Chapter 288
“You’re absolutely worthless. I pay you people, and you can’t even figure out who my daughter went out with? Wasn’t there security footage at the audition? Pull it up. I want to see exactly who took her there,” Yvonne snapped.
Just as the investigator tried to dig deeper, his laptop screen suddenly filled with garbled code. In the blink of an eye, his system was completely fried, and a single message appeared: [Mind your own business.]
His eyes went wide. He instantly realized he’d messed with someone way out of his league. He was so scared he didn’t even care about the payoff anymore.
“If you’re so capable, do it yourself. I’m refunding you. Move. I’m out of here,” he said.
He ran off like his feet were on fire. As someone with some experience in the field, he knew the Clare family had just pissed off the wrong people. He bolted while he still had the chance to dodge this trouble.
Yvonne was shoved aside, stumbling back and nearly falling flat on her face.
She was so furious her chest was heaving, and she exploded, cursing up a storm. “Damn it! How rude you are, you useless idiot, you son of a bitch!”
Still fuming, Yvonne stomped upstairs and kicked Rowena’s door wide open. “Rowena, be honest with me. Who were you with today?”
Rowena was already used to Yvonne storming in like this. Rowena just lounged on the couch, rubbing lotion into her hands calmly. “None of your business,” she said flatly.
Yvonne was furious, but powerless. “Rowena, you’ve really got guts, huh? You just have to go against me? Without my say-so, you’re not even leaving this room. Believe it or not…”
Rowena froze for a second, then shot to her feet and strode straight to the window. “Guess I’ll just jump out right now, then.”
“No!” Yvonne jumped in fright, her face instantly going pale.
“Rowena, are you out of your mind? Get over here, right now! Are you crazy? How could you even think of jumping from here?” Yvonne cried out. She looked at Rowena, flustered and panicked.
Rowena caught a flicker of uncertainty in Yvonne’s eyes and thought, “Maybe, deep down, she really does love me–not just see me as a trophy, right?”
“Mom, can’t you just let me live my own life? For 22 years, I’ve never had a single day of freedom. Your love is so overwhelming, and it’s suffocating me,” Rowena said quietly.
Yvonne’s face went pale with anger, her fists clenching at her sides. Then, her shoulders slumped and she looked away, her eyes full of wounded pride.
“Rowena, everything I’ve ever done has been for your own good. I’ve poured my heart and soul into raising you, sacrificed so much, and this is how you treat me?” Yvonne said, her voice shaking with hurt.
Rowena shook her head. She’d been on the receiving end of her mother’s manipulative tactics more times than she could count.
“Mom, do you really care about me? Or are you just trying to prove that your daughter is better than that woman’s?” Rowena asked, her voice calm but sharp as a knife.
Yvonne’s pupils contracted violently. She snapped, her voice shaking with rage, “Shut up! They aren’t even worth comparing to me. I have nothing to prove to them. They’re nobody, pathetic.”
Just mentioning that woman filled Yvonne with murderous intent, her face twisting deeply.
Rowena ripped off her mom’s mask without mercy. “Mom, can you stop fooling yourself already?”
“Shut up!” Yvonne’s voice was so sharp and grating it made one’s skin crawl.
“Mom, Rowena, what are you doing?” A soft, cute voice called out. Standing in the doorway was a boy.
When Yvonne saw him awake, her expression changed in a flash. She quickly turned around, putting on a sweet smile. “Elton, why are you…”
“No, I want to play with Rowena,” Elton Clare insisted.
“Elton, Rowena still has homework to do,” Yvonne said, trying her best to sound patient.
At that moment, Rowena spoke up. “Forget the homework. How about I play with you, Elton?”
Elton hugged his dinosaur plushie and bounced with excitement. “Great!”