Chapter 2

“Stop it!”

I lunged forward and kicked Gerard away.

He instinctively opened his mouth to curse at me, but the words died in his throat the moment he saw me.

However, the girl from earlier slapped me across the face.

“You pushed me and hit my brother? Do you really think those from the Roth family are pushovers?”

Gerard’s eyes instantly turned vicious after what she said.

“Tarni, did she just push you?”

“You wench! You’re just as vicious as your mother!” he cussed at me.

I stepped forward to argue, but my mom pulled me back from the floor.

“Beatrice, let’s leave.”

There was meekness, caution, and even fear written all over her face!

“Tarni Roth, you pushed me and thought you could just walk away? You truly act like the daughter of a mistress! You have no manners whatsoever!”

Immediately after, Tarni grabbed a nearby bottle of red wine and hurled it at us.

My mom tried to shield me, but I noticed the bruises and wounds all over her body. They were festering and covered in pus.

“Mom!”

Shards of glass cut her arm, and blood streamed down. Yet, she kept urging me to run.

I glared at Gerard and his three accomplices.

They instantly surrounded Tarni and looked at me defiantly.

“What’s your problem? You barged in here uninvited. We’re already being generous by not blaming you!

“Get out of here with your useless mother! She should consider herself lucky to have the honor of licking our shoes!”

My whole body went numb with rage when I heard their words!

“She’s your mother too!”

The entire crowd erupted in derisive laughter.

“Has this woman lost her mind? Mrs. Roth is standing right here!”

“Hilarious! First, her mom pretended to be Mrs. Roth. Now, she’s acting like she’s Miss Roth. Don’t these two have any shame?”

Tarni looked at me with haughty disdain.

“You poor thing. Did you never see your father growing up?

“No wonder. Your mother’s a woman of loose morals. She doesn’t even know who your father is. That’s why she’s barking at my father like a mad dog!”

The cold expressions on my brothers’ faces made it clear that they thought the same.

They then spoke in unison. “Get lost, you two! Don’t ruin our mother’s birthday banquet! Not just anyone can be Mrs. Roth!”

I laughed bitterly.

“Don’t you even recognize your own mother? Do you even remember who’s really in charge of the Roth family?”

“Of course it’s our dad, you lunatic!” Tarni sneered proudly.

That social climber?

I could not help but smirk in scorn.

He was an outsider who had been barred from the ancestral hall. He had never even seen the family sigil!

“Felix Roth?” I could not help but snort coldly.

“Everyone in the industry knows he’s just a son-in-law who married into the Roth family. How could he possibly have a say in the Roth family?”

My words sent Tarni into a rage.

Clearly, others at the banquet understood this too.

“Exactly. Since Mrs. Roth dislikes managing the business, Mr. Roth changed his last name from Woods to Roth by marrying into the family. Even if he has some say now, he can’t possibly control the entire Roth family!”

Just then, the woman who had gone to change her shoes reappeared in the banquet hall.

“I’ve entrusted all of the Roth family’s affairs to my husband. This is a family matter. An outsider like you naturally wouldn’t understand.”