I Married My Ex's Billionaire Father
Chapter 87: Stirred The Hornet’s Nest

Chapter 87: Stirred The Hornet’s Nest

Lottie slammed the phone down, her face flushed with anger. She could not believe that Lyse had hung up on her. She had expected gratitude, not this sort of defiance and disrespect.

Lyse was supposed to be their pawn, their tool to manipulate. But it seemed that now the girl thought that she had a mind of her own, and she wasn’t playing by their rules.

This was the last straw. Lottie had been patient, had tried to reason with Lyse, but the stupid brat was proving to be stubborn and selfish.

A dangerous thought began to form in Lottie’s mind. If Lyse would not help them, then they would have to take matters into their own hands. She would expose Levi and Lyse for the ruthless, heartless people they truly were. She would turn public opinion against them, and she would make sure that they paid for what they had done to her family.

So, she called a press conference. She sat before a sea of reporters, her face a mask of righteous indignation and the heartbreak of a long suffering mother and poured out her heart to them, they ate up her sad story.

"As a mother," she sniffled. "I have tried my hardest to give Lyse the best opportunities that i could give. As the daughter who was born out of wedlock, it was important for me to protect her against the bias society would fling in her face. But Lyse has decided to make an enemy out of me and the rest of the family who have done nothing but love her despite all of her efforts to ruin our reputation."

With her black outfit, red rimmed eyes and soulful expression, it was easy to see that people would buy her story of being the persecuted victim. Lottie had always made sure that Lyse had no one to protect her from them. And despite all they did to her, she always ended up looking like the guilty party.

"My husband, step daughter and I have tried our hardest to conceal Lyse’s atrocities over the years, like when she ran away from home when she was just sixteen, or when she lied about her mother to her former fiancé and now that she has married a man old enough to be her father. But she has stepped across the line by using Levi Van Doren to frustrate us."

"Are you saying, Mrs. Chadwick. That your daughter’s husband is responsible for the damage your husband’s company recently faced."

"I am saying that Lyse must have portrayed us negatively to Levi and now he is determined to destroy us." Lottie said pitifully and wiped her tears. "It might be hard to believe but Lyse is spiteful, vindictive and manipulative."

"Everyone knows that Jeff Chadwick is a family man, a hardworking, honest man who is being victimized by the wealthy and powerful."

Lyse stared at the her mother on the screen and a muscle ticked in her jaw. She felt her nose tickle with suppressed anger that needed an outlet.

When she had gotten the phone call from James as she was preparing to go to work, she had eagerly answered, thinking he had news about the man she married. However, James had sounded solemn and asked her to look at what was happening on the news channel.

Curiousity piqued, she switched on the tv and had been confronted by her mother spewing lies about her.

Her mother doing a press conference to tell the world about how horrible of a daughter she was to them, finally reconfigured her brain chemistry.

For so long, she had held onto the belief that her mother was not so terrible, she had made excuses for her behavior. Because it felt surreal to accept that her own mother, whose loins she had come out of hated her.

But now, she had to face the truth. For all intents and purposes, she had no one.

Meanwhile, at the Chadwick home...

"What were you thinking?" Jeff bellowed as soon as Lottie stepped into the house.

He glared at her while she calmly pulled off the hat and gloves she had worn to complete her demure, loving mother ensemble.

"It had to be done, we will not be bullied by Lyse and her husband." Lottie said carelessly. "You need to calm down, the press and everyone else will be by our side."

Jeff stared at her in disbelief as she just sat down and gingerly accepted tea from the housekeeper, then he closed his eyes in frustration.

He loved Lottie, he always had, since they were teenagers. That was probably why he always obliged her and did whatever she wanted. It got him into trouble enough times, but he had always managed to slither through.

But now, he had an oppressive feeling that that luck was slowly running out. It felt like his past misdeeds were hounding him and would soon catch up to him. Lottie refused to consider this, she was stubbornly clinging to the idea that she was invisible.

And that was because she was not aware that doing the press conference could come back to bite them. She did not know how corrupt he had been forced to be, if anyone looked a little deeper than surface level, then he was fucked.

"Listen, Lottie. You don’t understand what is happening." Jeff sat heavily beside her and rested his weary head in his hands.

’Maybe it is a good thing, maybe if everything crumbles to the ground and the veil is ripped, maybe then I might have peace.’

Concerned with Jeff’s behavior, Lottie dismissed the housekeeper and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What is wrong?" She asked.

Jeff raised his head and locked tired eyes on her worried once. "Have you heard of the phrase, "he who comes to equity, must come with clean hands.""

Lottie stared at him, puzzled at his sprouting idioms at her and she scrunched her face in annoyance.

"Please, speak plain English, Jeff!" She said impatiently and shifted away from his side in annoyance.

"When you decided to pick a fight with Levi Van Doren, you should have known if you were picking the winning or the losing side." He continued with a sigh, "You, my dear are standing on the losing side."

She had stirred the hornet’s nest and there was no escaping what was coming.