Chapter 32 Haley has Returned
Owen immediately became angry.
"Keith, I kindly shared my thoughts with you, yet you’re trying to bring me down. I won't bother with you anymore, humph!" He angrily hung up the phone, unable to eat the biscuits because of his anger.
Meanwhile, Keith, who was far overseas, turned coldly toward his assistant, "I'm going back to Cuenca tomorrow, book my flight."
"Keith, tomorrow you need to inspect the branch company, and the day after tomorrow, you have to attend the overseas shareholders' meeting. Mr. Winston personally assigned these tasks to you."
"Then book the flight three days from now for me." Keith said with a stern face.
Haley came back aggressively, leaving the people at his mother's house defenseless. He had to return to the country. Furthermore, Haley was playing mind games, to get close to Owen. He had to go back and keep an eye on it; otherwise, he was certain Owen would step into a trap.
Madam DeRoss's birthday banquet was this Friday. After dropping off the two kids at preschool, Haley drove to the DeRoss family.
In the past few days, the DeRoss family had been in the eye of public opinion. Therefore, they didn't dare to have a grand celebration for the old lady's birthday. Those who came to attend the birthday banquet today were the DeRoss family's closest relatives.
As soon as Haley appeared at the entrance of the DeRoss family, she attracted everyone's attention.
“Wow, it really is Haley! Haley didn’t really die.”
"Haley is even more beautiful than four or five years ago. Please come over."
The women of the DeRoss family gathered around, holding Haley's hand and asking about her past few years. Compared to her indifferent father, the inquiries from these two aunts made Haley feel a bit comforted.
She smiled and said, "You all look younger than four or five years ago. I almost didn't recognize you," she said, smiling sweetly, and casually mingling with the DeRoss family's relatives.
Emily stood at the door, her eyes betraying a hint of coldness. After four or five years, Haley, that little bitch, was still as attention-grabbing as before. As soon as she appeared, everyone fawned over her.
Even though Emily was the rightful heir of the DeRoss family now, all the relatives of the DeRoss family were gathered around Haley. Emily was so angry that she almost ground her silver teeth to pieces. Flora walked over and pulled her aside, helping to suppress her anger.
"Emily, you are the future Mrs. Winston. You need to remain composed in all situations. On a day like today, you should be elegant and never lose your grace," Flora whispered, before walking towards Haley.
At first, Flora's expression was cold, but as she approached Haley, tears suddenly started pouring down her face.
"Haley, you're finally back." Flora embraced Haley, crying. "It was my fault all those years ago. I shouldn't have agreed to lock you up in that warehouse and let you suffer... Haley, I've regretted it the most these past four or five years.”
She continued “Since you left, I haven't had a good night's sleep. I missed you so much... Now that you're finally back, our family of four is reunited."
She cried uncontrollably, and anyone who didn't know the truth would have thought that Haley was her biological daughter. Haley's lips curved into a smile that was hard to decipher.
Since Flora wanted to continue pretending to have a peaceful mother-daughter relationship, Haley was happy to play along.
After Flora hugged her for a while, she pushed her away and said aggrievedly, "Mother, I missed you so much too... I've been wandering outside for the past four or five years, without a home. What I missed the most was the love and care you showed me... Now that I'm back, will you still love and dote on me like before?"
A trace of smugness appeared in Flora's eyes. This woman, Haley, was still the same as she was four or five years ago. As long as Flora, pretended to care even a little, this girl would happily step into the trap she set.
A woman as foolish as her, seeking revenge on the DeRoss family? Ha! What a joke!
Flora's smile became even more affectionate. She held Haley's hand and lovingly said, "Of course, I've always treated you as my own daughter and loved you as such. No matter what mistakes you may make, I will always cherish and love you."
With that, she held Haley's hand and led her inside the house. Several people were already seated around the round dining table. The DeRoss uncles, the third uncle, and Mr. DeRoss took their seats next to Madam DeRoss, while Flora sat on the other side of the table, still holding Haley's hand.
Haley looked at the white tablecloth. Turning to Madam DeRoss, with a hint of tears in her eyes, suppressed her emotions and softly spoke, "Grandmother, I'm back."
Madam DeRoss trembled and gently patted her hand back, sighing, "It's good that you're back."
That was all that was said, without any other words, Haley felt a little disheartened. But she could understand why her grandmother reacted this way.
After all, she had disappeared for four years, and had vanished from the DeRoss family in such a tragic manner. During these four years, Flora had said many bad things about her in front of her grandmother.
Perhaps her grandmother believed that she had started the fire back then and bore an illegitimate child, bringing shame to the family. If her grandmother, had assumed these facts but still didn't show anger towards her, then it also meant that she still cared about her as a granddaughter.
"Haley, you've lost weight, eat more meat." Flora played the role of a caring mother, continuously adding food to Haley's plate until it was full.
Although so many things had happened four or five years ago, and the DeRoss family had been in the headlines recently, no one mentioned it during this celebratory banquet. Aunties showed concern and care towards Haley, as if they genuinely cared about this niece of theirs.
But Haley knew in her heart, that the eldest son of the DeRoss family had gained the upper hand in recent years, controlling both the internal and external affairs of the DeRoss Group. The second and third sons' families had suffered greatly under his control.
Her return this time was an opportunity for the second and third sons' wives to use her against Flora. However, she also intended to use them. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, and she had no psychological barriers to cooperating with them.
Before Haley could start plotting, Emily suddenly spoke up. Since the beginning of the meal, Emily had always maintained a smiling face, embodying the elegance of nobility.
But upon seeing Haley getting along with everyone from the DeRoss family, she could no longer sit still.
"Haley, the incident last time was truly a misunderstanding." Emily delicately spoke, "I am now the heir of the DeRoss family, and I have bodyguards protecting me during my outings.”
Emily explained, “Those bodyguards were actually there to protect me, not specifically ambush you. After the huge misunderstanding last time, we couldn't find the tombstones of the two children smoothly. How about I take my sister there again today?"
Upon hearing this, Haley couldn't help but laugh coldly.
The main point of her words should not be to explain the incident with the bodyguards, but rather, to inform everyone here, that she once gave birth to two children without knowing the father.
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