"It’s not just about leaving Morningstar! Mom, if I go and admit it, I’ll be branded as a plagiarist and a thief for the rest of my life. Maybe from now on, I won’t be able to continue being a screenwriter. At that point, I’m afraid no corporation will hire a screenwriter with such a bad reputation. My future life could be completely overturned!" Mabel Quinn pointed out the possible reality. It was only now that she understood why, before leaving work today, when she ran into Lyra Grant outside the editor-in-chief’s office, Lyra had looked so smug, as if she was eager to watch her downfall.
Turns out, Lyra Grant and her family had come up with this strategy.
"So what if you don’t become a screenwriter?" Evelina said somewhat displeased. "As a screenwriter, you only earn a few thousand a month. Do you even know the price of a house in the city center now? What the Grant Family is offering is a school district house. Right now, each square meter sells for 50,000 to 60,000. A single house costs four to five million. Even if you earned money your entire life, you wouldn’t make enough!"
"I’m not going to ruin my future for a house. Mom, years ago, my novel was taken by Lyra Grant and published as her own. I had no way to complain and endured it. But today, I don’t want my work to bear someone else’s name again, and I don’t want to endure that pain again." Mabel Quinn said to her mother, her eyes brimming with tears.
But her daughter’s tears didn’t evoke any sympathy or guilt in Evelina, only more impatience. "If there’s no house, how will your brother find a partner in the future? How will he get married? Why can’t you consider this family?!"
"Is my brother’s future more important, and my future doesn’t matter at all?" Tears streamed down Mabel’s face. "Mom, Lyra Grant stole my manuscript once, and now she’s trying to steal it a second time. Yet you want me, the one who got robbed, to admit to the thief that I’m the thief. Mom, tell me, where’s the logic in that?"
Evelina swung a slap across her daughter’s face. "Are you questioning me? I’m telling you, there’s no room for negotiation. Whether you like it or not, tomorrow you will publicly apologize to Miss Grant at the corporation and admit that you stole her manuscript."
Mabel Quinn’s face immediately swelled red and painful, yet it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. Just a while ago during dinner, she was filled with joy, but now there was only coldness left.
"I won’t admit to this, and I certainly won’t back down from the competition against Lyra Grant." Mabel Quinn said, taking a deep breath.
Evelina was so furious she wanted to strike again, but Cecil Quinn quickly intervened and said, "Mom, calm down." He then turned to Mabel and said, "Mabel, just agree with Mom. Don’t make her upset. If something really happens to her out of anger, that would be unfilial!"
Cecil Quinn was attempting to pin the blame for filial impiety on Mabel Quinn.
"Brother, I can’t agree to this. Try to persuade Mom to forget about the Grant Family’s house." Mabel Quinn said.
Cecil Quinn also turned stern and said, "What are you talking about? By admitting your mistake, you can get such a house. What’s wrong with that? Mom is just looking out for the family. Mabel, you’re being too selfish!"