Carol lunged wildly, clearly aiming to claw Tessa’s face. Grace’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly signaled Jason to stop her. Jason reacted fast–before anyone could move, he had already pinned Carol down. He turned to Tessa. “Miss Tessa, are you alright?” Tessa sobbed quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks like petals in the rain, but she bit her lip and shook her head, insisting she was fine. She was clearly trying to stay strong, not wanting Grace to worry. Seeing this, Grace clutched her chest, still shaken. She pulled Tessa into her arms, then turned and shouted furiously at Albert and Carol. “This is your idea of a proper conversation? Don’t forget, we’re the victims here. Not just Tessa, but Aurora too. I’ll make sure every single thing gets settled.”
With that, she turned to leave with Tessa. “Jason, we’re going. I’d love to see just how much longer Hayes Enterprises can survive. If this is what you call sincerity, I have no problem terminating every partnership immediately.” She walked off, leaving nothing but exhaust fumes behind.
Albert looked as though the life had been drained from him. He staggered a few steps and nearly collapsed. Carol rushed to support him. “Are you alright…” A resounding slap landed across her face. Even Julian flinched from the sound. He shrank back, glancing at the two of them. All he saw was both parents flushed with fury. His mother stood frozen, her head turned from the blow, a vivid handprint burning on her cheek. It was a long while before she lifted a hand to touch the searing pain on her face. “You… you hit me?” Her hand trembled, but she didn’t dare touch her face. She didn’t need a mirror to know what it looked like. The burning pain across her cheek wasn’t something that could be taken.
Albert jabbed a finger at her viciously. “Hit you? So, what if I did? When we’re sleeping under a bridge and the company’s gone under, you’ll understand why.”
Chapter 972
Hearing that, Carol forgot all about the pain and clutched his sleeve. “What do you mean? I know I went overboard today, but seeing our son like this, of course it broke my heart. Tessa is a curse. If not for her, who knows how happy our son might’ve been!”
Albert snapped, “Still think I didn’t hit you hard enough?”
Carol shook her head repeatedly, covering her face, not daring to say another word. The pain from earlier still echoed through her nerves. Had she lost her mind, thinking that slap was light? “I’m sorry… please, tell me what’s really going on…” Only now, watching how tense Albert was, did Carol realize how serious things truly were. Before this, she had no such awareness.
Albert glanced back at Julian, who still stared at him blankly, and a wave of irritation surged up. Then he looked at Carol’s desperate, confused eyes, and his heart sank even deeper. He’d spent a lifetime scheming–how had it all come to this? How had everything collapsed so completely at the end? “I’ll figure something out. Just take care of Julian.”
With that, Albert turned and headed upstairs, leaving Carol and Julian alone in the living room. She looked at Julian standing there, utterly lost, not knowing what to do.