Chapter 200

S21 30. Painful Slap for Barbara

“I want to apologize,” Barbara choked. “To be honest, I’m just an assistant here and the gown is Emily’s design. Once again I am sorry. I just want to amaze you all. I don’t want to be constantly belittled by you girls.”

In an instant, the comments flooded. Barbara could not bear to read it. She grabbed the phone and ran out of the room.

“Auntie, where are you going?”

Louis’ question hung in the air. Barbara disappeared without a word.

“Will she be okay?” Emily asked while wiping her eyes.

Kara stroked Emily’s chubby cheeks, helping her dry her face. “Auntie needs time to be alone. Her heart is currently in turmoil. But later, she will definitely smile again.”

Emily exhaled a long breath. After getting out of Kara’s arms, she looked at Philip.

“Thank you very much, Philip. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have known that Auntie was planning to steal my work.”

Philip nodded. “Actually, it was just a coincidence. I saw her doing live stream. So, I secretly watched it. Hopefully, she can learn and come to her senses from this incident.”

Louis nodded in agreement. “Auntie was really devastated. She must have given up. But Emily, your acting was really cool.”

While Louis gave her thumbs up, Emily pursed her lips. “It wasn’t an act. I was really annoyed with Auntie. If she stole the design of your building or car, you would be annoyed too.”

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“Yeah, if I was in your position and Barbara wasn’t our aunt, I would have reported her to the police.” Louis nodded confidently..

“Kids, since this problem has been resolved, how about you go to. school? Your teachers and friends must be wondering why you were late.”

The twins’ eyes suddenly widened.

“Daddy’s right! We have to go to school!”

“Come on, Philip! We’re leaving now.”

“Mommy, Daddy, we’re going to school!”

Frank and Kara smiled at the twins’ enthusiasm. Only after taking the toddlers to the elevator were they able to talk.

“Frank, what should we do with Barbara?” Kara whispered in anxiety.

The man sighed faintly. “Let’s just wait and see how she and my mother react. Different response, different act. Now let’s get to work. We have a meeting, right?”

Kara nodded. In her heart, she felt sorry for her sister-in-law.

***

Clutching her hair, Barbara grumbled, expressing her annoyance. He curse made the taxi driver check the rearview mirror.

“Excuse me, Miss. Is something wrong?”

Barbara glared and snapped, “Shut up! I have nothing to do with you.”

The driver flinched. Not wanting to cause trouble, he ignored Barbara and focused on the road.

“Why does everyone like to interfere with my life? Can’t they leave me alone?”

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While continuing to grumble, Barbara leaned her head against the window glass. After a few moments, her red eyes became wet again.

“What will happen to me? People must hate me now.”

She gripped the phone tighter, as if it was the only hope she had left. After a short reflection, she dared to open her social media.

“What?” Barbara sighed when her eyes caught the number of followers. “Why are there only one hundred thousand left?”

While her breathing began to roar, her eyes trembled at the notification numbers. Fear had taken over her. However, her finger dared to tap on the screen. Apparently, many kinds of insults had flooded the last post.

“You thief! You want to be recognized but you don’t want to try hard. You should design your own gown, instead of stealing your niece’s work!”

“Barbara Harris is really bad. She can’t do anything, but always acts great. Maybe that’s the only ability she has. Bragging!”

“I was suspicious from the start. It’s impossible for someone as great as Frank Harper to trust a loser with no brain. Barbara is just a girl who likes to show off even though she has nothing.”

Barbara’s tears flowed again. Her shoulders shook violently. This was the first time reality hit her so hard.

Arriving at the mansion, Barbara walked quickly to her room. She wanted to immediately hide from the world. However, Melanie, who didn’t know anything, intercepted and greeted her cheerfully.

“Hello, Dear. Are you done with your business? Those snide people are quiet now, right?”

Barbara peeked out of the corner of her eye. At that moment, Melanie

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discovered her gloomy expression.

“Oh my God, My Dear? Are you crying? What happened?” Melanie held Barbara’s shoulders. But unexpectedly, her daughter slapped away

her hands.

“It’s all your fault! If only you hadn’t forced your will on me…, if only you had educated me in the right way…, of course my life wouldn’t be so miserable.”

Melanie gasped. She was now looking at Barbara as if she didn’t

know her.

What’s wrong with you, Darling? Why did you say that?”

Barbara gritted her teeth. She wanted to continue walking, but

Melanie held her arm.

“Wait, Barbara! You haven’t explained to me. What’s wrong?”

Barbara jerked her hand so that it slipped from her grasp. “Don’t push me, Mom, or I’ll get even angrier.

“But what did I do wrong?” Melanie locked Barbara’s wrist. Unable to escape, Barbara stared closely at her mother.

“Have you not realized yet, Mom? All this time, you have always demanded me to pretend. You’re afraid that our weakness will be revealed because that could make other people look down on us.

“Isn’t that true? If our image is good, people will respect us. Life will be easier if we are at the top.”

“But look at the consequences!” Barbara shouted, failed to contain her annoyance any longer. “As soon as all the falsehoods were

revealed, people immediately took us down.”

Melanie was flabbergasted. Her head shook subconsciously. “What

do you mean Barbara? What did you reveal?”

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Barbara laughed sarcastically. She felt her life was too funny. Why did only now she realize that being her mother’s puppet was a torture?

“If you want me to be a respectable person, why don’t you teach me like Kara teaches her children?”

Melanie let out a quick sigh. She thought she had a problem with her ears. “Are you comparing your mother to Kara?”

“You should have equipped me with knowledge and abilities, Mom. But why did you keep pampering and training me to be a disgusting show-off?”

Melanie blinked in disbelief. “Who called you a show-off?”

“Just look at my social media! Everyone is insulting me. I’ve been. found out, Mom. My reputation is ruined. I have no future. All this is because of your ego!”

“Barbara, watch your mouth! Since when did you become such an impudent daughter?”

Instead of shrinking, Barbara raised her chin. “Ever since I realized that you made me a puppet. I know that you’re secretly harboring trauma. Your first husband loved another woman, right? Because of that, you were craving for attention and you passed that mental illness on to me.”

Suddenly, Melanie’s hand swing to Barbara’s cheek. After a hard slap Barbara was stunned. Her hand trembled to cover her red face.

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