Chapter 148 Little Protectors
Connor lowered his head and immediately spotted three people standing not far below. Narrowing his eyes, he took Lily's hand and asked, "Lily, look over there. Isn't that your dad and Mandy?"
Lily squinted for a moment before nodding. "Yes, it's them."
"From what I can see, your dad and Mandy are ganging up on my mom. They've always been against her. Stopping her on her way home—are they planning to hurt her?" Connor, fiercely protective of Elena, immediately jumped to conclusions without understanding the full situation.
Lily, well aware of the tension between Elena and Mandy, whispered hesitantly, "Maybe they are."
"My mom—no, I mean Mandy—she's always been cruel," Lily corrected herself.
Since experiencing the maternal warmth Elena had shown her, Lily no longer wished to call Mandy "mom," not even once.
"How dare they bully my mom! Those two clearly don't respect me!" He puffed out his chest. "I'm the man of the house. I need to protect my mom."
With that declaration, Connor put down the cat he'd been holding and dashed toward the stairs.
Lily followed close behind, asking worriedly, "Connor, what are you going to do?"
Connor gave a mischievous laugh. "I'm going to make anyone who bullies my mom pay the price."
Without explaining further to Lily, he headed to the playroom and grabbed his slingshot from the windowsill. He then collected several projectiles made from wadded-up tissues.
Despite being made of tissue paper, these projectiles could still cause pain when shot from a distance with a slingshot.
After busy preparation, Connor finally got everything ready, positioned himself correctly, and loaded his weapon. He was prepared for battle.
By this time, Mandy's verbal assault on Elena had reached its peak.
"Elena, don't think that just because you saved my and Harrison's daughter that you can show off in front of me," she spat.
"Harrison is distinguished and refined—the pride among men. He's not someone a woman like you could ever hope to attract."
"I suggest you take a good look in the mirror before trying to get close to Harrison. Don't make me reveal all those shameless things you've done in the past."
Mandy's words infuriated Elena, but she had her own way of dealing with the situation.
She simply reached for Harrison's arm, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a light kiss on his cheek.
Harrison was completely caught off guard by Elena's sudden kiss, his composure visibly shaken.
Mandy was genuinely outraged by Elena's bold move. Harrison was her man—how could Elena be so shameless?
"Have you no shame? How dare you, Elena!" Mandy cried out.
"Harrison is mine. I won't allow you to touch him, not even once!"
Mandy's words made Elena scoff. She rarely initiated contact with Harrison—it was always him who couldn't keep his hands off her.
"I have no shame? And you do? You have absolutely no relationship with Harrison, yet you insist on living in his home. Where's your dignity?" Elena shot back.
"And you won't 'allow' me to touch him? He's not your pet dog. What gives you the right to decide who can touch him?"
Elena's powerful retort left Mandy seething.
Harrison, standing by and listening to the women argue, suddenly felt uncomfortable. Though Elena was attacking Mandy, something about her words stung him as well. What did she mean by saying he wasn't Mandy's "pet dog"? Was that an insult directed at him too?
Mandy, however, was focused solely on her anger at watching Elena kiss Harrison right in front of her. Enraged and unable to gain any advantage verbally, she moved to physically push Elena.
Harrison, standing next to Elena, could never stand by and watch Mandy assault her. He positioned himself between the two women, his protective instincts taking over as he shielded Elena by pulling her into his arms.
He assumed Elena would appreciate his gallant gesture and protection.
What he didn't realize was how this scene appeared to Connor and Lily watching from the balcony above.
From their perspective, it looked as though Harrison and Mandy were teaming up to attack Elena.
Normally, Lily defended Harrison, believing him to be a gentlemanly and kind man. But seeing what was happening below, she suddenly felt disappointed in him.
She felt indignant on Elena's behalf.
"Connor, my dad is a jerk! How can he join forces with Mandy to hurt Mom?" Lily couldn't bear to watch.
"This is unacceptable! Quick, teach them a lesson!"
Unable to contain her outrage and wanting to protect Elena, Lily gave Connor the order to fire.
Connor, who had been waiting for this moment, pulled back his slingshot, loaded a tissue-paper projectile, and shot it directly at Harrison's back.
Harrison, still holding Elena protectively, felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned around to look, but couldn't see anything unusual.
Who was attacking him?
Before he could identify the source, Mandy, who had been shouting angrily, suddenly felt a stinging pain on her cheek. She clutched her face with a howl of pain. When she removed her hand, she discovered that one of her front teeth had been knocked out.
"Who? Who hit me?" Mandy covered her bloodied mouth, looking wildly around.
Connor and Lily on the rooftop terrace, fearing that Harrison and Mandy might spot them, ducked low and quickly retreated from view.
Simon, who had been watching the scene unfold from the car, realized he needed to intervene before the situation escalated further—otherwise, he'd likely be working overtime deep into the night again.
To avoid late-night work, he got out of the car and pulled Mandy away.
"Why are you dragging me away?" Mandy shouted at Simon. "That woman is trying to seduce Harrison!"
Simon couldn't help but smile at Mandy's words. He didn't see Elena seducing Harrison at all.
It was clearly Harrison pursuing Elena.
Mandy was a pathetic loser who blamed Elena for Harrison's lack of interest in her.
Simon had his ways of dealing with such clueless women.
He shouted back at Mandy, "You'd better keep quiet. You've gone too far today. If you don't want to provoke Mr. Frost and get yourself thrown out of his house, then I suggest you stop making a scene."
Simon's words frightened Mandy.
She had no choice but to consider her current precarious position.