Chapter 83: Satire
I shook my head. "No."
Serenity's upbringing might have been as difficult as she claimed, but that couldn't justify her hurting me.
Compared to everything she did in my past life, her kindness only existed during that brief period when she first returned to the Lockwood family. As time passed, her kindness would eventually be destroyed in the power struggles of wealthy families.
When we got home, Serenity had just opened the car door to get out when we heard John's voice. "Serenity's back. Is Helena with you? Tell her to come in."
Since John had spoken, Serenity turned back with a smile. "Helena, my dad wants you to come in and sit."
I had no choice but to get out of the car. John looked at me with a smile. "What did you two buy today?"
"We didn't buy anything, but Helena took me to get my nails done. I ordered a set of press-on nails, then we ran into Ms. Blake's brother and went to dinner together."
"Ms. Blake? Which Ms. Blake?" John quickly asked.
Serenity glanced at me. Seeing I had no intention of speaking, she had to answer. "It's Helena's friend, Quincy."
"Alan's daughter! That's great. Serenity, you should invite this Ms. Blake over to the house sometime. You're around the same age - it's good to have friends and visit each other often, right?"
Then John quickly added, "And her brother, too. It would be even better if you could invite him as well."
Hearing this, I frowned. I knew what John was up to.
The Blake family was very prominent. With Serenity reaching marriageable age, he was looking for potential business marriage partners.
"Okay, Dad."
Seeing Serenity obediently agree, John turned to me. "Helena, your wedding is coming up soon. I wonder if your family has prepared your wedding gifts yet?"
So that's what he really wanted to find out. I let out a cold laugh and said expressionlessly, "You'd have to ask my mom about that. As you know, I've never really worried about family matters. My mom handles all of that."
"Right, right."
Not getting the information he wanted, John looked disappointed. He immediately put on the airs of an elder and started lecturing.
"Helena, once you're married, you can't be as willful as you are at home."
John's words made me laugh inside. When he couldn't get the information he wanted, he started acting like a pompous elder.
In my past life, I might have listened to some of it, but in this life, I didn't want to put up with it anymore.
With that thought, I suppressed my emotions and said, "Uncle John, you're right. But speaking of which, Natasha is around my age, too. She should be looking for a boyfriend. I wonder if Uncle John has anyone in mind? If so, we could talk about engagement."
Mentioning Natasha made John's face turn ugly.
After what happened with Willow twice, which wealthy family would still want Natasha?
If he wanted to find Natasha a good business marriage partner now, it would be impossible.
However, I would soon give John an opportunity. Whether he could seize it would be up to him.
"Uncle John, where's Natasha? She still hasn't come back?"
Since he called me over to chat, I was going to say things that would hurt him.
At my question, the muscles on John's face clearly twitched. He shook his head irritably. "Come back? She's been at the hospital the whole time. She has no intention of coming back."
"What's wrong with Natasha? A mother is dear, but you're her real father too. With everything that's happened at home, you're the victim. How can she stay at the hospital and not think about coming back to see you?"
I deliberately continued to hurt John.
"If Natasha keeps staying with Aunt Willow, won't she pick up bad habits? That would ruin her!"
Hearing my words, John's expression suddenly became very ugly. With a cold face, he said to Serenity, "Call Natasha right now and tell her to come home tonight. If she dares not to come back, tell her she never needs to come back again!"
Then, as if worried Serenity would be bullied, he added, "Just say I said so!"
Hearing John's words, Serenity nodded and stood up. "Okay, I'll call now."
"Call her right here!"
John stopped Serenity directly. Seeing this, Serenity had no choice but to take out her phone and make the call in front of John.
Natasha's scream came through the phone. "You bitch, how dare you call me! Do you want another beating?"
Serenity seemed frightened by the voice on the phone and quickly explained, "Natasha, Dad wants you to come home tonight. Can you make it?"
"No! Tell Dad that as long as you, this bitch, are at home, I'll never go back!"
With that, Natasha hung up directly.
When Serenity looked up again, her eyes were red. "Dad."
"Serenity, I didn't think this through. I'm sorry you had to suffer because of this."
John quickly comforted her. "Fine, if she doesn't want to come back, then she doesn't have to."
Then he waved his hand with a dejected look. "Alright, you two have a good chat. I'm going to the study to make a call."
Having achieved my goal, I naturally wouldn't stay any longer. I stood up directly. "Uncle John, I won't stay. I should go now."
"Helena, let me walk you out."
With that, Serenity followed me out. She grabbed my sleeve with a troubled expression. "Helena, should I not continue staying at home? Look at Natasha's attitude, and I don't want to make things difficult for Dad either."
I sneered. If she really didn't want to make things difficult for John, she wouldn't be asking me - she would just choose to leave directly.
I pretended to look troubled. "I can't make these decisions for you. You'll have to decide for yourself."
"Decide for myself?"
Hearing my words, Serenity's eyes flickered, probably thinking up some new scheme. But I wasn't going to get entangled with her anymore. I turned around directly. "Alright, I should go now. Serenity, you think about it yourself."
When I got back, I found that someone from the Pemberton family had come.
Seeing me return, Maria happily took my hand. "Helena, look at this. Knox specially had this custom-made for you."