Chapter 200: Said It Yourself
The three members of the Quixall family were stunned. In their eyes, Caleb was nothing more than an ex-convict, not even worthy of comparison to Jesse. Yet, Chelsea was always on Caleb’s side, defending him at every turn. Even now, she was still speaking up for him. The Quixall family members wondered what the reason could possibly be.
Yelena reckoned Caleb must have shamelessly cast aside his dignity, resorting to underhanded tactics to curry favor with both Miriam and Chelsea for them to be so devoted to him.
The thought of Chelsea’s words—that Yelena had the audacity to claim herself as Caleb’s sister—left Yelena feeling utterly uncomfortable. If I’m not worthy of being Caleb’s sister, is she, Chelsea, worthy, then? In this world, which sister would view her brother as a mere plaything? At the very least, I still see Caleb as a human being. After he had gone to the Yardley family, he became more insignificant than an ant.
Feeling disgruntled, the words Yelena spoke were far from pleasant. “Ms. Yardley, didn’t you say it yourself? Caleb is now part of your Yardley family. If we, the Quixall family, were to carelessly show him concern and accidentally upset you, wouldn’t we bring trouble upon ourselves?”
Upon hearing that, both Deborah and Raquel gasped in surprise. Outrageous! How utterly outrageous! How many lives does Yelena think she has, daring to speak to Chelsea in this manner?
George was extremely furious. With a swift motion of his hand, he slapped Yelena across the face. “You insolent girl! Do you even realize who Ms. Yardley is? How dare you display such an attitude in front of her? It seems like you’re tired of living!”
After delivering the slap, George wasn’t satisfied. He stretched his leg and kicked his daughter. “Apologize to Ms. Yardley now! Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to deal with you right here!”
With a defiant expression on her face, Yelena argued, “I didn’t say anything wrong, so why should I apologize? She said it herself. Caleb belongs to the Yardley family and no longer has any connection with the Quixall family! If she can’t discipline her people, am I not allowed to speak up?”
At that moment, George felt an overwhelming urge to end Yelena’s life. How did I end up giving birth to such a daughter? In front of a crowded audience, she dared to speak disrespectfully to the daughter of the Yardley family. Does she think the Quixall family’s status is too high, so she wants to experience the taste of a family’s downfall?
Consumed by rage, George raised his hand to strike Yelena again. Yet, Jesse spoke out to stop him. “Dad, Yelena didn’t do it on purpose. She was just overly worried about me. Ms. Yardley is right. I merely coughed up some blood. It’s nothing compared to Caleb, who attended the wedding despite his illness. It’s only right that you all show him more concern. I’ll be fine after a bit of rest.”
Jesse’s face was pale. He weakly coughed a few times. With a heart full of concern, George looked at his son. “You’ve just had surgery. You can’t handle too much stress. Let me take you to see the doctor first.”
Jesse shook his head. “How can I just leave when so many people have come to attend my wedding with Raquel? That’ll be disrespectful to all our guests and irresponsible toward Raquel.” He turned his head to look at Chelsea. “Ms. Yardley, allow me to apologize on behalf of my sister. I’m sorry.”
The solemnity in his tone, paired with the respectfulness of his actions, was inevitably endearing. Chelsea merely gave him a nonchalant glance. “There’s no need to apologize to me. Didn’t Ms. Quixall just mention earlier that I failed to properly discipline my own people? I would like to ask where exactly I fell short in doing so?” Every word Caleb spoke was the truth, yet these people not only turned a deaf ear to it, but they even had the audacity to twist his words against him. The arrogance of the Quixall family has indeed become rather overbearing. Once I return home, I’ll have to thoroughly report this to Mom to cut the Quixall family down a notch.