Chapter 1179 The Grace of Birth Is Not as Great as the Grace of Nurture
In the room, Austin's face was pale as he stared at the shattered teacup on the floor. "I was trying to talk to you calmly. Can you please just chill out? Hannah just wants to call Oliver to make sure he's safe! Why won't you agree?"
Karen's chest heaved with anger. "I said no, and that's final!"
Austin's eyes were bloodshot. "Do you even get it? When my mom got me out of prison, we made a deal! As long as Oliver was safe, she'd let Tina go. Now you're holding onto Oliver, and she won't release Tina. Tina has sacrificed so much for me. She got captured by the Langley family because of me! I owe her big time, and now, because of broken promises, she's still stuck."
Karen looked at him with disappointment. "Are you gonna call me untrustworthy? Devious? Willing to do anything to get what I want?"
Austin's remaining words stuck in his throat. He forced himself to look away from Karen's disappointed face. His silence was as good as an admission.
Karen, furious, raised her hand and slapped him three times. The blows left Austin's ears ringing, and he tasted blood in his mouth.
Yet, he didn't get angry. Instead, he reached out to her. "Give me the phone. Hannah just wants to make a call."
"You..." Karen was so furious she almost fainted. After all that, he hadn't listened to a word she said. Just like his father, he was hopeless. They were both willing to destroy everything for a woman.
Austin spoke softly, "I've already let Tina down. I can't let Hannah down either! I've promised Hannah so many things and never delivered. This time, I'm begging you! I don't want her to hate me even more!"
By agreeing to Karen's demand to keep Oliver, he had already given up on Tina.
The promise between him and Lassie was broken by his own actions. He was destined to fail Tina in this life.
This was the first time Austin had softened his tone with Karen. Seeing his swollen face from her slaps, she finally relented and handed him the phone. "Remember, Martin and Charles are cunning. You need to watch Violet make the call! Don't let her dial Charles's number! Otherwise, with Charles's skills, even a single ring would be enough for him to locate us."
Austin nodded, indicating he understood.
Karen suddenly reached out and gently touched his face, her eyes brimming with tears. "I've already lost your father. I can't lose you too! You're still young. As long as we stay alive, we can avenge him one day."
Austin looked at her and asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time. "Why do we have to seek revenge?"
Karen was stunned, thinking she had misheard. "What did you just say?"
Austin gave a bitter smile. "The dead can't come back to life! If, as Hannah said, he was killed by the three families because of his own misdeeds, then he deserved it! Why do we have to avenge him?"
Karen's emotions flared up again. She grabbed his collar and screamed, "Do you know what you're saying? He was your father! He was murdered, and as his son, shouldn't you avenge him?"
Austin's emotions surged as well. He pushed her hand away. "So what if he was my father? What did he ever do for me? What have you done for me? You gave birth to me but never raised me. The first word I learned was taught by Lassie. The first time I called someone 'Mom' and 'Dad,' it was them. They taught me to walk. When I fell, they taught me to get up and walk on my own. When I was sick, they took care of me. When I was bullied, they stood up for me and protected me. Even though I was adopted, they treated me like their own son. Where were you then? One of you died for another woman, and the other only cared about revenge and using me! Since you found me, have you ever cared about me? Even asked how I was doing with the Moore family? All you care about is revenge! You gave birth to me just to fulfill your own goals. If you couldn't achieve it, why do you think I can? I just want to live a normal life with Hannah."
His words pierced Karen's heart. She seemed to be deeply affected and slapped him again, leaving Austin seeing stars, utterly disheveled. "I'm your mother, and you talk to me like this?"
Austin's eyes reddened, tears glistening. "You're my mother, but that doesn't give you the right to control my life."
Karen seemed not to hear him, poking his chest. "You say I don't care about you? If I hadn't saved you, how could you be standing here? How could you live a peaceful life with Violet? If I didn't care, would I have given you advice on how to win Violet? You're my biological son, but all you think about is Carter and Lassie. No matter how bad your father and I were, we gave you life. Now that you're down and out, Carter and Lassie might abandon you, but I won't! No matter what happens, you're my son, and you'll always come first in my heart."
Austin let out a bitter laugh. "No! In your heart, revenge comes first! From the beginning, I never wanted revenge. I just wanted to be with the woman I love! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this situation today! Parents who love their children plan for their future. But you, you pushed me into the abyss."
Hearing his words, Karen laughed, a laugh full of irony. "Ha ha, ha ha. You're just like your father, useless, only thinking about women. Ha ha. Useless, destined to achieve nothing. Ha ha."
Karen's laughter grew louder and more hysterical.
"And what about you? If you weren't obsessed with my father, whom I've never even met, you wouldn't be like this! Let me go, and let yourself go too!" With that, Austin turned and left. Karen, on the verge of collapse, shouted after him, "Austin, come back! Come back! I'm your mother, you should listen to me. If you can't avenge your father, then why did I give birth to you? Austin! Austin!"
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