Chapter 891 - 467: How Should I Punish You?
"If it really comes to tearing faces apart, I believe it’s not only the Hughes Family that won’t have an easy time of it; I won’t give you a single penny. You can try Joshua’s explosive temper and see if he would go for utter destruction. He already knows about how you and Taoist Johnson have tricked me. Do you really think nobody would uncover what you’ve been doing behind my back?"
Grace Roe held back her anger and unease as she locked eyes with Harper Johnson. Both of them were mothers, one fighting for her two sons, and the other for her daughter, or perhaps more for greedy ambitions, as they faced off.
"This world is not the Hughes Clan’s alone. Joshua Hughes can’t reach the skies," Harper Johnson said, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.
"I don’t know if Joshua has the ability to reach the heavens, but toppling one or two enterprises shouldn’t be challenging for him," Grace commented with confidence and conviction. "In the end, what I did back then was for my son, open and without shame. Cold-blooded perhaps, but forgivable. Mrs. Yates, what you did is truly deserving of public condemnation; you are the truly shameless and despicable one."
Grace’s eyes were filled with disdain and contempt. By this point, there was no need to maintain appearances; her words were cutting and direct, targeting the rapidly reddening face of the woman opposite her.
"Take advantage while I’m still willing to agree to this matter; you can’t surpass the Hughes Family’s team of lawyers in a child custody battle," Grace said, taking a sip of tea, looking at the mother and daughter duo, waiting for their response.
"No, I don’t want to give the child to the Hughes Family," Evelyn Yates said, her eyes slowly clearing. "Since the Hughes Family won’t let me have it easy, this child won’t have it easy either. Whoever torments me, I will repay them double, understand?" With a cruel and terrifying smile on her lips, the image of a pregnant woman gently caressing her belly is usually the most beautiful, but at this moment, Evelyn’s actions were chilling, devoid of maternal love, filled with resentment.
"You are the child’s mother; if this is truly how it is, I’m powerless," Grace said, signaling the housekeeper to escort them out.
There are many ways to take the child away; a child of the Hughes Clan won’t be left to suffer outside. But given the Yates Family’s excessive demands, there’s nothing more to discuss.
"Evelyn, are you crazy or stupid? She has five percent of Hughes shares; if you can’t marry into the Hughes Clan, we’ll just take those shares, enough to live lavishly for a lifetime," Harper Johnson said, her eyes red with urgency, gripping her daughter’s arm, trying to shake her into reality.
"You’re only thinking about Joshua’s money, about his money, which is why he holds me in contempt. If it weren’t for you, why would he look down on me like this? He called me the most expensive prostitute. How much did father take advantage of him, what benefits did he gain from him, to make him say this and despise me? Can’t you bear it a little?" Evelyn Yates burst into tears, unable to hold back. Her life fell from heaven directly into the Inferno, an Inferno beyond redemption, never to rise.
"Don’t just talk about us; over the past year, haven’t you spent little of his money? How many bags, clothes, and jewelry do you buy every month? Evelyn, we all love money; don’t act so innocent. If Joshua Hughes were a pauper, without a single penny, would you still love him?" Harper Johnson felt nearly driven to madness, now even her daughter was admonishing her.
"I admit I love his money, but I also love him as a person. His money only adds to his charm," Evelyn Yates felt cold all over. Living in Hughes Castle, she liked to have warm air blown throughout the castle in winter, never feeling cold, with a faint fragrance in the air. But now everything had changed, never to return...
Both women fell silent in the argument, as defeated as fighting cocks, and returned to the Yates Family.
Returning home, they saw the despondent Brian Yates.
"What on earth happened, mom, how could it be like this? You know that this time, we’re utterly beyond rescue, beyond rescue..." Brian Yates looked at his mother, face like ashes, murmuring.
"Caleb, what’s wrong with you?" Harper Johnson looked at her son’s ashen face, with a vague sense of foreboding.