Chapter 20

Violet’s hand froze midair when she heard Luna’s words. She stared at Dylan behind Luna, her expression a mix of emotions. Dylan took in the chaos around him with a sarcastic smirk.

Valerie’s face turned even redder at the judgmental comments. She brushed them aside and shot an accusing finger at Dylan.

“This is all your fault! I’d never have ended up in Altoria if it weren’t for you!” she yelled.

With the Padden family’s background, Valerie’s life should have been easy and comfortable. But Violet, set on teaching her a lesson, canceled her credit card. Valerie barely managed to get by with the small amount she received from Mandy each month.

“Me? Who looked down on me and made fun of me? And who sent you to Altoria in the first place? You can’t even see that, and you’re blaming me for everything,” Dylan said icily. “Valerie, did you forget your brain in Altoria?”

Dylan’s dig at Valerie made her leap to her feet, ready to attack him again.

“Enough!” Violet turned to Valerie, giving her a pointed look. “Haven’t you had your fill of Altoria yet?”

“Seriously, V? You’re coming at me just because of Dylan? What’s so great about him anyway? He’s short and chubby. He doesn’t even have a good build or any style. He’s just an orphan—”

Dylan suddenly stepped up and slapped Valerie across the face.

“Yeah, I’m an orphan. So what? At least I’m better than someone as uncivilized as you!” He turned to Violet. “Violet Padden, get your sister in check!”

Violet tightened her fist, her face set as she directed her secretary, Nicky Stenson. “Nicky, get Val to the hospital.”

Without missing a beat, Nicky hurried over, clamped a hand over Valerie’s mouth, and pulled her out.

“Dylan,” Violet said, looking ashamed. “I’m really sorry about what happened today…”

“Ms. Padden, I think you should be apologizing to someone else,” Dylan shot back, his voice cold.

He glanced over at Callum, who had just rushed in after being called by Galen Ammon, the butler, and added, “It’s the Farrows’ banquet tonight.”

Callum had already gotten the lowdown from Galen on his way here. He didn’t even look at Violet, who was busy apologizing. Instead, he turned to Luna and Dylan, worry written all over his face.

“Are you okay?” Callum asked.

Once he saw them nod, he finally shifted his focus to Violet. “Ms. Padden, my assistant will talk to you about compensation for today’s little mess.”

Then, Callum had Galen take Luna and Dylan upstairs to rest.

The banquet went on without much of a hitch, hardly affected by what had happened.

Violet wrapped up her talk about compensation with Galen late into the night before heading back to the Padden villa. When she arrived, she noticed the lights were still on.

The housekeeper spotted her and quickly rushed over, looking worried. “Ms. Violet, could you please talk to Mr. Padden? Ms. Valerie’s still pretty naïve…”

Violet listened to the housekeeper as she walked through the door. She immediately spotted Valerie kneeling on the floor, her face streaked with red handprints. Nearby, on the rug, Mandy sat with her head down, quietly sobbing.

Chester held a whip, shooting a furious look at Valerie. “I can’t believe how spoiled you’ve gotten! Do you even know who Dylan is? Or what the Farrows are about? And you actually dared to provoke them?”

Since most of the Padden family’s business was overseas, Chester was frequently out of the country, leaving Mandy to handle everything at home. This year, he finally decided to refocus on things back in the country. After listening to the butler, Bulus Romero, recount everything they’d done over the years, Chester was so furious he nearly passed out.

“Since you have no idea about boundaries, just stay in Altoria and don’t even think about coming back!” Chester roared.

“Dad!” Valerie yelled, still on her knees.

Violet quickly jumped in to break the tension. “Dad, Val’s still pretty clueless…”

“Clueless? She’s over 20 and still acts without thinking! And you! What else is on your mind besides love?”

Watching her daughters get scolded so harshly, Mandy couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Chester—”

Chester suddenly recalled she was there when he heard her voice. “And you! You’re the perfect example of a mother who’s spoiled her rotten!”

His eyes blazed again at the thought of Violet, the daughter he’d raised with so much care, ending up in accidents and landing in the hospital twice because of some boy, all while getting tangled up in endless drama.

“It’s one thing for them to be acting ridiculous, but why are you letting yourself get caught up in all this nonsense?”

“Violet’s ready to throw her life away for some guy, you might as well let her do it! The Paddens are never short on cash. So, there’s no reason to ruin a guy’s future over this.”

“Valerie’s no better. She should be learning something worthwhile at her age, but she’s picking up all the wrong things.”

“It’s had enough. She has no respect for Dylan, but now she’s being disrespectful to her elders, too! What on earth have you been teaching her all these years?”

After hearing how badly Mandy and Valerie were being chewed out, Violet couldn’t take it anymore. She was about to step in, but Chester’s sharp look stopped her cold. “Take Valerie and go to the study. I’ll deal with you later.”