Chapter 248
I tugged at the corner of my lips, my eyes cold and indifferent, "Well, well, I didn't know you were such a filial son. Can't even afford to feed yourself, yet you're thinking about supporting Cora in her old age?"
Luke's brows furrowed tightly, "She's our mom. Sue, I never thought you'd become so unfilial. How dare you call your own mother by her first name? Aren't you afraid it'll shorten your life?"
I shrugged. "Sorry, but Cora personally said she wanted to cut ties with me as mother and daughter. You were there too, weren't you? If your brain's not working right at such a young age, you should go to the hospital and get it checked. Oh wait..."
I raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I forgot you do not have money now. At your age, still living off your parents."
Luke's face turned extremely ugly, and he rushed forward to hit me.
Just as I was about to dodge, a large hand suddenly reached out and firmly grabbed Luke's arm.
"Mr. Anderson, you really have some nerve! Assaulting my wife in Glacier Corp's parking lot?"
Jason's voice was cold, his whole body radiating an intimidating presence.
Luke's pupils contracted slightly, and he forced an awkward smile onto his face, "Mr. Cooper! There's a misunderstanding here! I didn't mean to hit her."
"So you're saying I'm blind and wrongly accusing you?"
Jason sneered back.
"No... no..."
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Luke's forehead as he stammered, showing none of the arrogance he'd displayed toward me moments ago.
"Then you attempted to assault my wife. Are you planning to have a chat with Glacier Corp's legal department?"
Glacier Corp's legal department enjoyed a stellar reputation throughout Seaside City and even the entire country.
There was even a saying that as long as Glacier Corp wanted to win, there was no case they couldn't win.
I stood beside Jason, calmly watching Luke.
I knew he would come looking for me again someday.
As long as we still had this so-called family relationship, they would cling to me like hungry wolves who'd caught the scent of a feast.
No, I should not put it that way.
After all, hungry wolves are shameless, but Luke wanted both face and money, constantly spouting high-sounding moral blackmail.
Luke opened his mouth. Not daring to meet Jason's gaze, he looked at me instead, "Sue, do you really have to be so ruthless? I just wanted you to help me find a job. Isn't humiliating me over and over enough? You won't even give Mom face?"
"Don't forget! Back then, if I hadn't stopped them, you would've been kidnapped by human traffickers! That's a life-saving favor! Sue, you can't be so heartless!"
At these words, I recalled some long-buried memories.
Luke wasn't wrong—we did encounter human traffickers when we were young.
But the traffickers' target wasn't me at all—it was Luke!
Growing up, Cora always gave Luke the best of everything, from food to clothes.
As for me, standing next to him in ill-fitting clothes with holes in them, I looked exactly like a little beggar.
The traffickers immediately took a liking to Luke, whom Cora had raised nice and plump, and wanted to kidnap him.
Whether to sell him to some mountain village or use him to threaten Cora for a good sum of money, it would be a profitable deal either way.
Luke noticed the traffickers' movements.
Not only did he not run, he tricked me into going over!
He wanted the traffickers to kidnap me instead, but I realized something was wrong and managed to save myself by knocking over a fruit vendor's stand.
Of course, afterward, because we had to compensate the fruit vendor quite a bit of money, I couldn't escape Cora's beating when I got home.
That was the closest I'd ever come to death.
My whole body hurt terribly. The high fever made my body burning hot, and my head was dizzy and confused.
At that time, I even prayed to heaven.
Just let me die like this.
At least if I died, I wouldn't have to suffer anymore, wouldn't have to carefully try to figure out Cora's moods, wouldn't have to desperately long for maternal love from Cora.
But I was tough. Three days of high fever couldn't kill me.
In the end, I don't know if Cora was worried that if I died at home it would cause big trouble, but she finally took me to the hospital, cursing all the way.
"Sue, you can't be so ungrateful. If it weren't for me back then, you would've been sold off somewhere to be a child bride, rotting away in some mountain village. Now I'm just asking you to arrange a job for me, and you're being so difficult about it. Do you have any conscience at all?"
Luke continued talking.
He stared at me with dissatisfaction, "It's only because I'm here today that I'm speaking nicely to you. If Mom were here, you would've been cursed out already."
I sneered, "So should I thank you?"
My cold hand was grasped by a warm one. I froze, then turned to look at Jason beside me, watching me with concern.
A wave of warmth spread through my heart.
I smiled slightly and shook my head gently, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
This feeling of being cared for was really nice.
If it were before, I definitely would've been angry at Luke's distortion of the truth, hurt by Cora's favoritism.
But now it's different.
I have someone who truly loves me by my side, and I'm no longer that little girl desperate for family affection and maternal love.
What I lacked, Jason has filled in for me.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Luke calmly, "You just said you saved me before, but I'd really like to ask you—so pushing your own sister toward human traffickers and letting them kidnap your sister, that's what you call saving me?"
Luke pressed his lips together, his eyes flickering, "You can't put it that way. Besides, nothing happened to you, right? If I hadn't done that, both of us would've been kidnapped by the traffickers."
"I looked no different from a beggar back then. If they were going to take anyone, they would only take you."
I tugged at the corner of my lips, my tone quite sarcastic, "And after that? When Cora beat me half to death, what were you doing?"
Luke said nothing.
I guess he probably didn't remember.
After all, there were too many times when Cora showed favoritism.
So many that me getting beaten had become routine to him.
I didn't really care either, and smiled, "If you do not remember, let me tell you. You were pestering Cora to buy you new sneakers."
They were limited edition sneakers, quite expensive.
In fact, those shoes cost far more than the compensation we owed the fruit vendor.
But Cora just smiled and agreed, saying she'd buy them for him as long as Luke wanted them.
Jason tightened his grip on my hand, silently giving me support.
Luke's lips moved, his brows furrowing as if he were actually searching his memory for this incident.
After a moment, he shook his head, "Even if what you're saying is true, all that's in the past. And it was Mom who hit you, not me. I was just a kid back then too. It's no use blaming me."
"Right now we're talking about the job situation. Sue, if you keep dwelling on the past, you'll never be able to move forward. You need to look ahead."
He really said all the good and bad things himself.
I curled my lip and said lazily, "Figure out your own job yourself. You're right—from now on I'm going to look ahead, and everyone from my past should stay as far away from my world as possible."