CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27: CAN SHE LIE AT AGE FIVE?

The entire expanse of The Hawthorne Gardens was tranquil and serene, every sound was amplified in the silence.

Three meters from the living room, Tanya Sinclair could clearly hear Vincent Hawthorne’s deep and stern voice.

"Joy, let me ask you once more, are the things you just said true?"

Tanya paused in her step, instinctively holding her breath, waiting for her daughter to speak.

Her reaction, in the eyes of Uncle Langdon, the butler beside her, was undoubtedly a sign of guilty fear.

Uncle Langdon’s eyes showed contempt, making no effort to hide his dislike for Tanya Sinclair.

On the way here, he had secretly glanced at the handbag on Tanya Sinclair’s wrist; though not particularly clear, the little sparkles reflected by the diamond bracelet were impossible to ignore.

Such a disgraceful fate, doing these sneaky and underhanded deeds!

"It’s true..." Joy’s voice was timid and bewildered, "She just went with me to the restroom in Aunt’s room. She asked me if Aunt had a lot of pretty jewelry. I said of course, in the small cabinet by the vanity. Then, after I finished using the restroom, she told me to wait outside, said she needed to go too, and asked me not to tell Aunt because it’d make her mad..."

The childish voice, so innocent and harmless in its tone.

Just a door away, Tanya stood there, listening to how her own daughter was falsely accusing her.

Every word was the sharpest blade, cutting into her, leaving her bloody and in unbearable pain.

Tanya almost couldn’t stand it, her body swayed, nearly collapsing.

Uncle Langdon didn’t have any intention of supporting her, instead, he took two steps back with a look of displeasure.

He never liked Tanya Sinclair, and now he disliked her even more.

He had been the Hawthorne family’s butler for thirty years, having watched Vincent Hawthorne grow up.

In his view, an outstanding man like the young master should marry a wealthy heiress of equal standing, not be tricked by someone like Tanya Sinclair, whom he considered an opportunistic woman.

The Hawthorne Family had investigated Tanya Sinclair’s background a long time ago. Her biological mother died early, and the stepfather had long since run off, leaving her to be raised solely by her grandfather who ran a small clinic.

The clinic was just an inconspicuous little courtyard, exuding an air of poverty that deterred them from stepping inside.

Vincent’s acquaintance with Tanya was an accident; Vincent was a premature baby, weak and often ill. Someone recommended Tanya’s grandfather, and they went to try it out. Unexpectedly, young Tanya set her sights on Vincent.

Uncle Langdon snorted disdainfully.

Even at a young age, she knew how to climb the social ladder!

Truly frightening!

Sadly, their young master was pure-hearted and loyal, ultimately falling for Tanya Sinclair’s persistent and cunning tactics!

Thinking about it, Uncle Langdon was filled with anguish.

Originally, a woman from Tanya Sinclair’s background shouldn’t even be able to touch the threshold of the Hawthorne family...

Yet she eventually got her wish, marrying into the Hawthorne family, becoming a wealthy society lady!

But the truth proved, a sparrow remains a sparrow, no matter how high she flies; she couldn’t become a phoenix!

Uncle Langdon cast a disdainful glance at Tanya Sinclair.

Dressed up like some ethereal fairy, such a pretense!

Inside the living room, Vincent Hawthorne listened to his daughter’s words, his frown deepening, his gaze at Joy growing more intense.

He had known Tanya Sinclair for many years and understood her character.

She appeared gentle and amiable, but was inherently proud with strong principles. Such petty theft was not something Tanya Sinclair would do...

Joy had prepared her story several times in her head, convincing herself of its truth, so when she spoke, it sounded as though it had truly happened.

But Papa’s serious face was somewhat frightening.

She shrunk her neck, not quite understanding why Papa was unhappy, or why he had asked her twice?

Cindy’s mom was hurt, and that bad woman Tanya Sinclair was trying to steal her job... Papa was clearly angry about these things too, so now having the chance to reprimand that bad woman, Papa should be on her side, protecting Cindy’s mom together!

"Daddy..." Joy reached out her little hand and gently tugged on Vincent Hawthorne’s sleeve, her eyes timid, "Did I say something wrong? Are you mad at Joy?"

His daughter, as beautiful as an angel, what would she understand?

Vincent’s heart softened immediately.

His expression softened, "Daddy’s not angry, he just wants to make sure."

Joy is only five years old, even though she doesn’t like Tanya Sinclair, she probably wouldn’t lie like this and deliberately frame her.

Recalling her various abnormal behaviors after waking up these days, Vincent Hawthorne also wavered a bit.

Yvonne Hawthorne naturally noticed Vincent Hawthorne’s predicament.

She’s been raised as the pampered princess of The Hawthorne Family, full of a conceited temper, and she was certainly displeased.

"Brother, Joy has explained everything so clearly, and yet you’re still showing favoritism to Tanya Sinclair, that bitch!" Yvonne Hawthorne said angrily, "That diamond bracelet was the birthday gift Dad gave me last year! He specially ordered it from a top jeweler, costing over three million! A poor Chinese medicine practitioner like her, if not for marrying into our family, she wouldn’t have a chance to touch such high-end jewelry in her lifetime!"

Yvonne Hawthorne spoke viciously, "If I find it on her, I’ll call the police! Let her rot in jail for ten or eight years!"

"Yvonne!" Vincent Hawthorne was displeased, "Tanya is after all your sister-in-law."

"She deserves to be my sister-in-law!"

Joy, who was sitting on Vincent Hawthorne’s lap, heard Yvonne Hawthorne say she’d call the police and get Tanya Sinclair arrested. She panicked, grabbing Vincent’s clothes helplessly with her little hands.

What to do?

She only wanted her aunt to scold that woman a bit, she didn’t want her arrested by the police, nor did she want her locked up for ten or eight years... Joy bit her lip uneasily, realizing for the first time that she might have done something very bad.

In the whole room, only Caden noticed Joy’s strange behavior. As twins, they had some telepathic connection, and he immediately sensed something was off.

Caden pondered for a moment, suddenly putting down the tablet in his hand, while the adults weren’t watching, he quietly sneaked upstairs into Aunt Yvonne Hawthorne’s room.

He remembered Aunt Yvonne being a gaming streamer for a while for the company’s new game launch, even bringing him along to play.

There was a surveillance camera installed here at that time...

"Found it!"

Caden quickly located the camera embedded in a toy doll at the corner of the desk, with a little red light still flashing, still working!

The lens was right at the entrance of the bathroom, maybe it caught something.

Caden opened Yvonne Hawthorne’s computer, his little face serious, his small hands flew quickly across the keyboard...

Downstairs, no one noticed Caden sneaking away at the moment.

Due to Vincent Hawthorne’s protective stance, Yvonne Hawthorne was very angry.

"Brother, if it weren’t for Tanya Sinclair clinging to you and doing that thing... Otherwise, with her kind of poor character, what right does she have to marry into our family?"

Tanya Sinclair walked in and heard everything clearly.

That thing?

She truly didn’t know what she had done that made Yvonne Hawthorne so indignant.

But Yvonne Hawthorne always looked down on her, whatever she did, in the eyes of this little sister-in-law, Tanya probably always had ulterior motives.

"Yvonne, enough!" Vincent Hawthorne saw Tanya Sinclair’s figure, immediately spoke sternly to stop her.

Yvonne Hawthorne turned her head and saw Tanya Sinclair appear, she rushed over aggressively, reaching to grab the embroidered handbag hanging on Tanya Sinclair’s wrist without a word.

As she rushed over, Tanya Sinclair tilted her head slightly, making a pose as if trying to locate the sound. While avoiding, the blind cane in her hand swung straight out, landing squarely on Yvonne Hawthorne’s hand.

Yvonne Hawthorne’s hand quickly turned red with a stripe, and she screamed in pain, furious, "You shameless thief, you dare to hit me!"

Originally sitting on the sofa watching the scene, Mother Hawthorne, seeing her precious daughter injured, immediately stood up in worry and called for the servants to quickly fetch the first aid kit.

Tanya Sinclair seemed to only just realize that she had hit Yvonne Hawthorne, her sightless eyes open wide, an innocent expression on her face as she said, "Sorry, Yvonne, I didn’t know it was you. I can’t see now, so I’m very sensitive to sounds, I thought it was some stray cat pouncing..."

The Hawthorne Gardens are big, indeed stray cats sometimes venture inside.

Yvonne Hawthorne’s face turned green with anger, she really wished to slap this bitch several times!

But she had no reason to hit her.

Indeed, she was momentarily impatient and forgot that Tanya Sinclair is now blind, it’s an instinctual reaction, in terms of both emotions and reason, it made sense... Plus, the living room had so many eyes watching.

Even Aunt Flora next to Old Lady Hawthorne had come over, now standing at the doorway, observing the situation inside.

Yvonne Hawthorne could only forcibly suppress her anger and demand accountability.

"Tanya Sinclair, how dare you still be my sister-in-law, you really have no shame, stealing my diamond bracelet! Hand it over!"