Clara scoffed:
“Unbelievable. Riffraff like this think they can eat here? Looks like charging $3,800 a head is still too cheap.”
Three thousand eight hundred?
When I opened this chain, I set a uniform price of $980 per person.
She had secretly raised the price without reporting it.
I couldn’t help demanding:
“Other cities charge $980. Why are you charging more than three thousand here?”
Clara smirked like she’d heard a joke:
“Hick. If you can’t afford it, don’t come. You think New York is like other cities?”
Rachel chimed in:
“Mr. Shaw already gave this restaurant to Ms. Johnson. She can charge whatever she wants. None of your damn business.”
So that’s why the Ocean Palace Buffet in New York always showed losses—Edward had secretly handed it over to her.
I let out a bitter laugh.
“I heard Edward Shaw is already married with kids. So you’re saying you’re his wife?”
Clara’s face stiffened, but she forced her chin up:
“Becoming Mrs. Shaw is only a matter of time. Edward will dump that old hag sooner or later.”
Sophie gripped my fingers nervously. “Mom, does Dad really not want us anymore?”
I patted her back firmly. “Don’t be afraid. With or without him, I’ll protect you.”
The Shaw and Miller families had been bound in a business alliance since childhood.
When I married Edward, the Shaw family was already in decline.
I had used the Miller family’s resources, exhausting myself to rebuild his fortune.
His title as New York’s richest man came only because of the Miller family. Without me, he was nothing.
Hearing our conversation, Clara sneered even more:
“Like mother, like daughter. A filthy brat daring to claim a father she doesn’t have—what a disgusting pair.”
I was usually patient, but the one thing I could never tolerate was anyone insulting my daughter.
Today, these two had gone too far.
My eyes turned icy as I spoke each word clearly:
“If you dare spew filth at my daughter again, I’ll see you thrown out of New York!”
The crowd gasped.
“Is she insane? Talking to Ms. Johnson like that?”
“Doesn’t she know Mr. Shaw protects his women? She’s finished.”
Clara hadn’t expected anyone to insult her. Her face turned crimson.
“Bitch, who do you think you are!”
She raised her hand to hit me, but I grabbed her and flung her aside.
Clara nearly lost her mind.
She screamed at the door:
“Are you all dead? Get in here and teach this slut a lesson!”
At once, seven or eight bodyguards rushed in.