Chapter 72

“If I remember correctly, none of you here have Windt as your surname,” she said baldly. “What has the reputation and honor of the Windt family got to do with you lot?”

“You…”

“When my father was still around, and the Windt family was at the height of its power, and all of you sucked up to us like a bunch of dogs. But when the Windt family went through difficult times, all of you were nowhere to be found. And now you have the gall to discipline me as my elders? I call that muck.”

She then let out a cold laugh. “Aren’t you scared that God might strike you down?”

At that point, her uncles were so furious that their faces had gone red. “Is… Is this how you should be talking to us?”

Another one of her distant relatives, Thomas, was boiling with rage as well. Pointing a finger at Charlotte, he snarled, “When your father was around, he never spoke to us like this! Well, what did I expect of a bastard child who never had a mother around to teach her how to behave?”

The moment she heard this, a ball of rage welled up within Charlotte. She lunged forward and picked up the glass of water in front of her, which she promptly flung at Thomas’s head.

Bang! The glass flew past the man’s head and shattered against the crystal chandelier behind him.

A shower of crystal shards rained down on the table, causing a huge racket as they did so and causing the women to yelp in fright.

Luna jumped up from her seat and ran to hide behind her mother.

Amanda quickly used her arm to shield her face from the shards, but the crystal shards sliced open her arm, causing her to bleed profusely.

“Argh!” The injured woman let out a huge, exaggerated scream.

Upon hearing his wife scream, Simon dashed downstairs in panic immediately. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“This bastard, this wench! She has disgraced the family enough as it is, and yet she dared to… to…”

Aunt Leigh was about to wail about the injustice that had been done to her, but she caught Charlotte’s eye and zipped her mouth immediately.

“You incorrigible fool!” Thomas roared as he pointed a finger at Charlotte. “How dare you injure a member of your own family?”

“You were the ones who said those disrespectful things to me first!” the latter snapped as she glared coldly at him. “I don’t care if you call me all sorts of names, but if you’re going to slander my parents as well, don’t blame me for being too harsh on you!”

“You…”

“Alright, alright,” Simon said, trying desperately to salvage the situation, “we’re family, after all. Let’s calm down first, shall we?”

“Who wants to be her family?” Thomas snapped angrily. “She acts like a whore, but she won’t let anyone criticize her for it! And when someone does, she goes completely crazy and starts behaving like a dog!”

“Thomas, don’t say that…”

“Simon, I’ve lost my appetite completely, so forgive me if I leave in the middle of this meal. I’ll drop by and visit you and the missus another day.” At that, Thomas stood up and stalked out of the room with his wife in tow.

Another relative tugged at Simon’s sleeve and whispered loudly, “Simon, I know you’re a kind man, but I must warn you to leave people like her alone. They’ll bring you nothing but trouble.”

“Martin…”

“We’ll get going now, too. Mr. Windt, Mam, Luna, we’ll come by and visit you another day.”

The rest of the relatives left, afraid to cause any more trouble for themselves.

“Hey, you can’t all leave yet! None of the dishes have been served!” Amanda called anxiously after them.

However, not a single person turned around to acknowledge her.

“Oh, it’s alright, let them leave,” her husband said, pulling her back. “Go upstairs and bandage your wound. I’ll clean up here.”

“Bandage my wound?” Amanda’s expression changed into one of unbridled fury. Pointing at Charlotte, she hollered angrily, “Thanks for breaking up what was supposed to be a happy family occasion! Go and think about what you’ve done!”

Charlotte met her gaze coolly and asked, “Weren’t you the one who invited me here, Aunt Amanda? You put in so much effort to put up a show for the rest—how could I, as the lead actress, disappoint you by not turning up?”

“What are you talking about now?” Luna snapped, “My mother invited you over for a meal out of the goodness of her heart. It’s one thing for you to ruin the occasion and another for you to speak ill of her like that! Were you even brought up properly?”

“Haha! Out of the goodness of her heart?” Charlotte picked up a rag from the table and wiped away the glass shards and blood on her own hands. “You invited so many extras to join us today—weren’t you just trying to make a fool of me in front of Hector?”

“Make a fool of you? You were born a fool to begin with!” Amanda screamed with fury. “Back then, your mother left right after she gave birth to you. Your father coddled you and treated you like a jewel, and you chose to disappoint him by turning out to be such a shameless wench!”