekeeper.

Beatrice's face paled.

Before Eleanor and William could react, Beatrice brandished a fruit knife from behind her back.

"Eleanor! William!" Vivian shouted as the blade flashed toward her.

To her astonishment, her parents threw themselves between her and the attacker.

"Beatrice! Have you lost your mind?" Eleanor shielded Vivian. "Miss Prescott has done nothing to you!"

"Miss Prescott? This is Evelyn Sinclair!" Beatrice spat. "She murdered Miss Sophia and changed her identity! Today I'll avenge my dear Miss Sophia!"

The housekeeper's eyes burned with hatred, her grip tightening on the knife.

Suddenly Vivian understood - this was the grieving woman she'd seen clutching Sophia's photograph.

"She's not Evelyn! Evelyn died years ago!" Eleanor insisted. "Put the knife down!"

"She is Evelyn!" Beatrice shrieked, lunging again. "Move aside, Madam! Let me punish this murderer!"

Vivian knew she could evade the attack easily. Yet her parents' protective stance stunned her.

For the first time in her life, she felt something she'd never known - parental love.

"Ah!"

"Eleanor!"

William's panicked scream snapped Vivian from her thoughts.

Blood gushed from a deep gash on Eleanor's arm.

"Madam! I never meant to hurt you!" Beatrice cried in horror.

William scooped Eleanor up and raced for the garage.

Vivian followed without hesitation.

As William sped toward the hospital, Vivian tended to Eleanor in the backseat. The sight of her mother's bleeding wound felt like a knife twisting in her own heart.

She stripped off her jacket, pressing it firmly against the wound to stem the crimson flow.