CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 87: ONLY WANT TO GROW OLD NEVER CROSSING PATHS AGAIN

She was greeted by Phoebe Turner, her face full of smiles, "Sister, you’re finally back. Dad, Mom, and I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Stepmother Ruth Leighton said with reluctance, "Making our whole family wait just for you, where do you get the nerve? You ungrateful thing!"

Victor Turner glared at his wife, "Laura’s finally come home today, say a little less, will you?"

Ruth was about to say more, but her daughter gave her a look, so she had to stop.

Phoebe, as if she were a social butterfly, tended to Laura Quincy’s emotions, "Sister, it’s just been a long time since my mom saw you, she’s straightforward when she speaks, don’t take it to heart."

Laura let out a cold laugh, "If I’m not welcome here, then I have no desire to come into this house. Just tell me directly what you want from me!"

Victor hurriedly tried to smooth things over, "Laura, since you’re rarely home, you should at least stay one night. Your room upstairs has already been prepared."

Laura coldly refused, "I wouldn’t dare think of staying even for a night, let’s just get to the point!"

She was sure they had some reason for calling her back, otherwise, they wouldn’t have arranged this banquet of betrayal for no reason...

If they just wanted her back for a meal and to talk about family, that was absolutely impossible!

Phoebe quickly stepped up and took her hand, "Sister, why have you become so impatient now? It’s been a long time since our family has sat down for a meal together. You should at least be a bit nicer to Dad! After all, you’re the younger one."

She indeed appeared well-educated and reasonable.

Laura coldly shook off her hand. This family was truly strange!

They treated her worse than a servant before! Stepmother Ruth was always finding fault with her. If she made the slightest mistake, she would report it to Dad...

Then Dad would beat her black and blue without distinguishing right from wrong.

As for her toys, they were all taken by Phoebe, and she couldn’t take them back. Dad would say, "Phoebe is your sister, what’s wrong with her playing with them for a bit? When did you become so selfish?"

Just recalling those high school years of study was an endless darkness and oppression...

When she was bullied, she could only hide under the blanket and cry when everyone was asleep; every time, she wished her mom would come down from heaven and take her away...

All the painful memories of those three high school years came from this home, from the three people before her, who never considered her a part of the family.

Even her birth father was cold as frost towards her...

She had once gathered the courage to ask him, "Why do you treat me like this? I am your biological daughter, too!"

Victor looked at her with disgust, "Yes! You’re my biological daughter, but I didn’t love your mom. Since I joined the Quincy Family, I’ve been no more than the man behind her back, despised by everyone, even she preferred to talk and laugh with other men rather than speak to me more..."

"In the Quincy Family, I was just a puppet. The company matters were in her control, and I could only follow her around, running errands and doing odd jobs. As for your grandfather, he looked down on me as if my only function was to produce you with your mom and then be discarded as nothing! Do you know how suffocated I’ve felt living like this for over a decade? Your little grievances are nothing in comparison!"

Laura, sixteen, listened dumbfounded. In her impression, her mom and dad’s relationship was always good, never arguing, unlike some classmates who said they heard their parents fighting in the middle of the night...

The once-thought perfect family collapsed in an instant. It turned out she wasn’t the product of her parents’ love; her dad deeply resented her mom’s dominance...

Victor continued, "Only with Ruth could I find a man’s dignity and fulfillment. In her eyes, I am the big man who can hold up the sky. But in your mom’s eyes, I’m a weak little man, only knowing how to follow behind her. She never asked me if I liked this kind of life."

He paused a moment, "Including marriage, it was all her one-sided wish. We were actually classmates at that time. She was the proudest princess in our class, the queen, and everyone was willing to submit to her, yet I just didn’t want to care about her, focused on my studies because my family was poor. My parents sent me to college in hopes I’d achieve something great one day..."

"I never expected to catch her attention and for her to favor me. Later, it was she who pursued me. Even though I was a poor kid at that time, being chased by a rich girl was quite a face-saving thing. At first, I didn’t agree; later, the affair grew bigger, and I suddenly became a campus figure. My friends all advised me to accept your mom’s pursuit until the night of your mom’s birthday, we both drank too much..."

Hearing this, Laura just felt a chill in her heart.

It turned out there was such a story between her mom and this man. Her mom must never have expected that the man she fancied would come to this, utterly unworthy of her deep love...

Her mom was a woman of strong character, determined to live her life with the man she fell for, but things didn’t go as planned. In the course of marriage, the two drifted apart, never to return...

"So, you never loved Mom?"

Laura Quincy heard her own voice, perhaps wanting to confirm one last time.

Victor Turner shook his head, "She was too bright and dazzling, always living in a princess’s castle. We are not the same kind of people, she never understood me, there’s no way love could exist between us..."

Laura seemed to hear the sound of a needle stabbing into her heart.

Not for herself, but for her deceased mother...

After this conversation, all hope for this so-called father died in Laura’s heart. She devoted herself entirely to her studies, only thinking about getting into a good university and completely escaping this family.

If she could, she would really prefer never to have anything to do with them again until she died!

The memory abruptly ended, and Laura’s expression remained cold as always, "When have you ever spoken nicely to me? Phoebe Turner, is there any point in pretending to be a good person in front of me now? How did you treat me throughout high school? You snatched everything that was mine! You complained I bullied you at the drop of a hat. In the winter of my sophomore year, you went as far as to roll down the stairs as part of a pitiful act. You were pretty skilled and didn’t get hurt, but my hand got smacked by Father, and I was punished to clean for a week. Heh heh... Even now, I still get chilblains in winter every year."

Her gaze swept coldly over the three in front of her, none of whom dared to meet her eyes directly.

Ruth Leighton mumbled, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could an innocent child like Phoebe resort to a pitiful act? It was her luck that she wasn’t hurt rolling down the stairs. You are the only one who could be so vicious as a sister. How many years have passed and you still have the nerve to bring it up..."

She had just finished speaking when she was met with Laura’s cold glare, as if carved from ice, sending shivers down one’s spine...

Phoebe Turner quickly pretended to be aggrieved, "Sis, I really didn’t know at the time that Dad would punish you so severely. Do you still get chilblains every year? We can go see a doctor sometime, okay? Chilblains can be treated now."

Victor Turner chimed in, "Yes! With modern medicine, such minor injuries can be treated."

Laura’s lips curled into a mocking, cold smile, Phoebe Turner! Your acting skills have certainly improved, it’s a pity you didn’t go study acting!

"My time is precious, if you have something to say, say it quickly."

She glanced at her watch, the meaning was obvious.

Phoebe Turner and Victor Turner exchanged a glance, Phoebe giggled and said, "Sis, I’m about to graduate soon. I studied HR, and I checked online, Aegis Group’s HR department is recruiting externally, so I want you to help me out, this request is simple, right?"

Laura knew nothing good would come of them calling her back, "Sorry! I’m not that familiar with the HR department!"

Victor Turner also pleaded, "Laura, could you please help Phoebe? It’d be great for both sisters to work in the same company, and you can look out for each other."

Hearing this made Laura feel almost sick enough to vomit...

They only know how to try to please her when they need something, but unfortunately, they’ve miscalculated, she absolutely won’t and can’t help with this!

"I’m just a low-level employee, I don’t have that kind of authority. If you want to join Aegis Group, rely on your real ability. Asking me for help is completely the wrong idea."

The Turner family trio was displeased with her words, especially Ruth Leighton, "Laura, Phoebe is your own sister, it’s your duty as an elder sister to help your younger sibling. After all, we raised you all these years! Truly a wolf raised on fodder for no reward!"

Laura gazed coldly at her, speaking word by word, "You, have no right to scold me!"

Phoebe Turner wasn’t annoyed, smiling as she leaned over, but Laura dodged her, leaving Phoebe to pout, "Sis, about you allegedly kidnapping Fourth Young Master Hawthorne’s son, Fourth Young Master actually personally clarified on social media, so it shows you know him! Saying a few words for me isn’t that hard, please!"

Laura was not swayed by her sulking, "You’re overthinking it! Clarifying on social media to clear my name was supposed to happen. I haven’t done what they accused me of; no one should falsely blame me! Things aren’t as you imagine. It’s better to cultivate your abilities than to dwell on this."

Phoebe Turner was somewhat annoyed that no matter how she probed, Laura wouldn’t agree, "Sis, you really won’t help with this?"

Laura’s tone was icy, "It’s not that I won’t, but that I can’t."

With that, she turned to leave without looking back.

Phoebe Turner irritably said, "Laura! Aren’t you afraid I’ll make a scene at Aegis Group?"

Laura turned her head mockingly, "Go ahead! Unless you never want to get into Aegis Group in your life, or possibly even other companies might not want you, that’s not impossible!"