Richard looked at Raelyn coldly and said, “I don’t think you’re clear about who went too far first. Tonight’s incident was caused by Talitha who provoked Abbie first. She was bad-mouthing Abbie! That was why Abbie started the fight.”
“I don’t believe you! How could someone as gentle as Talitha provoke Abbie? On the contrary, Abbie is famous for her bad temper, so she has to be the one who provoked Talitha first!”
“It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not. What matters is how we show my lawyer and the judge the truth! Anyway, I have a recording of a witness of the incident. I’m telling you, if it weren’t for Gavin and President Saunders, I wouldn’t be this patient to come and talk this through with you. How dare she accuse my sister of seducing men abroad! If she wasn’t already beaten up, I would’ve made sure she ended up toothless! And only then would I bring this to court.”
“You can’t blame others for looking ugly yourself, right? There’s no way to prove anything based on those slight injuries. What’s more, who could prove that it was Abbie who had hit her? Maybe she had fallen and injured herself.” At this time, Michael strode in from outside, and his words were provoking and arrogant.
“What does this have to do with you? Who let you come in here?” Raelyn was so angry that she trembled.
Michael looked at her coldly. “I am Abbie’s lawyer. My client wants to sue your daughter for defamation. So, of course, I have to come and take a look, right? What’s wrong with that?”
“Dad, Archer! Say something!”
As he was suddenly cued, Gavin frowned and then glanced at Richard and Michael. “Richard, Michael, let me talk with Raelyn first.”
“Sure, Gavin. We’re willing to talk this through patiently for you, but I won’t let the Anderson family get away with this easily. If they had dared to talk sh*t again, then don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
After saying this, Richard and Michael turned and left in a huff. Raelyn, who was furious, looked at Gavin and said, “Dad, Archer, why are you just standing there? What has become of our family? The Saunders have become weak! We’re being threatened to our faces!”
“The Saunders family isn’t weak! The one Richard threatened was the Anderson family, not us! This doesn’t have anything to do with the Saunders family!” Archer retorted.
“You… Dad, are you listening to this?” Raelyn stomped. However, Gavin ignored her and walked to the side of Talitha’s bed. “Talitha, let me ask you. Are you the one who provoked Abbie first this evening?”
“I… I…” Talitha had still wanted to deny it.
Hearing her hesitation, Gavin said with an even serious tone, “Tell me the truth! It’s not the time for you to lie now!”
Talitha could only reply with a low voice, “Yes…”
“So what if she’s the one who provoked her first? Abbie could have retorted her, right? Why did she have to hit her like that?” Raelyn retorted.
“Oh, then you should have just went to Abbie and hit her back! Why are you still here?” Archer sneered with a sarcastic expression on his face.
“In fact, you could have just told your husband about it. Tell him to go against the Clark family. He is an experienced secretary in public inspection after all, he should have the ability to take them down, right?”
Raelyn’s face turned pale at this. If Devon had the ability to deal with Richard, would she still need to seek help from the Saunders family?
Archer didn’t care if she was ashamed and continued, “By the way, let me give you a heads-up. Richard had already played his card. He has a witness who confirms that Talitha bad-mouthed Abbie, and then Abbie pushed her. Talitha then went to scratch Abbie’s face and broke Abbie’s nails. After that, when she was about to hit Abbie again, she accidentally slipped and fell, which caused her injuries.”
“Nonsense! I had only said a few words! She was the one who started the fight first. I have someone who can prove it!” Talitha started shouting in anger.
Archer sneered, “Do you have a witness? Great. Go look for them and see if there is a way to clear your name! However, I don’t think there’s anyone in Juxemburg who’s willing to offend Richard Clark, right?”
Raelyn was not a fool, and she immediately understood him as soon as she heard his words. “He actually used his power to force someone to be a fake witness?”
“The law of survival has always been like this, hasn’t it? Whoever is stronger has the right to speak. I’ve taught you this since you were young, have you forgotten?” Gavin chimed in.
“So what you’re saying is that you’re not going to help me, right?” Raelyn asked angrily.
Archer snorted and said, “How can we help you? Do you want to go against Richard?”
“If it was Valeria who was beaten up, would you not do anything about it too?”
“Valeria is well-behaved and never causes trouble. She will never provoke others in public. Therefore, no one would dare mess with her too.”
“Aren’t you too full of yourself? What if someone attacks her one day? Are you just going to sit around and do nothing?”
“Of course not! She is my daughter. As long as I am alive, if someone had dared lay a finger her, I would definitely kick their a*s as her dad. No matter who it is, her mom and I won’t let them off the hook. Even if it meant losing everything.” Archer replied coldly.
“You should discuss with Devon about how the both of you are going to get back at Richard. Of course, we’ll support you, but as for how are you going to do that, we’ll leave it to you two. It’ll be great if someone was to help you, but if they don’t, it’s completely reasonable, isn’t it?”
The meaning behind Archer’s words was clear. He meant that it was Raelyn and Devon’s duty to stand up for their own daughter and that they shouldn’t think of relying on others.
Gavin had said these words to her not long ago, and now it was coming from Archer. Raelyn gritted her teeth and said, “Dad, do you agree with him?”
“Archer is right. We are not afraid of trouble, but we would never be the ones who causes trouble. We are all adults now, and we should be responsible for our own behavior! Other people aren’t obliged to help you every single time,” Gavin replied flatly.
“So you won’t care about what happens to me anymore? Archer just said that he would defend Valeria at all costs if she was treated this way. But now, are you just going to let them step all over us?”
“That’s completely different. First of all, Talitha is you and Devon’s daughter. It’s his fault for not teaching Talitha proper manners. And now, she has caused trouble, which means the both of you should settle matters on your own! As for you, if you hadn’t gone provoking other people, I would definitely speak up for you if someone was to harm you. However, you had dug your own grave by provoking someone whom you shouldn’t have. What do you expect me to do, then? I can’t sacrifice the whole Saunders family for something as ridiculous as this, right?”
“I get it!” Raelyn was boiling by this point. “I don’t need any of your help. I’ll settle this myself!”
“That’s great, then. But I have to remind you that Richard is capable of destroying your whole family on his own. Not to mention that Michael and William are supporting him. You should be smart enough to know what’s best for you. If I were you, I would just get the short end of the stick and avoid making a fool of myself.”
After she watched Archer and Gavin leave, Raelyn’s fingernails dug into her palms as she was shamed mercilessly once again.
In the past, Archer had often ignored her, but he still cared about her. Now, not only did Archer not care about her anymore, but Gavin had deserted her too because of Natalie and her daughter, Valeria. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to survive in the Saunders family if they weren’t taken care of immediately.
As she thought about this, Raelyn picked up her phone and dialed a number. “When are you coming back?”
“I think I’ll be back tomorrow. What’s up?” Natasya asked from the other end.
“I’ve had enough of this! If you don’t have anything important to do, you should come back right away. I need someone to plan something with me. I’m tired of being the receiving end.”
“I see. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to be just in time for Valeria’s party!”