Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Are You Even Her Real Mother?

The sound of barking echoed continuously through the livestream, yet the number of viewers didn’t drop. Instead, it broke four digits, climbing to over ten thousand.

Viewers who had just joined were bewildered.

[What? Over ten thousand people are watching a dog bark?]

[Netizens have such weird tastes these days... What’s so interesting about this???]

[If I’d known livestreaming was this easy, I’d have started my own channel!]

[Host, what’s the situation now?] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Renee Jennings looked at Begonia, her slender brows knitted together. Her voice was cold and sharp. "You’re missing a gold bracelet, aren’t you?"

Begonia asked in surprise, "Host, how did you know?"

Renee glanced at her coolly. "I also know that you think your daughter, Stella, stole the bracelet to sell it, and you got so angry that she ran away from home."

Begonia opened her mouth, but not a single word came out.

Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream were flooding the chat with comments.

[Her daughter ran away because she was angry about a gold bracelet? So does that mean Begonia falsely accused her daughter?]

[Judging by the host’s reaction, was Stella framed by Begonia???]

[Oh my god, if my mom did that to me, I’d have a complete breakdown!!!]

Seeing the viewers’ comments, Begonia quickly explained, "No, that’s not it. The reason I thought Stella took the bracelet to sell was that she just got a new phone a couple of days ago."

She furrowed her brow. "We’re a single-parent family. Her father doesn’t pay child support. I give Stella 1,500 a month, which is just enough for her food and living expenses. How could she possibly have the money for a new phone?"

[And they’re a single-parent family... Oh god, that’s so hurtful. I feel like crying!]

[I’m from a single-parent family too. If my mom did this to me, I’d keep on living, but my love for her would die.]

[It doesn’t matter if Stella took it or not. You shouldn’t have gotten so angry that she ran away.]

When Begonia saw these comments, her heart lurched, and a powerful sense of unease washed over her. "I... I was just anxious at the time."

Renee asked coolly, "Which is more important to you, the gold bracelet or Stella?"

"Of course, Stella is more important!" Begonia answered without a moment’s hesitation.

Renee stared at her through the screen and frowned. "If Stella is more important, then why, without any evidence, were you so certain that she bought her new phone by stealing the gold bracelet?"

Begonia was left speechless.

The rims of her eyes turned red as she suddenly realized she might have been wrong.

Renee then revealed something else. "Your gold bracelet wasn’t stolen by Stella. It was your nephew, Milo."

"Milo?" Begonia’s face was a mask of astonishment, and she immediately denied it. "Impossible. Milo would never do something like that."

At this, Renee let out a laugh of exasperation.

The viewers in the livestream were also rendered speechless.

[I haven’t cursed someone out in a long time! But I really can’t hold back today. What the hell is wrong with you!]

[I can’t even! You don’t believe your own daughter but have complete faith in your nephew. Stella must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to get a mom like you!]

[This is a whole new level of absurd. It’s absurdity cubed. Stella, just leave and never come back!]

Renee glanced at the public chat and thought the viewers’ criticisms were spot on.

Seeing that all the comments were condemning her, Begonia hastily explained, "It’s not like that! Milo already has a job. He has an income. Why would he steal my gold bracelet?"

Renee’s face turned cold as she asked sarcastically, "You think it’s impossible for Milo, but possible for Stella?"

Begonia retorted anxiously, "Stella has no income, and it was because she got a new phone that I thought that. She’s a college student. Where would she get the money for a new phone?"

[LMAO, do you think the only way a college student can get a new phone is by stealing?]

[This is the worst I’ve ever seen college students get dragged. We might ask our parents for money, but we are definitely not thieves!]

[I! Am! So! PISSED!]

Renee was also extremely displeased with Begonia’s actions.

She asked coldly, "Begonia, do you still believe Stella stole the gold bracelet to get a new phone?"

"It’s not that I think that, it’s that I can’t figure out how else Stella could afford a new phone," Begonia replied ambiguously.

Pippi suddenly roared, "You’re a bad mother! You made Stella so sad!"

[The money for the new phone was from my part-time job. I saved up for a long time to have enough. In my heart, I would only ever be the kind of person who would buy my mom a gold bracelet. I never thought that in my mom’s heart, I’d be the kind of person who would steal one.]

[Ah! Is that Stella?]

[Stella! *Hugs*!]

[Ahhh, reading that just about broke my heart! Begonia, how could you be so cruel to your own daughter?]

When Begonia saw the comment posted by Stella, a wave of panic and unease, the likes of which she had never felt before, suddenly washed over her.

She asked urgently, "Are you Stella?"

[I am Stella.]

"Stella, I didn’t mean to..." Begonia explained, her cheeks burning with shame. "Can you forgive Mom?"

[I don’t blame you.]

Begonia breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile gracing her lips.

[I only blame myself for ever coming into this world.]

[*Sob* Stella... My heart aches for you!]

[Stella, if I ever get the chance, I’d love to meet you!]

[Oh my god, how desperate must she be to say something like that?]

Begonia frowned, displeased. "Stella, how can you say such things? You’re breaking your mother’s heart!"

Renee let out a soft laugh and suddenly asked a question: "Begonia, in the time since Stella left home, have you ever tried to contact her?"

Begonia fell silent.

Renee asked again, "In the two months that Stella has been gone, have you sent her any living expenses?"

Begonia remained silent.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought about sending Stella living expenses. But whenever she remembered Stella supposedly stealing the gold bracelet for a new phone, she would get angry.

So on the day she was supposed to transfer the money, she deliberately withheld it.

On one hand, it was a way to vent her frustration. On the other, she wanted to use this method to force Stella to come home.

’Stealing a gold bracelet for a new phone at her age, and then daring to talk to me like that!’

The live comments were filled with criticism of her actions.

[Oh my god! You didn’t give her living expenses? Were you trying to starve Stella to death?]

[Are you even her real mother?]

[I suspect you’re taking out all your resentment for your ex-husband on Stella!]

Begonia’s brow furrowed tightly. "You don’t know anything, what right do you have to say that?" she said, displeased. "Stella, you tell the viewers yourself. Am I usually good to you or not?"

Renee couldn’t listen anymore. She curled her lip into a cold sneer. "If you cared about Stella in the slightest, you would never treat her this way."

"Host, you can’t say that about me!" Begonia retorted through sobs. "If I didn’t care about Stella, I wouldn’t have fought for custody of her in the first place!"

Renee asked quietly, "Then tell me, why didn’t you believe Stella when she told you she didn’t steal the gold bracelet?"