CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51: RETURNING HOME IN GLORY

"How about it?" Felix Raines jumped up, "Your money is my money! What do you say? Go and get the rest back for me!"

"What if I don’t—" Sienna Thornton smiled, elongating her tone.

"Then I’ll beat you to death today!" Felix Raines swung a crutch nearby, threatening to hit Sienna Thornton.

Jenna Raines rushed up to hug his waist, "Dad, that money isn’t Big Sister’s! Big Sister also doesn’t have money; it’s from the man who came with her!"

"Really?" Felix Raines stopped, his triangular eyes looking at the always obedient Jenna Raines.

Jenna Raines nodded desperately.

Felix Raines then fell silent, his triangular eyes darting over Sienna Thornton. After a moment, he seemed very earnest as he mumbled, "If it’s someone else’s money, then we shouldn’t covet it. In that case, let’s all go home!"

Sienna Thornton couldn’t see what trick he was playing and very cautiously hid the card Simon Forrester had given her, supporting Melinda Linton as they left the hospital.

Jared Raines somehow got hold of a tricycle motorcycle with a canopy and called everyone to get on. Felix Raines was the first to jump on, choosing the only soft leather seat inside.

Sienna Thornton glared at him bitterly, helping Jenna Raines get Melinda Linton into the vehicle.

The car jolted for nearly two hours before finally arriving at Raines Village, where the Raines Family was located.

This was Sienna Thornton’s first return since she escaped from Raines Village at fifteen to study high school in the city. The poverty-stricken village before her, full of yellow soil and flying sand, was no different from back then.

Felix Raines ordered Jared Raines to stop the tricycle motorcycle at the village entrance and told everyone to get off and walk in from there.

Sienna Thornton knew he wanted to show off.

Over the years, he bragged a lot to the villagers, saying he had funded Sienna Thornton to study in high school in the city and then to attend university in Azure Harbor, followed by a Ph.D. in the United States.

Wrayhaven is a nationally designated impoverished county, and Raines Village is even poorer. Everyone is equally poor; no one is the poorest, only poorer.

So Felix Raines’s boasting often drew ridicule, and the more he was laughed at, the more he wanted to prove himself, constantly forcing Melinda Linton to call and make Sienna Thornton bring her degree back to the village for people to see.

Of course, Sienna Thornton would never comply. If it weren’t for Melinda Linton still being at the Raines Family, she might never have set foot in this nightmare-inducing place again in her life.

Five of them walked towards the village. Except for Melinda Linton, who was slightly hunched over because of her discomfort, the others were full of spirit, especially the Raines father and son, who loved to put on airs. The elder was still in his cheap but neatly worn suit, while the younger was dressed in denim, looking rather presentable.

The villagers chatting idly by the roadside saw an additional attractive, stylish young girl among Felix Raines’ family of four and, noticing her delicate face bearing faint traces of the past, came up to greet her, probing, "Hey, isn’t this ’Little Drag’—isn’t she? Is it her?"

"Little Drag" was Sienna Thornton’s nickname in the village. It’s quite ironic, considering Felix Raines gave her that nickname.

Melinda Linton said nothing, her head lowered.

Felix Raines proudly introduced to everyone, "It’s indeed my eldest daughter! She’s been studying for over ten years outside, got her Ph.D. in the United States last year, and now she’s back, working as a lawyer in Brimfield!"

The villagers were in an uproar.

They had never seen a college graduate in their lives, let alone a Ph.D. returning from the United States. They circled around Sienna Thornton like she was a curiosity, seemingly eager to discern how a Ph.D. differed from an ordinary person.

Among the villagers who came upon hearing the news, a few had seen the world outside. However, this so-called world probably only means having worked outside and overheard some hearsay.

Upon hearing that Sienna Thornton was working as a lawyer in Brimfield, they couldn’t help but look at her with eyes full of disdain, whispering to each other, "I heard that lawyers always defend bad people, freeing those who deserve to be locked up! They even help murderers get acquitted!"