Chapter 457 The Truth of the Matter

Malcolm was as shocked as anyone by the truth. Lydia had acted so recklessly! But as her father, he felt compelled to defend her.

“Regardless, Meryl did crash into her sister’s car. Lydia’s not the best driver, so you can’t pin everything on her!” Malcolm insisted.

His words left Morton and Charlotte stunned. They knew Malcolm favored Lydia, but they hadn’t expected him to distort the facts so blatantly.

While Malcolm was willing to go to such lengths, Morton and Charlotte were not. The Aniston family valued their reputation, and with such clear evidence, they felt embarrassed.

Morton said, “Malcolm, this is an Aniston family issue. It might be best if you head home. We’ll handle it.”

“But Lydia is still in surgery…” Malcolm protested.

Charlotte cut him off. “It’s just a minor procedure, not childbirth. She’ll be up and about by the end of the day.”

Realizing it was inappropriate for him to linger in the maternity ward, Malcolm reluctantly left. Moments after he departed, Lydia was wheeled out of surgery.

Charlotte approached Lydia angrily and slapped her hard. “Lydia, what were you thinking? You risked your own child!”

Lydia felt the pain in her abdomen and the sting on her cheek. She hadn’t expected Charlotte to react like this.

“What happened?” Lydia asked, confused.

“How dare you ask that! You know what happened with the car accident!” Charlotte scolded.

“You’ve brought nothing but trouble! I shouldn’t have let Dalton marry you! Now that you’ve lost his affection, you think you can drag the family down with you? What do you take us for?”

Charlotte saw that Dalton was losing interest in Lydia, which worried her. The baby was Lydia’s only leverage to regain her standing, and Charlotte couldn’t believe Lydia had been so reckless.

“You fool! How could you be so careless?” Charlotte continued, jabbing her finger at Lydia.

“And now, because of your stupidity, I’ve lost my grandchild! Give me back my grandson!”

She slapped Lydia a few more times, leaving Lydia with nowhere to turn.

Lydia, shielding herself, said, “I’m devastated about losing the baby, too. If it weren’t for Meryl crashing into me, none of this would have happened!”

“Meryl crashed into you? Or did you provoke her and cut in front of her?” Charlotte demanded.

“It was her fault! If she’d braked properly, there wouldn’t have…”

Charlotte glared at Lydia, recalling how Malcolm had also tried to blame Meryl.

“It must run in the family. They’re both completely shameless. Like father, like daughter!” she thought.

Just as Charlotte was fuming, her phone rang. It was Cameron.

“Charlotte, I heard Lydia was in a car accident and lost the baby? Why was she driving when she’s such a poor driver? Couldn’t you hire a chauffeur?”

Charlotte’s eye twitched with irritation. The incident had occurred just hours ago, and she hadn’t even returned to Aniston Villa. How had Cameron found out so quickly?

“Charlotte, haven’t you heard? The news is already out. I just saw it on TV, and Lydia’s face was right there!”