Chapter 84

Tiffany had no desire to go home. Especially not with Scarlett. That awful woman Vivian was at Scarlett's house.

Upon hearing this, Tiffany shook her head vigorously and turned to go back to Julia. Scarlett saw her intention and grabbed Tiffany's arm. Tiffany struggled, but couldn't break free, growing increasingly anxious.

"Come on, sweetie, let's go home with Grandma. You shouldn't stay at this woman's house!" Scarlett's tone was stern, and her grip tightened.

Tiffany winced in pain, not wanting to leave Julia. She stopped struggling and began to cry right where she stood. Seeing Tiffany's tears, Scarlett realized she had gone too far. She frowned and released her grip.

"Tiffany, don't cry. Grandma didn't mean it. I was just a bit anxious," she said soothingly. But no matter what she said, Tiffany kept crying.

Hannah, seeing Tiffany in such distress, quickly stepped forward to explain to Scarlett, "Mrs. Hearst, Miss Hearst's autism has been acting up these past few days, and she was also hit by Miss Jones. Her condition has just started to improve. Please don't scare her."

Hannah had spent the night thinking and had a good guess about who had hurt Tiffany. To persuade Scarlett, she mustered the courage to share her suspicion.

Scarlett, however, was dismissive. "Vivian already told me about it. Tiffany was being disobedient, and Vivian got anxious and hit her a couple of times. She has apologized to me." She turned to Tiffany, "Tiffany, you can't be so willful. Vivian is going to be your stepmother, and you need to learn to get along with her."

With Scarlett saying this, Hannah, as a mere employee, had nothing more to say. Hannah felt nothing but pity for Tiffany. Julia also looked at Tiffany with concern. Tiffany had just started to come out of her shell, and now this... She feared Tiffany might revert to her previous state.

Joseph and Stephen, guessing that Scarlett was Tiffany's grandmother, immediately retorted, "Vivian hit Tiffany, and you're defending her? You want Tiffany to forgive her? Don't you care how badly Tiffany was hurt? If it weren't for my mommy taking good care of her, Tiffany wouldn't be okay now."

"Where did these kids come from!" Scarlett was annoyed by Joseph and Stephen's words. "Didn't your mother teach you that children shouldn't interfere in adult matters?"

Scarlett couldn't stand being in this place for another second. She grabbed Tiffany's arm and tried to leave. "Tiffany, look at the kind of family you're staying with. No manners at all! Come with Grandma. If you stay here, you'll learn bad habits!"

Tiffany refused to go, pulling back against Scarlett. Her arm hurt from Scarlett's grip, and her tears flowed even more.

Julia, despite Scarlett's earlier words, couldn't stand by and do nothing. Seeing Tiffany so pitiful, she couldn't help but speak up, "Mrs. Hearst, I've heard you usually care for Tiffany. Is this how you show it? Tiffany is already like this, and you still want to go against her wishes?"

"Of course, it's you! You're brainwashing my granddaughter!" Julia's words only fueled Scarlett's anger.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Stephen guessed it must be his dad and ran to open the door.

Henry saw Stephen coming to greet him and reached out to connect with him.

But Stephen stepped back, distancing himself.

Henry's hand hung in mid-air, and he paused.

He noticed Stephen seemed very upset.

Henry asked, "Steve, what's wrong?"

He glanced into the room and saw his mother gripping Tiffany's arm, with Tiffany crying uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Henry quickly stepped inside and removed his mother's hand from Tiffany. "Mom, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I should be asking you! If I hadn't come, my granddaughter would have become someone else's!" She glared at Henry, her anger now directed at him.

Tiffany had been cared for by Julia, and he hadn't told her!

He was driving her crazy!

Henry took a deep breath, his eyes cautiously sweeping over Julia.

He saw Julia's cold expression, her eyes only on Tiffany.

Henry feared his mother might say something inappropriate and said in a low voice, "Mom, come outside with me."

He walked out, his demeanor tense.

Scarlett, though puzzled, followed him.

She wanted to see what Henry had to say with all the evidence in front of them.

As soon as they stepped outside, Henry was still gathering his thoughts.

Scarlett couldn't hold back and expressed her stance first, "Let me be clear! No matter what you say today, I'm taking Tiffany away from Julia's house!"

Seeing his mother's determination, Henry took a deep breath.

Tiffany had finally come out of her autistic shell, and Scarlett was causing trouble.

"Have you cared about Tiffany's condition lately?" Henry's words softened Scarlett's expression a bit. She had heard from Hannah about Tiffany's autism acting up but didn't know the specifics.

"No matter what, it's not a reason for Tiffany to stay with Julia!"

Henry took another deep breath. "Tiffany's autism this time was worse than ever. Even Gregory couldn't help. Only with Julia did Tiffany open up. She even started speaking because of Julia. Could you have imagined that before?"

Tiffany speaking because of Julia?

Scarlett looked at him in shock.

He continued, "Surprised? I was too. But it's the truth. Tiffany doesn't even know Julia is her biological mother, yet she can't be without her. Even if you don't want to admit it, Tiffany's bond with Julia is something we can't interfere with."

Scarlett, despite her dislike for Julia, reluctantly frowned.

Though she didn't want to admit it, her son was right.

She couldn't find a reason to argue.

Henry added, "Mom, we've tried countless ways to help Tiffany over the years with no success. We've finally seen hope. Even if it means Tiffany accepting Julia, I'm okay with it. I just want her to be a normal child."

His voice was low but persuasive. "Mom, you've cared for Tiffany all these years. I believe you understand what's important. So I hope you won't disrupt their time together. Tiffany can't handle more stress."