Chapter 19
Things were cheerful on Aubree's side, but at the Wilsons', the mood was downright grim.
After dealing with the Wilson family, Alvin took his team out to celebrate the new addition. He even paid for the whole dinner himself.
Alice snapped immediately, "Is Aubree trying to turn the world upside down now? She actually talked back to you?"
As a mother, what Alice cared about wasn’t that her daughter was out there with no home–it was that her daughter had the nerve to argue with her eldest brother.
Everyone was there except Trevor, who was off filming and couldn’t make it back for the past few days.
Then Bryan laid out everything that had happened with Aubree.
Ronald didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. He sneered. "She’s grown pretty bold, hasn’t she? Last time at the hospital, didn’t she say she wanted to cut ties with us?"
Ronald honestly thought Aubree would have come crawling back in a few days. Who knew she had it in her to keep going?
Ronald gritted his teeth. “When did she get so out of control?”
Emery sat there listening to everyone blaming and criticizing Aubree, not knowing what to say.
Honestly, Emery wanted to ask–did Aubree really do anything wrong? What exactly did she do wrong!
Emery thought, “This house feels suffocating. If I were Aubree, I wouldn’t have lasted a day. But she lived here for three whole years.”
Dayton, the one who doted on Carmen the most out of all the brothers, had already been furious when he heard Aubree refused to ghostwrite for her. If he could teleport, he would’ve gone straight to Aubree and given her a good scolding.
Bryan cut in impatiently. “Isn’t it because you guys gave her money behind my back? Otherwise, she wouldn’t even have been able to rent a place and would’ve come crawling back already."
Bryan had only found out after sending his assistant to check on things that Aubree had moved into a tiny apartment in a sketchy part of town.
Aubree’s supplementary card had already been cut off. If she had cash on her, it had to be from the pocket money someone gave her before.
Alice paused for a second. “But your dad and I never gave her anything. Other than that gift we gave when she first got home, we were worried she’d waste money, so we never gave her another cent.”
Daxton added right away, “Why would I give her money?" The disgust on his face was pretty obvious.
Trevor wasn’t there, but he was always the busiest. Even though he was closest with Carmen, he’d forget to give her anything–let alone Aubree.
When all eyes turned toward him, Emery let out a bitter laugh. “I didn’t give her any.”
Emery hadn’t thought about it before. Aubree had food and a place to stay at home, plus that card, so he never even considered the money situation.
But all the other kids–Carmen included–used to get a seven-figure monthly allowance before they started working. Now that they had their own careers, even Carmen’s personal account never dropped below eight figures.
At that moment, Alice’s eyes went wide. She asked, “If she didn’t have money, how’d she rent a place?”
Carmen chimed in at just the right time. “Maybe she took something from the house before she left?”
Ronald's fury exploded, "She stole from us?"
Ronald already thought this biological daughter wasn’t half as good as Carmen, but he didn’t expect her to be rotten to the core—stealing from her own home.
Emery rubbed his temples. “Dad, if anything was missing, the housekeeper would’ve noticed right away.”
Daxton scoffed, “You never know. It’s always the ones inside the house that are hardest to guard against.”
Wendy, the housekeeper, couldn’t keep quiet anymore and jumped in. “Ms. Miller had a sponsor when she was living at the orphanage. The sponsor still sent her living expenses the first month she came back, so it’s probably that money."
Everyone went silent, looking surprised. They really didn’t know much about Aubree’s life before she came to the Wilsons.
Wendy continued, "And when she left, I saw her with my own eyes. She only packed what she brought when she first came. She didn’t even take clothes–wore the same outfit she showed up in.”
Their jaws dropped. They didn’t believe Aubree had seriously left without taking a single thing? Not even a change of clothes?
Hearing that, Emery felt a deep sense of doubt. Is there even a chance Aubree would ever forgive me?
Emery thought about how Aubree smashed the sapphire crown without hesitation back at GOD’s Fury base, and his heart sank again.
“There’s no point talking about all this now. The main thing is what we’re going to do about Carmen," Daxton said, bringing everyone back to the main issue. “We can’t seriously let her get kicked out of Rahol.”
Honestly, Daxton didn’t care whether Aubree was alive or dead–he just wanted to make sure Carmen’s problem got fixed.
Bryan thought back to how he told everyone in the family group chat not to go soft and secretly help Aubree.
But now that Bryan thought about it, did he even need to say that? No one in this house cared about her anyway.
The thought made his chest tighten unexpectedly. Shaking off the weird feeling, Bryan said seriously, “We’ll get someone to help keep Carmen at Richel Art School for now. But people talk. The best case is getting Aubree to behave."
“I’ll talk to her myself tomorrow," Alice said, hugging Carmen with a cold look in her eyes. “I don’t believe she can just ignore her own parents like that.”
Back at Ellis Heights, Aubree had just received a transfer from Bowen.
At the same time, Bowen sent a message. [Today’s tutoring fee:]
Aubree stared at the amount and thought, ‘It’s a thousand per hour–is he counting from the moment I see Alvin all the way till I get back to Heights?’
Aubree sent the money back. [Mr. Turner, I didn’t actually teach Alvin anything today. I can’t accept this.]
Bowen [Doesn’t matter if you taught or not. If Alvin says it’s all good, then you’re getting paid.]
‘Is this some kind of rich people’s hobby–just handing out money for fun?’ Aubree was stunned.
Aubree never agreed to tutor Alvin for the money anyway. She definitely wasn’t keeping it.
What Aubree needed was to maintain this connection with the Turner family–especially since she was counting on this rich guy!
Aubree planned on this rich guy to invest in her later.
Aubree: How about this–since I’m staying at your place, why don’t we count it as rent?
Seeing that she really didn’t plan to take the money, Bowen thought for a second. "The competition is only a week away. With prize money coming in, won’t be short on cash much longer. Since she’s eating and sleeping at my place anyway, she doesn’t need this extra."
Then Bowen replied, |Fine:||
After the chat ended, Aubree washed up and sat at her desk. Her textbook had already switched from first semester material to second semester.
Now, Aubree wasn’t wasting a single second. Tomorrow she had another practice session with GOD’s Fury. And next Saturday’s match? There was no way they were losing to Apex Squad.
Meanwhile, back at the Wilson residence, Carmen knocked on Emery’s door.
“Emery, did I do something to upset you?" Carmen asked carefully, her eyes full of innocent confusion. “I feel like… Lately, you kind of hate me."
Emery looked at his adopted sister, and his feelings were complicated.
“Maybe she isn’t as sweet or kind as I used to think, but even now, I can’t bring myself to be truly harsh with her," Emery thought.
Emery sighed and patted her head gently. “You’re overthinking. Why would I hate you? I’ve just been worried about Aubree, that’s all.”
Emery muttered and didn’t say, “I just… don’t know how to act around you anymore." He was a little lost in thought and missed the flash of resentment in Carmen’s eyes.
Carmen murmured, "I know it–Aubree is still a threat as long as she is around."
Pushing that aside, Carmen smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry, Emery. Aubree’s just being stubborn. Once Mom talks to her tomorrow, she’ll definitely come back."
“Hope so,” Emery said, though he didn’t sound very sure.
“Oh, right–can I join your team for the next tournament? I really want to experience the thrill of competing," Carmen asked, testing the waters.
Before, Carmen knew Emery would’ve agreed without hesitation. Now… she wasn’t so sure.
Hearing this, Emery hesitated for the first time. He didn’t say yes immediately.