Chapter 64

The harsh speech gave Lauren immense satisfaction.

Sophia, on the other hand, remembered how humiliated she and her mother had been when they were so unceremoniously thrown out of the Heavenly Chorus Orchestra building, and she was more than pleased to finally see Tessa and Timothy being insulted now.

Tessa was stunned. It was only at that moment that she understood why Timothy had been kidnapped by the Reinharts in the first place; Lauren’s little speech had enlightened her more than it insulted her.

Timothy has something they want! Tessa snorted, a little incredulous that the Reinharts would go to such a despicable and shameless extent to make a profit.

As she connected the dots, she let out an abrupt bark of laughter, then mocked condescendingly, “So, that’s what’s going on here! You suddenly realized that your son had the means to help you achieve the end you wanted, which was why you brought him back! And there I was wondering whether you had found your conscience and decided to care for him. This is all because Timothy has some use to you, and you just want to make a quick profit off his efforts, isn’t it? Some good father you are, Silas!”

Her laughter was shrill, mocking, and almost aggressive. It sent a chill running down Silas’ spine, and for a moment, he faltered.

Just as guilt seized him, Sophia interjected with a presumptuous laugh and said, “Come now, Tessa, you have to admit that Dad has given Timothy life and raised him from a young age. It’s only right that he gets something out of it, don’t you think?”

The wicked smile on Tessa’s face slipped when she heard this. Her expression was frigid as she ignored Sophia and regarded Silas ominously before seething, “You have no right getting anything out of us! Timothy and I were brought up by Mom; to put things bluntly, the only thing you ever contributed was your semen, and other than that, I can’t think of a single incident where you have been a father to us! Mom worked hard to give us a life, but you were never present, nor did you ever ask about us. You even fooled around with other women, and now you’re turning around to point fingers at me?”

She was shouting her voice hoarse, but she doubled down on her harshness as she snapped, “Pride is what makes or breaks a man, but yours is so foolish that it makes you all the more disgusting! Keep your nonsense to yourself, and mark my words: if I don’t see Timothy back home by tomorrow morning, then I hope you’re ready to be held in police custody! This warning is final!”

With that, Tessa spun around and began to furiously march away.

However, Lauren could never live with it if she merely allowed Tessa to walk away scot-free. Gritting her teeth, she narrowed her eyes menacingly and barked, “Stop her! Don’t let her get away!”

The bodyguards immediately rushed forward to form a human blockade.

At the sight of this, Tessa frowned. There was a frosty gleam in her eyes as she turned to look at Lauren contemptuously, “What, are you going to lock me up too?”

Tessa’s glare went through Lauren like a frozen arrow, but Lauren stood her ground and spat venomously, “You incompetent moron! As if we’d let you leave just like that! For as long as your brother doesn’t hand over the software, the both of you will never step out of this house!”

Then, she shouted at the bodyguards, “Bring this brat into the room and lock her up!”

“Yes, ma’am!” A couple of bodyguards surged forward and immediately pinned Tessa’s arm behind her back.

She struggled with all her might to break free of their hold, all the while roaring at Lauren, “You wretched b*tch! You vicious homewrecker! You ought to die painfully by a thousand cuts!”

Alas, even as she thrashed and shouted with all her strength, Tessa could not pull away from the burly bodyguards. Before long, she was thrown into one of the spare rooms of the house and kept under lock and key.

After Tessa had been held captive, Silas thundered, “Lauren, what the hell are you locking her up for?”

Sophia couldn’t understand her mother’s logic behind this either. “Yeah, Mom, isn’t it enough to lock Timothy up seeing as he’s the one with the project? There’s no point in keeping Tessa; she’s useless!”

A devious and triumphant smile curled on Lauren’s lips. “The both of you are so short-sighted. Don’t you know that Tessa is Timothy’s weakness? If we hold her captive, we can blackmail him into giving up the software, and he’d have no choice but to hand it over to us free of charge!”