4

His cursing only ended when my mother came up.

She appeared with rosy cheeks and was full of energy.

Behind her was a fair-faced man with slightly pale lips, David, who had just undergone surgery.

Beth came over as soon as she heard the commotion and openly touched David here and there, clearly very satisfied:

"Oh my, Tiffany, your skills never let me down!"

She couldn't wait to leave us, held onto the man, hopped into a Ferrari and sped away.

One of the advantages of my mother's surgery was that she had no recovery period and could use it as soon as possible.

After Beth left, my mom's gaze fell on me.

She looked at me with a meaningful expression.

She must have known about the reversed one-way mirror in the operating room, even though she couldn't see me outside.

I was trembling inside but managed to appear calm on the surface.

She had always warned us that Curiosity killed the cat.

She never mentioned the locked room in our villa or the secret of plastic surgery.

Charles, whom she doted on, was pampered to no end, had his leg broken just for curiosity.

If she found out that I not only spied but also discovered her affairs, the consequences would be unbearable.

But to my surprise, she spoke calmly and asked me to call my Jenny home for dinner that night:

"Call Jenny back home after work, I have something important to announce tonight."

Charles was confused, "Mom, what kind of big news you can't tell us now?"

She looked at me with a hint of a smile and said,

"Of course, it's a big matter that concerns the very foundation of our family."

That evening, at the dinner table,

our family was rarely gathered together.

After everyone had finished eating, my mom put down her fork:

"I plan to hand over the clinic's business to Emily."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of everyone at the table changed.

My dad's eyes widened with anger, but he remained silent.

Jenny looked worried, saying nothing.

My brother was greatly dissatisfied, jumping up and down:

"Mom, are you out of your mind?! The clinic is our entire family business!

"You're not passing it on to me, your favorite son, but to her?!

"She's just our family's maid, what does she know!"

I was the least favored child in the family.

My father also favored Charles the most. For everything, he only cared about Charles.

Jenny, Jenny, was beautiful, resembling my mom, and was therefore favored by her.

As for me, I wasn't ugly, but I looked like my grandmother, who was stern and harsh.

My mom disliked her sharp-tongued mother-in-law, and my dad disliked his biased mother.

So, they took out their frustrations with grandmother on me.

They had no affection for me, only orders.

Because of the secret on the sixth floor, it was inconvenient to hire a maid.

So, all the cooking, cleaning, and other chores were dumped on me.

My brother Charles liked to torment me.

He would deliberately complain that the floor wasn't clean and order me to clean it on my knees.

Every winter, he even forced me to wash clothes by hand in the cold water.

My mother, Tiffany, was weak and anemic, with a picky palate. She never protected me.

She had once dumped the chicken soup six times I made just because she didn't like the taste.

My dad, Paul, had mild bipolar disorder.

If things didn't go his way, he would resort to violence, using me as a punching bag.

So, I never thought that my mom would actually give me the most profitable clinic.

Hearing Charles's complaints, my mother's face darkened, and her tone became serious:

"Charles, shut up! You're being disrespectful! 

"You can do whatever business you want, and I won't interfere!

"But the clinic's business, don't even think about it!

"Remember, I'm not asking for anyone's opinion today, I'm announcing it!"

The last sentence was for Charles, and for everyone else.

So, this rare family gathering ended with my mother's firmness and not on a happy note.