Chapter 469 Distorting the Truth
Harper straight-up called out Audrey for being knocked up before tying the knot.
Audrey's eyes flared with hate. She always thought Harper was a pushover, all delicate and easy to mess with. But damn, she didn't see that coming.
Still, Audrey had an ace up her sleeve. She quickly pulled herself together, touched her belly, and said all shy-like, "Francis is my baby's daddy."
Harper just smirked and asked, "Did Francis say that?"
Audrey was floored. Harper was way too chill about this. She frowned and snapped back, "What are you getting at?"
Harper was pissed at Francis for playing her, but she wasn't dumb. There was no way Francis was into Audrey. If he was, they'd be a thing by now. Most likely, Audrey pulled some shady move to get pregnant. And who knew if Francis was even the dad.
Harper laid it out, "I remember you had a press conference not long ago saying you had no thing with Mr. Getty outside of work. Did you get a paternity test? Can you be sure it's Mr. Getty's kid?"
Audrey's face twisted with rage. Her nails dug into her palms to keep her cool. She wanted to give Harper a hard time, but now she was the one getting grilled. It was infuriating.
The store clerks around them started whispering, catching onto the drama.
Seeing Audrey on the ropes, Abigail, always ready to defend her, pointed at Harper and snapped, "This is my chosen daughter-in-law, and the baby in her belly is our Getty family's grandchild. We've already set the date; we just haven't had the wedding yet. Who are you to judge?"
Harper was long over Abigail. The slap last time wiped out any good memories.
"Wasn't it YOUR chosen daughter-in-law who stopped me from leaving?" Harper raised an eyebrow and shot back, then added with a smirk, "If you don't mess with me, I wouldn't be sticking my nose in your business."
She made it clear. She wouldn't start trouble, but she sure as hell wouldn't back down if they did.
Abigail, fuming, was about to slap Harper when Harper caught her hand. Harper's eyes were ice-cold as she warned, "Mrs. Getty, I'm not someone you can push around. Try it again, and there will be consequences."
She shoved Abigail's hand away and said, "I'll give back whatever comes at me."
Abigail was stunned by Harper's icy demeanor. In just five years, she had changed so much. She wasn't the naive country girl anymore; she looked a lot more like Abigail in her prime.
The glint of past memories flickered in Abigail's eyes. She felt like she was losing it, always thinking the worst. She used to be so carefree.
Audrey, seeing Abigail was no help, lost it. She stepped forward, holding Abigail's hand dramatically, "Mom! Mom! Are you okay?"
Abigail shook her head, "I'm fine."
Audrey's eyes welled up, and she said tearfully, "Mom, I told you not to get worked up over her for my sake. Did you forget what your therapist said last time?"
Abigail's eyes went wide. Logan had warned her that Harper would bring life-threatening danger to Francis. And damn, he was right. Francis had brushed shoulders with death a few times, all because of Harper. She couldn't let her hard-earned son get hurt again.
Abigail suddenly dropped to the ground, crying and shouting, "Oh no, she's hitting me! She's hitting me!"
Harper frowned, not sure what Abigail was trying to pull.
With tears and snot everywhere, Abigail wailed, "I just asked you to stay away from my son, and you pushed me. Do you want me dead?"
Harper couldn't believe Abigail was lying so shamelessly. How could she just throw away her dignity like that?
Audrey, with her mask on and hair covering her face, wasn't easily recognized by the passersby as the noble Audrey Hernandez. But everyone's eyes were glued to Harper and Abigail.
Harper had recently held a press conference and gained some fame, so someone recognized her and started snapping pictures.
Abigail kept twisting the story as she cried, "Why do you have to cling to my son? My daughter-in-law is over three months pregnant, and you still come to provoke her. Are you even human?"
Someone helped Abigail up and shot Harper dirty looks, saying, "Why be the other woman with such a pretty face?"
Another person chimed in, taking Abigail's words for truth and believing Audrey and her son were a married couple, "Yeah, she's outrageous, seducing a married man and bullying his wife while hitting his mother."
Someone else added, "This is infidelity; it won't end well."
A guy said, "She has a job. Isn't she the owner of that Elodie Studios? She even won an award, saying she wanted to make her mother proud. I bet her mother must be furious with her if she knew what kind of person her daughter is."
A woman suggested, "Take pictures and post them online. Let everyone see her evil deeds. She might not be just seducing this one."
The crowd got more riled up, even the store clerks joined in.
Harper tried to explain, "I'm not the other woman. Don't spread false rumors."
But the noise of the crowd drowned out her words. No one cared what she said. They just felt righteous, stepping on Harper! Some even started pushing her.
Harper swayed. Audrey, seeing Harper's disheveled state, smirked. She thought to herself, 'There are your consequences.'
At that moment, there was a loud shout.
"Move aside!" Isla rushed out, shielding Harper.
She had waited downstairs for a long time without seeing Harper come down, so she came up to find her and stumbled upon this scene. A man was pushing Harper. Isla grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it hard. He cried out and fell to the ground.
The crowd finally calmed down a bit. Harper, pushed and shoved, had her hair in disarray, and a button on her clothes torn.
Audrey, seeing it was enough, didn't want to make too much of a scene and risk displeasing Francis. She supported Abigail and said sweetly, "Mom, let it go. I'm fine, don't get so worked up for me."
With that sentence, Audrey shifted all the blame to Abigail and felt assured that Francis wouldn't fault her.
Abigail also thought it was time to back out, knowing her words were fabricated. It was best not to escalate the conflict for Francis's sake.
The two supported each other, ready to leave.
"Stop!" Harper called out to them coldly, "Who said you could leave?"
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