Chapter 380 I Don't Want to Get Involved With You at All
Sebastian never expected Reese to have such audacity in front of so many people. She disregarded any consequences and directly confronted the situation here.
The sudden turn of events caught them off guard, especially Sebastian, who had no understanding of Reese at all. She was truly playing by her own rules.
Reese didn't hesitate at all. With every step she took toward Stephen, her petite frame hid her immense determination.
Standing in front of Stephen, her disdainful gaze intensified.
" Mr. Hawthorne, do you now realize that you can still use me? Are you trying every way to make me return to the Hawthorne family, to make me your pawn, a tool for making money? You brought these matters up in public without even discussing them with me first, so can you blame me for not playing along?"
Faced with Reese's questioning, what else could Stephen do? He couldn't possibly take action against Reese in front of so many people.
Otherwise, tomorrow's headlines wouldn't be about a family reunion but a farce.
Since it was a family reunion, Stephen had to maintain his image as a good father to the end.
The smile on his face was already strained, but he had to keep it up.
"Reese, I had no choice. Later, I sent people to find you, but by that time, your mom had already taken you to the Brooks family. You know my situation back then. I could only do this. But I'm glad to see you doing well. Now that I know I was wrong, I want to compensate you with what I have."
Reese found it somewhat amusing. "Compensate me? How do you plan to compensate me? By making me a tool for making money for you?"
Stephen was starting to lose his composure. "How can you say that? I really want to make it up to you."
"Alright, then tell me, how do you plan to make it up to me? How do you make up for my mom's death? How do you make up for all these years of neglecting me, acting as if I didn't exist? You can't have just realized now that I'm your daughter. You knew it long ago, but Mr. Hawthorne, why have you never come to find me?"
Each word from Reese was cutting, and the atmosphere had already reached a freezing point. The reporters were eagerly snapping photos, afraid of missing any detail.
At this point, Sebastian had to turn to Malcolm for help. "Malcolm, you need to find a way to persuade my sister. This isn't benefiting anyone."
Malcolm's gaze wasn't on Sebastian but on Reese on the stage. He had never seen her take charge like this before. Although he knew Reese was capable, she was now assertive, confident and fearless. Standing there without a hint of fear was not something everyone could do.
Most importantly, despite Stephen's psychological impact on her, Reese was still able to maintain her composure, showing that she was desperately suppressing her emotions.
Otherwise, Stephen wouldn't have had the chance to stand on stage and speak to Reese as he was doing now.
Seeing Malcolm silent, Sebastian urged. "Mr. Flynn, say something. If this continues, things will go out of control."
Malcolm retorted, "So what if it goes out of control? Isn't this Stephen's own doing? He thought by pressuring Reese in this way, she would obediently follow you back. Since you know so much about her background, why didn't you anticipate her character? Did you think that someone who has experienced so much, like her, would easily give in?
"I'm telling you now, the more you pressure her, the more you'll get results you won't expect, and you'll end up hurting yourselves. Do you understand what I mean?"
Sebastian didn't care about the future consequences. "The point is what's going on now. If Reese continues like this, Dad's reputation won't be salvaged, and who knows how the reporters will spin it tomorrow. You are a couple, right? Go up there and pull her down."
Malcolm's sudden words shattered Sebastian's hopes completely. "I can't persuade her. She's always been independent. Once she decides on something, no one can stop her."
Sebastian felt like he was going crazy. If this continued, things would spiral out of control.
Reese showed no signs of stopping.
She was relentless with Stephen, and she didn't care how others viewed her. When she had been abandoned, no one pitied her.
Only she knew how Reese had made it through all these years.
Sebastian was on the verge of collapse. "What do we do now? It's over, completely over. Stephen will definitely want to kill me."
Stephen had been so confident before, claiming he could win Reese over. Now, they were almost at Reese's mercy.
Seeing Sebastian's anxious expression, Malcolm actually didn't have a bad impression of the kid. Despite Sebastian's usual arrogance due to his family's wealth, it only showed his simplicity and lack of ill intentions.
Alyssa glanced at Sebastian beside her. "You guys have the nerve to talk about family reunions, but all you really want is to use Reese. You only want to bring her back because she's worth something now. Where were you all these years?"
Alyssa fully supported Reese's actions. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't tolerate being abandoned from the start and then used by others.
People like them would not forgive those who had hurt them, and forgiving them would be foolish.
The damage has already been caused, why should she forgive?
Sebastian was irritated by Alyssa's remarks. "Can you shut up? Why don't you think about it? Who wouldn't want to reunite with their family? Reese rejecting us on the surface proves that we are still important to her. Even if she's talented, she still wants to be with her family."
Alyssa didn't believe it. She pouted. She had no good impression of rich kids like Sebastian, who only knew how to live extravagantly. She even found him annoying.
"I don't know what use Reese has in recognizing people like you," she said.
"How is it useless for her to recognize us? Can you be her family?"
Sebastian was indignant. He and Alyssa immediately argued.
Alyssa disdainfully glanced at Sebastian. "At least we sincerely like Reese. We never thought of gaining any benefits through her. Your intentions are clearly impure.
"Sebastian, you have time to argue with me, but you should think about how to solve your current predicament. I've seen Reese's capabilities, and she's not someone you can easily contend with."
Sebastian looked back at the stage, scratching his head in frustration.
Indeed. he couldn't contend with her.
Reese didn't want to waste any more time with Stephen. "The reason I came today is to tell you and the Hawthorne family, please stop wasting time and energy on me. I want nothing to do with you."
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