Chapter 114: You Have Thoroughly Provoked Me
Jane Lancaster couldn’t help but smile.
’She probably has no idea what happened to the last person who begged me to go easy on them.’
Caleb Lowell’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. "What do you mean? Get up and speak clearly."
Of course, Rosalind Quill didn’t want to kneel, especially with that bitch Melody Knight hiding behind Jane Lancaster. It made her feel as if she were kneeling to her instead.
She scrambled to her feet, turning to look at Caleb Lowell, guessing that he was the one in charge.
"Mr. Lowell, you’ve always been fair and have an excellent reputation..."
"Wait a moment," Jane Lancaster interrupted her. "Ma’am, do I know you?"
’I haven’t even come looking for you to settle the score, yet here you are, stirring up trouble at my doorstep.’
’Very good. It’s not like I was planning to let you off the hook anyway.’
Jason Miller hurried over and handed her a business card. "Miss Lancaster, we’re Samuel Miller’s parents."
Jane Lancaster: "Oh? So you’ve come to apologize to Mama Knight for your son’s crime?"
Jason Miller was instantly embarrassed. Apologizing, of course, was out of the question. After all, Mama Knight had already said she would never settle.
It had been useless even when they’d sent Luna Morgan. Why would they come here now just to be humiliated?
Jane Lancaster continued, "I would have thought that after Samuel Miller bribed the nanny and security guard to frame Mama Knight for theft, the first thing the family would do is show some sincere remorse and apologize properly. I guess I was wrong."
After a pause, she added, "Then again, given the kind of son you raised, I suppose neither of you would even know the meaning of the word ’sincerity’. So let’s just forget it."
Her tone was unhurried, but her words were crisp and clear, and everyone present heard her perfectly.
So, the son breaks the law, and the parents show up to corner the victim?
With all this talk of ’going easy’ and kneeling, you’d think they were the ones who had been wronged.
Jason Miller was so taken aback by this tirade that he was speechless, his face a shifting canvas of red, white, and green.
Seeing her husband was useless, Rosalind Quill couldn’t help but snap back, "So is this why you’re pressuring our company? Are you trying to bankrupt us?"
She slapped her thigh and burst into tears. "You bought off our clients, became our creditors, and now you send people to our door every day to collect debts, splashing paint and writing threatening words! Our employees are too scared to come to work. You even stole several of our major clients, leaving us with a warehouse full of unsold goods and massive losses..."
Caleb Lowell’s head snapped up, and he stared at Jane Lancaster.
He had seen these exact same tactics used against Luna Morgan’s cousin’s family.
The group that had forced Luna Morgan’s cousin’s company out of business had later vanished without a trace. He hadn’t been able to track them down, no matter how he tried.
A chill went through him. ’It’s hard not to make the connection,’ he thought. ’Could it be the same group of people?’
"You’re lying!" Mama Knight was the first to object. "Our Young Miss isn’t that kind of person!"
Yara Yates also frowned. "You need evidence to make accusations like that. How old is Jane? She doesn’t understand these kinds of shady dealings."
In her eyes, even if Jane Lancaster was exceptionally intelligent, she had been in a coma for three years. Her mindset was likely still that of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.
Just a child, really. What would she know about such things?
Pauline Shaw knew exactly what her mother was thinking: that Jane Lancaster was smart but naive, with no connections to people from that world.
She found it amusing. Her mother probably had no idea that Jane Lancaster had been running with a rough crowd since she was a child.
If it weren’t for the disguise her status as the young miss of the Lancaster Family provided, she’d be no different from one of those delinquent girls on the street.
To be honest, she wasn’t surprised at all. This was exactly the kind of thing Jane Lancaster would do.
Jane Lancaster’s expression was calm. "Then why don’t you tell me? Why would I do that?"
Rosalind Quill’s eyes flickered. "Why else? Obviously, to get revenge for Melody Knight!"
Jane Lancaster replied, "Even though your son framed Mama Knight, he’s getting what he deserves and going to jail. What reason would I have to waste my energy trying to ruin your company?"
The onlookers nodded in agreement. It seemed like the couple was the guilty party trying to pin the blame on the victim.
Jason Miller couldn’t hold back any longer. "Miss Lancaster, please don’t play dumb. When Melody Knight worked for us as a nanny, she had sticky fingers. She stole things and then framed my son for it. That’s why we called the police. She was detained for a while, but we quickly withdrew the case and had her released."
"Melody Knight must have told you that she didn’t steal anything and that we framed her. But the evidence is irrefutable. I’ve brought the police report receipt from back then. The police wouldn’t frame her, would they? And if you don’t believe that, we also have a guarantee letter written by her own family. Her family wouldn’t frame her either, would they?"
As soon as he produced the receipt and the letter, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
After Caleb Lowell took them and looked, he fell silent.
Yara Yates also looked at Mama Knight in astonishment. "Mama Knight, what is all this?"
The moment Mama Knight saw those two pieces of paper, tears streamed down her face. Her voice trembled as she said, "I was framed!"
Jane Lancaster turned and put an arm around Mama Knight’s shoulders, comforting her in a low voice.
Rosalind Quill scoffed contemptuously. "Excuses!"
Jason Miller sighed. "Miss Lancaster, you’ve also had to deal with insolent servants who overstep their bounds. Why can’t you put yourself in our shoes? When a servant of the Lancaster Family embezzled funds, didn’t you fire them immediately and demand the stolen money back? If you were in my shoes, and a servant stole from you and then framed your son, wouldn’t you call the police?"
No matter how Jane Lancaster answered, it seemed she would be in the wrong.
Saying no would seem hypocritical. But saying yes would raise the question of why she couldn’t empathize with the Miller Family.
Jane Lancaster had just gained a great deal of sympathy because of the incident with Mrs. Everett. By bringing up Mama Knight’s alleged theft now, the Miller Family was seizing the upper hand in the court of public opinion.
Jane Lancaster replied, "If I were you, of course I wouldn’t call the police."
Jason Miller was stunned. She wouldn’t?
The crowd of onlookers began to murmur. That didn’t sound right. To be so blatantly provoked and not call the police... Was she trying to establish some kind of saintly persona?
But Jane Lancaster’s previous interviews, and especially the time she’d jumped off a building while holding a criminal, proved she wasn’t that kind of person.
Caleb Lowell also felt a faint sense of disappointment. She shouldn’t be making excuses at a time like this.
Actions speak louder than words, and a sincere apology is better than a cold, flimsy excuse.
"Jay, let it go. Let’s all just take a step back," he said, stepping forward to mediate. He turned to Jason Miller. "Don’t worry. We are willing to compensate for all the losses the Miller Family has suffered."
Mama Knight grew anxious. "Young Master Lowell, the Young Miss didn’t do it! We don’t need to compensate them."
Pauline Shaw was displeased. "Since when is it your place to tell my cousin what to do?"
She was really sick of Mama Knight, who was always taking a mile when given an inch.
Yara Yates pulled Pauline Shaw back. "That’s enough out of you."
She felt there was more to this story. That child, Jane Lancaster, always knew what she was doing and wouldn’t speak carelessly.
Why was Caleb Lowell apologizing before all the facts were out? And her daughter was even stranger, just adding to the chaos.
Rosalind Quill immediately seized on the point of attack. "Heh, why don’t you all get together and get your stories straight?"
Jane Lancaster glanced at her, her eyes ice-cold.
’Very good. You’ve really managed to piss me off now.’
She walked toward Jason Miller. "If I were you, the first thing I would have suspected is that my own son was the thief. Of course, I would have tried to cover it up and not let it blow up. You tried to stop it back then, didn’t you? A pity your wife was too stupid and called the police directly, nearly making the situation irreversible. Only then did you have to step in and pin everything on Mama Knight."