Pampered By Power: The True Heiress Returns

Chapter 335

Chapter 335

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Zane grinned as he admired how Elysia had subtly painted her ninto the artwork without disrupting its

overall vibe. Both paintings shared this sfeel, and it was clear Elysia was seriously talented.

Alice dropped into a chair and glanced at the paintings on the wall. No doubt-they were Elysia’s work.

She couldn't help but smile, feeling satisfied to have a friend as amazing and tough as Elysia.

But then she realized the word “tough” didn’t quite fit. Elysia was gentle too, always speaking softly as if she

were careful with her words.

Phoebe noticed Alice’s big grin and raised an eyebrow. She leaned back against the desk and smirked. “Hey,

little girl, what's got you so happy?”

Alice's smile wavered. She looked at Phoebe with a touch of irritation. “I'm not a little girl. And | have a name-it’s

not just ‘hey.”

Phoebe glanced at Alice, who looked like she was about to explode. She casually picked at her ear, thinking,

“This kid is still young, but she surely has sfire in her.”

“Alright, tellyour name, and I'll stop calling you ‘hey,” Phoebe said, keeping her tone light.

“Alice,” Alice replied.

“Alice?” Phoebe nodded, pretending like she’d just discovered something profound. “Nice name.”

“What about you?” Alice jumped in. “What's your name?”

“Me?” Phoebe pointed to herself, shrugging like it was no big deal. “A name's just a name. It doesn’t really

matter.”

“It matters!” Alice insisted, crossing her arms. “I told you mine, so you gotta tellyours.”

Phoebe smiled at Alice’s stubbornness, thinking to herself that kids were something else—they always wanted

things to be fair. If they gave a little, they expected a lot back.

Even with something as simple as sharing names, they wouldn't let it go. If they didn’t get what they wanted,

they'd blow up like a balloon about to burst.

“Even if you don’t tell me, | know. Elysia calls you Phoebe, right?” Alice said.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow, impressed. “You're pretty sharp, little rascal.”

Alice turned her head away, clearly ticked off. “What did you just promise me? Callby my name. ‘Little

rascal’ is even more annoying than ‘little girl.”

Seeing Alice’s reaction, Phoebe’s smile faded. She’d never really dealt with kids, especially not ones as young as

Alice. She remembered a kid back in her hometown, a bit older than Alice, who used to follow her around

whenever she was home, always begging to play with her.

Phoebe couldn't stand kids-they were way too much hassle. She usually tried to avoid them or just tuned them

out,

But with how things were now, she figured maybe she should try to make this little one feel better. Elysia had

asked her to look after them, after all.

The thing was, Phoebe wasn’t great at cheering people up. She glanced over at Zane, hoping for him to do

something since Alice was his niece.

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Zane noticed Phoebe’s unease and frowned a little. He turned to Alice and said softly, “Even if she doesn’t

always say the right thing, she’s still Elysia’s friend. Do you really want to stay upset with her?”

Alice paused, thinking it over, then looked at Phoebe. “Alright, for Elysia’s sake, I'll let it go. But if you call me

‘little rascal’ or ‘little girl’ again, | won't forgive you next time.”

Phoebe figured Zane’s comment about “she doesn’t always say the right thing” was his way of getting back at

her. He could've just said what he meant, but instead, he took the scenic route-and she couldn’t even fight back.

She regretted making small talk with Alice and upsetting her. The real problem was she didn’t know how to fix it.

She'd learned a lesson today: she needed to keep her mouth shut more to stay out of trouble.

When Elysia walked in, the room was eerily quiet. She raised an eyebrow and looked around, wondering what

had happened while she was gone.

As soon as they saw Elysia, everyone turned to her like she was their lifeline. Phoebe was about to smile and say

something when Alice rushed past her.

Before Phoebe could even react, Alice wrapped her arms around Elysia in a tight hug. “Elysia, you're finally back,

cAlice’s soft, sweet voice.

Elysia patted her on the head, then glanced at Zane, catching the faint smile playing on his lips.

“You're here just in time, Elysia,” he said. “We need to talk about something important.”

Elysia was confused-she had no clue what he was hinting at.

Before she could ask, Zane’s deep voice cut through the air. “Elysia, | want you closer to me. Only then can | feel

at ease.”

He didn’t need to spell it out; Elysia got the gist. He wanted her to move to Royal Bay.

Seeing the hope in his eyes, Elysia could tell how much it meant to him. Maybe moving to Royal Bay wasn’t such

a bad idea after all.

Alice's eyes glistened as she said, “Elysia, | don’t want you in danger anymore. If you move to Royal Bay, we'll all

feel safer.”

With a sly grin, she added, “Even if you don’t want to see Zane, Royal Bay still has me. I'm pretty cute, right?

Don’t you want to seeevery day?” She batted her eyelashes, looking innocent, but didn’t notice Zane behind

her, looking annoyed.

Zane couldn't believe it. ‘Does Alice think Elysia prefers her over me? Elysia wants to seetoo,‘ he thought.

But since they both wanted the sthing, he decided to let it slide.

Elysia smiled and gently patted Alice’s head. “Alright, let's go

with

your

idea.”

“So, does this mean you're in, Elysia?” Alice asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.

Elysia nodded. “Yeah, I'm in. Moving to Royal Bay means I'll be closer to you, Alice.”

Zane looked happy at first, but then he seemed a little let down. Moving to Royal Bay also meant being closer to

him.

Phoebe felt like she was on the outside looking in. Just as she was about to slip away, Elysia called out, “Phoebe,

get ready. We're leaving soon.”

“Huh?” Phoebe was thrown. “Elysia, you're not planning on takingwith you, are you?”

“I told you before, but with everything that happened with Bianca, it got put on hold,” Elysia replied.

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Chapter 336