Autumn Linton was clearly taken aback, as if she hadn’t expected her to say that. She shook her head instinctively. "I’m not."
"Autumn, I gave birth to you. I know exactly what you’re thinking." The old lady’s tone grew colder.
"You feel sorry that they couldn’t be together, you resent as your mother, and you get close to that woman. But you’ve forgotten—if it weren’t for , you would never have been born."
"Then I’d rather have never been born," Autumn Linton said instinctively.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Chloe Reed couldn’t listen anymore. ’How could she hurt Grandma’s feelings like this?’
"That’s your mother! You only see your father being trapped in a marriage, separated from his lover and unable to be with her. But have you ever stopped to think about how your mother felt? Looking at her cold husband—wasn’t she miserable? Now that she knows everything, don’t you think she’s heartbroken?"
Chloe Reed’s eyes widened in fury. "You are so selfish!"
Being scolded so harshly by her own daughter, Autumn Linton’s face turned ugly. She couldn’t help but sneer, "And you? I’m your mother. What do you think you’re doing?"
But Chloe Reed just smiled bitterly. "If I had a mother who always loved, cherished, and protected ," she said, "I would never, ever do anything to hurt her."
"You!"
Autumn Linton was speechless with rage. "How have I been anything but good to you? You..."
"If you were actually good to , you would never have brought Sunny Reed back here," Chloe Reed said coldly. "So you can drop the hypocritical act."
Autumn Linton’s face turned pale with rage. Her hand trembled as she pointed at Chloe, wanting to curse her out, but she was too breathless to speak.
Chloe Reed turned to the old lady, her tone softening. "Grandma, none of that is important. I’ll always be here for you."
The old lady stared at Autumn Linton as if looking at a stranger. "Was it your father who took you to et her?" she asked suddenly. "You two got along so well that you learned all about the past."
Autumn Linton said nothing. She clutched her chest, appearing to be in great distress.
Even though she had carried her for ten months and given birth to her, decades of unchanging indifference had eroded nearly all the motherly affection that was supposed to be bound by blood.
The old lady was utterly disappointed in Autumn Linton.
"Give up. I’m not giving you those sapphire earrings."
Autumn Linton’s eyes flew wide in astonishnt. "You... how could you? You know perfectly well they don’t belong to you!"
"They don’t belong to them, either," the old lady retorted. "They are property of the Linton family. My mother-in-law gave them to , so naturally, I’ll give them to a junior I’m actually fond of."
She had only one daughter, Autumn Linton. If Autumn had been clever and patient, all of the old lady’s assets would have passed to her after her death.
But now, she had brought everything out into the open.
It made the old lady see even more clearly what kind of person her daughter truly was.
And so, she no longer planned to leave her inheritance to her.
She grasped Chloe Reed’s hand and said, "Chloe, let’s go."
Chloe Reed felt a sense of relief. ’Grandma didn’t back down. This is the best possible outco.’
She helped the old lady stand and they left the room.
Autumn Linton sat stunned on the sofa, her face pale, her eyes filled with dejection and frustration.
’I can’t believe I didn’t get them back.’
Her debt to Sunny Reed had deepened.
That poor child. Ever since arriving at the Reed family’s ho, she hadn’t had a single day of peace, constantly being targeted by Chloe Reed.
’Her only wish was to get those earrings back, but I couldn’t even help her with that. I’m such a failure.’
As the old lady and Chloe ca downstairs, Charles Reed stood up. "Mom, lunch is ready," he said. "Co and eat."
"No."
The old lady shook her head. "I’m tired. I’m going ho to rest."
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