Chapter 282

There was a tradition in the town where a family would hold a big banquet with friends and relatives once their child was accepted into college. The guests would also give the kid their best regards for their future.

That was why when Stella was accepted into Trinity University, Rainee hosted a banquet with eighty-

eight tables at their old home. She did not charge their relatives and friends a single cent. It did not matter if any of them made snarky remarks toward her and Stella because they were jealous. She still boasted her daughter’s achievements to everyone she saw.

Lydia, on the other hand, started telling everyone that her son was having a celebration the second his high school admission letter arrived in the mail. She even asked the guests to donate what they could to have a feast. However, when the time came, they found out that Lydia had only set up a few tattered tables on the front porch. She then asked everyone to enter the house to eat.

When they entered her house, they discovered that the decorations were lacking. Even a funeral looked nicer than Lydia’s place. It was clear that she did not want to spend any money. And, she only cooked up a massive pot of stew to satisfy their hunger.

Lydia had used the leftover radishes and cabbages that their shop could not sell in the stew. There were only a few pieces of meat in it too. She had received more than 100 thousand dollars from the donations, yet she had the audacity to serve a pot of stew. It was an embarrassing sight since they obviously could do better. Aside from Albert Jewell, Lydia’s family was the second richest in the Jewell family.

She owned tens of acres of orchards and earned millions of dollars a year alone. Her husband was a very hard-working and capable man who worked as a warehouse manager in Albert’s company. He made hundreds of thousands per year. Yet, even with this much money, their family still asked for donations from their friends and relatives.

So, when Lydia told everyone that her son was accepted into Calton University, no one said a thing because they knew that she was trying to cheat them of their money. Seeing that no one was congratulating their family, Lydia took it as them being jealous rather than feeling embarrassed for herself.

She glanced around the place, and her gaze fell upon the fourth daughter-in-law of the Jewell family.

“Elaine! How did Hayden do in his second exam?”

Elaine did not want to converse with Lydia, so she blandly said, “I didn’t ask.”

“How could you not ask about your son’s results? Examinations are important. Hayden did poorly in last year’s exam. He must have had some improvement this year-round, right? I mean, even my baby, Dustin, had gone for an interview. Shouldn’t Hayden be getting interviews right now too? Or… Did he not do well in his exams again, and he didn’t tell you guys?”

An ugly expression appeared on Elaine’s face. ‘Is this what a decent human being should say? It’s fine if you want to boast about your child, but there’s no need to bring others down!’ she thought.

Elaine tried to suppress her anger. When she saw Stella, she suddenly knew what to say.” Hayden has his own opinions, unlike Dustin, who needs you to do everything for him.” She then paused for a while before she continued, “Lydia, remember when Stella got her acceptance letter?

Rainee threw such a huge banquet with more than eighty tables. She event invited a famous live band.

Now that Dustin has been admitted into grad school, I’m expecting more than 100 tables for his celebration since he is the first in the Jewell family to get into grad school. I hope you’re not cooking another pot of radish stew to fool us this time.”

Lydia was a little embarrassed when Elaine mentioned the past. “What did you say? I fooled you? I was just trying to be a low-key person. Look at how Stella got married right after her graduation. She and her mother are a joke to the Jewell family,” she said sullenly.

Stella’s expression darkened before someone grabbed her hand. Keegan rubbed the back of her hand intermittently and said, “I don’t get it, Aunt Lydia. Why is it a joke? Is Stella marrying me so funny to you?”

Lydia froze. She was so focused on Elaine that she forgot to look around before she spoke. Lydia had always said it’s better to marry well than to get good results. In her perception, that only applied to her daughter. Now that Rainee’s daughter was the one who got to marry into a well-known family, she started becoming jealous.

Lydia was not scared of Stella or Albert. If they were the only people there, she would have talked even louder just to let them hear it. However, it was different with Keegan. He was not from the Jewell family and did not even spare them a glance when he and Stella got married, which meant he was not going to give Lydia any face.