To be betrayed by the three people she trusted most at the same time was a blow no one could endure.
As soon as my mother finished speaking, Vanessa pulled Brian down to kneel before her.
"I swear, I never meant to destroy your family," she wept. "If you want to blame someone, you can just blame me. Still, my son is innocent."
"You raised Brian too... I only hope he can acknowledge his roots. Don't worry, Brian is such a good boy. He’ll definitely treat you like his own mother. As long as you agree, I... I’ll leave and never come back."
Before my mother could even refuse, my father, Gerald, scowled and barked, "Nonsense! You're the child's mother, so why would you leave? After all the years you spent raising him alone, suffering through humiliation and hardship, I will make sure you are given a rightful place."
My mother swayed on her feet. After steadying herself, she finally spoke. "Yes... you're right. She shouldn't have to leave. I'm the fool who should go. Gerald Dalton, I want a divorce!"
As if she had already anticipated that my mother would demand a divorce, Martha sneered and said arrogantly, "Divorce? Your parents are long gone and you have few relatives or friends. At your age, where do you think you’re going to go?"
At her words, the onlooking relatives and friends also began to chime in, persuading my mother to reconsider.
They said that my mother did not know how to appreciate her blessings, that she had no real hardships to bear and that someone was caring for her in her old age and yet she was still being ungrateful and making trouble.
With the crowd backing her up, Martha grew even bolder. "I'll tell you this. You want a divorce, huh? Fine. But first, pay back every grain of rice you’ve eaten and every piece of clothing you’ve worn in our family all these years!"
"And another thing." Martha yanked me over to her side. "You can leave if you want, but Elena stays. Elena is a child of the Dalton Family. Just because she’s capable of earning money now doesn’t mean you can dream of living a good life by clinging to her. That’s absolutely impossible!"
"That's right. If you want to leave, I won't stop you, but Elena stays. Brian is already grown and about to get married. Elena needs to stay behind and find a way to buy him a house and a car so that Brian can continue the Dalton Family bloodline without any worries."