Emma saw that her younger brother and Alex had not returned for so long, and she was a little worried.
Knowing that her younger brother did not like Alex, she made an excuse to go to the bathroom to see how things were going.
Before she could get there, she ran into her ex-mother-in-law, Emelyn.
"Emma? Why are you here?" Her sharp voice made the listener uncomfortable.
Emma frowned slightly, calmly replying: "Why can't I be here?"
"Humph, you divorced Daniel, where did you get the money to spend at this famous restaurant?" As soon as she finished speaking, Emelyn immediately felt regretful, remembering the large amount of money Emma received after the divorce, her eyes became fierce. "You should know your place, return the money to my son, don't think about taking his money every day."
Emma laughed angrily, her tone mocking: "I am a robber? Then what is the Williams family? A bunch of nouveau riche?" Emelyn's face was red with anger. What she hated most was when others said that the Williams family was a nouveau riche, but the more afraid of something, the more others liked to mock it. She immediately revealed the appearance of a vicious mother-in-law, completely lacking the image of a noble lady. She put her hands on her hips and pointed straight at Emma's face, scolding: "Emma, your family is bankrupt, so you are jealous of my family, right? Remember, the money you are holding now is also my son's. Ungrateful, I was really blind to choose you as my daughter-in-law. Luckily, my son divorced you; otherwise, a vampire like you would have drained my family dry."
"Drained?" Emma sneered, full of sarcasm. "Then it seems that your family's assets are really fragile, just that much money has been drained dry."
Emelyn was angry, immediately raising her hand to slap Emma. But a strong arm quickly grabbed her wrist, squeezing so hard that she gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes in pain. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts."
Alex's cold eyes stared at her, emotionless: "It hurts? Want to hit someone? Why don't you think about the fact that others will also get hurt?"
Gabe immediately pulled his sister aside, his eyes filled with worry: "Sister, are you okay?"
Emma shook her head, her brother glared at Emelyn, coldly saying, "You're dressed so gorgeously, why are you acting like a street vendor, so lacking in personality?"
Emelyn hugged her wrist that had just been pinched painfully, her expression fierce: "It's you, you little vampire. My family raised you for three years, and now you're using this attitude to talk to me?"
What Gabe didn't want to remember the most was the three years of resentment when his sister had to endure without daring to say a word, and even had to beg for tuition from these people.
With youthful enthusiasm, his face turned red with anger: "I'll pay back the money."
Emma felt sorry for her brother, wanted to open her mouth to comfort him, but before she could say anything, perhaps because the argument in the hallway was too big, Penelope and David arrived.
Emelyn's eyes flashed strangely as she looked at the group of people who had just arrived. Recalling the phone call the other day, she couldn't help but wonder: Are Emma and this man discussing marriage today?
She asked bluntly: "Emma, who is this man?"
Before Emma could open her mouth, Alex quickly interrupted. The voice was cold, accompanied by a contemptuous smile: "She is my wife."
Emelyn was stunned. So it was true? She was already married.
She smiled sarcastically, her tone full of mockery: "Oh, sir, meeting each other is fate, but I have to remind you of one thing: the Carter family is a bunch of money-grubbing people. They have no conscience, don't let yourself be used like an ATM, withdrawing money while happily counting money for them."
Penelope had just walked over when she heard her daughter's ex-mother-in-law badmouthing the family, gritting her teeth angrily: "Emelyn. What nonsense are you talking about?"
Penelope was not the type to be bullied easily; she had endured enough for many years. Before the Carter family had gone bankrupt, Emelyn had flattered her to the point of not missing any opportunity. Every few days, she would invite her to go shopping, have afternoon tea, and even try to persuade her husband to invest more money in Sterling Group.
But after her husband died and the family went bankrupt, Emelyn's attitude changed 180 degrees. Not only was she no longer friendly, but she also tried to trample on her family in every way. Now that her son had borrowed money to pay for his tuition, she acted like it was a huge debt that could never be erased.
"What if your son helped my son pay for his tuition? That's a debt your family has to pay."
When her daughter was not divorced, Penelope was patient. But today was an important day, the whole family had dinner with the Knight family, and Emelyn had caused trouble, so don't blame her for not keeping a face.
Emma watched her mother take long strides, walk in front of Emelyn, firmly grab her neatly combed hair, her face arrogant:
"Emelyn, do you think there is no one in my family that you dare to bully like this? Don't you remember three years ago, you bowed your head and begged my husband to invest? Did you lose your memory because you got stuck at the door?"
"Your son had an affair, and you still dare to argue that you are innocent? You still hold such resentment after giving my daughter a portion of the joint property? If you are afraid of having your property divided, tell your son to live a decent life, but your family is just a bunch of shameless nouveau riche; just by being resourceful, you can climb up the upper class. Don't let a few divorces lead to bankruptcy."
Emma never thought her mother would have such a strong fighting spirit. Every word she said was aimed directly at Emelyn. Her former mother-in-law, who was known for her fierceness, was now stunned by her hair being pulled and scolded, completely at a loss for how to fight back. Gabe stood by her side, silently giving her a thumbs up in his heart. Indeed, his mother had become much stronger after years of being beaten down by life. After venting her anger, Penelope let go of her hand and calmly said, "Okay, your lungs are very good, then go home and scream while your family is still not bankrupt. If you wait too late, you won't have the strength to blow."
She didn't even bother to glance at Emelyn's face, which was purple with anger, and turned back to explain to Emma's father-in-law, "Mr. David, don't listen to this person. My daughter is not the kind of person they say."
David was a sensible person and did not harbor ill will because of provocations. He nodded and replied in a low voice, "I didn't expect Emma's ex-husband to be such a bad person. Divorce is the right thing to do."
He waved his hand and smiled slightly, "Let's go inside and continue talking. Don't let those unlucky people pollute the air."
Emma glanced at Alex, touched, and said softly, "Thank you."
Alex looked at her for two seconds, the corners of his lips slightly raised, his tone half-joking and half-serious: "I wonder how you plan to thank me tonight?"
Gabe: "..." He felt a bit redundant.
Everyone quickly left, leaving Emelyn standing there with a resentful expression. She swore that today's grievance would definitely be repaid a hundredfold.
---
Emelyn went to her son's company and opened the door, and rushed in.
Daniel looked at the door with an unpleasant expression, reflexively raising his hand to cover the receiver: "Mom, I'm on the phone."
"Hang up. I'm being bullied out there. What else are you pretending to be busy with?"
Daniel hung up the phone, then frowned and asked, "What's wrong, Mom?"
In his memory, it was rare to see his mother so flustered.
"Daniel, tell me, is that damn girl crazy? She was so embarrassed that she found someone else right after the divorce, and even robbed our family of a large sum of money. Today, she even sent someone to beat me up. Look, a lock of my hair was pulled out."
"What? Mom, wait a minute. Who did you say found someone else?" Daniel quickly interrupted, his voice filled with urgency.
"You idiot, it's Emma. She must have had a lover a long time ago. She's already married."
Daniel's entire body stiffened; only a ringing sound remained in his ears. How could they get married so quickly?
He couldn't believe it.
"Mom, it's impossible."
"You still don't believe it? Someone saw her and that guy go to register their marriage, how could it be fake?"
It turned out that this was the reason why she crumpled up the photos they took together and the old wedding photos, leaving nothing behind.
Daniel's face darkened, and his whole body staggered back. Emelyn shouted in panic:
"Daniel."