Chapter 190 The Foster Family Turned Upside Down
Liam said, "Yeah, I was giving you compliments."
Alexander replied, "Nice job. Don't do it again."
...
Mia stormed back home in a fury.
The moment Evelyn saw her daughter return barefoot, she was alarmed. "Mia, what happened to you?"
Mia asked, "Mom, guess who I ran into while shopping today?"
Evelyn asked, "Who?"
Mia said, "Grace!"
Evelyn asked, "What did she do to you?"
Moving closer, she noticed the injuries on Mia's body and grew angry. "Did she hit you?"
Mia said, "She and her son ganged up on me!"
Evelyn cursed, "That bitch! How dare she lay a hand on you? Where is she living now? I'll get someone to teach her a lesson."
Mia suddenly grabbed her arm. "Mom, don't. She's not the same person she used to be anymore."
After composing herself, Mia asked, "Mom, have you ever met Alexander?"
Evelyn said, "Why are you suddenly asking about him?"
Mia said, "Didn't Grace marry Alexander back then? All these years, there's been no news about him. I thought he was dead."
Evelyn said, "I've never met Alexander in person. The Hayes family has always been very secretive and low-key, they rarely appear in public."
She paused, then asked anxiously, "Why are you asking about him?"
Mia said, "Do you remember the man Grace brought to Dad's birthday party? That man was Alexander."
Evelyn's face immediately showed shock and suspicion. She frowned and said, "That handsome, distinguished-looking man was Alexander?"
Mia nodded.
But Evelyn immediately shook her head. "I don't believe it!"
Mia said, "I heard that man admit it himself, and Grace confirmed it too. That man even said he's going to remarry Grace!"
The more she spoke, the more indignant she became. "If he really is Alexander, you should have married me off to him instead! Forget about him being perfectly healthy now, just looking at that face, I'd be willing to be his widow for life."
Evelyn said defensively, "I tried to convince you to marry him back then, remember? You forgot what you said? You said you couldn't spend the rest of your life taking care of a vegetable, and you refused to marry him. Besides, when the Hayes family came to discuss the marriage arrangement, it sounded nice calling it a marriage, but frankly, they just wanted a daughter-in-law to bear children. These past few years, there's been no news from the Hayes family, but I can see their business running normally, so I assumed..."
Mia slumped onto the sofa in frustration. "I can't accept this! Grace nearly humiliated me to death today, she almost beat my face to a pulp. She acted like I was some kind of stray dog, all because she married well! Talk about going from rags to riches!"
Evelyn said, "I'll go sniff around later and see what I can find out. What if she's just bragging? If that man really is Alexander, would he actually be interested in Grace?"
Mia said, "Grace bore him a son! Who knows where she got that kind of luck."
Two days later, Evelyn managed to gather some information.
The more she investigated, the more shocking it became.
Now it was confirmed that Alexander had awakened seven years ago, and the man Grace had brought to David's birthday party was indeed Alexander.
When Evelyn heard this, she immediately went home and had a complete meltdown with David.
She had always been an unreasonable, domineering woman, so she vented all her dissatisfaction and grievances on David.
"This is all your fault! If you hadn't stopped Mia back then, she would be the one married into the Hayes family now. She'd be Mrs. Hayes instead of that Grace! Now look what's happened, Grace has married into wealth and doesn't acknowledge you as her father or the Foster family. She's off living her good life!"
David was also secretly furious.
Grace had never mentioned any of this to him. He was her father, after all—if she was going to remarry Alexander, she should have at least asked for his opinion.
Evelyn continued, "I can see this ungrateful wretch has never respected you at all. Now she's going to remarry Alexander and become Mrs. Hayes, living in luxury and wealth. This good fortune should have been Mia's! It's all your faultthat, now Grace is living the high life while Mia suffers!"
David said, "She never told me about the remarriage. If she had asked me, I would have been the first to object."
Evelyn asked, "Has she ever respected you? You might as well not exist as her father!"
David was naturally unwilling to accept this, so he picked up his phone and called Grace.
That evening, Grace was just preparing to go to bed when David's call left her completely bewildered.
She walked out to the balcony and answered the phone, only to be met with David's harsh questioning: "You're remarrying Alexander, aren't you?"
Grace was stunned for a moment, then countered, "Why are you suddenly interested in my business?"
David demanded, "Do you have any respect for me as your father? Remarriage is such a major decision, and you never mentioned it to me. Do you think I'm dead?"
Grace replied matter-of-factly, "You're absolutely right about that—I do consider you dead."
"You!" David was livid. "You insolent child!"
Grace said, "You've never acted like I was your daughter, so why do you suddenly want to acknowledge me now that I'm remarrying Alexander?"
She paused, then said coolly, "Oh, I see. You don't want to acknowledge me as your daughter—you just want to claim Alexander as your son-in-law."
She could guess that after Mia's incident, she must have gone crying to Evelyn, who then made a scene with David. Now David was probably full of regret.
She could guess what David was regretting.
He regretted not marrying Mia off to Alexander instead of her.
He regretted disowning Grace and missing out on wealth and status.
With Alexander as a son-in-law, David could look forward to a life of comfort and luxury. But now that the father-daughter relationship was so strained, even if David swallowed his pride and tried to repair things, it would be impossible.
Moreover, David was too proud to humble himself and beg for her forgiveness.
David frowned, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying you don't want me as your father anymore?"
Grace said, "I should be asking you what you mean. Weren't you the one who disowned me first?"
When she had returned to the Foster family with Max, they had thrown her out. David had treated her like a burden and Max like baggage.
When she married Alexander, the Hayes family had paid a substantial dowry, but David and Evelyn had pocketed every penny and then refused to acknowledge her or Max. She had long since given up hope on the Foster family and this father.
David said righteously, "Those were just words spoken in anger. Did you take them seriously?"