Chapter 4

Originally, I hadn't planned to go back to the Steele family manor that weekend. However, I changed my mind after looking at the test report.

The Steele family had always been prude and snobbish. Back when my family hadn't gone bankrupt, they had fawned all over me and tried to curry favor with me at every turn.

My family helped them raise an empire, but we soon ran into some issues and went bankrupt unexpectedly overnight.

They changed their attitude toward us in an instant. They became extremely condescending toward me and always looked down on me, wanting nothing more than to get rid of me and trample me into the dirt.

But now, I held the hospital test report in my hands and decided that I really needed to pay them a visit after all.

…

I arrived at Steele Manor that weekend as agreed, but I was immediately met with their undisguised disgust and disdain.

"You're finally here! Hurry up and go take the trash out! Everyone's too busy in the house!"

"How could you come so late in the day? Did you really think you were only here to eat?"

In the past, I would've gone to great lengths to please Ingrid's family just to make her happy. I never used to complain, even though they treated me like their house help, ordering me around and treating me however they pleased.

That was also the main reason why her entire family looked down on me. Even their maids and butlers looked down on me.

I ignored them all and walked in, seeing Ingrid and Hank fawning over her mother, Rose Brady, who was seated in the main seat. They were chatting animatedly.

"Mom, I've taken care of Eugene's enrollment at the elite private elementary school. I'll be stopping by to pick him up in a few days!"

Eugene Steele was Ingrid's nephew.

Rose beamed, and the other relatives around her immediately began flattering and praising Hank.

"As expected from someone who just returned from overseas! You're truly capable after all, Hank!"

"Yeah! So many people don't even have the chance to look at the gates of that elite school, and you managed to get Eugene in just like that!"

"Exactly! This is how our family's son-in-law should be, unlike that good-for-nothing Jor—"

My sudden appearance made them all shut up right at that moment, and the atmosphere turned icy and hostile immediately.

I wasn't going to tolerate their attitude anymore either and just mocked them openly.

"I'm nothing like you all. None of you were willing to help with a single penny when Mom was on her deathbed. But now that Ingrid is rich, you've all forgotten about it and just shamelessly come to leech on her instead.

"You're all really something. Ingrid's the successful one, but you all make it out as though everyone in the family is equally as such."

The room went deathly silent.

Rose's face darkened as she glared intently at me. "So what if you're good at talking? You're all talk and no action anyway. Eight years, and I never even got a single grandchild from you! You're such a huge embarrassment to the family. Get out of my sight!"

Rose was incredibly sexist, and she refused to acknowledge Gaby as her grandchild at all. In her eyes, Ingrid and I were as good as barren.

Ingrid's face fell at once. I could see the guilt in her eyes as she hurried over to my side and whispered, "You heard her. Get out! Stop looking for trouble!"

Everyone seemed eager to watch me make a joke of myself and slink away in silence like I always had before. Yet, I did the exact opposite and ignored Ingrid, continuing to speak.

"To tell you the truth, Mom, Ingrid was actually pregnant again a few months ago, but she miscarried."

Rose jumped to her feet at once, glancing first at me, then at Ingrid, then back at me. Her eyes were so sharp that they felt like they could cut through us.

"Explain! What do you mean she had a miscarriage?"

There was an expression of indifference on my face as I stared at Ingrid defiantly. She didn't dare to speak and only gripped the hem of her shirt, twisting it into a mess.

If she wasn't going to explain things, then I would do the talking for her.

"Your daughter said that she miscarried because of a company team-building event. However, the test report that the hospital gave me told me a different story altogether."

I handed the report over to Rose, who looked through the report again and again.

I continued, "The miscarriage was due to overly vigorous sexual activity. The baby might not have been fully formed yet, but who knows? It could have been a baby boy."

Rose gritted her teeth so hard that she nearly crushed them to bits. Meanwhile, Ingrid trembled like a leaf next to her.

"Also, look at the date of the miscarriage, Mom. You weren't feeling well that day, and I was here with you the entire day, remember? I never went back home at all that night."