Under the Heiress' Facade
Chapter 460

Chad disliked Hera's attitude. His expression darkened, but he said nothing.

Frederick noticed this and immediately stood up to tell her off. "How could you be so rude? Have you forgotten all the rules you've learned from us?" His tone did not conceal his disgust.

The Killians had many rules, including speaking to elders with respect, not calling the elders by their names, referring to the elders by their titles, and much more. All these rules made it hard for most people to follow through.

While they could be more relaxed in their own quarters, everyone had to speak and act cautiously around Chad. If they accidentally offended him, they would receive a verbal reprimand at best or a harsher punishment based on the family's rules.

Back then, the young Bernard always acted impulsively because Frederick would tease Hera. Thus, he would often be punished by kneeling in the living hall.

"I'm not a Killian. Why should I follow your family's rules?" Hera asked with a smile, leaving Frederick speechless.

Hera continued, "Mr. Chad has not even said a word, so why are you speaking up first? Perhaps you intend to overstep his authority and seize his position as the family patriarch?"

Frederick paled immediately. He couldn't bear such a serious accusation.

"Ms. Youngworth, Freddy still thinks of you as his cousin and merely wanted to give you a friendly reminder," Rhett immediately explained to Hera in a friendly manner.

Then, he pretended to lecture Frederick by saying, "Ms. Youngworth is Aury's lifesaver. How could you be so rude? Apologize now and reflect on yourself later."

Frederick glared at Hera as he had been trying to replace fault with her earlier. Not only did he fail, but it backfired completely. One might have even thought that he wanted to be the family patriarch.

Although extremely displeased, he could only obediently apologize in front of Chad and Karen. "Sorry, I was out of line earlier."

Hera smirked coldly. She was about to tell him off when Catherine tugged at her hand, indicating that she should back down and not press the issue further.

"Don't make the same mistake again. Leave us for now," Chad said to Frederick sternly.

Frederick had just proven himself to Chad and left a good impression on him. But a few words from Hera had destroyed all his hard work. His disdain for her grew even more as he left in a huff.

"Come, don't just stand there. Take a seat. Even if you don't want to have dinner, you should at least have some coffee." Karen waved for Neil to pour some coffee.

"Dr. Youngworth, Hera, thank you for helping Aury stabilize her pregnancy. Let us toast to you," Chad lifted his coffee mug while speaking.

"No need. Just remember to transfer the treatment fee to the clinic," Hera replied.

After finishing the coffee, Chad noticed how reluctant she was and decided to turn to Catherine instead." Dr. Youngworth, have you been well all these years?"

His words cause Catherine to turn solemn, wondering if they truly were about to ask about what happened that year.

Seeing how she pursed her lips silently, Chad continued, "That year, Daphne unfortunately died in an accident. I felt very guilty and sent many people to look for all of you.

"But we ended up receiving the bad news that the house had burned down along with both of you. Seeing how the two of you are doing well now, I'm very surprised yet happy."

Hera sneered at Chad's carefully chosen words. "Are you sure you sent people to look for us and not to wipe us out?"

With that, Chad frowned slightly and looked at Rhett solemnly as if he wanted to ask what was going on. After all, Rhett was responsible for replaceing Catherine and Hera back then.

Rhett hurriedly explained, "Could you be mistaken, Ms. Youngworth? Back then, our people searched the ruins of Dr. Youngworth's burned house for a long time but couldn't replace your bodies.

"We thought the fire must have been too intense, leaving no sign of your ashes. We were heartbroken for a long time because of that."