‘I guess rich mothers-in-law really are cunning and brilliant,’ Essie thought.

Her first grandmother might have been bossy and arrogant, but to Essie, Mrs. Mary seemed like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It would be easier to please the likes of her grandmother than to deal with someone like Zac’s mom.

‘I should probably keep my eyes on her so I can figure out her next move. Otherwise, I might find myself in danger.’ Essie held her breath.

This time, Zac didn’t oppose her. He always did things in a proper way to avoid humiliating his mother in front of others. Zac looked at Essie and nodded slightly, and then she walked up to Mary and sat beside her.

Valery walked towards Zac and smugly took the seat beside him. She always took comfort in the fact that his family had regarded her as someone who had the only right to be by his side. That even though Essie was his legal wife, she still wouldn’t be acknowledged and would only be considered as his mistress. Mistresses who had been in this house had come out feeling miserable. None of them ever managed to please this family enough, and Essie would soon join them in their misery.

It was obvious to Essie that they all favored Valery more as if she was the real wife. There were mainly two reasons why Mary wouldn’t allow Zac and Essie to reveal the truth of their marriage in the general public. First, she wanted to protect Valery. This was common sense since she was the daughter of her best friend, and she was carrying Zac’s child. Secondly, she didn’t want Essie to gain the support of others. She wanted to edge her out to the point that Essie would be the one to finally quit.

In Essie’s mind, she wondered if Zac realized that her mother was a treacherous person.

On the other hand, Albert, her father-in-law, was nice and kind. He was decent enough to give her a genuine smile and speak to her in a gentle and comfortable tone.

When all of them were seated, one of their house servants began to serve the dishes. Sage, the servant brought in a cup of chicken soup and laid it in front of Valery. "Miss Valery, please have a taste of this soup. This was specially made by Mrs. Mary for you. It’s good for your health."

Knowing very well how to suck up to Mary, Valery gave her a sweet smile and sad, "Thank you, Auntie Mary."

"Oh dear, we’ll be a family soon. You’re pregnant with her soon-to-be grandchild. I think you should start calling her ‘mom,’" Elizabeth chimed in and urged her daughter. These three knew exactly how to make a scene in front of so many people.

"Yeah, it’s all right. You can call me that," Mary responded quickly. As if they had rehearsed it from a script, they spewed out lines so naturally, that these three could star effectively as villains in a TV drama.

"Okay then, mom." There was an evil smile on Valery’s face as she gave an arrogant glance at Essie.

‘Know your place, you cockroach! How dare you compete against me?!’ Valery made sure that Essie was having a miserable time as they ate together.

‘What the hell!

I can’t stand this anymore!’ Essie was controlling herself but actually wanted to curse them.

‘Aren’t they in their right minds? I’m the legal wife. Why should I be treated this way?

I swear, one more word and I will slap this Valery with our marriage certificate!’ She was almost trembling as she held her fork.

Zac noticed Essie’s expression as he sipped his wine. He then turned to Valery and said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh hey, that’s a good idea. Mom always treated you like her daughter, so maybe I should start treating you as my sister. Well then, you can call me ‘brother’!" Everyone knew that he was trying to ridicule Valery with his remarks.

Ivy, who was sitting next to Essie, snorted and patted her on the shoulder. "While you’re on it, call Essie ‘sister-in-law’ too!" As an avid fan of Essie, she was determined to support her idol and cousin to be together. With the opening that Zac created, she wouldn’t let that opportunity to be wasted.

"Hey kid, stop it," Allan said in a low voice

dinary people would shudder in fear when they look at it.

"Oh no! I didn’t notice that we started heading this way. Come on. Let’s leave quickly!" Ivy held Essie by her arm as she pulled her away and rushed to the other path.

"What was that place?" Essie asked in confusion as she saw the nervous expression on Ivy’s face. Ivy didn’t manage to answer right away because she was still catching her breath.

"I’m warning you. You can go anywhere in the mansion except there. Just stay away from that place," she cautioned her as she tried to recover from her goosebumps.

"Is there a ghost inside?" Essie asked in a playful tone. She actually felt kind of interested because she happened to have read a book on how to steal a tomb recently.

"Yeah, that’s right," Ivy answered with all seriousness. "I was still a child back then. I heard from the servants that someone had died in that place. After that, she became a ferocious ghost, haunting around and occasionally appearing as a lady in a red dress. The family asked a Taoist priest to place a seal on that area. No one was allowed to get close to that place except Uncle Li." As she was still speaking, a cold wind blew from afar. The wind whistled through the bamboo grove, as though speaking in a high-pitched voice. She immediately felt a shiver down her spine and urged Essie to quickly run away, fearing that the ghost in the red dress would appear and chase them.

They didn’t stop running until they reached an area where a servant was standing, watering the plants. Ivy patted her chest and gasped, "Ooh! I‘m so scared! That was too scary!"

"Is that story even true? I think stories about ghosts are just made up." Essie wasn’t really scared. She was the type to purely believe in science, therefore she didn’t believe in the existence of supernatural beings.

"What? Of course they’re true. She’s roaming around in the middle of the night, you could even hear someone crying. It’s so scary. I’m telling you, I’ve heard it myself!" she continued to convince Essie. "This place has a history of more than a hundred years. It experienced wars. It would not be uncommon if there was something mysterious lingering here," she added.

At last, Essie nodded and agreed with her. ‘I guess the older the places are, the more extraordinary stuff they experience. Consequently, more rumors and stories were passed down,’ Essie thought.

"Why would Uncle Li be the only one allowed to get close to that place? Is he not afraid of the ghost that dwells in there?" Essie asked curiously.

"Uncle Li used to be a Taoist priest. He knows the spell to calm the vicious ghost." The more Ivy spoke about it, the more Essie found the place mysterious.