I walked over, sat down, crossed my legs, and made a calming gesture with my hand, "Don’t get worked up, have a seat and let’s talk slowly."
Shirley Turner glared, her face stern, clearly not wanting to "talk slowly" with me.
But perhaps needing something from me, she had to swallow her temper and sit down.
Cherry ordered a hot cocoa for me, whispering as she set it down, "Sis, I’ll stay with you."
She was probably afraid Shirley Turner would get physical, thinking she could bolster my courage and help if needed.
"Speak, what do you want with me?" I sipped the hot cocoa and began casually.
There was also a coffee in front of Shirley Turner, more than half gone.
She sat up a bit, warming her hands around the coffee cup, hesitating awkwardly before making a wildly outrageous demand, "The family’s out of money, give me fifty million."
I raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Do I look like a sucker to you?"
"Lily, I know you have money. Fifty million is nothing to you. Of course, if you really don’t want to give money, just return the shares of Zephanor Trade and transfer them to my name."
Shirley Turner spoke as if she was entitled.
I frowned slightly, curiously asking, "What gives you the right to order me around ? Because you’re my stepmother? Or because you’re shameless?"
"Lily!" Shirley Turner suddenly raised her voice in anger, "Don’t push it, don’t drive us into a corner! You got your father into jail, and even Adrian Gordon couldn’t help with the best lawyer. Isn’t this revenge enough for you?"
I was slightly startled.
So Adrian Gordon did intervene after all.
It seems his illness should be cured, otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered with this. Now I can put our divorce on the agenda.
"Since Adrian Gordon is willing to help you, why don’t you ask him for the fifty million?" I casually remarked.
"How could that be the same? His money has to be repaid eventually; where would I get the money to repay him?"
"Ha, so I don’t have to repay mine?" I felt she was truly shameless to the extreme.
"It was you who put us in this position, and besides, your surname is Miller. Shouldn’t you use your money to save your dad? Do you still have the audacity to ask us to repay?" She spoke more boldly, as if I was naturally indebted to them.
I lowered my gaze, letting out a helpless smile. Follow current novᴇls on noⅴelfire.net
"Sorry, I have no money to give, only my life, it’s up to you to believe it or not." Unwilling to waste more words, I said this and prepared to leave.
"Lily, you can’t go!" Shirley Turner suddenly stood up, spreading her arms to block me.
I could only sit back down and continue sipping my hot cocoa.
"Lily, forget about your mother’s shares, just return the ones that were your father’s, they weren’t yours to begin with." Shirley Turner backed down seeing I was hard to persuade.
I shook my head, "No way, those shares weren’t something I forced from him. He offered them to exchange for the bracelet for Sophie himself."
"But the bracelet you gave Sophie was fake!"
I slightly curled my lips, quietly asking, "Who said that? Who said the bracelet was fake?"
"You said it yourself back then! The real bracelet was on your wrist!"
I smiled, saying, "The one I was wearing that day was fake, the one Sophie broke was real. If you want me to return the shares, then you should return the broken bracelet intact, or compensate me with three billion."
It’s well known, that Vintage Nephrite Wristlet was bought by Daniel Carter for three billion at an auction.
Shirley Turner glared at me, angry and anxious, her face turning red.
I maintained a faint smile.
I was certain Shirley Turner couldn’t possibly still have the fake bracelet shattered into pieces, intentionally playing the "never get tired of deceit" card with her.
Anyway, she couldn’t prove the bracelet’s authenticity now, so she had to let me handle it.
"Lily—you, you’re despicable! You’re truly a viper, so scheming!" Shirley Turner was silent for a while, unable to find flaws in my words, gritting her teeth in anger, her voice trembling.
I just smiled silently, calm and unruffled.
Despite them repeatedly bullying, slandering, and even framing me, they always played the victim whenever I turned the tables, accusing and denouncing me.
It’s truly unimaginable that such shameless people exist.
I picked up the hot cocoa, planning to take another sip before leaving, when from the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw her reaching fiercely towards the coffee cup—
At that instant, as she was about to throw the coffee at me, my body reacted instinctively before my brain, and I beat her to it by tossing my hot cocoa out!
The two streams of brown liquid met in midair, but closer to Shirley Turner.
Analyzing from the force perspective, since mine packed more power and volume, my liquid reigned, even taking some of her half-cup back, splashing all over her.
Truth be told, if I hadn’t deliberately delayed half an hour, and Shirley Turner’s coffee hadn’t already been nearly finished—this mutual splash would’ve been indeed a lose-lose; I wouldn’t have had the upper hand.
You could say there’s a divine plan somewhere, and even heavens were helping me.
The unexpected scenario made the scene chaotic, shocking the surrounding customers.
Shirley Turner clutched the coffee cup, stiffened there, perhaps stunned by the splash.
Regaining my senses, I quickly stood up, pulling several napkins and moved forward, "Oh! I’m really sorry, my hand slipped and spilled coffee all over you."
Before I finished speaking, I moved up with sincere apology, wiping it off her.
Shirley Turner was wearing a light-colored double-sided wool coat, with the slightly thick hot cocoa hanging on the fabric’s surface, making it more disgusting when wiped with napkins, rendering her indescribably messy.
Her face resembled a clay sculpture, as if it had been attacked in a muddy toilet, a sight full of splatters.
Cherry beside couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
"Lily—Lily!" Shirley Turner sprang up, her voice violently trembling, breaking as she screamed.
"Mrs. Miller, keep your voice down, you’re attracting everyone’s attention," I held back laughter, continued wiping for her, not forgetting to fan the flames, "This coat isn’t cheap, right? You’ll surely have to wear it for several more years, considering you can’t afford such a big brand anymore. Don’t worry, I’ll pay, get it dry-cleaned, it can be cleaned."
I turned around, picked up my bag from the sofa chair, and took out all the cash from my wallet.
"Oh dear, it’s all mobile payment now, I don’t have much cash, just this thousand... but it’s enough for dry cleaning."
I placed the money in front of Shirley Turner, watching her chest heave and her eyes bulge with rage, unable to suppress my laughter.
"Lily, you’re... you’re humiliating me." She raised her hand, still trembling all over, her speech faltering.
I quickly explained, "Mrs. Miller, you’ve misunderstood, I’m sincerely apologizing. Uh, I have things to do, I’ll be off first, you should get home and clean up."
Shirley Turner continued to glare at me, her gaze following steadfastly, unable to speak.
I almost suspected she was so enraged she had a cardiac arrest, her brain shut down, and lost her speech.
Fortunately, when Cherry and I walked out of the café, unable to suppress our laughter, I glanced back, she finally moved.
She took off her coat, looking down at it, though getting farther away, I could still see her whole body fiery with rage, helpless and at a loss.