Chapter 23: Restless Mother and Daughter

After hearing Diana's request, Maddie didn't react like she used to by promising to take care of everything herself. Instead, she looked surprised and exclaimed, "Wow! Diana, you're so rich! You have a hundred thousand dollars? That's great! I just found something I want that costs a little over ten thousand dollars. Can you buy it for me?"

Maddie thought to herself: "This foolish girl, can't she understand what I'm saying?"

Maddie's expression stiffened. "I don't have any money left. I spent all one hundred thousand dollars, Diana. This was my savings for a long time. Look..."

"But didn't you say you were helping Brandon with the money? Don't worry, he can pay you back later. You have a good relationship, right?" Diana interrupted Maddie and smiled innocently.

Maddie's words were stuck in her throat after being interrupted by Diana. Diana's words seemed reasonable, but this was not the result Maddie wanted!

Maddie was feeling extremely frustrated and was about to tell Diana to figure out a way to get her some money back. "Diana, listen to me, you..."

Maddie was in the middle of speaking when she was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. It was Ms. Taylor. 

"Miss Diana, are you in there?" Ms. Taylor's voice came from outside.

Maddie was displeased and grabbed Diana, saying, "Just ignore her, she's just a servant. Diana, listen to me first."

Diana couldn't help but furrow her brows at Maddie's behavior. She suppressed her annoyance and called out to Ms. Taylor, "Come in, please!"

Ms. Taylor entered the room, but her smile froze when she saw Maddie. She felt that Diana's rebellious behavior was partly her fault. Just when things were starting to improve, this stubborn young lady had to come and stir things up again. Ms. Taylor looked embarrassed as she said, "Miss Diana, Mr. Thompson has returned and dinner is ready."

"Oh? Dinner time already!" Diana jumped out of bed and turned to Maddie. "Maddie, let's talk later. I'm starving and need to eat first!"

Seeing Diana's eagerness to eat, Maddie refrained from speaking and kept her words to herself. Diana quickly ran downstairs and saw her father, James, hanging his coat on a chair and sitting at the table. She rushed over and hugged him tightly. "Dad!"

James was taken aback for a moment as his youngest daughter ran towards him. Diana usually argued with him over small matters, but now she was cuddling up to him. He didn't know how to react. 

Serena smiled and said, "Diana, your dad just got back and needs to rest. Come sit over here."

"No, I want to sit with my dad!" Diana moved her chair next to James and sat down beside him.

In the past, Diana had always kept her distance from her father due to their strained relationship. James would sit at the head of the table, with Serena and Maddie seated on either side of him. This gave the impression that the three of them were a family, while Diana was an outsider. However, now that Diana was sitting next to James, Maddie had to move down the table. Although Maddie felt a bit unhappy about this, she couldn't say anything and quietly sat next to Diana.

"Dad, you work so hard!" Diana said as she helped James tidy up the napkins, showing great care and attention to him. Although James was surprised, he felt very pleased to see his daughter being so thoughtful towards him. Even his usually stoic expression showed a hint of joy.

Serena chuckled, "Diana has so much energy. She's gone crazy for all day outside and she's still so lively."

Diana's movements paused as a wave of disgust rose within her. Here it comes again, every time, Serena would subtly stir up trouble.

As soon as James heard Serena's words, he immediately stopped smiling and looked at Diana warily. "Where did you go today? Did you meet some unsavory characters again?" No wonder she was being so attentive, had she gotten into trouble again? Thinking this, James furrowed his brows and his eyes showed suspicion.

In the past, Diana would have been furious and argued with James when he said something like this. But now, she wasn't that foolish! Diana pouted, looking aggrieved. "I didn't do anything wrong. I went out with Maddie, dad. How could you suspect me like this?"

When James heard that she went out with Maddie, he finally felt relieved. In his mind, Maddie had always been obedient and sensible, unlikely to get into any trouble.

"Oh, I see. Dad was wrong to suspect you. Let's eat," James said, looking embarrassed.

Diana was busy stuffing her face with food, all the while pretending to casually say, "It's not all your fault. Ms. Stewart's way of speaking is just too ambiguous. It would be better to be more specific in the future." James nodded, looking a bit dissatisfied at Serena.

"And you! When you said 'gone crazy for all day outside', I thought something had gone wrong again!" It was the first time that James had reprimanded Serena, leaving her feeling embarrassed.

She spoke softly, "I just said it without thinking. I'll be more careful next time."

Maddie, who was already feeling disgruntled, became even more unhappy upon seeing James' displeasure towards Serena. While eating her meal, she suddenly thought of something. Looking at Diana, she said slowly, "Diana, since Dad is in such a good mood today, why don't you bring out the red wine you bought today?"

James looked puzzled, "Diana, you bought wine?"

As soon as Maddie heard James' question, she took the opportunity to speak up, sighing somewhat reluctantly. "It's okay, a group of friends chipped in to help pay for it. Diana must have really loved those bottles of red wine, or else she wouldn't have taken them, especially considering how expensive they were..."

"How expensive were they?" James asked.

Maddie put on a troubled expression. "They were a bit pricey... $400,000."

"$400,000?!" James' voice suddenly rose in shock. He looked at Diana, his expression stern as he asked, "Diana, is what Maddie said true?"

James had always disliked it when his children spent money carelessly. Though he was relatively lenient with Diana, spending $400,000 on wine was just outrageous! She was being reckless!

Diana was innocently eating her meal, wearing a look of innocence on her face as she spoke. "The drinks were really expensive, but I have a VIP card that I heard gives a 90% discount, so that's why I got them."

"A 90% discount?!" Maddie screamed out in shock. If that was the case, they only needed to spend $40,000, which Brandon could have easily paid for himself! "Why didn't you use this offer earlier? We...we spent $400,000!"

Diana spoke slowly, savoring the moment. "Well, you never asked me, and I thought you already knew the offer and used it...now that the money's been spent, I didn't want to tell you and make you lose sleep over it." She pretended to look embarrassed, but inside she was bursting with joy.

Diana thought to herself: "Ha, you thought you could trick me, now you could feel the pain!"

Maddie looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, sitting in her chair with a pale face, not saying a word for a long time. It seemed like the blow was quite significant.

James furrowed his brow and asked, "Where did you all go? Why was it so expensive?" He began to wonder if they had been ripped off.

To his surprise, Diana replied, "Oh, it was just Diohn Club."

Diohn Club?! James was stunned. He had only found out that he owned Diohn Club when John gave it to Diana as a gift for her coming-of-age ceremony last year. But back then, Diana didn't want to accept it. Had she changed her mind now? James pondered silently. If that was the case, it would be great. After all, he had always been satisfied with John, and if Diana could accept him, he would be happy too.

Serena noticed James's expression and interjected, "Although they can give a discount, it's still expensive. We shouldn't go to places with such high expenses in the future, especially since you're all students. Do you understand, Diana?"

She thought she made a reasonable argument, and James had always been against extravagance. But to her surprise, James gave her a strange look and said, "This is Diana's freedom, don't constrain her."

With that, he patted Diana's shoulder with a hint of delight, "If there's nothing else, you can go to Diohn Club more often and broaden your horizons, it's not a bad thing."

Upon hearing this, Serena froze on the spot, her face full of embarrassment. Maddie also regained her senses and looked at James incredulously. What's going on? Why would James encourage Diana to go to such an extravagant place like Diohn Club?! She lowered her head, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes. It's true that blood is thicker than water, no matter how foolish she acts, James would still side with her. It's so unfair, Diana is only superior in her background, what else does she have that Maddie doesn't?

Maddie sat through the dinner feeling dispirited and uninterested in the food, while Diana, on the other hand, ate heartily and seemed to be in a particularly good mood. It appeared that the unhappier Maddie was, the happier Diana became.

After the meal, Diana retired to her own room, leaving Maddie to her own devices. Perhaps the blow had been too much for Maddie to bear, as she remained quietly in her own room and did not come to disturb Diana. This suited Diana just fine, and she took out her phone, contemplating for a moment before creating a group chat for herself and her three brothers.