Chapter 714 - 710: He Who Hesitates Is Lost

Just as Lily Sterling was about to leave, Tanya Hughes suddenly stood up. "Lily Sterling!"

Lily Sterling glanced sideways at her. Tanya Hughes began to speak, her voice a mixture of embarrassment and resentment. "We’ve been staying in the ticket hall of the train station for the past two days. It’s really cold there. Could you maybe..."

"No."

Lily Sterling cut her off before she could finish. "I think I’ve already made myself perfectly clear. Don’t expect to get anything from me. I won’t give you a single cent."

"Whether you sleep at the station or under a bridge is none of my business. Even if you freeze to death outside, I wouldn’t spare you a second glance. Just like when I was abandoned in that park. Until it got dark, not a single person came back to give me even one look."

After saying this, Lily Sterling left the company’s reception room without a backward glance.

Leopold Hughes snapped back to his senses and tried to chase after her, but Beau blocked his path. "Go ahead, make a scene, try to expose her. We’ll play along. But right now, you will leave this company quietly. If you dare cause any trouble here, I’ll call the cops and have you detained immediately!"

"You really think I’m scared of you?" Leopold Hughes scoffed, deciding to go all in. "Go on, have me detained! It’d be better than this. Being locked up is better than sleeping at the train station. At least I’d have a place to sleep and food to eat!"

Connie sighed impatiently. ’This man is just a shameless scoundrel.’

But Beau wasn’t falling for Leopold Hughes’s act. He nodded with a cold smile. "Fine. Go ahead. If you want to get locked up, give it a try. I’ll be more than happy to oblige!"

"Let them go," Connie said at the opportune moment.

Beau glared at them, his eyes filled with warning, as he stepped aside.

"Dad, let’s just go for now."

Tanya Hughes tugged at her father’s arm. Things had reached a stalemate, and causing a scene now would be pointless. After all, this was their company, and everyone here was on Lily Sterling’s side. No one would help them.

Leopold Hughes was clearly resentful. As he was leaving, he spat. "Ptooey! Don’t push me too far. Even a cornered dog will bite back!"

Beau shot back viciously, "Then you’d better be careful not to fall and break your neck when you jump that wall!"

Leopold Hughes let his daughter drag him away, muttering a stream of curses. The profanity was so vile that people in the office frowned in disgust as they overheard.

"Is that really Lily’s biological father?"

"I don’t know, but that girl looks just like Lily."

"If it’s true, that’s terrible. How could someone as wonderful as Lily end up with a father like that?"

Back in the office, Beau couldn’t help but be angry on Lily’s behalf. "What a piece of work! How dare he show his face here?"

"Lily’s fine, but you look like you’re about to have a stroke," Connie couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Connie, Lily was really impressive today. She was so calm and rational the whole time. Not only did she not give in, she even said such harsh things. That’s not like her usual self at all."

Connie felt the same way. The Lily they saw today was indeed unfamiliar to those who knew her well, but at the same time, they felt proud of her for standing up for herself.

Indecisiveness invites future trouble.

In a situation like this, Lily had to take a firm stance to completely crush their hopes and send a clear signal to both herself and the company, so everyone would know how to proceed.

"It only takes one night for a person to grow up," Connie remarked, touched by the thought.

She knew Lily must have cried, but after crying, she still had to face it all. ’Lily must have figured it out on her own.’

’And that loving home of hers must have given her the strength and courage!’

Leopold Hughes and Tanya Hughes were escorted out of the building by two tall, burly security guards who followed them all the way, treating them like thieves, and only stopped when they were out the main entrance.

"Son of a bitch! This isn’t over! So what if it’s Lorcain? This is The Capital! I refuse to believe there’s nowhere to get some justice!"

"Fuck, it’s the middle of winter, and she doesn’t even care that we’re sleeping at the train station. So cold-blooded! Inhumane!"

"If I’d known, I should’ve just strangled her back then. Then she wouldn’t be living this glamorous life now, would she?"

"I..."

"Dad!" Tanya Hughes angrily cut off her father’s complaints and curses. "Is any of this useful? It’s all just useless talk!"

"Was I wrong?" Leopold Hughes was shivering from the cold, but he was still relentless with his words. "Did you hear what she just said? Was that something a human being would say? She’s deliberately trying to piss me off, spending all that money she earns on her new mom and new sister, but not giving us a single cent."

"And what did she say? A few hundred for a role? A few thousand for an endorsement? Does she... does she really make that much?"

Hearing this, Tanya Hughes also felt a pang of jealousy. The feeling that they had the same face but vastly different fates grew even stronger.

"She’s a huge star, of course she makes a lot," Tanya Hughes said, pulling her thin cotton jacket tighter. Her stomach growled. Cold and starving, she added, "Let’s find a mall to warm up."

"And then what? What do we do?" Leopold Hughes had run out of ideas. In the end, aside from a belly full of vile thoughts and profanity, he was completely useless.

He was uncultured and ignorant, and his shameless tactics were useless against real power. Right now, he could only count on his daughter to come up with a plan.

But Tanya Hughes just said coldly, "Buy tickets for this afternoon and go home."

"Go home?" Leopold Hughes grew anxious. "No way! We came all this way for nothing? We didn’t get anything and even spent so much money coming here. I’m not going home!"

"If you don’t go home, what are you going to do here?"

"This isn’t over! I... I’m going to expose her."

"Dad! You’re the one who abandoned her first! Are you trying to expose her or yourself? If this blows up, how are we supposed to live back home? What will people think of me?"

"But we can’t just go back without getting any money! Before I left, I bragged all over town. Everyone who knows our family knows I came to Lorcain to find my daughter, the big star. If I go back like this, I’ll be a laughingstock! I can’t lose face like that!"

Her father’s reasoning was utterly absurd. ’A man’s pathetic ego is truly ridiculous,’ she thought.

Tanya Hughes shook her head, speechless. "Fine. If you want to stay, stay by yourself. I can’t waste any more time with you. School is about to start for me."

With that, she turned to leave.

Seeing his daughter was really about to abandon him, Leopold Hughes panicked. He didn’t even know how to ride the subway. Without his daughter, he couldn’t get anywhere in Lorcain.

"Tanya, Tanya, wait." Leopold Hughes hurried forward and grabbed his daughter’s arm, putting on a pathetic show of weakness. "Listen to Dad this once. We have to try a little harder. We can’t just let them scare us away with a few words, can we? That’s no way to do things!"

"Dad, we’re just ordinary people. Do you really think anyone here is willing to offend Lily Sterling and a massive entertainment company for our sake? We’re like two headless flies, with no plan and no connections. Tell me, what else can we possibly do?"

Her words were like a harsh blow to the head, and they seemed to deflate Leopold Hughes completely.

But just then, a mysterious man in a black down jacket, black hat, and face mask suddenly approached them. In a hushed, conspiratorial tone, he asked, "You’re Lily Sterling’s biological father and twin sister?"