Chapter 86

Yannis frowned and pulled Zinnia behind him to shield her. He looked at Maelis across from them, utterly bewildered by her accusing Zinnia without even asking.

“Are you saying it’s Betty’s fault? Mr. Perkins, this is my family matter. Should you really be meddling?” Maelis asked.

Still unsettled by Yannis’s earlier intimidation, Maelis instinctively snapped at him. She thought, ‘Why is this outsider butting in? Does he think I’m making false accusations against Zinnia now?’

Ever since she returned from the Lynn residence and was forced to make a choice, Maelis had given up on herself. The tug-of-war between Betty and Zinnia had left her unable to eat or sleep well before. When Sofia pressured her to choose Betty, Maelis finally gave in. She couldn’t believe that the daughter she’d raised with such care could be any less than Zinnia.

Now, whenever she saw Zinnia, bitterness welled up inside Maelis. She was angry that Zinnia never gave her any respect, never saw her sacrifices, and instead even sided with outsiders to push her into a corner. Whenever she saw Zinnia, Maelis’s chest tightened with an uneasy mix of panic and discomfort.

Yannis shot back, “Who says this is just your family’s business? Right now, you’re the other child’s guardian, and I’m Zinnia’s. You protect your kid, and I protect mine. And how do you know it’s not the one on your side who’s at fault? Mrs. Shaw, you sound so self-righteous. Aren’t you afraid of getting proven wrong?”

Facing Maelis’s accusation, Yannis showed a mocking smirk. He shot a cold glance at Betty across from him. He couldn’t even bring himself to say Betty’s name. He felt dirty if he did.

Betty felt his icy stare, and her face went pale. A shadow of bitterness clouded her features. She thought, ‘He hates me all because of that bitch Zinnia. If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t hate me.’

“Zinnia, why did you hit Betty?” Yosef asked.

Yosef watched as Zinnia nestled in Yannis’s protective embrace. He was disappointed that Zinnia completely ignored Maelis and him and didn’t even greet them, but placed all her trust in an outsider. Yosef’s tone was slightly cold. He thought, ‘How could she be so cold to her own family?’

Honestly, Yosef barely remembered much about Zinnia. Most of what he knew came from stories about her fighting with, arguing with, or bullying Betty. But just recently, Yosef had learned that the health soup he had been drinking was actually made by Zinnia. That left him conflicted. He felt they seemed to have never truly known her at all.

Zinnia looked at them with icy detachment. Facing their accusatory tone, she retorted bluntly, “Because she’s got the mouth of a sailor.”

Zinnia wasn’t surprised by their unhesitating accusations, nor did she feel particularly hurt. She had expected it.

“Zinnia, how dare you bully Betty right in front of us? What on earth did your grandmother teach you to make you such a disgraceful creature?” Maelis snapped.

Maelis was seething with rage, not just at Zinnia, but also at Sofia for raising Zinnia to be even more unruly and sharp-tongued than she was with the Shaw family. In Maelis’s eyes, Zinnia never admitted her faults.

William raised his voice and said, “Mrs. Shaw, to be honest, it really was Betty who started this whole thing.”

Watching Maelis and the others bickering before he could even get a word in, William felt his head spinning. He wondered, ‘Why can’t they just have a little patience and let me finish what I’m saying?’

William’s words left Maelis and Yosef dumbfounded for a moment.

Betty’s face burned with humiliation, especially when she caught the mocking look in Yannis’s eyes. She felt her shame laid bare for everyone to see. At that moment, Betty had to admit to herself that she regretted this. If she had known Zinnia would call Yannis over, Betty would never have kept up her stubborn act. She should have settled things before Yannis arrived. Betty had considered all sorts of people Zinnia might turn to for help, but never once did she imagine it would be Yannis, the untouchable man who answered to no one. Betty had thought Yannis was still abroad. Never in a million years did she imagine Zinnia had somehow gained Yannis’s favor.

“That’s right, Mrs. Shaw. Your daughter scolded mine first. Shouldn’t she be the one getting taught a lesson?” Yvette snapped.

No matter how much she might scold Maisie, Yvette would never tolerate anyone else saying a bad word about Maisie, especially not from a family that couldn’t even distinguish right from wrong. Yvette wondered, ‘How could there be such an unreasonable and shameless family? They are totally a bunch of shrews.’

“Your daughter must apologize to mine. Mark my words,” Yvette declared and lifted her chin. Her delicate features were stripped of any gentleness, replaced by pure authority. As a mother, Yvette would definitely protect her child. She would fight even without justification, and with good reason, she would stand her child’s ground even more firmly. Considering the other party was Zinnia’s family, Yvette had originally wanted to let things slide and keep peace. But after seeing how they treated Zinnia, Yvette resolved to demand justice from the Shaw family, whether for Maisie’s sake or Zinnia’s. She felt the Shaw family was so harsh to Zinnia, their own daughter.

“Mrs. Shaw, take a good look. See for yourself who really started all this,” Yannis said. He pulled out his phone, brought up the video he had just received, and put it right in front of Maelis and the others.

“Piss off,” came Betty’s opening line, which dripped with malice.

Yannis skipped over Maisie’s part and fast-forwarded straight to Betty’s next outburst. “Are you Zinnia’s lapdog, always following her around? What are you, her pet or something?”

The video played out, accompanied by Betty’s provocative and vicious glare. It slammed the truth right into the Shaw family’s faces.

“See that clearly now, Mrs. Shaw? If not, I’d be happy to play it again for you.” Yannis leisurely pocketed his phone.

“Betty, how could you say such words?” Maelis shrank under Yvette’s gaze and suddenly realized Betty had been at fault all along.

“Mrs. Shaw, isn’t that embarrassing?” Yannis’s lips curled into a smirk. His eyebrows arched, and his gaze dripped with mockery as he looked at Maelis. His words were slow and razor-sharp, leaving no room for courtesy.

Maelis was left speechless, especially when she remembered how harshly she had just accused Zinnia, only to be proven wrong and end up with egg on her face once again. Her face burned with shame. Maelis had no choice but to swallow Yannis’s mockery. She cursed inwardly, ‘This rude boy has no manners. Doesn’t he know to respect his elders?’

“I called you here because Betty refused to apologize,” William finished explaining and finally let out a weary sigh. He thought, ‘What a mess. Mrs. Shaw always seemed so composed and proper at school. I can’t believe she could be so blind to right and wrong.’

“Apologize,” Yosef commanded coldly. His expression hardened as he looked at Betty’s pale face. In Yosef’s opinion, if Betty was at fault, she should apologize. The Shaw family didn’t tolerate anyone who refused to admit their mistakes. While Zinnia was also in the wrong this time, that didn’t excuse Betty’s use of bad language.