Soon, Raymond walked out of the room. He glanced at Caitlin by the door, but he didn’t stop; he walked straight downstairs without a word.
Caitlin returned to the room and found Sebastian fuming with rage. He looked as though he was about to smash something, but there was nothing within reach except the bed, so he vented his frustration by hitting it.
Caitlin was surprised by how bad the father-son relationship had become. No wonder Raymond had only just come to visit his son after so many days. She walked over to him and asked, “Sebastian, what’s going on? What could make you hate your father so much? Is it because he found you a stepmother and had more children?”
“Shut up!” Sebastian growled, clearly not wanting to discuss it.
Caitlin didn’t press further, but she had already started to piece things together. The argument they were having about something from 18 years ago-she had some ideas. According to her investigation, Raymond’s first wife had disappeared 18 years ago. Could that be the reason for the rift?
She didn’t know exactly what had happened that year, but she could sense there was something dark hidden beneath the surface.
Caitlin didn’t say anything more. She let Sebastian stew in his anger, while she went downstairs to play soccer with Howard.
As it got darker, Caitlin prepared dinner for Sebastian and took it up to him. However, since their argument with his father, he hadn’t said a word, nor did he touch his food.
What a bad temper this man had! If he wasn’t going to eat, then she wasn’t going to beg him either. She decided to wait until he was hungry enough to eat on his own.
After eating her own dinner, Caitlin planned to shower and then spend time with Howard, telling him stories. But just as she was getting ready, Marcus came to ask her to come to the main house.
Caitlin had a feeling it had something to do with Audrey. She left Howard to play in the main bedroom and went to meet Marcus.
Once Caitlin left, Sebastian snapped out of his anger and called for Lucy.
“Lucy, what happened? Why did Marcus come to get Caitlin?”
“I heard it’s because of… well, Mrs. Vanderbilt…” Lucy hesitated, unsure how to refer to Caitlin.
“What Mrs. Vanderbilt? There is no Mrs. Vanderbilt!” Sebastian snapped, still refusing to acknowledge Caitlin as his wife.
Lucy hesitated, but then said, “It’s about the incident today. It’s about how Mrs. Vanderbilt hit Audrey.”
“She hit Audrey? Quade Gray’s wife?” Sebastian was shocked. He couldn’t imagine Caitlin being the type to get into fights. Was she really that violent?
“It seems so. The Gray Family has sent people.”
“Is she really that violent? Always starting trouble? She even slapped Mrs. Gray?” Sebastian asked in disbelief. No ordinary woman would dare to pick a fight with Audrey, let alone hit her.
Lucy didn’t respond, and just as she was about to say more, Howard rushed over, giving Sebastian a smack on the forehead.
This was Howard’s unique way of communicating. Sebastian, recognizing the gesture, turned to him.
“Howard? What’s wrong? Why are you hitting your dad?”
Howard couldn’t speak, so he slapped Sebastian again, three times in total.
Sebastian frowned, looking at Howard with confusion. Howard wanted to say that his father was being foolish and didn’t understand that he had been bullied, but his mom was there to protect him! Those bad people deserved to be slapped!
“You little rascal!” Sebastian muttered in frustration. “Don’t learn to hit people from that woman. You’re picking up bad habits!”
Howard was upset by his father’s words and crossed his arms in defiance. He wouldn’t listen to his father speak ill of his mom.
Worried about his mother, Howard ran out of the room in his slippers. Lucy saw him and hurried after him.
“Hey, Howard, where are you going?”
Not knowing what had happened, Sebastian was left confused. He pressed his wristwatch communicator to contact Xavi.
“Go check the main house, find out what happened. Tell the Gray Family to stop being so arrogant!”
If it weren’t for his current condition, unable to see and move easily, he would’ve gone himself to sort things out.
Meanwhile, in the main living room of The Vanderbilt Family’s estate, the atmosphere was tense and illuminated with bright lights.
Caitlin followed Marcus into the room, where she saw several people gathered, including members of The Vanderbilt Family: Beatrice, Grace and her husband, along with William, Molly, and Hazel. Yasmin hadn’t left, likely there to watch the drama unfold. There were also several unfamiliar faces-easily identifiable by their high-end clothing as representatives of The Gray Family.
Marcus went up to report, “Beatrice, Sir Raymond, Young Master William, Mrs. Vanderbilt is here.”
As Caitlin entered, all eyes turned to her. William was the first to stand up, his face filled with anger. “Caitlin, you’ve gone too far this time. How could you hit Audrey? Why didn’t you just talk it out? Do you realize how serious this is?”
William was furious. Recently, The Vanderbilt Enterprises Group had a big project up for review, and they were counting on Quade Gray’s approval. They had planned a dinner meeting that evening, but Quade had rejected the meeting call and was clearly angry. William only found out the reason later: it was because of Caitlin’s actions against Audrey.
Grace added, “Exactly! This whole thing is all over social media now. It’s in the news, and the whole world knows about The Vanderbilt Family’s contract bride, who’s out of control, publicly hitting people!”
“I already said I did it, and I’m taking full responsibility. What do you want me to do now?” Caitlin asked coldly.
“This isn’t about us telling you what to do. It’s about The Gray Family sending people here!” Grace reminded her.
Caitlin turned to look at the unfamiliar faces, particularly a middle-aged man who stood tall, clearly the leader. He spoke haughtily, “Regarding today’s incident, our madam is the victim. Whether it’s physical or emotional harm, she has suffered greatly. Mr. Gray’s position is that Caitlin must come to The Gray Family tomorrow before noon and apologize to our madam. If not, The Gray Family will not back down, and we’ll see The Vanderbilt Family in court!”
Before noon tomorrow?
Caitlin had already given Audrey a deadline, and now they were demanding an apology from her?
Beatrice still supported Caitlin and said, “This isn’t all Caitlin’s fault. Audrey shares part of the responsibility. Honestly, I think we should let this go. Let’s not escalate this further, and just consider our family’s relationship with the Gray Family.”
“But Beatrice, this isn’t going to be easy to resolve. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have come here in person. Do you want Caitlin to apologize, or do you want to risk The Vanderbilt Family’s entire fortune? You all better think carefully!”
With those words, the man turned and walked out, leaving with a stern look at Caitlin, a clear warning in his gaze.
Caitlin knew that if they forced her to apologize, it would be ten times worse for her. It would be a humiliation she couldn’t bear.
Yasmin, watching the whole scene, smirked inwardly. She was enjoying the show. “Let’s see how Caitlin handles this. Tomorrow, she’ll be begging at Audrey’s feet!”