Chapter 392: What Counts as Ruthless?

Chapter 392: Chapter 392: What Counts as Ruthless?

The crowd was still pointing and whispering, but now, the pressure had shifted to the two from the Croft family.

Iris and Sean looked on in bewilderment. How had the people defending the couple just a moment ago suddenly changed their tune?

Seeing this, Arabella whispered conspiratorially to the two of them, "See that? That’s the power of public opinion. Don’t panic when things like this happen. So what if they’ve got a few decades on you? Don’t worry. We have the upper hand."

The siblings were stunned. Then their eyes lit up, and they stared at Arabella, their expressions filled with excitement and admiration.

Lillian Donovan glanced at the siblings, and her tense heart finally relaxed. She looked down at Mrs. Croft, who was still rolling around on the ground and making a scene, her tone growing even harder.

"Save the theatrics. I’m not falling for your whole ’cry, cause a scene, and threaten suicide’ act!"

Arabella stepped forward at the right moment and whispered something in her ear. Lillian’s face instantly darkened, and she laughed out of pure rage.

"Aha. I was wondering why you’d show up now of all times. So you’re here for that little bastard. What is it? Your son conned me out of my money to support his mistress, their child, and you two old fiends. Now that he’s been locked up, you want my children to pay to raise the bastard he fathered on the side?"

The old Crofts froze. They couldn’t understand how Lillian knew about this. Their eyes darted about guiltily, but they feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about? We don’t understand."

"Don’t understand? Do you think I’m still the same fool I was before, that you can just play dumb and get away with it? Your whole family really took my children and me for a bunch of spineless doormats, didn’t you? Thinking you could just leech off us for the rest of your lives? In your dreams. I was the fool back then, mistaking a fish eye for a pearl. But I’m done indulging you. Save it for the police."

"The police? What police?" The couple’s faces went pale. They looked instinctively at Lillian, hoping she would tell them she was just trying to scare them.

However, the wail of a siren in the next second shattered their last shred of hope.

A few young officers in their twenties and thirties responded to the call. They had just gotten out of their car and were already hurrying toward the crowd. "Who called the police?" one of them shouted.

"I did." Lillian raised her hand. Ignoring the couple’s terrified gazes, she beckoned the officers over. "It’s these two. They came to my children’s school to extort them for ’tribute money,’ threatening to cause a scene so my kids couldn’t attend school if they didn’t pay up. Not only that, they were planning to cause trouble at my company too."

When Arabella heard what Lillian said, she let out a snort, struggling to hold back her laughter.

’Tribute money? What a great choice of words. Anyone who didn’t know better would think the old couple had already kicked the bucket and needed offerings at their altar.’

The old couple, however, were completely oblivious to the viciousness of Lillian’s wording. Their legs went weak at the sight of the officers. Their eyes wide, they instinctively retorted, "You’re lying! We didn’t extort them! We... We’re their grandparents!"

But Lillian had no intention of letting them off so easily. When they had first come to cause trouble two days ago, she had already stationed someone at the school gate. Even if Arabella and the others hadn’t shown up today, she had planned to settle this score with the two of them.

Lillian opened a video on her phone that one of her people had sent her on the way over. The video clearly captured the entire incident: the old couple demanding money from Iris and her brother, and threatening to keep causing trouble if they didn’t get it.

The old couple stared in disbelief, unable to understand how Lillian had gotten her hands on something like this.

They wanted to argue, but the evidence was irrefutable. The officers had no patience for them. "In that case," one said in a low voice, "you’ll have to come with us to the station."

"No... Don’t! This is all a misunderstanding! We really are their grandparents..."

"Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not will be determined once we’ve investigated. For now, you’re coming with us."

The police were firm. The old couple, with their guilty consciences, already had a natural fear of authority figures. Besides, having witnessed their own son being forcibly taken away, they didn’t dare to resist. In the end, they followed the officers into the police car, as dejected as a pair of beaten dogs.

As the involved parties, Iris and Sean should have gone to the station to give a statement as well. But considering they were minors and their guardian, Lillian, was present, the officers just asked them a few questions on the spot. Lillian would go with them to the station to handle the matter.

Iris and her brother breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the old Crofts being taken away. As if a great weight had been lifted, they turned to their two older sisters, their faces full of excitement.

"Feeling better?"

"Mhm! You guys are amazing, sisters! You completely dumbfounded those two old scoundrels."

Iris added, "And scared them silly!"

"I’ve been holding it in for so long, and I finally got to let it all out. It feels so good! I wish I could think on my feet like you guys. It would’ve felt even better to shut them down myself!"

"It’s not just about thinking fast. You also need to have some substance. Did you really think everything your sister Eloise and I said was just made up? Young people should read more books, read fewer newspapers, eat fewer snacks, and get more sleep. Once you’ve read enough, you’ll be able to speak so logically and coherently that no one can win an argument against you."

Eloise Donovan unconditionally supported her younger sister. "Mhm, Serena’s right."

Sean Donovan: "..." ’Now she’s giving us a lecture on studying? Sis, did you forget you’re not that much older than us? Suddenly, I don’t find this so funny.’

With their biggest worry taken care of, the group was ready to head home. But before the car that had dropped them off could return to pick them up, they overheard some people nearby still muttering about what had just happened.

"I can’t believe the twins from Class 2 are going through something like that at home. You could never tell just by looking at them."

"It’s not that surprising, really. Who’d want to go around telling everyone about something like this? The fact that they’re holding up this well is already amazing. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t even want to come to school."

"I know, right? To be stuck with a father and grandparents like that... they must have the worst luck in the world. It’s a good thing they have a mother they can rely on. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine how they could even go on."

Most people were able to distinguish right from wrong and were sensible enough to understand the situation, especially these young people who had yet to enter the real world and were still full of righteous passion.

Of course, not everyone knew how to put themselves in others’ shoes and stand up for the unfortunate victims.

"That may be true, but he is their biological father, after all. Even if they were angry, they didn’t have to be so ruthless."

The moment she said this, everyone around the girl turned to look at her in surprise.

One of the girls who was closer to her couldn’t help but ask, "Ruby, you’re not kidding, are you?"

"I..."

"Then what do you think they should have done that wouldn’t have been so ’ruthless’?"