Born Into Villain's Family: I Have a 200\% Rebate System-Chapter 509: Irritation

Aurora went on, "You’re mature. You’d probably eat both, or at least make sure neither of them felt hurt."

She paused. "But Alex isn’t you."

Her gaze softened slightly.

"He’s never been in this situation before. He didn’t know how to handle it. In the end, he hurt both you and Adeline."

Aurora sighed. "And somewhere along the way, you started thinking Adeline was at fault, when in truth, she’s just as innocent as you."

Mary fell silent.

Lucas broke the quiet. "Mom, you should apologize to Adeline."

Mary clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She said nothing.

Aurora immediately understood the psychology behind that silence. She suddenly raised her voice. "She won’t apologize."

Everyone turned to her in shock.

Aurora blinked repeatedly at Lucas, a clear signal. He caught on instantly.

Lucas crossed his arms and scoffed, "Can you even act reasonably for once?"

Aurora spun toward Adriana. "Whose side are you on?"

Adriana didn’t hesitate. "Yours."

Olivia immediately countered, "I’m on Lucas’ side."

Theodore glanced at Mary, then at both sides, and shrugged. "I’ll side with whoever feeds me more."

Everyone ignored him.

Aurora continued loudly,

"Adeline should be the one apologizing. I’ll bring her here myself. How dare that girl even think of hurting mom?"

Mary startled. "That’s not true," she corrected quickly. "Adeline didn’t hurt me. I was just... upset."

Halfway through her words, she stopped.

’What am I even saying?’

The realization hit her fully now. Adeline had already done her part.

Could she really force Alex to eat her food? The more she thought about it, the more shame crept into her chest.

But by then, it was too late.

A full-blown war had erupted. Aurora and Lucas argued heatedly.

Adriana and Olivia bickered back and forth. Theodore took advantage of the chaos to pile food onto his plate.

Adam shook his head helplessly and gently comforted Mary.

Watching the absurd scene unfold, Mary’s embarrassment slowly faded, replaced by exasperation.

She slammed her hand on the table. "What are all of you doing?"

The room snapped into silence.

Aurora straightened and said smoothly, "I’m just siding with you, that’s all."

At Aurora’s words, Mary felt even more embarrassed. The shame burned under her skin, creeping up her neck and settling heavily in her chest.

Even though this wasn’t her mistake entirely, the realization of how foolishly she had acted just moments ago made it impossible for her to stay any longer.

Just as Aurora was about to speak again, Mary stood up abruptly. The chair scraped softly against the floor as she turned and walked away, her retreat hurried and heavy, as if every step carried her humiliation with it.

Aurora exchanged a brief glance with the others. One by one, faint smiles appeared. They all understood... this matter had been settled, at least for now.

Adam watched Mary’s retreating figure, then turned back to his children, his expression stern.

"Don’t think this means you can gaslight her in the future," he warned. His voice was low but firm.

"I stayed silent today only because this time, she was in the wrong."

He paused, his gaze sharpening.

"But if anyone dares to use these tactics on her again, or on me, especially with an eye on pensions or inheritance, then forget about getting a single penny."

Theodore couldn’t help but roll his eyes. ’Is he even talking about everyone?’ he thought.

His own income was the most unstable among them, sure, but even then, the warning felt exaggerated.

Lucas had his own company, Adriana was freelancing steadily, Olivia was deep in cybersecurity, and Aurora... Aurora was a hacker earning more than most people could dream of.

’Who here is even interested in his pension?’

Adam caught Theodore’s expression and shot him a glare.

Even so, somewhere deep down, Adam knew Theodore wasn’t entirely wrong.

Still, his thoughts drifted unwillingly to Aurora.

She had already secured millions under carefully arranged names, ensuring that even if something happened to him, the family would never struggle.

They would all stand on their own, financially independent, perhaps even wealthy in their own right.

As the tension eased, Adriana cleared her throat and looked around.

"There’s something I need to announce," she said. "I’d like to make an appointment for it."

Immediately, everyone began throwing out dates they were free.

After some back and forth, Adam finally found a day when even Mary would be available. He nodded. "A month from now."

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

During that time, chaos brewed elsewhere.

Louis’s mother had once thought Olivia would be easy to handle.

After all, Olivia didn’t come from a powerful background.

Yet reality slapped her hard. Not only was Olivia unyielding, she met every threat with a calm, fearless gaze, openly declaring that Louis’s mother wouldn’t be able to do anything to her. And she proved it.

Taking a deep breath, Louis’s mother looked at the subordinate she had assigned the task to.

She hadn’t just contacted a high-ranking subordinate; she had also ordered her people to target Olivia’s family.

And yet, nothing happened.

The Waters family remained as calm and unmoved as still water.

She turned sharply to her bodyguard. "Explain," she demanded.

The man hesitated, then spoke with a pained expression.

"Even if I wanted to argue, one thing is clear. The reason we can’t get close to the Waters family..." He swallowed. "Either someone among us is feeding them information, or the people protecting them originally belonged to our side."

He lowered his head. "Logically, that means someone here is helping the Waters family."

Louis’s mother’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Rage surged beneath her skin. She knew it. ’Louis.’

Just as she was deciding how to confront her son, an elegant, languid voice echoed through the hall. "What’s going on?"

Louis appeared at the stairs, his posture relaxed, his presence commanding.

Standing before him, his mother, who had acted like a tyrant in front of Olivia, suddenly felt small.

The truth was, she had abused Louis for years.

She poured all her expectations into him, beat him whenever he failed to meet them, molding him into someone flawless and ruthless.

The result was a man so cold-hearted that even his own father struggled to find fault in him.

Louis became known as a genius. First in everything. Untouchable.

And yet, he was bored.

He lost interest in his father’s legacy, his mother’s affection, and the wealth laid before him.

He left home, built a small company of his own, nothing compared to his father’s underworld empire, but it was clean.

No blood. No shadows. That alone gave him peace.

He descended the stairs and smiled faintly at his mother. "Have you been harassing Olivia lately?"

Louis’s mother instantly forced a smile. "Louis, it’s all a misunderstanding," she replied smoothly. "I never intended to harass her. I was doing this for her own good."

She lifted her chin slightly. "I was preparing her. Soon, she’ll have to face your father’s wrath."

Louis let out a low chuckle, the sound lazy yet sharp, echoing faintly in the spacious living room .

He leaned back slightly and smiled, his tone almost amused.

"Do you even know what kind of background she come from?"

At that, Louis’s mother turned to him, her brows knitting together in confusion.

What she knew, or rather, what she had always believed, was simple.

Her family was ordinary, not poor but certainly not rich. Average.

That was all. ’How could anyone even think of comparing themselves to someone like our family?’ she thought, her fingers tightening unconsciously around the teacup in her hand.

Just as that thought settled in her mind, Louis flopped down onto the sofa, the leather creaking softly beneath his weight.

He rested one arm along the backrest and chuckled again, his voice carrying an unsettling confidence.

"Their family is somewhat related to Miss Dawn."

His mother stiffened.

Louis tilted his head, watching her reaction with faint amusement.

"You probably don’t even know this," he continued casually, "but every single member of their family is a millionaire."

The words hung heavily in the air.

Louis’s mother stared at him in shock, her breath catching for a split second before she forced herself to calm down. Her expression slowly smoothed, years of composure settling back onto her face like a practiced mask.

"Even if that were true," she replied evenly, "they still wouldn’t be on equal standing with us."

Yet even as she spoke, she knew she did not believe a single word he had said.

’He’s blinded by love,’ she thought bitterly.

’Most likely lying straight to my face.’ Still, she had no intention of exposing him.

Preserving his dignity mattered more. So she nodded faintly, acting as though she accepted his explanation.

Louis, however, did not care about her reaction in the slightest.

’I’m only warning her out of kindness,’ he thought coldly.

When he had first started to like Olivia, he hadn’t acted blindly.