Chapter 88
Just as she stepped into the living room, Sharon unexpectedly caught sight of Theo.
Theo turned his head sharply away the moment her gaze met his, letting out a loud “hmph,” his delicate little face set in a frosty
scowl.
Everything about him said: I’m not going to talk to you-better start begging for my attention.
Sharon’s eyes shifted calmly away.
Madeline slammed her hand on the table. The teacups and pot on it clattered sharply, the porcelain ringing in protest.
Her face was cold and unyielding. “Sharon, do you know what you’ve done wrong?”
Sharon furrowed her brows but said nothing.
Back then, she used to see the Biggs family through rose-colored glasses. She even believed Madeline’s constant belittling. Over time, she began to doubt herself-began to think she truly wasn’t good enough for them.
She used to see Madeline as someone far above her, elegant and untouchable.
Now that the illusion had shattered, the woman who once seemed so noble and refined looked… rather ordinary.
Carter glanced at Sharon, then spoke, “Mom, what’s going on?”
“You should be asking your wonderful wife!” Madeline exploded, yanking up Theo’s sleeve to reveal the bruises underneath.” This wife of yours incited another child to bully her own son! What kind of mother does that?!
“Carter, let me make this perfectly clear-if Sharon doesn’t earn Theo’s forgiveness, she can forget about ever stepping foot in this house again!”
With his grandmother behind him, Theo’s little face lifted with pride. Mom always feared Grandma most-always did what she
said.
Soon, when Mom came to apologize, he’d be sure not to forgive her so easily. Right-and she’d have to apologize to Kelly, too.
Carter stared at the bruises on Theo’s arm, his brow deeply furrowed. “What actually happened?”
Denise, standing nearby, answered, “Carter, Theo said there’s a boy at kindergarten named Matty who bullies him every day. The bruises on his arm are all from that boy. And…”
She cast a hesitant glance at Sharon, then lowered her voice. “Theo says Sharon never comes home anymore, never takes care of him. Instead, she’s out making money by babysitting someone else’s kid.”
Madeline’s voice thundered again, louder this time. “Are we starving you? Are we not giving you enough to live on? And yet you abandon your own child just to make money? You’ve completely disgraced the Biggs family!”
But just as everyone expected Sharon to lower her head like always, she opened her mouth.
“I earn my money through my own efforts. That’s not shameful. When I wasn’t working, you called me a housewife living off a man. Now that I’m working, you say I’m disgracing the family. So which is it—should I work, or stay at home?”
Madeline froze for a second. Her first reaction wasn’t reflection. It was outrage.
“You dare talk back?!”
Sharon said flatly, “Madeline, not everything you don’t want to hear counts as talking back.”
Madeline’s fury only deepened. “Sharon, how dare you make excuses?!”
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At that, Sharon stopped respоnumь
Carter looked at Theo. “Theo, is what you said true?”
Theo looked utterly wronged. He gave a heavy nod and handed over his phone. “These photos-this is proof.”
After looking through them, Carter turned to Sharon. “What do you have to say?”
Sharon stood quietly to the side, her face devoid of emotion.
Madeline snapped, “Sharon, are you mute now?”
Sharon replied, “If everything I say is considered talking back or making excuses, I might as well be.”
Madeline’s whole body trembled with rage. “You-!”
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