Chapter 111 Official Twitter Release
With that, he helped Teresa to her feet.
"Excuse us, Karen, Dakota," Teresa said, offering a polite smile.
"Sure, my dear. Go rest up," Katherine replied with an encouraging nod.
"Okay," Teresa agreed, and then she and Gabriel turned to ascend the staircase.
"Master Garcia," the housekeeper announced as Mason walked in, leading Croissant.
"Lookie, lookie! Great-grandpa and me catching worms!" Little Michael, with a toy bucket in tow, spotted Teresa and Gabriel, let out an excited yell, let go of Mason's hand, and ran toward his parents with pure joy.
"Thump!"
But after just a couple of steps, Michael's foot slipped, and he went tumbling down to the floor, intimately acquainting himself with it. His toy bucket flew from his grip, and the earthworms and mud it contained scattered across the floor.
"Oh my dear sweet boy, are you okay?" Katherine exclaimed and she stood up hastily and walked briskly toward him.
"Mom, it's okay, no need to help him up, Michael will get up on his own," Teresa quickly intervened.
Sure enough, Michael lay there on the floor for a second before lifting his head, pouting pathetically at Teresa and Gabriel not far away, "Mommy, Daddy, I fell, and the worms are all gone."
Katherine hurried over and saw that the little fellow hadn't cried; his adorable appearance didn't just ease her worries, but it brought a smile to her face.
"Why don’t you get up and pick the worms up by yourself?" Teresa suggested, crouching down, engaging with her son without picking him up.
"Okay!" Michael pursed his lips, a look of wanting to cry but holding back tears, and agreed. He then pushed himself up and grabbed his bucket before squatting down to pick up the earthworms squirming across the floor.
"Hey there, want Mason to help, little buddy?" Mason offered, squatting down next to him with a gentle smile.
Michael looked up, and nodded vigorously, "Yes, please help, great-grandpa."
"Here, Daddy will help pick them up too," Gabriel joined in, ruffling the kid’s hair affectionately as he began to help gather the earthworms.
"Thanks, Daddy."
"Oh my, you guys..." Katherine watched the scene, the worms wriggling in the mud, and involuntarily furrowed her brow and turned away.
Teresa wasn't fond of earthworms either, just like all crawling creatures, and she, too, silently turned her head aside, avoiding the sight.
Meanwhile, Karen and Dakota witnessed the whole spectacle, their minds boggled by the scene. Once they collected their thoughts, Dakota couldn't hold back tears anymore; her hands by her sides clenched into tight fists, almost to the point of grinding her teeth in frustration.
Teresa and Gabriel were not just married; they already had a kid who was this big, and she, like a fool, had gone and provoked Teresa to her face.
No wonder Teresa was so bold, probably having ridiculed her in her mind a thousand times over. But Teresa, this might not be over. Let's see who gets the last laugh! Dakota thought to herself.
The stay with the Garcia clan had become unbearably awkward, so after a short while, Karen urged Dakota to leave with her.
Once they were in the car, pulling away from the Garcia's imposing estate, Karen let out a heavy sigh and turned to the girl, "Dakota, you can forget about the Garcias. Why not give Russell Campbell a shot?" Karen suggested, trying to ease the tension.
Leaning back against the seat, cheeks flushed with tears and teeth clenched in rage, Dakota's eyes blazed with fury. Hearing Karen's words only fanned the flames of her anger, and she snapped, "Mom, what do you take me for? Russell, that loser? He's not even in my league!"
"Calm down, honey. I was just saying. Don't be mad," Karen soothed, conceding immediately.
Just then, Dakota's phone vibrated in her purse. She snatched it out, seeing a call from her assistant.
"What is it? Spit it out!" Dakota barked into the phone.
"...Dakota, there’s a post from Nebula Consumer Products on their official Twitter page..."
"What does it say?" she bellowed, annoyance edging her voice.
"You should probably see for yourself," the assistant replied timidly, too scared to continue.
Fuming, Dakota ended the call abruptly. She opened Twitter on her phone and searched for Nebula Consumer Products' official page.
The moment she saw the post, she was seething with rage.
The official announcement from Nebula Consumer Products didn't mince words: it was a mistake for their CEO, Gabriel, to have married Unity. When it was discovered two years ago that the child Unity had given birth to had no ties to the Garcia family, Gabriel wasted no time in divorcing her, cutting all ties. The announcement went further, revealing that Gabriel had since moved on and married the true love of his life, someone who was definitively not Dakota.
The statement was clear: any further attempts to pose as Gabriel's girlfriend or to leverage his name for publicity stunts or slander would result in immediate legal action from both Nebula Consumer Products and the Garcia family.
"Crash!"
Dakota's rage didn't need the hundreds of thousands of comments that followed Nebula's Twitter post to boil over. She hurled her phone at the equally high-quality car window, an ear-splitting crack announcing the demise of both.
"Dakota, what in the world is going on?" Karen asked, exasperation lining her voice as she eyed the fury in her daughter’s face, so intense it looked almost scary.
"That bi*ch Teresa, that backstabbing witch, I'm going to ruin her. She's dead to me!" Dakota's snarl was almost bestial, frightening the driver into turtling his neck and holding his breath.
This Twitter post had made her the laughingstock of the world, a humiliation a thousand, no, a million times worse than if her Twitter account had been blocked. It was a slaughter of her dignity!
Now, how could she ever show her face again? Oh, Teresa, this meant war.
"Dakota, honey, listen," Karen's grip on Dakota's hand was urgent as she spoke, "The Garcia clan is no joke, and now with the rise of the Bennett family, they're outmuscling the Clintons at every turn. We cannot afford to mess with them. Please don't do anything rash."
Locking eyes with Karen, Dakota wrenched her hand away, her voice sharp with fury, "Mom, it's not about me looking for trouble. It's Teresa, acting all high and mighty, stomping me into the dirt. If I don't stand up for myself now, I'll be left cowering at home, too ashamed to show my face anywhere."
"Dakota, I..." Karen tried to interject.
"Mom. Trust me, I have a handle on things," Dakota snapped, cutting her off before she could finish.
Karen sighed deeply, watching her. Words were futile at this point; she would have to wait for another time to persuade her daughter.
