Chapter 314 Selling Misery in the Street

Chapter 314 Selling Misery in the Street

Regular criticism was one thing, but whenever someone deliberately tried to trash Mike and Victoria, Mike's fans were always the first to fire back.

Victoria's book fans were also rallying.

Some company CEOs bought out entire theaters to treat their whole staff to Lunadream.

Many people declared: "We're not dead, just older. We support Marcyen!"

They posted hundreds of movie ticket stubs online.

Victoria had written her first novel under the pen name Marcyen ten years ago. Her book fans had now become pillars of various industries.

Many were company presidents themselves.

This meant that despite being pulled from theaters for a while, Lunadream's box office wasn't affected at all. The buzz even exceeded opening day.

In Emerald City, Emily had been clinging to a desperate hope that if she just didn't respond, the whole thing would quietly blow over.

However, the very next day, a court summons was delivered to her house.

Emily stared at the court papers, panic flooding through her.

What was she going to do? That bitch Victoria was actually going to sue her!

Would she end up in prison like Lucas?

She didn't want to go to prison!

Emily had no choice but to seek out Jennifer.

Over a decade of living as a wealthy wife had turned Jennifer demanding and bitter.

When Emily found her, she was cursing at Mira for complaining that her cooking was inedible.

Mira was in poor health, yet every day she washed clothes and cooked for Jennifer and Emily, only to endure their disdain and verbal abuse.

Mira hunched over as she watered the vegetables in the yard, completely ignoring Jennifer's cursing.

No matter how bad things got, life had to go on day by day.

Emily covered her nose in disgust, keeping her distance from Mira as she called out to Jennifer from afar.

Jennifer spat, muttered a few more curses, then finally walked away, still seething.

Emily grabbed Jennifer's arm, her face tight with anxiety.

"Mom, you have to help me this time! That bitch Victoria wants to send me to prison. If I end up behind bars too, who's going to take care of you? Victoria just won't let us go!"

"What!" Jennifer instantly ignited with rage.

"That little bitch wants to send you to prison? Does she think just because the Smith family went bankrupt I can't do anything to her? I raised her for years and now she's destroyed us like this, and she still wants to bully you? Why doesn't that little bitch just drop dead!"

Emily fanned the flames. "Mom, I don't want to go to prison. I still need to earn money to take care of you. Victoria refuses to take care of you, and she won't let me take care of you either. She's gone too far."

Jennifer grew angrier by the second, slamming her hand on the table.

"No way. That little bitch—I'd like to see her try!"

Jennifer took a cab straight to Lucent and stormed up to Hilltop Residence.

This wasn't Jennifer's first time pulling something like this. Back when she was a wealthy wife, she'd brazenly demanded support payments. Now that she'd fallen on hard times, she was even more shameless.

When the security guard at the gate wouldn't let her in, she simply started cursing at the top of her lungs right there at the entrance.

Jennifer pounded her chest as she wailed.

"God above, open your eyes and look at Victoria, this ungrateful wretch! Not only does she refuse to honor her parents, she's trying to drive me to my death! I can't go on living—there's no point anyway!"

Hilltop Residence was an upscale villa community where all the residents were people of status and influence.

Nothing like this had ever happened here before.

Jennifer's shrewish tantrum drew quite a bit of attention, especially since she kept shouting Victoria's name.

An expensively dressed wealthy lady stopped and said to the person beside her, "Victoria? Is that the daughter the Windsor family found later?"

Another wealthy lady who often had afternoon tea with Celeste nodded.

"That's right, it's her! What's this woman's relationship to the Windsors, making such a scene at the gate?"

Hearing that someone knew Victoria, Jennifer shouted even louder.

She addressed the passersby: "Ladies, you don't know that there are daughters in this world who actually wish their adoptive parents dead! I raised Victoria for years, and in the end, not only is she ungrateful, she's trying to drive me to my death! This is absolutely unconscionable. The Windsor family may be rich, but they can't just let Victoria run wild like this without any conscience, can they?"

"Let me tell you, Victoria is an ungrateful wretch. It wasn't enough that she sent her father to prison—now she wants me dead too! People like that deserve to be struck by lightning!"

Jennifer's voice was loud, and she beat her chest dramatically, as if she'd suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

The onlookers were all mothers themselves. Hearing Jennifer's words, they began to criticize Victoria.

"What's wrong with the Windsor family? How can they enable their daughter to do such heartless things?"

"The debt of raising a child is greater than heaven itself. To think she'd try to drive her adoptive parents to death—the Windsor family's daughter really has no upbringing."

"In this day and age, how can such outrageous things still happen!"

"The Windsor family's daughter has such poor upbringing. I need to keep my daughter away from her so she doesn't get corrupted."

"A parent's heart is the most precious thing. This child is truly unfilial."

Vivian Joe got out of her car and, seeing a crowd gathered at the gate, curiously walked over.

"What's going on? Why is everyone crowding around here?"

A wealthy lady who was close with Vivian saw her arrive and immediately pulled her aside.

"Vivian, is your niece really that cruel to her adoptive parents? The woman came all the way here and says your niece is trying to drive her to death!"

"Who?" Vivian frowned, not immediately catching on.

The wealthy lady sighed and lowered her voice slightly. "Your niece, Victoria—the one who was found in Emerald City."

Victoria?

Vivian already didn't like Victoria, and hearing that the Smith family had come to make a scene made her even more disgusted with her.

"Who knows anything about her? She came from some backwater town and refuses to be managed. Usually when I say one thing to her, she talks back ten times."

When it came to Victoria, Vivian found her more distasteful the more she looked at her.

She rarely interacted with Simon's family these days, and she couldn't be bothered to say more than a word to Victoria.

Jennifer kept cursing Victoria as an ungrateful wretch. Vivian's face darkened, her eyes full of disdain.

Still, this concerned the Windsor family's reputation. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Vivian hurried to Simon's house and told Victoria to go deal with Jennifer.

If this continued, the Windsor family would become the laughingstock of Lucent high society.

Victoria hadn't expected Jennifer would actually dare to show her face again.

Back when they'd drugged her and tried to send her to some old man, demanding half of the Windsor family's assets, she'd recorded video evidence and publicly exposed their hypocrisy.

The Smith family had been quiet lately, not causing any more trouble.

Victoria had thought they'd learned their lesson, but apparently some people never learned.

Victoria frowned.

"Where is she?"

Vivian's tone dripped with disgust.

"Right at the front gate. Quite a few people are gathered there watching. The Windsor family's face has been completely disgraced."

If it weren't for Victoria, when would the Windsor family ever have been the subject of ridicule?

Vivian secretly rolled her eyes, her resentment toward Victoria written all over her face.

Victoria didn't have time to argue with her. She turned and headed out.

At the front gate, Jennifer had been wailing for ages until her throat was nearly raw.

You dead girl, why don't you come out here!

The Smith family had already gone bankrupt—she had nothing left to worry about. Today, no matter what, she was going to make Victoria drop the lawsuit!

Jennifer plopped herself down on the ground.

"Everyone, judge for yourselves—doesn't someone like this deserve to go to hell! I worked so hard to raise her, and as soon as she found her rich parents, she turned on me like this. She's a snob who worships money and status, utterly conscienceless! How is my life so miserable that I ended up with such a heartless creature!"

Like a shrew, she sat on the ground throwing a tantrum.