The Unlucky Turn by Mark Twain 309
“We’re talking about Tamara. Why are you getting so agitated, Mr. Cheney?”
“Mr. Cheney is defending Tamara so hard… do you have a thing for her?”
“Do you men just love those fake, fragile women?”
“Exactly. Men are absolute suckers for Tamara’s act!”
“Usually you act so high and mighty, but when you meet someone like Tamara, you get dizzy and lose your mind, don’t you?”
Mr. Cheney’s face turned beet red. He was about to retort, but the older elites nearby were already glancing over, looking at him like he was an ignorant child. In a setting like this, the more you spoke, the more mistakes you made. Seeing through the lies without speaking them aloud was what smart people did.
Many people in the room had noticed Fitch’s abnormal behavior today. A few business tycoons stood in a corner, conversing in low tones.
“The Sloan family is going to take a hard fall this time.”
In the city’s business circle, everyone knew Fitch was a ruthless operator beneath a smiling mask.
Now that his own daughter had nearly been killed, instead of getting angry, he was protecting the culprit. He likely targeting the Sloan Group itself.
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“Heh, the head of the Sherwood family is no pushover. Since he insists on the marriage, he definitely has an ulterior motive.”
“You mean…”
“Just wait and see. Within three months, the Sloan family is going to see a massive upheaval.”
The men exchanged smiles and touched their glasses, their eyes filled with amusement as they waited to watch the drama unfold between the two families.
The Sherwood family had left. Now, only the Sloan family remained, facing the crowd. The guests’ gazes swept over them, and the whispers spread like a tide. Every single member of the Sloan family looked incredibly grim.
Hackett subtly pinched Zadie, who was standing beside him, signaling her to go play the emotional card with Leilani first. After all, in this family, the person Leilani cared about most used to be Zadie.
Years of marital understanding meant Zadie knew exactly what Hackett wanted. She stood in the crowd, her face pale and eyes red, looking as if she were about to weep. She took the initiative, biting her lip and trembling as she walked toward Leilani, her voice choked with emotion, looking utterly guilt-ridden.
“Leilani… Mom didn’t know you suffered so many grievances. That judge handled everything back then. We didn’t know the truth was like this. If we had known earlier, we never would have let you suffer so much.”
Zadie reached out, trying to take Leilani’s hand to build a connection, but Leilani sidestepped to avoid
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her. The expression on Zadie’s face stiffened, then tears instantly rolled down her cheeks, her voice shaking.
“It’s Mom’s fault. I didn’t expect you to suffer so much for Tamara. Leilani, you are my own flesh and blood. How could I bear to treat you this way? Come home with Mom. I will make it up to you…”
Leilani looked at her hypocritical display, a cold sneer curling her lips. “Zadie, stop acting. It makes me sick.”
Leilani’s voice wasn’t loud, but it traveled clearly to everyone’s ears.
“Four years ago, I remember very clearly. You knew Tamara pushed Yvonne, yet you forced me to take the blame for her and let me sit in prison for four years. And I recall that after I got out, you thought I was a disgrace and couldn’t wait to distance yourselves from me. Now out, you think
that the truth is a single word like ‘compensation’ makes everything pretend to never have happened?”
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