"Say whatever you want here. You can leave if you don't want to. I don't have much time to be wasting here with you," commented Corinne curtly.Marvin could stand Corinne's arrogant attitude. "What did you say? Corinne Carew, don't forget who raised you!"Corinne laughed. "Ha! Of course I won't forget. It was Mother Cathrina, not you.""Why you!" Marvin seemed to have deflated a little.At that moment, Lilliana held Marvin's elbow, sighed, and said snarkily, "Marvin, it stands to reason Corinne won't see us as her adopted parents anymore since she's married into the Holden family."It was laughable when Marvin called himself Corinne's adopted father, but when Lilliana called herself Corinne's adopted mother… It sounded like the greatest joke of the century. Not only did Lilliana not raise Corinne, but she actually abused her!'Ha! How dare she call herself my adopted mother!' thought Corinne.Corinne smirked at Lilliana."Aunt Lilliana, you're mistaken. It's not only now I don'
Corinne walked up to Pamela. She held her by the arm and shook her head resolutely. "Grandma, he's not my father.""Then why did they come to find you? Do you need me to handle this?" asked Pamela worriedly.Corinne was touched by Pamela's attentiveness. She smiled and shook her head again. "Don't worry, Grandma. I'll take care of this myself. You've only just finished dinner, so it's best you go back inside to take a rest."She then turned to look at Francine. "Francine, bring Grandma in with you. Don't let her worry, you hear?"Surprisingly, Francine simply nodded and led Pamela into the mansion by the elbow.Pamela was still worried about Corinne but decided not to say anything since she insisted she could handle it herself."Ma'am, wait! We are Corinne's family. This ingrate cut ties with us after marrying into your family!" shouted Sherlyn.Pamela paused in her tracks.Seeing this, Lilliana quickly added, "Ma'am, we are Corinne's family—honest! Otherwise, why would we come
Two women came out of the sports car. One looked to be about 40 or 50 years old, and the other looked to be about 20 years old. They were both dressed very plainly. The 20 year-old-woman, who was sporting two braids, was dressed in an old checkered shirt, washed-out jeans, and dirty sneakers.As they got closer, Corinne thought that looked familiar, yet she could not quite put her finger on where she met them.The older woman glared at Corinne as soon as she was near her. "Corinne, have you no shame living such a luxurious life while you're to blame for the pitiful condition you've put my daughter in?" she sneered.'Ah, so they're mother and daughter,' thought Corinne. She looked at the older woman. "I'm sorry, but who are you?""Don't think you'll get away with what you did to us by playing dumb!" spat the older woman angrily.Throughout the conversation, her daughter kept her head lowered. Judging by her trembling shoulders, she seemed to be crying quietly."And what did I do t
Thus, Pamela's thoughtfulness startled and soothed Corinne's heart. 'Grandma's right. These people aren't going to give up that easily. They're going to come again and again until they get to say whatever they want to the Holdens.'After thinking about it, Corinne nodded and said, "Okay. We'll do it your way, Grandma."Pamela nodded as well. As they finally came to an understanding, she stepped forward and looked down at the kneeling, crying mother-daughter duo."Stop crying, you two," she ordered sternly. "You're going to make other people think we have a death in the family if you keep this up!"The mother-daughter duo were immediately shocked into silence. After a while, the older woman said, "Ma'am, we didn't mean to cause trouble for you. It's just that Corinne did a number on us, and we have no one else to turn to…"Pamela ignored her and turned to the servant waiting for instructions instead. "Bring them in first so we won't be the laughingstock of the neighborhood. We'll t
Josephine's mother clutched her daughter's hand tightly. She cried pitifully, "Ma'am, we're from Westrise Village. Josephine, my daughter here, and Corinne were in the same class in high school."Corinne, sitting beside Pamela, was sipping her coffee. Hearing this, she looked at Josephine. 'She does look like one of the girls in my class, but I don't think I was ever close to her.'"So?" prompted Pamela."Corinne wasn't doing all that well in high school. She'd often skip class to hang out with the young thugs outside of school," Josephine's mother continued.Pamela frowned. She did not really believe the older woman's words. She turned to look at her sensible granddaughter-in-law and thought, 'No matter how I see it, Corinne doesn't look like someone who'd skip class.'Corinne simply smiled as if she was listening to the funniest joke on earth and calmly sipping her coffee.Josephine's mother added, "On the day of their SAT exams, my daughter arrived in class on time. She's the
Josephine's mother raised her head from her daughter's shoulder and wiped her tears with her sleeves. "Ask away! There's no way for you to worm yourself out of this when you know what I said was true!"Corinne smirked and asked evenly, "You mentioned your daughter was a top student. Why didn't you let her repeat another year after you found out there was no record of her SAT exam results in the system?"If she was as excellent as you said she was, she could've gotten into University of New Capital City after repeating another year of school. And even if she wasn't, she could've gone to trade school instead of wasting her youth farming, right?"Josephine's mother's expression changed. She then glared vehemently at Corinne. "How can you talk so nonchalantly? Don't you know it takes money to repeat another year or go to trade school? We've spent what we have to send her to high school so that she might change her life through higher education, but you stole all that away from her!""G
Marvin scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sigh! Just my rotten luck to have taken in a shameless daughter!"Sherlyn clutched his elbow and said, "Dad, you shouldn't get sad over that ingrate. After all, you still have me.""She's right, Marvin. We still have Sherlyn! As for Corinne, the only thing we can do is hope for her to come to her senses and pay what she owes to Josephine!"Josephine's mother's act was so convincing that Pamela could not help but believe her a little. She turned to look at Corinne, not wanting to believe the granddaughter-in-law she adored was that kind of person."You could say I used Josephine's results and that I had an abortion, but if you don't have proof… Well, I guess I'll see you in court," said Corinne calmly."The proof is that you had an abortion a few days before the exams!""Where did I have an abortion? Which hospital did I do it at? Who was the attending doctor?" asked Corinne rapidly."As if anyone would know that many details about you
Jeremy's deep voice came from behind them, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.The Carews, Josephine, and her mother turned to look at him. All of them were shocked and awed by just how handsome he was, especially Sherlyn. This was not the first time she met Jeremy, but her heart would race whenever she met him.'I was so close to marrying him! I would've been his wife if it weren't for Corinne.' The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. However, there was nothing she could do then but to watch Jeremy gracefully sit beside Corinne.Jeremy even picked up Corinne's coffee and drank it nonchalantly. The way he behaved with Corinne was so intimate that Sherlyn could not help but go green with envy. Even Josephine stared at Jeremy dazedly.Out of all the young women there, only Corinne seemed to be unperturbed by Jeremy's entrance. She simply glanced at him before turning her attention back to Josephine and her mother.Jeremy narrowed his eyes at the unexpected