Chapter 89 The One Who Accompanies Me Is Sloane
Sloane's POV
He paused, then added with a pained expression, "Don't forget, Keira is your savior!"
"Savior?" Jared finally lazily lifted his eyelids. He let go of my hand and slowly picked up his napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth. Those deep eyes were filled with mockery and coldness. "Father, are you getting old and forgetful? Do I need to remind you who it was that insisted on forcing an irrelevant woman into my life for the sake of profit?"
Aeneas's face turned red from being choked by these words, his whole body trembling with anger. "You... you ungrateful son!" He raised his hand, about to slap Jared across the face.
"No!" Keira cried out, quickly breaking free from Aeneas's embrace and limping forward, spreading her arms to shield Jared.
She looked up with her tear-stained face, tears falling like broken pearls, her voice pitiful and moving: "Uncle, please don't blame Jared, it's all my fault... I shouldn't have come to disturb you all. I know Sloane doesn't like me, and it's only right that Jared protects her... As long as Jared is happy, I don't care what happens to me."
Her words sounded like she was defending Jared, but every sentence was actually fanning the flames, pushing all the conflicts to their peak, perfectly portraying herself as a victim who was understanding and sacrificing for love.
Too bad everyone present wasn't stupid.
"Enough, stop putting on a show." The old lady looked coldly at her poor performance and exposed her bluntly. "We the Montclair family don't need a daughter-in-law who's so fake."
The old lady then turned her gaze to her son who was about to explode with anger, her tone full of disappointment: "And you, Aeneas, I really don't know if you're truly blind or just pretending! You don't want a good child like Sloane, but insist on bringing this trashy thing into our home. Are you trying to make our family lose all face?"
Keira had probably never been humiliated so directly. Her body swayed as if she couldn't bear it anymore. Covering her face and crying, she tried to run out. "I'll leave... I'll leave right now..."
But Aeneas grabbed her. He seemed determined to oppose us today.
He pressed Keira into an empty seat farthest from me and commanded in a deep voice: "Sit down! No one is going to drive you away!"
Then he picked up the serving chopsticks, placed a piece of Keira's favorite shrimp into her bowl, his tone unprecedentedly firm: "Eat! I'd like to see who dares to touch you today!"
The originally warm atmosphere in the dining room became tense because of these unwelcome guests.
The long dining table seemed to become a silent battlefield, with cold hostility in every clink of the utensils.
Aeneas's firm command was like throwing a huge stone into a calm lake.
The old lady laughed coldly, as if she'd heard the biggest joke.
Without even glancing at those two, she directly used her knife and fork to pick up a piece of tender braised beef and steadily placed it in my bowl, her favoritism undisguised in her tone: "Sloane, ignore those people who ruin your appetite. Try this, Grandma specially had the kitchen stew it for you."
My heart warmed, and just as I was about to thank her, Jared beside me also moved.
Expressionless but natural in his movements, he pulled the fish plate in front of me toward him. His slender fingers held the utensils, focused and patient as he removed every tiny fishbone, then placed that intact piece of snow-white, tender fish meat back on my plate.
Hannah also chimed in from the side, deliberately raising her voice: "That's right, sister-in-law, eat more. Look how thin you are. Some people have sky-high ambitions but paper-thin lives. No matter how much they eat, they can't fix their empty heads."
This back-and-forth "serving food" battle made Aeneas and Keira's faces turn from green to white.
I felt an unprecedented satisfaction. I raised my eyes, my gaze crossing over the exquisite candlesticks on the table, looking straight at Keira, my lips curling into a provocative, victorious smile.
Keira's carefully disguised weak mask instantly cracked.
She gripped her knife and fork tightly, her knuckles white from the force. Her pale face turned almost green with anger, and the look she gave me seemed ready to shoot flames.
Just then, my hand under the table was grasped by a warm, large palm.
Jared interlaced my fingers with his, the pressure neither light nor heavy, but carrying an undeniable meaning.
Then he brought our clasped hands directly onto the dining table, displaying them in everyone's view without a care, fingers tightly interlaced, intimately close.
This became the final straw that broke Keira.
Her eyes reddened, those tear-filled eyes looking at Jared with grievance and despair, her voice trembling like a leaf in the wind: "Jared... do you hate me this much? So much that... you won't even look at me?"
"Keira!" Seeing her like this, Aeneas felt extremely distressed. He slammed the table hard, his anger once again directed at Jared. "Look what you've done! Have you forgotten who risked everything to save you back then? If it weren't for Keira, you'd be dead already! Is this how you treat your savior? Is your heart made of iron?!"
He used gratitude as a weapon, trying to bind Jared tightly with morality.
Hearing this, Jared finally moved his gaze from me. He looked up, those deep eyes showing no guilt from being hit at a sore spot, but instead filled with cold mockery.
"Father, you've got it wrong," he spoke slowly, his voice not loud but clearly reaching throughout the dining room. "The one who really took care of me, worked tirelessly by my side, and accompanied me through those most difficult days was Sloane." He paused, tightening our clasped hands, his gaze falling back on my face, the cold look instantly turning gentle. "Half of my life was given by the doctors, the other half was given by her. As for Keira," he changed his tone, the mockery undisguised, "I only remember that when I needed someone most, she left faster than anyone."
Aeneas was left speechless by these words, his old face turning the color of liver. He stammered for a long time but couldn't get a word out.
Keira's tears fell even harder. She shook her head crying, eagerly defending herself: "No! Jared, it wasn't like that! I'm willing to give everything for you, I'm willing to do anything for you!"
"Really?" The old lady, who had been watching coldly from the side, finally spoke slowly. Those eyes that had seen much of the world were now full of sharp insight and mockery. "If you're really willing to do anything, when Jared was on the verge of death, why did you leave the country without looking back? I remember you left faster than anyone at that time, didn't you?"