CHAPTER 422: CHAPTER 422: LOVELY

The young man beside the old lady immediately rushed forward, helping her up from the floor. His sharp eyes turned toward Aurora as he glared at her.

"Is this the manner your father taught you?" he demanded coldly. "How can you push an elder like that?"

Aurora crossed her arms, her lips curling into a faint smile.

"Elders should learn to respect themselves first," she replied calmly.

"Not to mention, this elder is a complete stranger. How dare she slap my brother? Should I have stood there quietly and watched?"

The old woman gasped as though she’d been struck again.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to cry and wail dramatically, her voice shrill enough to draw attention from the nearby tables.

"Such a disrespectful girl!" she cried out between sobs. "Such arrogance! A girl like her needs to be punished properly! She must learn her place!"

Aurora’s expression didn’t waver.

"It’s not your place to correct me," she said with a soft chuckle.

"Even my own father wouldn’t tolerate this kind of behavior from a complete stranger, so who are you to say such things?"

The old woman’s tears stopped abruptly, replaced by fury. Her face turned red as she shouted, "I am not a stranger! I am Adam’s mother!"

Aurora’s brow arched. "Oh? Then I am Adam’s grandmother? Do you believe me, old woman?"

For a moment, silence blanketed the air.

Olivia pressed her lips tightly together, trying not to laugh, while Theodore and Lucas exchanged awkward glances.

Even Adam, who had remained quiet until now, couldn’t help the faint chuckle that escaped him.

His daughter’s sharp tongue always found a way to turn tension into absurdity.

The old woman’s fury intensified. She jabbed a trembling finger at Adam.

"Adam! Tell them! Tell this disrespectful child that I am your mother!"

Adam hesitated. His eyes darkened as he stared at the old woman before him... the woman who had given him life, yet made it unbearable.

Her name was Lovely, but everything she had ever done was the complete opposite of lovely. Taking a slow, deep breath, Adam nodded.

"Yes," he said quietly. "She is my mother."

The entire family fell silent. Mary’s face was unreadable; Aurora, Olivia, Theodore, and Lucas looked stunned, and Adriana frowned faintly.

None of them had ever met their grandmother in person.

They had only heard fragments, stories filled with bitterness and hurt that Adam rarely spoke of.

Lovely lifted her chin proudly, as if her status had suddenly been restored.

She turned to Aurora, her voice dripping with arrogance.

"Now you know who I am. Kneel and apologize, or I won’t forgive you for what you’ve done."

Aurora’s lips twitched, and she rolled her eyes. "Who even asked for your forgiveness?" she said lightly.

Lovely’s hands trembled. "So you’re going to rebel now? You dare speak to your grandmother this way?"

Aurora shrugged, her tone casual but her eyes sharp.

"I’m not rebelling. You’re right, I pushed you. That was wrong. But I don’t owe an apology to someone who’s been absent my entire life and suddenly appears to slap my brother. From my perspective, you’re a stranger who attacked my family. I only defended us. Tell me, Grandma, do you see anything wrong with that?"

Lovely’s nostrils flared. Her face turned red again as she shouted,

"You’re going too far! Girls like you need to be taught a lesson!"

She raised her hand once more, preparing to slap Aurora, but Aurora’s gaze turned icy.

"Are you really planning to be pushed again?" Aurora asked in a dangerously calm tone.

The old woman froze, her raised hand trembling midair.

From Aurora’s eyes she can see that... Aurora truly meant whatever she had said!

For a second, the room went dead silent.

The young man beside her, Hans, quickly stepped in, his expression a mixture of frustration and contempt.

"You’re one of the most insolent girls I’ve ever met," he spat. "How can you talk to your grandmother like that?"

Aurora tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. "And who exactly are you supposed to be?"

Hans straightened.

"I’m Hans, your father’s nephew, the grandson of this elderly lady you just pushed."

Aurora gave a humorless laugh.

"Then do yourself a favor and take your sobbing grandmother somewhere else. Her constant nagging is giving me a headache."

Hans’s face twisted in anger.

"We don’t want to stay here anyway! People like you aren’t worth our time!" He said loudly, his tone filled with mockery.

No one bothered to respond. The Waters family simply stared at him in silence, unimpressed.

Hans, growing more frustrated, sneered.

Logically, if there was someone else at the Water’s place, they would have asked what kind of people he was referring to, but they remained silent!

"I’ve heard plenty about this family. My father told me how his brother, your father, was a thief! Stealing from his own home and running away in disgrace!"

Aurora’s expression darkened. Slowly, she looked at him and said evenly,

"If I remember correctly, right now you and your grandmother look more like scammers than victims. Pretending to be hurt, stirring a scene, hoping someone will pity you—that’s a more fitting description."

Hans’s fists tightened.

"You’re talking too much! Do you really think you belong in a place like this? You’re only dining here because your father probably stole again to pay the bill!"

Aurora’s patience snapped. She leaned slightly forward, her tone firm but controlled.

"My father worked hard to stand where he is today. Every bit of this was earned honestly. And maybe you should stop talking about "disease" as if it were a crime."

Hans scoffed.

"Oh, please. Who knows if it was even a disease? If a thief blames his actions on being sick, I’d call it an excuse, not an illness!"

Aurora laughed, but there was no amusement in her voice.

"Your medical knowledge is as shallow as your manners," she said coldly.

Hans’s jaw tightened.

"Watch your mouth, girl. Someday, you’ll land in trouble because of that tongue of yours." With that, he turned around, ready to storm off.

But when he noticed that his grandmother hadn’t followed, he stopped and looked back. "Grandma?" he asked, frowning.

Lovely remained where she stood, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She looked straight at Adam.

"Tell me, Adam," she said slowly, "how can you afford to dine in such a place? You could barely feed yourself once; what changed?"

The question hit Adam like a wave of déjà vu.

He remembered vividly how his mother had once told him he’d never amount to anything, how she’d compared him to his younger brother, the golden child of the family.

Those words had haunted him for years, feeding his insecurities and pushing him to prove himself.

But now, standing tall beside his family, he had nothing to hide.

"I’m the CEO of a company now," Adam said calmly. "And yes, I can afford this lifestyle."

Lovely’s expression shifted instantly. Her eyes gleamed with sudden interest, the tears and anger vanishing as quickly as they had appeared.

She glanced at Hans, who seemed equally intrigued.

A CEO? That meant influence, money, and opportunity.

Hans smiled faintly, already calculating possibilities in his head.

Aurora, watching them, felt a cold laugh rise in her chest.

She knew exactly what kind of people they were; she had long ago investigated her father’s family. The resentment she felt toward them ran deep.

These were the people who had turned their backs on her father when he had been at his lowest, who had tarnished his name and stolen his dreams.

Because of them, he had faced countless setbacks that could have been avoided.

And now, these same people stood here, pretending to act righteous and offended.

In Aurora’s eyes, they weren’t family; they were leeches.

Sensing her growing anger, Adam gently placed a hand on her shoulder and said quietly, "Let’s go."

The Waters family began to move, but before they could leave, Lovely’s voice cut through the air again.

"Wait! I need to talk to you, Adam!" she said sharply.

Adam turned around, his patience waning. "I don’t have time for this, Mother," he said firmly.

Lovely smirked.

"Then I suppose I’ll have to visit your workplace. Maybe your employees would like to hear about your illness... or about the things you stole from us long ago. Perhaps I’ll even press charges, since you never returned them."

Adam froze for a moment, then clenched his fists. This was the woman he had once called mother, always scheming, always cruel.

Taking a deep breath, he said coldly,

"If that’s what you want, we can meet privately. I’ll compensate you in money if that’s what you’re after. But beyond that, forget it. I don’t owe you anything anymore."

Lovely’s eyes flickered with greed. The way her son stood there, calm, confident, and successful, was proof that he was no longer the broken man she’d abandoned.

She smiled inwardly.

He must be earning a fortune now.

And she was going to make sure she got her share of it.