Chapter 79

"You ran off with a guy to another country for three years without a word, and then you come back asking your dad for half the company's shares, and he just hands them over. He just wants you to visit him more often."

Caroline raised her voice, continuing, "But since you got back, aside from that one time you asked for the shares, you haven't visited him at all. You shouldn't leave him feeling so heartbroken!"

People passing by started to stop and give Zoey dirty looks.

"She looks so innocent, but she's got a rebellious streak."

"This girl looks young, but she had the nerve to run off for three years. Who knows what she was up to, maybe she was a prostitute."

"She's such an ungrateful daughter. Her dad's way too soft on her."

Zoey saw Caroline's act and her smug look, smirking to herself.

She said, "Caroline, those shares were my mom's. She started the company. After she died when I was three, my dad brought you and two-year-old Catherine into our home. You two lived in the house my mom bought, but treated me like a servant."

"Three years ago, you even convinced my dad to drug me, trying to ruin me. I had no choice but to run away. Now that I'm back to claim what's mine, is there a problem?" she added.

Zoey wasn't scared to call out Caroline. The more people around, the better to expose what they'd done to her. Maybe Caroline thought she was too shy to speak up.

Sure enough, after Zoey finished, everyone stared at Caroline in shock.

"Who knew she could act so well? I almost fell for it."

"She's so shameless. She was a mistress, shamelessly relying on a man who lived off his wife. If that his wife hadn't died, he wouldn't have dared to bring her home. They bullied this miss because she was young. If she hadn't run away, she might be dead."

"Miss, since she hurt you back then, you should've called the cops and kicked her out of the house your mom bought. How can she be so shameless to live there for so long?"

People started to criticize Caroline, and some even gave Zoey advice.

Some angry young people took out their phones and started live streaming Caroline. "I can't believe I ran into such a shameless mistress at the mall today. It's disgusting..."

The person filming seemed to be an influencer, starting to rant at Caroline.

Caroline, who had lived a pampered life for eighteen years, never expected to be publicly shamed like this. She quickly covered her face and dragged Catherine, who wanted to argue with the influencer, away in a hurry.

Zoey quickly thanked the people around her, "Thank you all. It's good to know there's still justice in the world. Don't worry about me, I've already hired a lawyer. I won't let myself be pushed around again."

Hearing Zoey's words, people gradually quieted down.

Outside the mall, Catherine angrily shook off Caroline's hand. "Mom, why did you drag me out? Zoey is so despicable. I want to go back and settle the score with her."

Caroline yanked her back. "Settle what score? You want those people to keep calling me a mistress?"

Seeing Caroline's anger, Catherine didn't dare push her luck. She just muttered, "Are we really going to let Zoey get away with this? Ever since she came back, our lives have been a mess."

Caroline's eyes gleamed with malice. "Of course not. Your uncle Bobby has a plan. She'll be out of the picture soon enough."

Hearing this, a look of excitement crossed Catherine's face.

After finishing her shopping, Zoey returned home with bags in hand.

"Zoey, you're finally back. If you didn't come back soon, I was going to look for you."

Claire immediately hugged Zoey tightly, her voice full of grievance.

"What happened? Did Gabriel and Travis misbehave at home?" Zoey asked immediately.

Gabriel walked over, hands in his pockets, a helpless expression on his handsome little face. "She just lost a puzzle game. She really can't handle losing."

Claire angrily complained to Zoey, "Gabriel and Travis have been beating me at puzzles since they were one year old. You know I'm good at puzzles, but they're even better. Now they beat me even faster than before, and I can't accept it."

Zoey couldn't help but laugh. "Just because of that?"

Claire nodded intensely. "You should hire a nanny right away. I don't want to be humiliated anymore. Let me go back to being your assistant. No matter how tough the work, I can handle it."

Zoey had to comfort Claire for a while before she finally calmed down.

"By the way, did everything go smoothly today? Did he try to back out?" Claire asked while helping Zoey put away her things.

Thinking of Arthur's furious expression at the company today, Zoey sneered. "Of course it wasn't smooth. So I showed him the photos of Derek's criminal evidence, and he agreed to hand over the management rights in three days."

Claire frowned. "Three days? Isn't that just an excuse?"

Zoey replied calmly, "Even if it is, it doesn't matter. I have copies of those evidence. If he doesn't care about his reputation, I'll expose everything he's done over the years."

Knowing that Zoey still had leverage over Arthur, Claire finally felt relieved.

At dinner, Travis took a bite of his food and sighed like an adult. "It feels like something's missing without Henry here."

Gabriel looked at him, exasperated. "What's missing? It's not like Henry's always been with us."

Travis immediately retorted, "But I get along well with Henry. Some of Mom's previous suitors were good, but I didn't like them. I really like Henry, and I don't mind him being with Mom. Don't you feel the same?"

Gabriel had nothing to say to that, so he looked at Zoey. "Mom, to stop Travis from missing Henry like this, you should marry him when he comes back. I can reluctantly accept him as our dad."

Claire also put down her fork and clapped her hands. "Zoey, I think it's a good idea. You should seriously consider it."