Chapter 1 Joining the Axton Family
The Axton family villa was located in the upscale area of Jersey City.
It was just past eight o’clock in the evening.
Chanel looked around the luxurious living room uneasily before sitting down meekly on the couch.
An older man was seated in the middle of the couch. He was the one who had brought Chanel into the Axton family villa. His friend had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer recently, and right before his hospitalization, he had asked the Axton family to take care of his granddaughter.
“Chanel, feel free to treat this as your home from now on. You can come to me, your Aunt Dana, for anything.” The woman sitting next to the girl was Dana Axton. She was dressed fashionably and looked to be in her thirties. She was one of the parent figures in the Axton family.
“My grandfather…” Chanel trailed off timidly. The surroundings were unfamiliar to her. She wanted to go back to her grandfather’s side.
“You’re such a sensible little girl,” Dana said as she hugged Chanel. Chanel had never experienced her parents’ love since she was young. She felt comforted just then.
“Alright, Chanel, you’ll be staying here in the future. We’ll all take good care of you.” The old man stood up and said, “Dana, bring her around and let her familiarize herself with the place. Let her meet those three brats.”
“Yes, dad. Hurry up and rest,” said Dana. She had short hair and was both intelligent and capable.
After the older man left, Dana led Chanel away from the couch. “Mrs. Collins, have you cleaned up the room on the third floor?”
Mrs. Collins was a woman in her forties and had quite a stocky build. There was a look of embarrassment on her face. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Kingsley is upstairs, so we dared not go up.”
Dana felt a headache as soon as she heard her nephew’s name. “Never mind. I’ll deal with him myself.”
This nephew of hers was as cold and unapproachable as ice. Perhaps even ghosts would leave him alone.
Dana brought Chanel to the first floor and showed her around. “Come, let me introduce you to those three brats in the house.”
The more she looked at Chanel, the more she liked her. This little girl looked a lot like her mother when she was younger.
The Axton and the Bourdain families were old friends. When Chanel was five or six years old, her parents died in an airplane crash. Back then, Dana had wanted to adopt Chanel into her family, but Old Man Bourdain was reluctant to part with his only granddaughter. She was still young, and Dana hadn’t wanted to separate them. Since then, the older man sold off all their family assets and brought up his granddaughter on his own. It was only until he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer later that he realized he couldn’t care for her any longer.
There was basically little to no chance of recovery from pancreatic cancer. In fact, very few patients lived past a year after their diagnosis; what more Old Man Bourdain also suffered from high blood pressure and high blood sugar. The doctors told him he only had a maximum of three months left.
The older man hadn’t wanted to tell his granddaughter the news. She was only sixteen this year. How would she be able to take such news?
Once they reached the second floor, Dana threw open the first door and entered without even bothering to knock.
Chanel stood at the door and did not dare to enter the room. Dana tugged off Sean Axton’s headphone set and turned off his computer.
“Auntie? What are you doing here? I was in the middle of a battle with my friends!” Sean let out a loud wail. He was wearing shorts and a wife-beater. He had a sunny disposition and a handsome appearance as well.
Before he finished his sentence, he suddenly caught sight of the person at the door and jumped backward exaggeratedly. “Who’s this?”
“Chanel, come in. This is the youngest of the three siblings, Sean Axton. He’s a year older than you.”
Dana pulled the bewildered Chanel into Sean’s room.
“Hi, Sean,” Chanel greeted politely.
“Auntie, don’t tell me that she is your illegitimate…” Sean fixed his gaze on Dana’s eyes and trailed off mid-sentence, not daring to continue.
Dana looked at her nephew in disgust and pulled his ear. “You brat, are you sure your mother didn’t drop you when you were a baby? What the hell is wrong with you and your brain?”
Sean kept howling in pain. “Auntie, let go! It hurts a lot!”
Finally, Dana pulled Chanel out of Sean’s room. Sean quickly locked the door behind them.
“Duncan, are you asleep?” Dana then brought Chanel to another door on the second floor.
“The door’s not locked. Just come in.” A gentle voice came from behind the door.
“Busy, Duncan?”
Dana brought Chanel into a room that had been transformed into a study room.
A tall, thin boy was fiddling with a human skeleton in front of the table. He was so focused that he did not even raise his head when they entered.
Chanel glanced at the jars of preserved human organs decorating the bookshelves. There were also many glass containers of animal specimens floating freely in colorful liquids all over the room.
“Thud!” Chanel accidentally bumped against the corner of a table, and something fell off. She hurriedly bent down to pick it up and was scared out of her wits. It was a fake human skeleton that looked too real.
Chanel paled, and her legs turned to jelly. She fell to the ground along with the thing in her hands.
In the end, Chanel exited the room while supporting herself against the wall.
“Don’t worry, Chanel. I’ll get a few more and put them by your bedside. You’ll get used to them when you see them more often.” Duncan was in medical school. He had been fascinated with the human body since he was young. He was close to six feet tall, and his smile was quite addicting.
“Chanel, Duncan has the best temper amongst everyone else at home. You’ll soon get used to his weird knick-knacks in his room. Don’t be afraid.” Dana then brought Chanel up to the third floor.
“Kingsley?” Dana said, knocking gently at the door of the room on the third floor.
Kingsley had just finished his shower and came out in a white bathrobe. He was very handsome but exuded a cold, dangerous aura, even at home. He towered at six feet two as he opened the door to look at the both of them at the door. His eyes were cold as ice as they casually swept over Dana and Chanel. He had no intention of letting either of them in.
“Kingsley, she’s Old Man Yves Bourdain’s granddaughter, Ch—”
“Not interested.”
Kingsley’s voice was dull and emotionless. It sounded like he wanted to get rid of them.
Chanel chewed on her lower lip. She was still shaken up from Duncan’s room, yet she was oppressed by Kingsley’s threatening aura. She could barely breathe.
Dana was used to Kingsley’s attitude. She turned to Chanel and said, “Chanel, this is Kingsley Axton. The most handsome man in the Axton family.”
Chanel was so nervous that she didn’t dare to look up. Still, she forced herself to greet him. “Hello, K-Kingsley…”
“Don’t call me like that.”
Chanel was dumbfounded.
It was still the same icy tone as before. He was also being cold towards her.
Just before Kingsley closed the door, Dana hurriedly stopped him. She had seen that Chanel was about the cry. “Kingsley, why did you do that? You scared Chanel!”
Dana just wanted him to greet Chanel properly.
Kingsley looked at Chanel, standing pitifully at his door. The tears in her eyes were threatening to fall. Kingsley’s sharp eyes suddenly pierced through her as he said in a deep, impatient voice, “Don’t you fucking cry!”
Chanel was so frightened that she immediately burst into tears.