Chapter 417

Samuel scoffed. “That’s unlikely. Does Skylar have that much charm? Joe has plenty of women around him. Any of them could easily outshine Skylar, so why would he be interested in her? I even saw her with a boy toy!”

In his eyes, Skylar, whom he disliked, was inferior to Maisy in every way.

Maisy met Kenny’s gaze. With newfound determination, she said directly, “I’m positive. I saw Skylar and Joe acting intimately at a restaurant the day before yesterday. They were chatting and laughing.”

If Kenny had been the only one claiming this, Jeffrey might have hesitated, possibly even been reluctant to take such a risk again. Having mistakenly targeted the wrong person three times already, they had significantly offended John and Jacky—a significant blow to the Williams family. Offending Joe on top of that would be self-destructive.

“Seems like it might be true, then,” Jeffrey conceded.

Samuel’s face darkened. “How could Joe be interested in her? What’s so good about her?”

Maisy secretly agreed with Samuel’s doubts. She pondered what made Skylar so special. Joe must have been misled by her.

Sadie spoke up unexpectedly, defending Skylar. “She’s on Alexander’s team and earns a substantial monthly salary, which says a lot about her capabilities. We clearly misunderstood her before.”

From an outside perspective, Sadie finally realized how badly they had misjudged Skylar. Skylar had always been sincere and kind to them, yet they constantly made things difficult for her, even making her a scapegoat.

Samuel was incredulous. “Mom, why are you sticking up for Skylar? We all know what kind of person she is, don’t we?”

“Do we really? Do we truly understand her? We know what Joe’s like. If he’s interested in Skylar, it means she has qualities we’re unaware of,” Sadie countered firmly.

“Qualities? I think Joe is just interested in her skills in bed,” Samuel sneered. He believed Joe was like any other fickle-minded man, solely interested in a woman’s body, and predicted he would soon abandon Skylar.

Sadie raised her hand to slap Samuel, but Jeffrey quickly intervened. “Enough! You’ve changed completely since your accident. You’re not thinking straight!”

Maisy said gently, “Mom, whether Skylar is a good person or not doesn’t matter. What matters is if she can help us. Dad said the company is on the verge of bankruptcy. We can’t let that happen.”

On the surface, Maisy appeared respectful toward Sadie. However, inwardly, she was furious. She was convinced Sadie had lost her mind. Why was she defending Skylar? She was certain Sadie was not her biological mother, and felt all her efforts to please Sadie over the years had been wasted.

Sadie could now see through Maisy’s charade. She hadn’t been able to before, but now deeply regretted it. She wondered why she had always favored Maisy and neglected Skylar, who deserved her love and care most.

“She’s completely disappointed in us and has distanced herself. Finding her won’t help,” Sadie said coldly.

Over the past few days, Sadie had become increasingly clear-headed. Since her accident, Kenny and the others had relentlessly pressured Skylar. Skylar’s choice to escalate the situation rather than return home made it clear she didn’t care if the Williams family went bankrupt.

Jeffrey said, “Even if it’s a long shot, we have to try. It’s our last hope. You’d better come to terms with this and cooperate with us to record a video to convince Skylar to come back.” His gaze toward Sadie held a clear disapproval of her behavior that day.

Peter finally chimed in after a long silence. “Dad’s right. We can’t afford distractions right now. Our priority is surviving this crisis. Mom, if the company goes bankrupt, we’ll lose everything. We could be homeless, forced to rent a tiny apartment. We have to take this opportunity.”

Kenny added, “We also need to find a way to meet with Joe.”

Samuel’s expression darkened. “Have we really come to this?” The weight of their situation hit him hard: no acting jobs, no work, no income. Their family was on the verge of collapse.

Sadie took a deep breath. “Alright,” she conceded. At this point, they had no other choice. Besides, she, too, yearned to see Skylar.