Chapter 247: Mommy, We Call This Making Use of Local Resources

Chapter 247: Chapter 247: Mommy, We Call This Making Use of Local Resources

"How does it not matter? For raising uneducated brats like you, Estelle Lockwood deserves to die—"

"And how are you any better?"

In the eyes of the onlookers, ’Christian’ stood his ground, neither haughty nor humble under the pressure.

"Mommy said that manners are reserved for well-mannered people. When dealing with someone like you, who uses your age to act shamelessly and disrespectfully, why should I treat you with any manners?"

Zachery wasn’t stupid. He knew some things were much more effective when spoken by a child. So, ’Christian’ continued.

"The first time you ’invited’ me to the York family as a guest, you repeatedly threatened me. You said Aunt York would be my dad’s new wife and told me to start sucking up to her now so she might spare me a bite to eat in the future.

"After my daddy warned the York family, you claimed it was all your own imagination and a misunderstanding, promising it would never happen again. So, what was your intention in seeking us out just now, Mrs. York?"

Zachery feigned helplessness. "It’s the same old speech. Aunt York is going to marry Daddy, and his favorite child will be hers. You told us burdens to get lost on our own.

"Mrs. York, is your brain broken, or is your memory just bad? How could you forget everything you’ve said?"

Mrs. York was left speechless. She fumed inwardly, wondering how this little bastard had the audacity to bring up the last time.

Since Christian Sloan had always maintained an image of a sweet, obedient child in everyone’s minds, someone immediately spoke up.

"Her brain isn’t broken, and her memory isn’t bad—she’s just pure evil! Even after being warned by Mr. Sloan, she’s still trying every trick in the book to install her daughter as his new wife."

"Exactly. She was a mistress herself, so now she’s making her daughter be one too. Oh, and I heard this beauty salon used to belong to Chairman York’s first wife, who left it to her biological daughter, Stella York. Yet now, this mistress and her illegitimate daughter are parading it around. Tsk, tsk."

Mrs. York flew into a panicked rage, her mind buzzing. "You... you people... don’t you have any sense of right and wrong?! This little bastard hit me! And you’re actually taking his side!"

"Yes, my brother hit you. But like I said, he’s only five years old. How much could it possibly hurt?"

The three little ones presented a united front as Mia asked, "Besides, didn’t my brother hit you because you provoked him?"

Mia lied without missing a beat. No—it wasn’t exactly a lie. After all, Mrs. York had indeed said those things.

"You figured us little bastards could never beat you, so you told us to watch our backs. You even planned that once Aunt York took over, out of the kindness of your heart, you’d throw us a few thousand in living expenses on the condition that we cut all ties with the Sloan family."

Everyone shot looks of absolute disgust at Mrs. York. They could not fathom how she could say such things.

Mia pressed her advantage. "You said my mommy grew up in the countryside and was abandoned by the Lockwood family, so she wouldn’t be as scheming as you. You said you already used the same tricks to drive away the first wife, so driving away another wouldn’t be hard. Mia doesn’t really understand what that means, but I know it’s definitely not a nice thing to say."

The onlookers were speechless. Everyone was utterly shocked, wondering how she could say something like that to a child. Was Mrs. York actually proud of being a mistress?! The first wife to be driven away was Chairman York’s. The second one she intended to drive away? It had to be Estelle Lockwood!

Mrs. York was dumbfounded. She had indeed threatened to kick these three little bastards out of the Sloan family, but when had she ever said that last part? This Mia Lockwood was spouting pure nonsense!

"Stop spouting nonsense!"

A wealthy lady nearby sneered. "She’s only five years old. She doesn’t even understand what it means; she’s just repeating it word for word. What are you yelling at a child for?"

Mrs. York indignantly insisted, "They’re lying!"

But no one believed her.

In her youth, Mrs. York had hooked up with Chairman York. Just to make his new beauty smile, Chairman York had callously driven out his first wife and Stella York. Later, not long after the first wife and Stella returned to the York family, the first wife died. Stella was no match for this mother-daughter duo, either.

Because of this, Mrs. York had never really suffered any grievances. In her mind, whatever she wanted, she had to get. No matter what she said, people were supposed to believe her unconditionally. If she wanted Christian Sloan dead, someone would willingly risk prison to kill him for her. Therefore, Mrs. York genuinely couldn’t understand why no one was helping her now.

"Miss York, so this is what you meant by ’only seeing Nathaniel Sloan as a brother and having no inappropriate thoughts’?"

Right at that moment, a mocking female voice cut through the air. The crowd instinctively turned around. Penelope Sullivan sneered as she finished her sentence.

The next moment, Estelle Lockwood rushed forward and pulled the children into her arms. "Christian..."

Then, she met Zachery’s gaze.

Zachery coughed. "Um, Mommy, I’m sorry. I hit someone just now."

The parents nearby hurriedly intervened. "Mrs. Sloan, that’s not it at all. Your children were wonderful. They were just defending you. Besides, how hard can a child hit? Mrs. York is just making a fuss over nothing."

Zachery bashfully lowered his head.

Estelle was speechless. Others might not know, but when her Zachery hit someone, it was genuinely terrifying. Before he was even five, he had beaten every kid in kindergarten and remained undefeated, let alone...

"Hehe." Mia quietly tucked away her silver needles. "Mommy, we were just using the materials at hand."

Zachery nodded quickly. "Right, right. Using the materials at hand."

Hitting people? Stabbing with needles? They had no idea what that meant. They were just innocent little children! Seeing that the children were unharmed, Estelle finally felt at ease.

She looked up calmly, her gaze meeting Mrs. York’s in midair. Mrs. York flinched instantly, putting up a fierce front to hide her cowardice. "What do you want?!"

Nathaniel Sloan leaned down to inspect the kids. "Christian, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Mrs. York nearly choked on a breath. "Nathaniel, I’m the one who’s hurt—!"

A freezing glare forced Mrs. York to swallow the rest of her words.

Penelope smiled faintly. "Miss York, what’s going on here? On one end, Sophie Foster says you want to be a mistress, and on the other, your mother is already throwing around threats. Don’t try to claim your mother is intentionally setting you up this time.

"You can deny Sophie Foster’s words, but you can’t possibly deny Mrs. York’s, can you?"

Many of the onlookers were aware of what had just happened in the luxury boutique. Suddenly, the looks they cast toward Thea York became complicated.

She claimed she only saw him as a brother and had no romantic intentions. Maybe someone would have believed her earlier, but now? If she didn’t want to be a mistress, why would she let her mother threaten the first wife’s children? People used to say that although Mrs. York’s rise from mistress to wife was wrong, Thea York was innocent because she couldn’t choose her birth. But seeing how skillfully this mother and daughter threatened a first wife, one could only imagine how they had threatened Stella York back in the day.

"I... I..." Thea’s fingertips turned white, and a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.

She had planned everything out perfectly today! First, she would provoke Estelle in the boutique, making her mistakenly believe she was the one Nathaniel cared about. Then, she would swoop in and take advantage of their inevitable fight...

But now, everything was ruined! Thea glared viciously at Mrs. York. Why did this deadweight of a mother have to show up today?!