CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30: HELP HER BECOME POPULAR

"..."

Tanya Sinclair closed her eyes.

The child who came from her own flesh and blood was crying like a little tear doll right in front of her. How could a mother not feel heartache?

But this lesson today, she must make sure Joy remembers it!

Vincent Hawthorne held Joy who was throwing herself at him. He didn’t comfort her, just silently wiped her tears away.

The other members of the Hawthorne Family weren’t fools either. Seeing Joy break down in fear at the mention of calling the police, and Tanya’s unyielding attitude... it was obvious who had taken the diamond bracelet.

Mother Hawthorne’s attitude made a complete 180-degree turn.

"Joy, don’t cry. We won’t call the police, we won’t!" Mother Hawthorne quickly took her granddaughter from Vincent’s arms, comforting her like her own heart and soul. "Don’t be scared, Joy. Did your mom scare you for fun? We won’t call the police."

Tanya, however, didn’t plan to let this go. Her expression was resolute: "Mom, I’m not playing around with her. I can overlook other things, but Joy is only five years old, yet she steals and frames others! This is a matter of principle, not something trivial!"

"Oh, enough!" Mother Hawthorne thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill and said impatiently, "She’s only five, what does she know? Maybe the child just thought it was fun, playing a prank on you. But you, as a mom, insist on calling the police to arrest your own daughter. Are you crazy?" She turned her criticism towards Tanya.

Completely forgetting that just a few minutes ago she was the one shouting to have Tanya locked up for a few years.

Vincent spoke in a low voice, "As for what happened today, once we get Joy home, I’ll have her reflect on her actions by making her stand in the corner."

He also thought Joy had done wrong, but it wasn’t an unforgivable matter.

But it was Tanya’s way of handling things that seemed too cold-hearted.

Tanya stood there alone, as if she had become the villain in the Hawthorne Family, the evil person who abused her daughter.

She took a deep breath and spoke, using her full name: "Joy Hawthorne, do you know what you did wrong?"

The timid Joy, who had buried her face in Vincent’s arms like an ostrich, upon hearing her name, clung tighter to her father’s neck, burying her face deeper, reluctantly and petulantly disinclined to face reality.

Yvonne, as her aunt, also came to her defense: "Enough is enough. Joy took my bracelet, and I don’t even care. Why are you going crazy over this?"

In the end, Tanya was the one who seemed crazy.

Tanya found it sarcastically funny.

If she were the Tanya Sinclair from five years ago, she might indeed have gone crazy because of the Hawthorne Family!

Tanya knew very well that if today’s episode were just brushed over, Joy would always think that no matter what mistakes she made, as long as she cried and acted cute, she’d be forgiven and could get away with it!

She would not allow her daughter to grow up like this!

Tanya instinctively ignored Yvonne and, for the first time since waking up, she exuded the authority of a mother.

"Joy Hawthorne, I need you to come over, admit your mistake in front of everyone, promise not to repeat it, and also apologize to Mom." She paused, her tone softening a bit, "Joy, correcting your mistakes makes you a good child. Didn’t your teachers at school teach you that?"

Mother Hawthorne sneered, "Tanya Sinclair, what right do you have to put on airs here? Did you raise Joy for a day after she was born? What right do you have to discipline her?"

"..."

These words undoubtedly struck Tanya where it hurt the most.

Before she could speak, Old Lady Hawthorne’s vigorous voice suddenly came through, only it came from Aunt Flora’s phone.

"Wendy Chester, you shut up!"

Old Lady Hawthorne had listened in on the call for quite a while and had understood the situation. She originally didn’t plan to intervene, but when she heard Mother Hawthorne’s words, she was furious.

Despite her age, Old Lady Hawthorne still had a sharp tongue for scolding.

"Tanya couldn’t personally raise her two children, don’t you know why? The grandchildren were born to you, and she nearly lost her life. It’s like you’re drinking from the well but wanting to kill the person who dug it! Shameless!"

Tanya couldn’t help but smile.

It had been years since Mother Hawthorne was scolded like this, but she didn’t dare talk back to her mother-in-law.

"Mom, I..."

"Shut up!" Old Lady Hawthorne commanded, "Today I’ll be listening here. If anyone dares to stop my granddaughter-in-law from disciplining her daughter, I’ll come over with a stick right now!"

Tanya felt a warmth in her heart.

At least there was Old Lady Hawthorne who truly cared for her.

Caden had come down from upstairs. He walked over to Vincent and reached out his little hand to hold his sister’s hand.

"Joy, brother will accompany you to apologize."

Tanya found some comfort in Caden.

Though they were twins born just a few minutes apart, Caden was much more mature mentally than Joy. Because of this, he hadn’t been completely brainwashed by Cindy.

With her brother’s company, Joy hesitated for a moment but still came out from Vincent’s arms.

Holding hands with her brother, she walked over to Tanya, took a glance at her brother, then, with reddened eyes, started to sob and said to Tanya, "I’m sorry..."

Tanya had already squatted down, opened her arms, wanting to hug her daughter.

But Joy rejected her greatly, and after saying sorry, she turned her face and ran back to Vincent, clinging to his leg, sniffing, "Daddy, I want to go home..."

Vincent lovingly picked up his daughter.

Joy whispered a few words in Vincent’s ear.

Vincent patted her head and responded, "Okay."

He turned and greeted Father Hawthorne and Mother Hawthorne, then with Joy in one arm and Caden’s hand held in the other, he walked out.

Aunt Flora escorted Tanya all the way to the door.

Vincent had already placed Joy and Caden into the car.

He stopped Tanya, who was heading for the passenger seat, his tone a bit distant: "Joy is not feeling well emotionally and doesn’t want to ride in the same car as you. You can take the driver’s car back."

After that, Vincent drove away.

Tanya stood there, looking desolate. But not because of Vincent, it was because of Joy.

Not wanting to ride in the same car was likely something Joy had whispered into Vincent’s ear earlier.

She didn’t mind Vincent’s attitude, but every move of the two children tugged at her heart.

Aunt Flora observed her loss but misunderstood the reason.

The driver’s car had already arrived, and Aunt Flora opened the back seat door for her.

"Madam, don’t worry. It’s normal for Mr. Hawthorne to be a bit upset now, but he will come to understand you’re doing it for the children’s sake. Talk it out with him tonight. After all, you’re a couple, and every quarrel ends in harmony." Aunt Flora kindly comforted her.

Tanya just smiled calmly, reminding her not to forget to give Old Lady Hawthorne her medicine on time.

Sitting in the car, Tanya lowered the window, feeling the night breeze on her face.

In the rearview mirror, the Hawthorne Gardens gradually faded away.

She had once imagined that as long as she sincerely treated the Hawthorne Family, one day they’d accept her, and this place would truly become her home.

Ha...

Tanya laughed silently.

It was time to wake up from this dream.

Over in the Hawthorne’s living room.

Father Hawthorne had already left for his study, while Wendy Chester and Yvonne were sitting on the sofa drinking bird’s nest soup. Due to Tanya, Wendy had gotten scolded again by Old Lady Hawthorne and couldn’t get over her anger, complaining about Tanya to Yvonne, mentioning her knowledge of French.

"That bumpkin knows French?" Yvonne was a bit surprised but quickly changed her mind, "Hmph, she’s probably trying to please my brother, pretending to know a few lines to force some connection."

...Pretending?

Wendy recalled Tanya’s few lines of French, pronounced flawlessly and fluently, almost as if at a native level.

But if she only memorized a few lines and practiced, achieving that might not be impossible.

Yes, it had to be that! Otherwise, with Tanya’s impoverished background, how could she possibly know French?

Wendy looked on with disdain, "To keep Vincent, she’d use any means. She made such a fuss tonight just to emphasize her identity as Joy and Caden’s birth mother, wanting to remind Vincent of their old ties, hoping he doesn’t kick her out."

Yvonne, while fiddling with her phone, suddenly got an idea.

Her eyes lit up: "Heh, in that case, as her sister-in-law, I’ll help Tanya Sinclair get famous!"