CHAPTER 171: CHAPTER 171: WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO ABOUT TANYA TOMORROW NIGHT?

Vincent Hawthorne originally thought Tanya Sinclair was calling proactively because she had finally realized her mistakes, that she had been too capricious during this period and wanted to break the ice and reconcile with him.

But she immediately started with calling Cindy Lynn a ’bitch’ and was here to demand accountability.

Vincent Hawthorne frowned; Cindy Lynn had been with him the entire evening, right under his nose. What could she possibly do?

Besides, how good Cindy Lynn has been to the two kids over the years, Vincent Hawthorne has seen it all, especially Joy, whom she has almost treated as her own!

In contrast, Tanya Sinclair’s harsh treatment of Cindy Lynn has been crystal clear to him!

Vincent Hawthorne took a deep breath, "I can understand your worry for Joy and your unfiltered words because of it. Cindy Lynn has cared for Joy just as much as you have; how could she possibly hurt Joy?"

He always stood by Cindy Lynn’s side, even when it involved the two children, he still trusted Cindy Lynn!

Tanya Sinclair felt her blood boiling, a surge of anger rushing to her head.

She shouted fiercely, "Vincent Hawthorne, I don’t care how stupid you are, but if Cindy Lynn does anything to harm my two children, I’ll tear her apart myself, and as for you, how dare you call yourself my children’s biological father!"

Vincent Hawthorne felt Tanya Sinclair was becoming more and more unreasonable.

She just wouldn’t let go of Cindy Lynn!

"Cindy isn’t as vicious as you think!" Vincent Hawthorne paused, then said coldly, "It’s you, Tanya Sinclair, look in the mirror, see what you’ve become—you’re just a malicious shrew! If I had known this was your true self back then, how would I have married you!"

The Tanya Sinclair of the past was nothing like this!

Vincent Hawthorne wasn’t satisfied yet.

"Lawyer Taylor said you’re very unhappy with the divorce agreement; is it because two million isn’t enough? Is that why you called tonight, to cause trouble for more money?"

His tone was cold, filled with deep sarcasm, wanting to turn his words into knives, stabbing at her heart.

"I can add more for you. Not satisfied with two million, how about five million? Or ten million? Tanya Sinclair, anything beyond that you’re not worth. Wasn’t it just a few times of help and spending nights, do you really think you’re golden?"

"Oh, right." Vincent Hawthorne suddenly shifted his tone and laughed with interest, "How much did Julian Poole and Declan Pierce offer you? They should chat with me; as someone who’s been through this, I could offer them some advice to avoid overpaying... after all, you’re not worth that price!"

Saying these maliciously bitter words, a dark pleasure sprouted in Vincent Hawthorne’s heart.

He just wanted Tanya Sinclair to hurt!

Obviously, she couldn’t bear Declan Pierce to act against him, her heart still harbored feelings for him.

Daring to bite down on divorce, was it not just because she thought she could find something better after leaving him?

Ha, he just wanted to yell Tanya Sinclair awake, make her realize she was just a used goods he was bored of, how much she really weighed! Besides him, Vincent Hawthorne, who would really marry a woman like her with no family background?

"Ha." Tanya Sinclair suddenly laughed.

The laugh was so light, yet through the phone it seeped into Vincent Hawthorne’s ears like a cold wind slicing through every cell of his blood.

Inducing a sudden, inexplicable shiver.

"Vincent Hawthorne." Tanya Sinclair called his name calmly, she quietly said, "I deeply regret."

Vincent Hawthorne’s throat tightened, the mirror reflecting his smug, uplifted smile.

Finally knowing to regret proposing divorce, well, it wasn’t too late.

The palm slaps are done; now it’s time to give her some sweet dates.

Vincent Hawthorne smiled, softening his tone, "Tanya, if you regret leaving..."

Tanya Sinclair coldly interrupted him, "I deeply regret wasting my youth on someone like you! Feeding it to dogs would be better than being with you!"

Hearing Tanya Sinclair’s voice, word by word, it exuded a numb and cold sense of a dead heart.

"I always told myself, if I can love, I can afford to lose. But now I deeply regret... how could I have wasted my youth on someone like you!"

"..." Vincent Hawthorne’s smug smile froze on his face, his anger surged, "Tanya Sinclair!"

’Beep beep beep—’

The call was cut off.

Vincent Hawthorne clutched the phone tightly, finally kicking the cabinet out of sheer anger.

In the children’s room.

Caden stood by Joy’s bedside, holding his sister’s hand tightly, though he was very tired, he forced himself to keep her company.

"Brother..." Joy pulled out a small hand from the quilt, touched her brother’s face, feeling a bit guilty, "I’m sorry... I kept you from resting well, what if you fall asleep in class tomorrow?"

She heard the teachers at The Little Redstone are very strict and stern.

"It’s okay, even if I snooze, I can still be first," Caden said softly, "Joy, tell brother, why are you so scared tonight?"

Being twins, they had some telepathic connection, and Caden could sense his sister’s fear.

But Joy refused to say, only gently shaking her head.

Caden thought of an idea.

"You don’t have to say, brother will guess, if I get it right, just nod, okay?"

"Did you secretly watch a scary horror film?"

Joy shook her head.

"Was someone at school bullying you? The parents of those two boys you hit before?"

Still shaking her head.

Caden asked cautiously, "Does it have anything to do with mom?"

He remembered Joy being very resistant to taking mom’s calls.

But wasn’t it fine at noon...

Joy hesitated before giving a small nod.

Caden asked again, "Are you afraid of mom?"

Joy immediately shook her head.

A thought of Cindy Lynn flashed through Caden’s mind, he frowned slightly, recalling vividly that when they were eating at the restaurant today, Joy went to see the fish in between, and he was busy with his Sudoku; the fish tank was only ten meters away, and there were waiters everywhere in the restaurant, so he hadn’t accompanied his sister.

Dad was busy replying to work messages.

Later, Aunt Cindy brought his sister back...

Could it be!

With realization, Caden tightly held his sister’s hand.

"Joy, is it Aunt Cindy..."

Before he could finish asking, the bedroom door opened, Vincent Hawthorne in his home sleepwear, walked in carrying the phone, already starting a video call.

"Joy, look who’s calling on the video?" Vincent Hawthorne smiled as he turned the phone toward his daughter.

On the other side of the video call was a worried-looking Cindy Lynn.

Vincent Hawthorne thought his daughter relied most on Cindy Lynn, now in a weak state, probably wanting to see her the most.

Just as Cindy Lynn had called Vincent Hawthorne, he mentioned Joy was feeling unwell, Cindy Lynn instantly initiated the video to see Joy.

Cindy Lynn was deeply worried, "Joy, sweetheart, how did you suddenly feel unwell?"

Joy looked at Cindy Lynn in the video, squeezed out a smile, and sweetly called out, "Mrs. Lennox..."

Caden: "..."

Hadn’t they already corrected this before?

Why was Joy calling her mom again?

Vincent Hawthorne patted his daughter’s head. This time, he didn’t correct her. Since Joy was so affectionate towards Cindy Lynn and was currently unwell, she could call her that if she wanted to.

"Joy, sweetheart, Mrs. Lennox will come over and keep you company, okay?" Cindy Lynn said gently.

"No, no." Joy shook her head immediately, "I’m so sleepy, Mrs. Lennox, I want to sleep. You should rest early too."

"Alright, but if you’re scared, call Mrs. Lennox anytime. Mrs. Lennox will always be watching over you, always by your side."

Always here...

Joy pursed her pale lips and softly said, "Okay."

After speaking, she closed her eyes and lay down, pulling the blanket up high, almost covering her entire face.

Vincent Hawthorne smiled dotingly and tucked her in.

He looked at Caden, "Okay, Caden, you should go to sleep too. Your sister is fine."

Caden gave his sister a couple of worried glances before climbing back into his own bed.

Vincent Hawthorne watched as the two children fell asleep before leaving the room and closing the door.

The video call hadn’t been ended yet.

Cindy Lynn spoke worriedly, "Vincent, if Joy isn’t feeling well tomorrow, just let her rest at home. I’ll come over to keep her company."

"No need, don’t worry too much. Joy’s fine. Ian Sullivan has already come to check on her. Tanya Sinclair also prescribed two more medicines for her."

Tanya Sinclair...

Hearing this name, Cindy Lynn felt a surge of jealousy.

That woman just won’t go away!

A dark light flickered in Cindy Lynn’s eyes, and she suddenly sighed, frowning tightly.

Vincent Hawthorne immediately sensed something was wrong and asked, "What’s the matter?"

"Vincent, there’s something I don’t know if I should tell you." Cindy Lynn looked conflicted.

"What exactly is it?" Vincent Hawthorne had an inkling, "Is it about Tanya Sinclair?"

Cindy Lynn admitted, "Joy told me privately that Ms. Tanya told her she wanted a divorce and that if Joy chose to stay with her dad, then she’d lose her mom...that she wouldn’t want Joy anymore."

"..."

Vincent Hawthorne froze, moonlight pouring in from the corridor window, shrouding his gloomy expression.

Joy had always been clingy and insecure, most afraid of being abandoned!

Recalling Tanya’s previous accusatory phone call, Vincent’s anger continued to grow.

After threatening her own daughter, she still had the nerve to play the victim!

"I understand. You should rest early." Vincent quickly ended the video call.

He went downstairs to find Aunt Tawny for confirmation.

"Aunt Tawny, did Joy say anything before I got home?"

Aunt Tawny thought for a moment and replied truthfully, "Joy had a nightmare and murmured some nonsense..."

Vincent Hawthorne’s face was stern as he pressed, "What exactly did she say? Did you hear it clearly?"

"She said something about not wanting to be abandoned, asking for help... probably being chased by some monster in her dream." Aunt Tawny speculated.

The more Vincent listened, the colder his expression became.

He had already formed a judgment in his mind, turned around silently, and returned to his bedroom.

For the sake of getting custody of the two children, Tanya Sinclair would do anything!

And after everything, she would even strike first and complain later!

Vincent poured himself a glass of strong liquor, downed it, and gripped the empty glass tightly, the veins on the back of his hand standing out.

’Bang—’

The glass slammed forcefully against the marble countertop.

’Buzz, buzz—’ At this moment, his phone rang; it was Father Hawthorne’s call.

Vincent closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and answered.

"Dad."

"I heard from Lawyer Taylor that Tanya Sinclair refused the divorce settlement you offered." Theodore Hawthorne was very displeased, "Two million to her, are you mad? She doesn’t even deserve 20,000 now!"

Theodore paused and gave an order, "I’ve already arranged for Jonah Rivers to book your flight for tomorrow morning to Kreston City, to attend a charity fund inauguration. Your itinerary and photos will be released by the company then.

Come back the morning after. There will be a group of reporters waiting for you at the airport. You just need to act like you don’t know anything, portraying the perfect husband and victim of the marriage."

"..." Vincent slowly relaxed his grip on the glass and asked hoarsely, "Dad, tomorrow night, what do you plan to do with Tanya Sinclair?"

"You don’t need to know. The more you know, the worse you’ll act." Theodore chuckled, "Back when Tanya married you, she became your stepping-stone, now getting divorced, her last bit of value is to be your launching pad, helping you take another step up!"

Vincent closed his eyes.

Recalling everything Tanya had done recently, including her cold and heartless demeanor.

Vincent hesitated for a while, hardened his heart, and eventually agreed.

"...Alright, I’ll go to Kreston City tomorrow."

"Mm." Theodore was about to hang up.

"Dad!" Vincent called out, pleading softly, "Tanya is, after all, the mother of my two children. Please be mindful and don’t really harm her."

Theodore sneered, his voice angry, "Since when did you become so soft-hearted?"

"Dad..."

"Shut up!" Theodore shouted, "You better prepare well for next week’s shareholders meeting!"

With that, Theodore hung up directly.

He was at this moment in his study, with Mother Hawthorne standing behind him, massaging his shoulders.

"Everything is arranged for tomorrow night, darling."

"Mm." Theodore squeezed his wife’s hand, whispering, "I’ll leave it all to you to handle."

"Rest assured, darling, that wretched Tanya has always been under my control since she walked into The Hawthorne Family’s doors! Tomorrow night, I’ll see to it that she’s utterly ruined!"

Mother Hawthorne leaned closer to whisper confidently in his ear, "And in Aris, every media outlet respects The Chester Family. Darling, rest assured, no media outlet will dare to stand on Tanya’s side!"